Gone...Just like that

My new found painlessness has disappeared just as quickly as it came. I guess I have a very shortened cortisone life in my hip. I am back to pain and crutches :-( The "good" news is that I scheduled my hardware removal for June 20, hopefully that will put an end to all of this and I can finally move on!

The Light

Fianally- after 6 months of pure hell, I can walk without crutches (well, at home, for short periods of time). Seems like with most other things related to my hip, the cortisone took a long time to kick in but it finally did and I feel like a new person. I can walk again! It's like night and day. This has been a game changer in so many ways but most importantly, I am so so so happy right now. Since injecting near the screws made all the difference, they have to come out. I feel like I am living with a dark cloud hanging over me with this fear that any day the cortisone will wear off and I will be back to where I was before. Right now it looks like I won't be able to coordinate my husband and my Mom's schedule for another 4 weeks but I guess in the grand scheme of things what's another 4 weeks? It's been 6+ years since this started and I can't wait for it to finally be over.

At the 6.5 year mark I may have reached my breaking point

I think I may have just had the worst 24 hours of my hip journey. Given everything I have been through, I think I have done a damn good job of keeping it together, pasting a smile on my face every day, and just continuing to plug away. In the last few days/ weeks, the pain on the side of my leg has gotten so bad I can't take it anymore. I am also developing compensatory tendinitis in every muscle around my hip, contributing to my pain issue. The fact that the injection did nothing for me and the increasing lateral pain has left me in such a poor emotional state that I have had more than one meltdown in the last 24 hours. I don't know what the next step is, I don't know what to do and I don't know how I will manage at this point with pain this severe. I am hoping it is a temporary flare up- maybe from too much walking or activity.

Trochanteric Bursa Injection

I ended up having the injection yesterday. After yet another ridiculous fight with Oxford and Orthonet, I got approval about 1.5 hours before the procedure was scheduled (will post on this soon). I am a little disappointed because the numbing medication (marcaine) did nothing for the pain I have been having which is just posterior to the greater trochanter. While there is pain at the trochanter and screw sites- it is the pain posterior to that that is debilitating. My MRI report shows a glute tear and my scan from September does not. I plan on asking for a re-read on the glutes to know specifically what had changed. I still cannot walk without crutches and have a major trendelnberg if I try to. I still can't believe that I am still dealing with this, having to have scans, injections and anxiety oer my hip. It makes me so mad....