Who's 'da Man

After a rough start to my day, I finished the morning with my ego quite inflated. Let me explain.

I am currently treating a 30 year old woman with hip pain. Plain MRI showed no pathology, I do not have the x-ray reports. Her chief complaint initially was clicking in the hip and pain and tenderness. She was diagnosed with hip flexor tendonitis. A load of crap, said I, humbly!

She did have extremely tight and painful hip flexors but she also presented with a positive impingement sign, and her pain is relieved with traction and any type of distraction I do on her hip. Her hip flexors have started to feel better from the extensive amount of manual work I have been doing but she still coplains of joint instability, clicking, and just a "funny feeling". So I have been telling her from the very beginning that I suspect there may be something wrong with the joint, despite what the MRI said. I think she started believing me and decided to go back to the doctor after we spoke on friday morning.

When I arrived in the office this morning, there was a handwritten note in my box that said to call that OS office ASAP. In my office, we NEVER use handwritten notes, every message is sent via intra-office email, and then the recipient knows who it was from in case they have questions. This had no name in it, no signature, nothing. Just to call regrding this patient, and ASAP. I thought "oh shit", I pissed him off with my brazen hip views and opinions. At that point, all I could do was suck it up and call, take him yelling at me, and move on. Ironically, the patient was in the OS office at the time I called. I also was not sure who from the OS office had called, bc the note said that his office had called, not him personally.

So I finally got through (after about 3 or 4 busy signals), and the receptionist had no idea who had called me. I went on to further explain that the patient was currently in their office and the message was regarding her. "Oh", the receptionist said, and the next thing I knew, the OS picked up the phone. "Fuck", I thought I had gotten off easy this time!

He said he had been talking to the patient regarding the clicking, and I was "right on" thinking it may be a labral tear, and he was going to order an MR arthrogram. "I think that is a good idea", I said. But I didn't stop there. I asked "did her x-rays show any sign of impingement or dysplasia?" "No, nothing exciting there" he replied,"but you are on the right track".

Ok, I obvioulsy didn't mention my own personal "battles", and how I probably know a little bit more about hip issues than the average PT, but what started out as a morning of me pracically peeing in my pants (for different reasons this time) ended up with me gloating and high fiving everyone around me!!!