The Injection

If there is anything I have learned up until this point is that my hip is no longer a normal hip and will not respond to treatment the way normal hips do. Case in point, my cortisone injection last week. This was the 10th time I've had an injection into my hip so it no longer phases me.  I got good relief initially from the local anesthetic. At the 2 hour mark I started having posterior joint pain. At first I assumed that this pain was just something that would not be affected by the injection but a few moments later the pain in my entire hip became so bad I don't know what had hit me. I couldn't believe I had only gotten 2 hours out of the local. A little while later the pain subsided and I got another hour or 2 of pain relief. For the rest of the day I had a terrible headache and was breaking into a cold sweat. I think I may have had some sort of reaction to the steroid.  The next few days were pretty rough, I've been taking narcotics and muscle relaxants and some anti inflammations which I usually avoid. Again, my anterior hip muscles are in such bad spasm that they are pulling on my back and now I am having really bad back pain. The back pain is a lot more debilitating than the hip pain, IMHO. Additionally, to complicate matters, when my hip pain is bad, I am getting referred pain into my calf. I don't know if this is related to the nerve injury from the surgery or something different The last few days have been immensely challenging for me. I could barely get out of bed yesterday due to pain and then due to me not being able to function on narcotics. Today I tried taking it easy again but tomorrow I have to live my life and move forward. I am at a loss and don't know what to do, what to think or what will happen with my hip.  I haven't worked in almost 5 months. Initially I was on disability. When I thought I was ready to return to work, I found out I no longer have a job. This definitely threw me a curve ball. For a while, I have been thinking about starting my own practice and this was the kick in the pants I needed. I have been planning and am almost ready to start, I am hoping and praying that u can be successful and that my hip problem will not stand in my way. 

4 1/2 Months Post-op

As my hip journey continues to drag on, my hope for normalcy is slowly fading away. I have pretty much lost faith that there is help for my hip and am trying to  tell myself that I would be better off with a hip replacement in the near future.

Last week I sent my OS an email asking him for a cortisone injection, I hope to be able to have it this week. I also am quitting PT (again). I can't stand the thought of spending my entire day going and coming, and being in worse pain for days after. The price is also becoming prohibitive with a high copay and city parking prices. My hope is that the cortisone takes the edge off and I can take my mind off of this for some time.

PT, besides for irritating my hip, is also causing me back pain. I think that my hip is still unstable and the anterior muscles go into spasm to try to stabilize in turn pulling me into excessive lumbar lordosis. I had to ask my PT to please not sacrifice my back for my hip!