But you do not say where you live,,,,,  are you willing to travel thousands
of miles on someone's good experience with a doctor.    When your wife's
problems become really important to you,,, you will find the right doctor,,
if you know what I mean....

Harv

you write: >he told her was that she would have to live with it and to
just take aspirin.

that just isn't a satisfactory answer from a rheumy...no way, no
how!!!!!

is this 'regular' osteo? or inflammatory osteo? yes, there is inflam
OA...

understand that unlike RA which is auto immune and thus you might use
any of the newer dmard's, inflam. OA still has to use the non-steroidal
meds - and only occasionally do you get into the use of shots directly
into the joint - rarely...

it is also poss. that this could be reactive arthritis which can be
triggered by an infecttion...

bottom line is that you folk really don't have 'enough' information yet
to properly be a partner in the treatment plan...

sure it's very difficult to deal with, to find a suitable treatment
plan, and the results will, undoubtedly be less than what you would hope
for - BUT - 'just live with it'? i should hope not!

could you please give the name of this rheumy doctor? i will take a look
in my files and see if i have any info for you...

otherwise, my first thought is to ask your general practioner if he has
any specific knowledge - they need to work together on a treatment paln,
so better if they know each other [if possible]

also - her age may play a part of how she is treated - 'sometimes'
though not always - an older patient will be put in that catagory of
'why be agressive' at her age...shouldn't happen, but we know it does...

the younger your wife is, the MORE aggressive you want to be so as to
avoid the damage as long as possible - possibly to even put it on hold.
i would want to be durn sure that it's osteo and not r.a. - it's a major
difference in approach.

it doesn't appear that you were given any guidance as to diet,
flexiblity exercises, etc, etc, which you surely do want and need,

second - is travel time for you guys:

mark - if i'm correct, you're in the Hillsborough area? - location is
important because of traffic/density/doctor location. personaly, i'm
more acquainted with the newton/andover region of the state, so don't
have any direct knowledge down where i think you are

in general, the arthritis foundation should have a list of the doctors
they approve of.

http://www.arthritis.org/Communities/Chapters/Chapter.asp?chapid=38
New Jersey Chapter
200 Middlesex Turnpike
Iselin, NJ 08830
(732)283-4300

i checked the new jersey office pages, and instead of a list on their
website, they ask for patients to call 'em:

Physician Contact Information
Name:      Chapter Office Contact
Specialty:      Other
Address:     
NJ  08830
Country:      US
Phone:      732-283-4300
Phone 2:      888-467-3112  Ext:
Other:     

The Physician Referral List for the New Jersey Chapter of the Arthritis
Foundation is available by contacting the chapter office.

also, you might want to look at some of these:

http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/diseasecenter/oa/oa_symptoms.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/diseasecenter/oa/oa_overview.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/resources/arthritistoday/2003_archives/2003_01_02_oncal
l_p1.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/qualityindicators/quality_indicators_oa.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/diseasecenter/oa/oa_references.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/research/summaries/biological_age_oa.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/research/researchupdate/06jul_aug/osteocare.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/diseasecenter/oa/oa_alternatives.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/diseasecenter/oa/oa_causes.asp

since i can't give knowledgable info on spcific docs in your region, all
i can do i give a you a partial list of rheumys - you might wan to check
any of these with the foundation and see what they say:

Dr. David Arbit
31 00 Broadway
Fair Lawn, NJ

Dr. Scott Blumberg
1749 Hooper Ave
Toms River, NJ

Dr. Frederick Brandt
9225 Kennedy Blvd
North Bergen, NJ

Dr. Harleen Brar
1031 Mcbride Ave D208
Little Falls, NJ

Dr. Richard Brodman
345 Somerset St
Plainfield, NJ

Dr. Nicholas Cannarozzi
127 Pine Street
Montclair, NJ

Dr. James Cappadona
75 Summit Avenue
Hackensack, NJ

Dr. Ruth Cholhan
285 Engle Street
Englewood, NJ

Dr. Alice Chu
1070 Clifton Avenue
Clifton, NJ

Dr. Jeff Chung
11-26 Saddle River Road
Fair Lawn, NJ

Dr. Ana Cilursu
4401 Ventnor Ave
Atlantic City, NJ

Dr. Aly Cohen
300 Water Street
Toms River, NJ

Dr. Mark Durback
39 Roseberry St
Phillipsburg, NJ

Dr. Carrie Edelman
1640 Highway 88 W
Brick, NJ

Dr. Barry Efros
95 Madison Ave
Morristown, NJ

Dr. Hala Eid
Ste 100 Rt 73 Greentree C
Marlton, NJ

Dr. Hisham El Kadi
219 Taylors Mills Rd
Englishtown, NJ

Dr. Michael Froncek
120 Summit Ave
Summit, NJ

Dr. Thomas Giangrasso
600 Mt Pleasant Avenue
Dover, NJ

Dr. Martin Glynn
750 Brunswick Ave
Trenton, NJ

Dr. Avram Goldberg
1415 Queen Anne Road
Teaneck, NJ

Dr. Donald Goldsmith
12 Harvey St
New Brunswick, NJ

Dr. Janak Goyal
8 Disbrow Road
Old Bridge, NJ

Dr. Brian Grimmett
1860 Greentree Rd
Cherry Hill, NJ

Dr. Bonnie Hepburn
125 Paterson St
New Brunswick, NJ

Dr. Adrienne Hollander
2309 Evesham Road
Voorhees, NJ

Dr. Leroy Hunninghake
281 Witherspoon St
Princeton, NJ

Dr. Shahzad Hussain
101 Prospect St
Lakewood, NJ

Dr. Richard Hymowitz
30 Jackson Rd
Medford Lakes, NJ

Dr. Lee Kaufman
200 South Orange Avenue
Livingston, NJ

Dr. Betty Keller
44 Route 23 North
Riverdale, NJ

Dr. Gilbert Kepecs
385 Prospect Avenue
Hackensack, NJ

Dr. Phoebe Krey
30 Bergen St Rm1207
Newark, NJ

Dr. Eric Lieberman
120 Summit Ave
Summit, NJ

Dr. Monica Luchi
Evesham Avenue
Voorhees, NJ

Dr. Joseph Marchesano
31 35 Lackawanna Plz
Bloomfield, NJ

Dr. Ralph Marcus
870 Palisade Ave
Teaneck, NJ

Dr. Catherine Marino
90 Bergen Street
Newark, NJ

Dr. Nicola Mogavero
600 Pavonia Ave
Jersey City, NJ

Dr. Carolyn Oconnor
3 Cooper Plz
Camden, NJ

Dr. Richard Panush
94 Old Short Hill Rd
Livingston, NJ

Dr. Anwer Rasheed
10 Wilsey Square
Ridgewood, NJ

Dr. R Roberts
601 Ewing St Ste A 8
Princeton, NJ

Dr. Elliot Rosenstein
200 South Orange Avenue
Livingston, NJ

Dr. Nicholas Scarpa
600 Pavonia Ave
Jersey City, NJ

Dr. Anthony Sebba
870 Palisade Ave
Teaneck, NJ

Dr. Joseph Shanahan
Three Cooper Plaza
Camden, NJ

Dr. Jonathan Simon
1018 Broad St
Bloomfield, NJ

Dr. Victor Sloan
125 Paterson St
New Brunswick, NJ

Dr. Sheldon Solomon
1860 Greentree Rd
Cherry Hill, NJ

Dr. Stephen Soloway
2848 S Delsea Dr
Vineland, NJ

Dr. Ariel Teitel
617 Pavonia Avenue
Jersey City, NJ

Dr. Ralf Thiele
1103 North Kings Highway
Cherry Hill, NJ

Dr. Moti Tiku
125 Paterson Street
New Brunswick, NJ

Dr. Wadie Toma
2100 Corlies Ave
Neptune, NJ

Dr. Qaisar Usmani
101 Prospect Ave
Lakewood, NJ

Dr. Andrew Weinberger
233 Millburn Avenue
Millburn, NJ

Dr. Richard Wilmot
120 Summit Avenue
Summit, NJ

Dr. Robert Wong
125 Paterson St
New Brunswick, NJ

Dr. David Worth
2376 Morris Ave
Union, NJ

Dr. Alan Zalkowitz
31 00 Broadway
Fair Lawn, NJ

Dr. Larysa Zaputowycz
44 Route 23 N
Riverdale, NJ

maybe someone else will know one of the above -

hth
paul