Thats what friends are for....

As I have previously mentioned, I got together this week with my 'hip friend' Amy, who has had her left hip scoped twice by Dr. Kelly and will be having her IT band released in the next few weeks/ months. I asked her to write a guest blog post.

Susie asked me to write a guest spot for her blog.... Hmmmm.. what to say?!?! I met Susie as a result of posts on the labralicious and FAI listserves. We had been talking as she had decided to see Dr. Kelly and I had experienced surgery with him. We talked quite a bit on-line and by phone. When I flew up to NYC on March 21st, the day before my surgery, we decided to meet. Needless to say, we clicked. My ride home to my friend's apartment in the city fell through because of complications with getting my surgery started, and Susie came to my rescue just two weeks after her own surgery. She drove in to New York Presby to pick me up and take me to my friend's place. Of course, meeting her two adorable kids in the car on the way home from the hospital sealed the deal!! We are forever "joined at the hip!" On my next trip up, we met and went to the Central Park Zoo together. I had a blast with Susie and her kids and it was a welcome afternoon of fun for both of us. Being able to jump in puddles with L and JK was the highlight of my day!! As a result of meeting on the listserves, we have become friends with this horrible hip problem in common. We have been through each other's ups and downs and frustrations. .... and the "emotionally unstable:" e-mail subject line on multiple occasions. It is wonderful to have the support of someone who is going through the same thing... and with the same doctor. It also doesn't hurt that she is a PT either, and I have picked her brain on multiple occasions!!! This last trip up was just as much fun as it was frustrating... I flew in to NYC on Tuesday afternoon and met up with Susie and the kids. We went to the swimming pool and chilled out for a while. I had a blast taking pictures of all of the kids at the pool, and it has cemented my feeling that maybe I should consider getting back into photography for a living... That evening, we went to see Xanadu with my best friend, Marni. The three of us had a blast at the show, but looked like the walking wounded headed away from the theater! But, for that 90 minutes that the show was on (with us seated on the stage), we were feeling no pain! Well, except for when one of the cast members hit me on the head with a rubber mallet! The frustrating part was the visit to Dr. Kelly. I hate waiting in doctor's offices. It seems like you wait for hours and then get to see the doctor for a few minutes. I think that Dr. Kelly really didn't want to deal with me, because Susie's appointment was 20 minutes after mine and he saw her before me!! He agreed that I need to have my IT Band released but that it should be done back home in Pittsburgh by Dr. Gruen as an open surgery because he has never done an IT Band as messed up as mine with a scope. At least he admitted to is limitations. That is a big thing for a surgeon. As you have already read in Susie's blog, he admitted to missing part of her impingement in the original surgery. We are in the same boat there, as he did not address impingement in my first surgery either. It is a very frustrating thing to deal with to say the least. I did have the opportunity to strangle him playfully when he mentioned our last "argument' over the phone and I was telling him that both of my hips hurt now!! So, for all of you who have wanted to strangle your doctor (Kelly or other) I did it for you too!! I had a happy mood swing that afternoon when I took L to Wave Hill for a "supermodel photo shoot." We had so much fun, and L posed beautifully for me. Her Mom never gets pictures like that... always the "cheese" face, never the cute stuff!! It ended too soon as I had to catch a flight home. It truly amazes me how friendships can develop out of adversity. Heck, I even told Susie that if she has to have another surgery and her Mom gets sick of being there I would come up and help her out. (Provided I am on my own two feet at the time.) After all, That's what friends are for!