Trochanteric Bursa Injection

I had my bursa injected 2 days ago. It was ultrasound guided and scheduled as a possible aspiration of the swelling in my leg. Fortunately of unfortunately (not sure which) there is no clear defined pocket of fluid but rather it is dispersed interstitially and could not be removed. I am going to speak to my PT about it and maybe start to wear compression shorts to reduce it. I was in a ton of pain yesterday, today was better. I am cautiously optimistic bc my last few cortisone injections have started like this and then been horrible for 2 weeks before subsiding again and kicking in. Unfortunately I am so busy for the next few weeks and can't really take it easy until we go on vacation for the kids holiday break. I will try to write an update soon.

One Year From Open Surgical Dislocation

Today marks one year since my open dislocation surgery. When I think back on the year I am overcome with so many emotions. Anger, sadness, pain, embarrassment, devastation, accomplishment, happiness and so much more. It had been one hell of a ride and as I write this I have tears in my eyes, tears of happiness and tears of sadness. Happiness for all I have overcome and for how far I have made it, sadness for all I endured and had to give up, what my family went through and just plain self pity. When I think of where I was exactly one year ago today, I cry. Fresh 9" incision, newly healing femur fracture, cadaver labrum incorporating once again, IV line, spinal, catheter, and probably the worst pain I have ever been in in my entire life, and a lot more than I probably remember. And now I think of where I am today, and I am crying as well. At one year postop (with a gluteus medius repair 6 months ago) I am making slow progress, but I still need my crutch at some point of every day. I still deal with pretty severe pain in my greater trochanter as glute at times. I still have to ice. I still can't function like most people do. I can't run off to the supermarket if I need a few things, I can't spend the day in the mall, I can't take my kids ice skating, or play soccer with them. I still need daily meds. This surgery was supposed to give me back my life, but it is happening on my body's timeline, which is quite slow. I want my life back, the way it was in October of 2006. That is just before I started my hip journey/ nightmare. My kids don't know what life is like when I don't have hip pain. L was 2 when it started and Jk was one. Z came a long in the middle of it all. He is almost 5 now. L is almost 10 and Jk is 8. I hope and pray that this coming year will bring me back to where I was at that point, no pain and able to be a mother to the fullest degree.

4 months post hardware removal/ glute repair

I have been to PT 3 times and all I can say is that it is has been life changing. I can walk now. Well, I can walk well now. Some things seem like they haven't really changed, but I know they have. I am still on the same routine, crutch when I leave the house, no crutch at home....but I can walk like rock star now with my crutch! Quite honestly, I am pretty fed up with people asking my why I need my crutch since I walk so well, or, my all time least favorite "how much longer do you need that thing?".... To which I'd like to reply "do I look like a fucking fortune teller?" But always smile and say "just a few more weeks". The issue really is that at times, I can walk perfectly, with no crutch. I can stand in my kitchen and prepare meals for over a dozen guests, I can do homework, feed, and put my kids to bed. But usually, at some unpredictable point, my glute will rebel and say enough! Then I am on my own. If I am lucky I have my crutch, other times I have not been so lucky and have gotten myself into a tricky situation where I am half a block from home, no crutch and no functioning glute. I have learned that as much as I want to, I have to take my crutch with me if I am planning on waking more than half a block. My glute now fires but has no endurance and quickly fatigues and shuts down. This is going to be a long an tedious process until I can do everything I want with a fully functioning glute!

3 months post hardware removal

Crazy how time flies!! It's been 3 llloooonnnnggggg months since I had my screws removed and my glute repaired. My medrol mess is pretty much under control. My glute is still painful and swells... A lot.... In an area posterior to my greater trochanter. My OS offered a cortisone injection, I am going to try to put it off for now. I started PT again yesterday. One of the PTs I have seen in the past is now working at a "boutique" private practice and charges an arm and a leg for visits. Since she is the "glute master" I am left with no choice but to pay out of pocket and see her. The plan is to see her every few weeks and be compliant with my exercises at home. She have me a few very very specific and targeted exercises that really work the area I feel won't fire, so hopefully this will be money very well spent. A far as the crutch situation goes, I am not using any indoors for the most part. Occasionally I will have too much pain and swelling and need one. Outdoors I use a crutch. I have tried not to and the results have been poor. I walked my daughter to a play date 1 block away on a day I was feeling good. I decided not to use my crutch. On my way home, I had to stop and rest on a scaffold bc I couldn't continue. 2 days ago I tried avian, 1 block away, but this time I rested once I got to the play date before turning around. Still not great. I guess I am not ready yet. My PT said to expect this I take 6-12 months (from the glute repair) to feel back to normal, or whatever normal will be for me.

Post Medrol Mess

I think I've been off of the steroids for 3 or 4 weeks now. Unfortunately it has left me a mess. I continued to have panic attacks. One was so bad it caused my hands to clench up and paralyze and my feet as well. I thought I was having a stroke and made my husband take me to the ER (that's my second ER visit since the last surgery.... The "easiest one"). They diagnosed it as just another panic attack, which I think was the best thing ever, bc it confirmed than any sensation I have good forward is just a panic attack and not any of the crazy things I had been fearing, like difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, tingling in my extremities, tingling on my tongue and lips etc. Since that day, I haven't had a full fledged panic attack, but started taking Ativan when I would feel an attack starting. I hated the Ativan and could feel myself becoming dependent on it. For a good portion of this, I was out of town. I decided I needed to stop the Ativan since it wasn't helping anyway and try to get my hands on my herbal and homeopathic remedies from my acupuncturist. Once I made the switch I felt a lot better. I was finally home yesterday and was able to have an acupuncture session. What a difference, even with 1 treatment. She gave me a regimen of herbs and minerals and other natural remedies to take. As I write I am on a plane heading back out of town, I left my Ativan at home by accident. A week ago, that alone would have caused a panic attack. Today, I am ok without it! As for the hip, still on 1 crutch (I think it's been about 10 weeks) and still with bursitis. I think I may need a cortisone injection to end this but am really scared of steroids. Not sure what to do...

Post- medrol dose pack

I am happy to say the medrol dose pack helped my leg tremendously. The burning I had in my foot is gone and I have graduated to one crutch/ no crutch at times. The medrol was one of the worst meds I have ever taken in my life and will publicly say I will never ever take it again. I started it on a Saturday morning and by afternoon I was feeling amazing, my pain was at least 50% better. By Monday 80% better, one crutch and a friend noted I had a "spring in my step". It was a tapering dose, starting with 6 and one less each day. I realized Tuesday I forgot my last Monday night dose so I took it after breakfast. About 20 minutes later I started having a bad reaction and I honestly though I was going to die. Now I realize I was having a panic attack from the meds but at the time..... I was really scared. My heart would start racing and I would feel like I was going to pass out, and then the feeling would just go away. It finally stopped after a few hours. I called my pharmacist who said take more food with it. When I took it that night I was fine. The next morning it happened again but not quite as badly. That night things got really bad and the panic attack was intense. I still didn't know it was a panic attack. I was shaking on top of everything , I was home alone and freaking out. My husband called my brother in law who happens to be a doctor and lives down the block. He immediately realized it was a panic attack- which is a side effect of the medrol, and had me take Ativan to stop it. For the next 6 days I had to take Ativan to deal with the effects of it. I also skipped the final dose because I was so scared to take more. Luckily I got enough in me to get me over the hump!

6+ weeks from hardware removal

As usual, things have been slow, if nothing else. At 6 weeks I was still in crutches without a firing glute and to make matters worse, I had burning in my foot. It started around week 5 and was not getting better. I saw my OS last week who wanted me to start a Medrol dose pack (tapered steroids). I initially said no, and we agreed to increase Lyrica and the compound cream I have. A few days later I was going to rip off my foot....it was time for the steroids. I started them Saturday morning and by lunchtime I felt better. That night I had very little burning in my foot. On Sunday my whole leg felt better and I was using one crutch all day. I feel like superwoman, I even cleaned up the entire kitchen last night, emptied 2 dishwashers, bathed the kids.... I know I know..... Don't overdo it....but I feel like I am free!!!! I have a small worry in the back of my mind.... What will happen in 4 days when I am done....but I am trying not to worry about it and rather enjoy this liberating feeling of finally feeling better! I will report later in the week!

First PT appointment after hardware removal

I've been having a lot of hypersensitivity on my hip lately. It hurts to touch. I've also been unsuccessfully trying to come off of crutches. He said the hypersensitivity is from fluid collection in the tissues, the exercises I am supposed to do will help move it all out. At 5 weeks out from the glute repair he does not think I should be coming off of crutches yet and thinks I need to wait a little longer. My OS had said start weaning off around now but clearly my hip has a mind of its own.

4 weeks since HWR and Glute repair

Well, I can say that this surgery has certainly thrown me for a loop, which I should have expected, but was trying to be hopeful. It has most definitely not been my easiest surgery, as my OS assured me it would be. At 4 weeks I am still on 2 crutches. I tried using 1 yesterday and I can walk well with it but there is significant pain in my glute and I paid the price later in the day. I have had horrible bruising, it is finally going down and fading now. I have my first PT session next week so we will see what my PT wants me to start with. At 4 weeks I don't feel better than preop but I am sure it will come soon. I am still really sore on the greater trochanter and really swollen. Ice is my best friend because I have completely stopped pain meds because I was so sick a few weeks back. I am still occasionally battling dizziness, headaches, nausea etc, but less and less every day.

2.5 weeks post hardware removal

I have a few complaints to make... The first is that my OS said this would be easiest surgery out of the 7..... It has not been. Also, I was expecting a 3" incision. We are at about 9" or 10". As usual, my post op period has not gone as planned. Initially I was in so much pain from swelling. I developed a large bump at the top of my incision. My OS told me it was probably a hematoma and not to worry. My massage therapist showed me how to do lymphedema work on it. The next day it was a lot smaller but my leg looked like it had been through a war. I've never, in my personal and professional life seen bruising like this. It is slowly resolving. About 6 days post op I was sitting at my computer trying to work and I became extremely dizzy. I moved back into bed and basically stayed there for days. I was so sick- weak, dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, headache etc. I've never felt so sick before. 4 days later I was still sick and could barely pick up my head off of my pillow. I asked my OS what he thought and what could be causing this- he didn't know but suggested I go to urgent care if it got worse. At urgent care I was seen by a nurse practitioner who felt that I had decreased breath sounds and sent me to the ER to rule out a PE (pulmonary embolus). I was really hoping urgent care would give me IV fluids and send me home!! At the ER they did give me IV fluids and some Reglan, ran a million labs and did a CT to check for a PE. Everything came back negative but once I had the IV I felt so much better. I spent the entire week following the ER in bed (again) slowly recovering. I am finally feeling a lot better, which I attribute to my acupuncturist who I saw 2 days ago. The day I saw her I felt worse but I woke up the next day feeling great. I am still on crutches and hope that when I see my OS this week he will let me go down to 1.

Op report #7

Right Hip Open Removal of Hardware, Bursectomy and Gluteus Medius Repair Indications: the patient had a prior surgical dislocation, painful hardware and loose medius and adductor weakness. She had a failed non- operative management and indicated for removal of hardware and Bursectomy and gluteus medius repair. Procedure: The patient was correctly identified in the holding area, she was brought to the operating room. Spinal anesthesia was administered she was placed in the lateral decubitus position and the right leg was prepped and draped in the standard, sterile, fashion. Approximately 4cm incision was made over the previous lateral incision from the Gibson approach and taken down to the level of the iliotibial band. Scar tissue was debrided. The iliotibial band was split using modified anterior Gibson approach in line with the fibers of the gluteus Maximus. There was significant bursal inflammation on the undersurface of the iliotibial band which was excised and resected en mass. Three 2.5 mm screws were identified and extracted. The abductor tendons were intact although there was some attenuation of the posterior superior facet, insertion of the round fibers of the gluteus medius. Using drill tunnels through the posterior, superior facet, modified Mason- Allen sutures using #1 OrthoCord sutures were used to restore tension on the abductor in this region. The PRP was then injected at the site of the abductor repair. The wound was copiously irrigated. A light closure was performed with 0 vicryl for the iliotibial band and 0 vicryl 1 and 2.0 Vicryl for the deep layer and a 3.0 Monocryl sutures with Steri Strips. The wounds were cleaned, dried and sterile dressings were applied.

I am unscrewed!

My unscrewing was 4 days ago. Leading up to the surgery I was pretty calm. My OS and I had discussed things and decided that while taking out the screws he would do whatever he could to help my gluteus medius. This including repairing any and all tears and injecting PRP. It turns out I didn't have a bad tear but I had a stretched out tendon. I am not 100% sure why it was stretched. My OS said it may have healed like that after the open dislocation or, since I hadn't been firing, it looked all loose. I guess it's one of those situations- what came first, the chicken or the egg. Surgery was on Thursday (6/20/12) and I was supposed to come home that day. Since I am usually not the star patient in the PACU, I had a lot of trouble recovering and was in a lot of pain so I ended up staying over. The next day things didn't go too well. I was in a lot of pain and very dizzy. The hospital won't discharge you until you "pass" PT. I was too dizzy for PT so I was stuck another night. Yesterday was almost a repeat of the day before. I failed PT twice bc I was too dizzy and in pain. Plus the PT said I was way too pale and was nervous I would pass out. Everyone gets PT 2x/day so I maxed out my opportunities. I REALLY didn't want to stay another night so I skipped a dosage of pain meds and made sure I drank a ton of juice and ate a little. I asked my nurse to beg the PT to give me one more chance. A really nice PT came back and cleared me to leave! Yippee!! So now I am home, I feel like I did after my open surgery, if I don't move I am fine, if I walk, roll in bed, sit, scoot etc I see stars. My OS took pics with his phone so I a waiting for him to send the to me, he showed me in the PACU but I was a little out of it!

Hardware Removal Pre-op Appointment

I decided to make an appointment with my OS to go over some last minute pre-op concerns. Primarily what the heck is going to happen with my glutes. He will fix whatever needs fixing and suture it back down. He will also put prp in while in the surgery to promote healing. Post op I will be on crutches for 2 weeks minimum and no active abduction for 2 weeks minimum. Since I've been on crutches this whole time I shouldn't expect to miraculously walk!

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....

MRI and CT are done!

I was finally able to have my scans last week (report coming in the next day or so). I already spoke to my OS and have his report on it. My osteotomy is pretty much healed which is amazing at 4.5 months. My allograft looks great as do all my muscles. No tears in my glutes and no denervation. My glute med is a little atrophied but that is to be expected. I do have a lot of inflammation and irritation laterally from the screws so they will come out. The question is when. Technically, my osteotomy is healed enough to do it now but that would be incredibly aggressive. I am going to have the bursa injected to give me some more time and the screws can come out in the next 2months or so, giving the osteotomy sufficient time to be healed.

My MRI Drama

Ever since my husband switched jobs about 1 1/2 years ago, our health insurance changed from United healthcare to Oxford. If you recall, I had major issues w UHC back in 2010 when they denied my surgery. After an appeal the denial was overturned but I later had more issues with my out of network benefits. Oxford is owned by UHC but operates under its own rules. One of those rules is that under my particular policy, I require pre-certification for every MRI, CT, surgery, injection and god knows what else. Generally the scans are approved within a day or 2. This time things were not quite as simple. Oxford outsources their radiology pre-certification to a company called Care Core. Care Core is supposed to approve or deny the procedure within 2 days. My CT (which is a less expensive scan) was approved right away. The MRI was not. Care Core needed more info- specifically "was my hip pain treated w 4 weeks of NSAIDs" as it "typically" should. Well, this got me a bit riled up....I mean- how many Naprosyn's does Care Core think will make me walk? And to be honest, I wouldn't call this "typical". So, my doctor's office had to send more info and explain that I had already done more than 4 weeks w an NSAID cream.... And the MRI was denied. So I became a little more agitated....and why didn't they have he same requirement for the CT? I mean- if I have to be on 4 weeks of NSAIDs then lets adhere to the same rules all across the board... Not just for expensive scans. In the end, the MRI was approved, 10 days after the initial request. Once it was approved, a lovely representative from Care Core called me to let me know. (It is important to note that she was lovely bc everyone I spoke to was lovely. It is the game that medical management companies play- its much harder to yell and scream at someone who is sweet as pie) "My MRI is approved to be done at XYZ facility in the Bronx". Huh? The Bronx? Wtf? I calmly explained to her that I will not be having my MRI in the Bronx but at the same hospital where I have had all (I forget the number) previous ones. And why was this particular facility chosen?? "Bc your doctor requested it. And your Ct is approved at that facility as well". Hmmm, my doctor only allows MRIs at 2 facilities and I am pretty sure neither is in the Bronx. And when I received the call about the CT, I was told it had been approved at my regular CT facility. Why was it changed? I did get them to change both scans to the right facility but why the hell is Care Core trying to pull a fast one? What the hell is going in w medical management in this country??? Last time I checked I had a very pricey PPO policy and I am shocked at the lengths an insurance company would go to cut costs

OS#2 not too concerned

If you recall, my "regular" OS who did my 5 (yes, 5) scopes had to brig in another OS to do the osteotomy portion of my surgery. He happens to be a pediatric hip surgeon and the one who I took my son to last summer when he was having hip pain. Yesterday my son happened to have a follow up with him and my crutches were a topic if conversation. His nurse first said that with multiple surgeries it is common for the glute to take a while to wake up. He concurred and he also said that he doesn't cut the glute. So my first question (in my head) was why does my OS think it was cut? They routinely do this surgery together. OS#2 barely batted an eye at the fact that I can't walk. I don't think I told him about the pain but regardless- he was cool with it. I asked his nurse later on if they would order scans at this point (4 months) and she said probably not. At 6 months they would. So I am confused about my OS concern, esp bc he is never concerned about anything it seems. I am still going ahead w the scans- the best case scenario will be glut tendinitis that will resolve w the screw removal.

OS not too happy

I spoke with my OS last night who is no longer ok with me being on crutches. It's not "normal" anymore and he wants to figure out why. He said that I may be having problems from my glute medius tendon which is cut and then repaired at the end of the surgery. It is most likely very irritated from the screws but we have to rule out other problems like denervation or tears. I went to see my PT today but the appointment was hijacked by my OS. He said (again) that my screws must come out ASAP. The soonest it can be done safely is 6 months but I have to have a CT to check the healing of the osteotomy. My PT checked all my muscles and my ROM and everything is great except for my glut. med. All the muscles fire well but the med wont turn on. Which is why I can't walk. I should hopefully have the scans in the next few days as my OS is anxious to see what is going on. I am beyond upset with this and wish my hip would just cooperate, for once.

4 months and still on crutches

That about sums up my feelings right now. I just can't believe that I am still on crutches. I tend to compartmentalize my life by events- and there were abt 6 event post op that I wondered whether I would need crutches at. So far the answer has been yes. To add to the excitement, I have a raging case of trochanteric bursitis so bad there is a huge swollen area halfway between my butt and the outside part of my leg. It is so painful I want to take a knife an saw off that part of my leg. I've been away for abt 1.5 weeks and came home to my housekeeper/ nanny being on vacation. I unpacked from the trip and have been keeping my house clean.... I want to take the knife and cut off the rest of my leg. I have a call with my OS next week and an appt with my back up PT next week as well. I had a massage session today w my Reiki/ Energy/ craniosacral/ healing massage therapist. He wasn't able to go too deep on my op leg bc of all the inflammation. I am ready to take my crutches and....

15 weeks postop

Time is slowly going by, almost as slow as my walking speed. I never dreamed that at 15 weeks I would still be on crutches, but here we are, slowly moving forward. I am down to 1 crutch most of the time in the house. At times I get too tired for one and the pain doesn't allow me to be on just one. But, sometimes I lose one crutch! I have Millennials and they are side specific, so they are not interchangeable. And since my right hip is the involved one, I need the left crutch. Sometimes I have to make a choice, do I walk to the kitchen with one crutch, even though my leg really can't handle it, or do I go and look for the lost right crutch? It takes longer to find the lost crutch most of the time so I go with choice A!! Groin pain continues to improve. Lateral pain is there and is exacerbated with a lot of walking and activity. I still can't fully lie on that side. My new cream def helps when I remember to apply it. My PT situation has changed and I am without a PT right now. I have an appointment w a massage therapist this week and hopefully it will be a weekly thing if I like him. I hope I can be disciplined enough to do the exercises on my own. I had been really good about doing abs every day but have been slacking lately. Work is busy and so is life!! My recovery has been anything but linear, and probably best describes as a staircase!

13 weeks

I saw my OS last week and he seemed fine with my (lack of) progress. He said he'd much rather I take things slow given my colorful history with my hip. At this point I have more trochanter pain than groin pain for the most part. He said that as my muscles get stronger, the forces on the joint will decrease and the groin pain will stop. He has said that before and I never quite understood until now. Right now my abductors and external rotators are very weak so my hip is always wanting to adduct and internally rotate, putting excessive strain in the joint and causing groin pain. The more I walk the more groin pain I have. Same for the trochanter pain, the more I walk the more it hurts. For the trochanter pain, he prescribed a topical cream that has an anti inflammatory, muscle relaxant, anesthetic, gabapentin and some other stuff. He thinks it will help with the trochanter pain. He also casually mentioned that some people need the screws out to get rid of the trochanter pain. Topical cream sounds like a much better solution!

11.5 weeks post op

I have spent the last 2 weeks on "vacation" and then recovering from vacation! I went w my family to Disney World, mostly because my kids really wanted to go, and L had told me over winter vacation, when we didn't go anywhere, that "it was the worst vacation ever". Sorry kid, I was 3 weeks postop and could barely get out of bed!

I rented a scooter and the trip went fine! Now that I am home I am playing catch up with work and life. 

I am still on 2 crutches but can do some walking in the house with 1. I still am very limited with walking with 1 and am feeling discouraged because the progress is super slow. I am also making a few more "public appearances" and am really sick of people saying "oh, you are still on crutches? How much longer do you have to use them?" I wish it was that simple and I could say "I have to use them until Monday and then I will be perfect". I wish I knew how much longer I would need them! I wish I didn't need them anymore!

There is no magic number of weeks on crutches, weeks of not driving, weeks of not working etc. Unless you have had this procedure (or any procedure) you won't get it. If you are an outsider looking in, don't ask "how much longer until...." We don't know. If we knew, we would tell you!

I have started driving more and spent quite a while in the car yesterday. I also ran my first errand. I went to one store and bought one thing. I have to start somewhere!

9 weeks post-op

I can't believe it has been 9 weeks since my surgery. Some days I am shocked at the lack of progress, others I can't believe how far I have come. At 9 weeks I occasionally go a day or 2 without narcotics, other days I need 1 or 2 Dilaudids to get me through the day. I am still in 2 crutches 95% of the time. Occasionally I can walk to the bathroom from my bed with one crutch. Some days even to and from the kitchen. Unfortunately I end up with a lot of groin pain when I do too much single crutch walking. 

My pain these days is mostly groin. Or at least it starts there. If it progresses the greater trochanter starts to hurt, then the entire incision, I have a "hole" from my last surgery at a scope site- that starts to get tender followed by all the muscles surrounding it. If things get really bad the nerve pain comes back. 

I play games and end up losing to pain- I wait and see if I "really" need narcotics and usually I do, and it gets to be too late to actually effectively control it with meds so I end up nauseous and in tears. There is no way a scope was anywhere near this tough bc there is no way I would have agreed to a second....or fourth. 

As far as functioning- I am still mostly home. I drive only if I absolutely have to, and only very, very short distances I have driven a total of 4 times since my surgery. Ice is my best friend, still. 

So, in summary, at 9 weeks post op, life is pretty crappy. I am going away this week to part of out trip will be Disney. Should be interesting. My kids and husband think it will be so fabulous since I will need a wheelchair so they will be able to skip lines. I'd rather stay home!

7 1/2 weeks post op

I saw my OS last week and he is very happy w my bone healing. He wants me to slowly wean off of crutches but not before 4 weeks. I have been having a tough time but the last few days seem to finally show me there is hope! I have actually gotten dressed (skirt and tights!) 2 days in a row for a few hours. The pain is less as well. I keep thinking of what a fellow hip friend told me- recovery is not linear! I keep reminding myself of that. 

My PT keeps telling me how strong I am and how mobile I am. Yes, I can get on and off the bed, on and off the floor, all around the kitchen. I guess you can say I am seasoned!!

I am so happy that things are turning around. I am going to drive tmrw morning. I've driven a teeny bit but it is painful. I have the added problem now that there is a bus strike in nyc so I am relying on friends to transport my kids. Z walks to school and my neighbor has been taking him but we are in the middle of a deep freeze and walking to school is just not an option. I will drive him the 2 blocks tmrw and hopefully the pain won't be too bad. It has been 7+ weeks and not driving is becoming a burden. 

6 week X-ray

It's been 6 weeks

I have been thinking about the past 6 weeks and boy have they been hard. I recently found these pics and was thinking that I haven't smiled like that since!

 

and a before and after shot of my feet!

5 1/2 weeks post op

Sigh! It's been 5 1/2 weeks, you would think that by now I could manage my pain effectively and cope with this situation. I really dislike having to take pain meds so I wind up in a mess of a situation some days. I try to avoid narcotics so I'll start to have pain, I'll try taking 3 extra strength Tylenols, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. What happens next is the pain will get worse and I'll start asking myself if I really need pain meds..... This will continue until I realize that I can barely walk and I have tears in my eyes from pain....and then I realize that I am being ridiculous about the meds. But because I let the pain get so out of control its hard to get it back under control. At 5 1/2 weeks postop I can say that now I have left the house 3 more times- once for Z's birthday party, once for a manicure and once for a quick lunch with a friend. Each outing is exhausting both physically and mentally. Additionally, the motivation to go out is not there. I look so worn out, I have no energy or desire to stand in the bathroom and put on makeup or do my hair. I haven't attempted to put on anything other than sweatpants or yoga pants for fear of anything touching my greater trochanter. If I am lying close to the edge of my bed and my kids sit next to me, it hurts if they touch my leg there. Needless to say I am still not driving. I keep saying "maybe next week". So at 51/2 weeks I don't spend the day in bed but I am home. I work from home which is a godsend. If I get busy and sit too long I get pretty bad pain. I try to rest ad ice during the day but it doesn't always happen. I am trying to be patient....

Op report #6 (open surgical dislocation)

The patient suffered from persistent right hip pain, sense of instability. She failed non-operative measures and had clinical, radiographic and diagnostic studies consistent w given pathology. Given the persistent pain, she was indicated for a revision allograft labral reconstruction, capsular repair and revision arthroplasty. Spinal epidural anesthesia was administered. She was placed in the lateral decubitus position. Right leg was prepped and draped in standard surgical fashion. A lateral portal was made down to the iliotibial band. A modified Gibson approach was performed and the gluteus Maximus was retracted posteriorly. The trochanteric flip osteotomy was then performed with a 15mm trochanteric wedge. The minimums was dissected off the anterior capsule and dissected anteriorly. A T- capaulotomy was then performed allowing for good visualization of the labrum. Hip was dislocated after ligamentum teres was cut. Labral reconstruction from prior semitendinosis allograft appeared to be well incorporated but was not providing a suction seal, probably due to the thin tissue quality. As a result, augmentation of the labral allograft reconstruction was performed. The edge of the acetabular rim was prepared and a total of six 1.4 mm anchors were placed and labral allograft reconstruction was performed with good anatomic restoration of the labrum. Dynamic arthroscopy was performed and demonstrated no evidence of any impingement in any direction at all. There was no subluxation of the joint. The iliopsoas was very tight so some additional bony decompression was performed with a psoas across the front of the femoral head to minimize any underlying pain that may have been related to the iliopsoas. Subsequent to this, the capsule was repaired anatomically and tightened to improve capsular stability as well. Trochanteric osteotomy was then prepared with three 3.5mm screws and the wound was copiously irrigated. Then the wound was closed in layered with 0 vicryl to close the fascia, 2-0 vicryl followed by running monocotyledons suture and steri strips. No drain was necessary as there was no bleeding. The wounds were cleaned, dried, sterile dressings were applied and the patient was awakened from anesthesia and brought to the PACU, having tolerated the procedure without complications.