It's bearable, and has improved greatly since I quit drinking a lot of soda and sitting in office chairs. Diet can (as you found out) be beneficial in controlling arthritis related pain, and that's helped me a lot so surgery isn't something I'm going to consider until it becomes necessary because of buildup or other problems in the joint. Cortisone is just a treatment, it's not a cure for this kind of problem, so it's temporary. There are also plenty of low dose anti-inflammatory drugs out there that can help, don't be afraid to ask about stuff like that. Just don't get stuck on opiates or synthetic opiates like oxy. That stuff is dangerous no matter how you look at it.