Caution: Grapic,Read at Your Risk

Believe it or not I am still sick. I put in a call and email to my gastro bc this is no longer 'normal'. I can barely get out of bed. I thought part of the problem was the side effects if the narcs and zofran (i.e constipation) so I took a laxative last night which gave me awful cramps and took 15 hours to fully work (fun). I woke up this morning vomiting stomach acid, water and the apple juice. Once the laxative had fully worked, I was able to keep down ice chips and juice. I have never felt so sick before.

29 Hours Since my Last Hit

I am Percocet free...still. The withdrawl is going well!!! I don't think I can ever take narcotics again, I am so scared. I have been in bed for 29 hours with ice on and off, I occasionally haul myself out to use the bathroom or ride my bike for fear of a DVT. I am also trying to remember to do ankle pumps and quad sets and short arc quads in bed to help the blood circulate.

I am a lot better than yesterday but not great, I can't believe the nausea has not completely passed. I am eventually going to have to get up and do more stuff, then the pain med situation may become sticky. Worse comes to worse, I have Darvocet, which has been good for me in the past. I hope it doesn't come to that.

It is definitely not what I take, but how much. I think the levels were just so built up in my system I couldn't tolerate it anymore. Live and Learn!

A New Day, A Brighter Day

I wish! I woke up nauseous, It has now been 22 hours since my last Percocet and I still feel like crap. Last night I felt better so I had dinner, then took 2 Tylenol and went to bed. I was not expecting to wake up sick again. I have been drinking ice water only, I took a Zofran, hasn't helped much. I showered and decided to ride my bike a little since I have been so sedentary and do not want a DVT. The bike still hurt my butt, thanks perineal post, but better than Tuesday. I am losing track of days as I leave my imprint on my mattress!

I plan on icing, icing, icing, and not moving. Luckily I have a laptop so really have everything I need with me. We had grand plans to go out for dinner tonight...we will see!

Raining on My Parade

If you would have seen me this morning, you would have been very impressed. I was dressed, really dressed, skirt, tights, shoes, top (I ditched the hip brace). I had makeup on, my hair looked good. I looked presentable. J and I had an 'interview' for L's preschool for next year (welcome to the wonderful world of NY). We went, the school is in a small building with 4 floors, no elevator. But I was feeling great. I had taken Percocet through the night as needed, Zofran in the morning. We arrived and I did all the steps for our tour, they loved L, they even asked 'what can we do to convince you to let us have her next year?' One less thing to worry about.

After the interview, we dropped her off at her current pre-school and I walked home the 1 1/2 blocks. I came home and got into bed since my left leg was tired and my TFL and adductors were aching. I was also hungry, but nauseous and lightheaded. 'Traditionally', Wed. has been my 'not so great day' post-op. I decided on toast and tea for lunch. My stomach decided on no toast, no tea, and no more Percocet, and proceeded to expel every thing inside of it, numerous times.

This left me in a dilemma, I NEED narcotics, ok, that sounds bad, but temporarily, I am in pain and need something. I put a call into my OS office, with a note of urgency, and luckily got a call back within 20 minutes. I was told to wait until the Percocet is all gone/metabolized, no narcotics right now. This may be a reaction to anesthesia as well, not just Percocet. Start with ice chips, proceed to water, then crackers and take Tylenol. I am feeling better nausea wise. I have also iced like a madwoman, to numb it up to help with pain.

It also helps that my thigh is pretty numb from the surgery itself, hopefully it will go away on its own, it is a pretty large patch this time. All anterior, over my quad.

I had big plans to attend the PTA meeting tonight at L's school, since I had been doing so well. Maybe tomorrow I will have a more exciting day. I would love to work on my TFL on the operated side but the entire area is purple, looks awful. This is the worst I have looked after surgery ever. L asked me why my femur is purple! She is so funny. She is great with anatomy. She knows the following bones: Scapula, humerus, radius, femur, patella, tibia, calcaneus, phalanges, clavicle and 2 muscles: gluteus maximus and hamstrings. She is my little genius!

I am starving, as you can imagine. I am going to go try to eat something.

I have been in bed for 7 1/2 hours now, my leg has been climbed over numerous times but rambunxious children and is holding up!

History

Since I am awake, alone (J is happily snoring beside me), I decided to use my blog for what it was intended for,to learn from my experience. I went through my last surgery's post-op entries to see if there is anything I can do differently. I immediately noticed the one huge change is the pain med situation. I had a nasty few days last time until I started the Percocet, this time, I am doing great with the early start of Percocet. I was also curious as to when my right hip started hurting, I mention it around 1, 1 1/2 weeks but it seems like I had been hiding it until then (the truth is difficult sometimes).

I also noticed that I was not able to do a heelslide until Friday (Monday surgery, I am already able to do one, Yay Pre-hab!! I have more numbness this time around though and more swelling. P was going to measure the swelling but I said absolutely not- no one is measuring the circumference of my thighs!!! I also took the time to update my Timeline ad my profile (how long until I can go back to work???)

Details, Details,Details Part 2

As promised, here is the rest of the 'story'.

So the last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist asking me to sit up and then passing out. I am really scared of spinal needles, I have horrific memories of the pain of the spinal before my c-section and the epidural during childbirth with Jk, I like that I was out fr it during my first 2 scopes and wanted the same this time.

I was awakened in the OR, I think, and I asked what time it was, someone said 10:30, and then I fell back asleep. I remember waking up in the PACU again, maybe Dr.Kelly had come to speak to me as I really made it clear that I wanted to speak with him before going home. He had told me to make sure not to leave, plant my feet and don't move, until he came out of surgery!!! He tried to show me the scope pics and some x-rays, but seriously, he could have been telling me about the football game from the day before, he did say something about scar tissue and the cam bump, then I fell asleep. My spinal began wearing off and my pain was bad. I was given some Dilaudid, I slept some more. Then the PA from pre-op came to check on me, I remember saying 'I need pain meds', which got everyone jumping. The nurse said she had given me all the Dilaudid ordered, so did I want to try and eat something and take Percocet since she would have to ask the anesthesiologist if I could have more Dilaudid, and he was in surgery. I'm sure by now you can guess what my response was: "Page Him." So she did, and I got my drugs! I slept more, and more. I think I ate some crackers at some point and drank some gingerale to take the Percocet, then I slept more, I was really really lightheaded and dizzy. I don't remember if I got more Dilaudid after that. Dr. Kelly came back again, he asked if I remembered speaking to him earlier, I said yes, but I didn't remember what he said. HE told me again...took down the cam, scar tissue, and the psoas was fine 'you were right, I'm glad I listened to you.' He also said had he done my left hip first, he would have done the same on the right, cam and pincer in one shot. I asked, 'so I am not crazy', to which he replied 'that I can't say!' While he was there, he checked my dressing and decided to change it bc my incisions had ozzed I guess, I was in no condition to really care though. The nurse also requested he order more fluids since I had all that Dilaudid.Then I fell asleep again.I just couldn't stay awake but I really wanted to get out of there and go home. I finally called over my nurse, who btw, was incredible, she took great care of me! I told her to get me up, I want to go home! she asked if I was sure, she was nervous bc I was so lightheaded. I said we'll take it slow. So first she sat up the bed, then I sat on the edge for a while, I was close to the fine line between passing out and not, but I made it. She had to take out the epidural catheter from my back, then I transferred to a reclining chair on wheels. I was taken to the bathroom, you cannot be discharged without demonstrating that you can urinate. in the past, by the time I get out of bed, I am ready to explode, this time I wasn't, but I knew I had had a lot f fluid. I got to the bathroom and had no urge to go, but sort of forced myself to. I had a FULL bladder, so it was weird to not have any sensation. I mentioned it to the nurse but she thought nothing of it. The same happened when Jk was born...it resolved. I was then taken to Phase 2 of recovery where you get dressed and have PT. They left in my IV because I didn't look too hot! I now know the PT's and they were really nice to me. I got dressed and took a short trip around with my crutches and was allowed to be discharged! It was around 4:00 I think, surgery was at 8AM! There was another one of Dr. Kelly's patients in phase 2, he obviously had his surgery after mine since I was first, and we were being discharged at the same time! I would make a terrible drug addict, I would be too tired and sick to enjoy the high!! I guess that's a good thing. J picked me up in the car and we went to CVS for my drugs.

I made it into CVS but began feeling lightheaded, so I sat down. CVS was out of Percocet, I kid you not, and hadn't filled my Zofran bc it was for 20 pills but my insurance only covers 12. We got the 12 and went home sans Percocet, but I had some leftover from last time. Good thing I keep a nice stash!! I inhaled a Zofran in the car and made it home with no incident!

I spent most of the rest of the day in bed. I went to the bathroom shortly after arriving home, I looked at my leg, shit, the bandage had soaked all the way through with blood. This had never happened, I guess that's why he changed it earlier. I called and spoke with Dr. Kelly, he said to have J go buy gauze and tape, change the dressing and apply pressure. We changed it and I fell asleep. Arianna called around 9 to check on me, I think it had stopped bleeding, she said numb up my hip and sleep on that side to apply more pressure. It worked, it hasn't bled since.

I woke up around 10:45 needing a Percocet, J brought me some soup and I had the pill, was up for a bit and fell back asleep. I guess I am making up for all the nights the last few weeks. I no longer have anxiety, obviously it was over this, my blood pressure yesterday morning was 140/82, way too high for me!

I think we are in the clear, other than some serious butt pain from the traction, I have only surgical pain, no 'groin pain'. I will definitely keep you posted in my usual fashion!!!

Tears Of Joy

I actually had tears of joy this morning as I realized that my life will finally be mine again and not dictated by hip pain. My journey will finally be coming to an end. My left leg has been holding up well so far (knock on wood), and I am not crazy (well, about the hip stuff)!!

Post-Op Day 1

I know I promised to recap surgery day but I will post it later, it is too much info for me to write about in my Percocet haze.

I slept well last night, woke up and was able to have breakfast, no nausea. I then removed my dressing, the scope sites were not oozing and there was only a little bit of blood on it. I applied my waterproof bandages and showered, then removed them and applied regular (elmo) bandaids (that is all we stock here!!!). I was able to get dressed independently except for my socks which my mom helped me put on. Then we were off to PT. I think I took a zofran before leaving.

In the car, I took a Percocet. PT was basic. We took some ROM measurements. My flexion is same as it was pre-op, 112'. IR 30', it was 36' pre-op. This is great. What is limiting me is the HUGE amount of swelling. This is the worst it has ever been. MY leg has tons of bruising, I think Dr. Kelly must have been like 'I'l show her', hahah! J/k. As P was flexing my hip, I felt like my thigh was going to rip open at the seems from the swelling. My IT band feels tight as do my external rotators, thanks traction!!

My pain is not terrible, but I am taking percocet religiously. If I lay in bed and don't move, I am good. Moving hurts a little but I have so much more active motion than I have ever had this early post-op. I can do a heelslide without a problem and getting in and out of bed is not as hard as it has been. Again, 'wow, PT really works'!!!

After PT, my mom and I went out to lunch. As we sat down and the food came, I got very lightheaded so quickly ate half a sandwich, it helped. The plan was to go to CVS after lunch to pick up more bandaids, colace and percocet (can you believe the pharmacy was out of percocet last night....good thing I had some left over from last time) but I got soooo tired I had her take me home and I napped for 3 hours.

Now I am in bed, just chilling! I have phone calls to return and I should ice, I forgot to put my stolen icepack in the freezer (I took one from work today).

More To follow!!!!

Details, Details,Details

I am in bed, took a Percocet about an hour ago. No one else is up in my house yet so there is no point in geting out of bed.
I had to be at HSS at 5:45AM. I had already filled out the majority of the paperwork last week, so I waited. In the meantime, I met the people from the magazine who were doing the photoshoot. They didn't call me in until after 6:30. I had to take a pregnancy test (negative, phew), and put on one of their cool hospital gowns with the heater attachment, and the 'hip scope breakaway' shorts! The camera crew came in to take some pre-op pictures. The PA came to do his mini pre-op physical around 7, 7:15. J was still in the waiting room. I was getting nervous bc in the past, everything has been done by 7, but hey, it wasn't like they were going to start surgery without me, right!
Next came the woman who washes the surgical body part, so she washed my hip. Then J was allowed to come in and we hung out for a bit.

Anesthesia came next. It was not Dr. Jules, the one I had requested. But I remember Dr. Kelly reminding me that all the anesthesiologists are great, so I was ok.He asked if I had had issues with anesthesia in the past. I explained that when I had a spinal with scope #1, it took me a long time to recover, so scope #2 was done with a combined spinal epidural, much better. So he said he would plan on that.
The nurse was next, almost 7:45, we were running out of time. She had to go over my medical history again, then start the IV. She wanted my to lay down, I assured her I wouldn't pass out, but she insisted.

While she was doing her thing, Dr. Kelly showed up to 'sign' my hip. I asked him to please write 'do not release psoas', in case he forgot! He said he would remember, and wanted to know if I was going to have the psoas police in the OR!! He even showed me the consent form, he said 'look, it is not even on here', so I said 'good, bc I don't consent'. I asked if I am his biggest pain in the ass patient, he said not even close, I just know too much. I didn't have a response bc just at that second, the nurse inserted the IV needle which silenced me! He said he was just going to go in and remove scar tissue, adesions and obviously the cam bump. Ok, fine,I could deal with that.

The OR nurse came next.She looked at my hip brace and asked where the rest of it was? Huh, thats all I have. What about the posts and pillow?Huh?? That's all they gave me. So off she went, super annoyed, to find whatever it was that was missing (I still am not sure). she came back to bring me to the OR, 'we are 5 minutes behind' she said. I left J, and we went to the OR. We passed someone who was looking for whatever it is she was missing.He said 'I told Dr. Kelly', to which she got clearly annoyed and said 'don't tell Dr. Kelly'. I assume they found it bc we proceeded into the OR. The camera crew was in there with someone showing them all the scope tools, I was trying to get a glimpse, but they needed to get the anesthesia going. I was laying on the table and the anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me, and asked if I could sit up,I told him I didn't want to feel the needle go in, he told me he would make my skin numb, and then I was out!
Part 2 to follow after coffee!

Some More Tidbits

I am copying the email I sent out earlier to the 'groups' and adding some more details.

Hi everyone!I am home and resting after my revision hip arthroscopy ( bringing me to a total of 3 scopes). My worst fear was that there was really nothing wrong, and I was 'making this up'. My second worse fear was that my OS would be right and that this was all psoas. We had a lot of discussions/ arguments over this and finally settled on him promising not to do any type of release on my psoas.Well, to my surprise (not really), my psoas was fine, it is nice to actually hear a surgeon say 'you were right, I'm glad I listened to you'. He did shave down any residual cam impingement (pincer had been taken care of in scope #1). Being that I am argumentative and stubborn, I have gotten away with coming home with no cpm or gameready this time, my kids use the CPM as a ride-on toy and the gameready is just annoying for anyone taking care of me to use. I promised to be compliant and ride my bike and ice with regular ice.So...I had a large cam decompression, scar tissue removal, synovectomy (he said the joint was really inflamed). I think the labrum was fine, there were some adhesions I think....we spoke twice but I was really drugged, I will get the op report as soon as I can. He also said something about the cartilage being soft. I woke up and once my spinal had begun to wear off I was in awful pain, worse than any other surgery. I maxed out on the prescribed amount of dilaudid so the nurse had to page the anesthesiologist to see if I could have more. I was also given zofran and pepcid for nausea in the OR, and zofran to take home.I was still REALLY nauseous earlier. I also had a lot of drainage from my incisions, had to have the dressing changed once in the PACU and when I got home it had soaked through again and changed it again.As I am writing, my husband just said that he saw the before and after x-rays of the femur, before looked like 'rocky mountains' and after was nice and smooth.The pain is there but the hip is moving well, I think I attribute this to some serious pre-op PT. I went in really strong.Before I continue rambling in my percocet/ dilaudid induced blur, I will stop!Thanks to everyone who has been there to listen to me vent and complain and tell me I'm not crazy!!!

Thats the email. It is 12:30AM. I slept a few hours earlier, then I woke up and needed percocet, so J brought me some chicken soup to eat first. Percocet and empty stomach don't go well. I am also popping Colace like candy. The Percocet makes me extremely dizzy and lightheaded, but it is the better alternative to Vicodin, which makes me throw up like a madwoman. I haven't taken another Zofran yet, I probably will in the morning. I am feeling itchy all over, I will do a quick search on the meds they gave me and see what the deal is. My thigh is numb in the quad area. I will see what else is numb in the AM when I remove the dressing to shower (shhh). There are 3 incisions, I cant tell if they are over the old scope sites, I asked Dr. Kelly but don't remember what he said. I hope I can sleep tonight.
I am also having bladder issues. I am not having the urge to pee, even when I know I have to bc I drank a ton.I sort of knew right away bc in the pas I ahve woken up from surgery and really have to pee, this time no urge and they ad t hang an extra IV bag to be of the extra Dilaudid. I finally went to the bathroom and sort f had to force myself to pee, alot came out but with not a lot of force. Something similar happened when Jk was born, it resolved on its own in time, and I am sure this will too, but it is just one more annoyance for me at this point.
I think that is all I can think of for now!

I Am Home

Hi! I will make this quick and post the details in the 'susie way' later.
A very special thank you to J for the updates today. I just wanted to clarify, Dr. K did not actually say shut up, he was amused, I was silenced bc he was speaking to me at the same time the nurse was putting in my IV and I couldn't talk while she inserted the needle bc I was nervous.
I an nutshell, my psoas is fine (told you so), there was a cam lesion, a lot of synovitis, softening of the cartilage, lots of scar tissue. Labrum looked good.
I was in a TON of pain in the hispital I maxed out my Dilaudid, they had to call the anesthesiologist in the OR to see if I could have more. Dr Kelly came to check on me after his next surgery and changed my dressing bc it was soaking through. I am home now and went to look at the dressing and it is full of blood, so I called Dr. Kelly and he said it is fine, sometimes when they remove scar tissue it happens bc it is more vascularized and the arthroscopy fluid leaks out with it. He also added 'you were right' referring to the psoas!! J is out at CVS buying some gauze and tape to change the dressing. It is gross!
I am really lightheaded and dizzy, I was in the hospital until around 4. There was someone else in phase 2 with me who must have been Dr Kelly's next case, who went home when I did, I am always the last to leave!
More to follow!

!!!UPDATE!!! btw - i am still bored...

Dr K just came out. 10:55. He says she is fine and is in recovery. Who knows whether this means she JUST came out or if this is the first time he was ABLE to come out. I bet the latter.

Anyway, he says she is doing fine and the surgery went VERY well. (it better have Doc, there is no effing way I am coming back a 4th time).

I am a business man, far from a Dr. L, our little princess, knows more about the bones in the body than I do. Everything Dr K said to me went in one ear and out the other. Sorry Sue.

I do remember him saying that he had to do some repairs. Also, there was something that he found while in there that did not show up in the scan/mri??? Like I said, i am no Dr. He said that Susie was absolutely right that the psoas had nothing to do with the pain. He was nervous going in thinking what if it is the psoas and that he promised he wouldnt release it and releasing it would be the only way to fix? He said Phew! Luckily it wasn't.

The plan is to go in an see her in recovery within the next 30 mins. Yay - I can move from my seat.

Readers - this is my second and probably my last posting ever. I will leave the rest to the woman with 2 excellent hips.

J

Dr K's Harsh Words

This is J, the wonderful, snoring husband who woke up at 4:45am to be at HSS by 5:35.

While being seen in pre-op by Dr K, Sue, being her astute self, kept reminding Dr K to not release her psoas. Dr K told her to shut up and that she knows too much. He also said "what, are you going to have the psoas police in there?". I have never seen sue so quiet in a long time.

Anyway, it's almost 9:45, 95 minutes after taking her in. I am very bored...

J

It is the Middle of the Night

3:45 as I begin. I can't sleep, yet I am yawning up a storm in front of the computer. J has taken the habit of snoring lately, which is not good when trying to sleep through anxiety. So here I am, 3:45am, nothing to do, but listen to his snoring symphony and long for the coffee which has been banned along with all food and drink past midnight. This may be the worst part of it for me as I NEED coffee. I actually become very scary without coffee. Which leads me to wonder if all the other times in recovery, when I had a hard time waking up, if it was just lack of caffeine in my system!

I worked on my quad all through Desperate Housewives, it feels better. My big toe is also very sore. Both having to do with my 'limpy gait' I am sure. I am freezing, probably related to my anxiety as I am a little shaky again.

Looking forward to this all being over very soon!

The Final Spin

I just retired my spin shoes for a while. The bike will be put to good use over the next few weeks as I have refused a CPM! My 'last ride' was great, I worked really hard but feel really good about it.

I am pretty nervous and my hands are even a little shaky. I have no clue what we will find in my hip. Any ideas? We should have a poll! What do you think is wrong? More FAI? Labral tear? Full thickness cartilage lesion? Psoas adhesions? Bursitis? Hmmmm, anything I am leaving out?

It is 10:15, I have to shower and pack my bag. We plan on leaving the house at 5:15AM, so I estimate I need to be up at 4:00, to shower, blow dry and apply make-up. I always feel like I have to go into surgery 'pretty', I know, I am crazy! But it helps me feel better, so just for that, it is worth it!

I already located my crutches and brace, sweatpants, cel phone and wallet. I don't think I need anything else. J will have his laptop so I will be checking email/ comments until I go in! Feel free to drop me an email at suzq613 at aol dot com.

My quad decided to go into spasm yesterday, it still hurts a lot. I have to make sure Dr. Kelly doesn't feel the need to release it! J/K!

Ok, I am tired and cold. Time to start winding down, although I am oretty sure I will not be getting too much sleep tonight.

Weird

36 hours to go. Someone called from HSS yesterday, I have to be there at 5:45 AM, J is not thrilled, neither is my nanny. Sorry !
I forgot to copy the PT notes yesterday, I will try to remember Tuesday. I also forgot icepacks. I will use frozen vegetables until I go to my office, in the past, I ice on the first day of PT and take those ice packs home with me.

So what is weird???? I have discovered that an OS has a link to my blog. Weird! Spooky! Unprofessional??? My blog in no way is part of or has to do with my job. Coincidentally, I am a PT, I am not using this as an educational resource, more to occupy my time, vent, and record my own experience. http://www.drjonhyman.com/hiparthroscopy.shtml
If you scroll down there are links for hip arthroscopy, the last one is "A Patient's Hip Arthroscopy Blog", guess where it takes you? You got it! My blog. I told you it was weird. I don't particularly care that it is here, my blog is educational in the sense that 'what you see is what you get', I have no hidden agendas, this is my very real experience, no fancy curtains to hide the gross/ ugly stuff!!! This is what no one tells you! If I were an OS, I don't think this is exactly what I would want on my website, but so be it!!!

I think I am ready for surgery! I will probably be a ball of nervous energy tomorrow! I have another continuing education day, this time a pelvic floor dissection course. Sounds like fun!

Scope Preparedness

In keeping with my OCD'ness, I am almost ready for Monday. I bought my waterproof bandages today to shower immediately post-op (5 days no shower...does anyone actually do that???), I went grocery shopping (I know I will somehow end up back in the grocery store with my mom at least 3 times next week), got waxed (my new waxer is great, she uses this blue 'sensitive' wax, barely felt a thing) and tomorrow I have an appt for a manicure/pedicure.
Obviously these are all pre-op essentials, especially since all will be bared to the camera!! hahaha!! I was assured that this would not be the case!
I will also 'borrow' ice packs tomorrow from my office as I will not have a gameready this time.

J has been out of town this whole week. He had a brief 'stopover' at home last night but left again this morning. He brought me these really pretty canvas paintings from the Dominican Republic, the only thing is, they need to be framed. I took them to a frame store today and was quotes WAY higher than I could have imagined. They are big, one bigger than the other, and need to be stretched or something....I was quoted $480 for both, this is with the 20% discount (for the coupon I did not have) and if I pay cash. I thought it was a lot, but have no idea as I have never done this before. Any thoughts?

Since J and I don't see eachother very often lately, and we have a lot to discuss (Jk's b-day party, where L will go to school next year.....) we decided on a date for Monday morning at HSS, since there is some downtime during the pre-op processing, we will be discussing these things since we never have a lot of time together! I can't believe we need surgery to get us in the same room for a significant amount of time!!!!!

Eye Opening Discoveries

I finished my course today, YAY!! It was great! If anyone is a PT reading this, I highly recommend taking any CEU offered by The Institute of Physical Art.
Anyway, today we did psoas and iliacus palpation. I had told the instructor my issue with my hip, and that my surgeon wanted to release my psoas, to which his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he said 'wwwhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyy'!
So....he palpated my psoas transabdominally and it HURT, right more than left. He then did a super cool release on it (the release hurt as well). Then, I stood up to walk. "How does it feel", he asked, first step- good, second step- good, third step- holy shit, it just went into spasm and now kills. "ah, see, you need to retrain your patients once you add length to the muscles, they don't know what to do with the extra flexibility". So he did a PNF lower extremity pattern for psoas a few times and then I walked and it felt much better. P and I need to have a discussion about this next week. P should know better, he has gone through many of the IPA's courses, shame on you!!!! J/k!
I think most of my dysfunctions are coming from a dysfunctional psoas, as it has lumbar and thoracic spine attachments. The instructor also said he noticed that my gait is 'limpy', looks like I use my rectus femoris (quad muscle) to walk and and not my psoas.

So that was the last 4 days!! I just had pre-op labwork, surprisingly, no snafu's this time!!! As I got home, Dr. Kelly's office manager called, I saw the caller ID and though, crap, now what??? is it cancelled? did he 'disown' me as a patient? No! She wanted to know if I would consent to having pictures taken in my surgery for some magazine that Dr. Kelly is being featured in, and since I am so nice and such a good patient, she figured I would be ok with it! So now I will have a famous hip!

Tired and Annoyed

I have spent the past 2 days, 10 hours a day, in a class, I am no longer a student, I am not cut out for this!
I just wrote a very long post which included all of my final PT notes and measurements, which I had to rewrite since I could not copy/paste from my office's server (don't ask). Anyway, I accidentally closed the window and it DID NOT SAVE. I am too tired to rewrite it, so you may have to wait until Friday when I return to work and will hopefully be able to copy/paste from the office! Sorry.

A quick note on my course: We have been assessing each other's movement, then we treat, then reassess, everyone is making improvements in their movement, I am getting worse!!!! What a joke! the course is 8-6, and over 1 hour away from here, I am exhausted!

Final Pre-op PT Visit

I had very good intentions of sharing the measurements taken at my final pre-op PT visit yesterday, but as I just logged onto my office's server to retrieve P's note, I realized he did not complete it yesterday. I do not remember everything by heart, but overall, I was pleased. Yes, PT does work!!! I am now a believer! J/K! I have always been a believer!! My strength has improved since our last measurements 1 month ago, ROM has remained the same. Hopefully Monday night I will check again and try to post them! I think regardless of what is found during this upcoming scope, my recovery time will be quicker since I am going in stronger than ever (I can't believe I can say 'stronger than ever' when referring to surgeries, pathetic, I know).

Tomorrow is Day 1 of my 4 day continuing education course! It will be a long week, I know!

Article Review

I have been frantically trying to get my hands on an article from this month's AJSM because there is an article titled "Revision Hip Arthroscopy". I finally got it today. It found that the most common reason for a revision is persistent impingement.
Of 37 cases reported, 36 had impingement that was either not previously addressed, or inadequately addressed. 32 had labral lesions, 26 had a chondral defect, 22 had unaddressed FAI, 22 required lysis of adhesions, 13 for unaddressed instability, 12 for repeat treatment of FAI.

Just some food for thought! I feel better that most did have a labral lesion, not that I hope that for anyone...but you know what I mean!!!

Acupuncture Consult

Today I had an acupuncture consult. His assessment consisted of checking my tongue and pulses. He can tell what is going on in 12 different organs, apparently all 12 of mine are fu___ed up! 3 are hyperactive and 9 are weak. We didn't initiate treatment today though, next time. He found the most dysfunction in my stomach, liver, and intestines, and a big fatigue problem. Plus some other stuff like neck and shoulder tension, which has been a HUGE issue for me the past week and sinus problem. All this from my tonue and wrists! We will see what he can offer me, I see him in 1 week as I have my continuing ed until Wed.

My stress has been through the roof. I have had one of the 'rougher' therapists work on my shoulders, he makes me cry, but he is honestly concerned about my tension levels. I have been super nervous about the revision. I am still hung up on the 'what if I am making this up' thing. Again- few findings on scan, intermittent pain.....you would think I would be happy about intermittent pain, but it makes me crazy! What if I wake up, and he tells me there was nothing wrong and I made it all up??????????? This keeps me up at night!

I know, I know, I am losing it again! This situation is pushing me off the deep end. There is so much tension in my neck, shoulders and head, yes head. If I had time, I would go for a massage. But I work tomorrow and my course starts Sunday morning, 8AM, 1 hour away! fun fun fun!

Pre-op labwork

I know what you are thinking, what can she possibly blog about concerning pre-op labwork. If you are thinking that, I suggest you do a backsearch for my blog entry 'Incompetencies'. I received a packet in the mail with the Rx to get my pre-op labwork done. I have always done it at a local lab, no issue. This time, I will not be around the week before surgery as I have a continuing education course. I was nervous to have the bloodwork done Wed. or Thurs before surgery in case it was not done in time. So I emailed my OS's office manager to schedule it for me at the hospital, like she had told me to, if I so desired. Of course, after she asked me when I wanted, I never heard back, surprise. I emailed again a week later, didn't hear back. I figured I would just call the hospital and schedule it myself. Luckily, they called me to 'confirm' my appointment! Never a dull moment!!!

Staying Healthy

I have been noticing that the hip message boards have been concerned about weight gain after injury. I have decided to try to include healthy(ish) recipes when possible. I just span (spinned???) for 30 min, couldn't go longer bc of the 'sponginess'. I am usually really hungry after a ride, soI made a quick and healthy(ish) recipe. (many of my recipes are not exact so I will 'wing' the recipe)

French Fried Vegetables
2 bags frozen California style vegetables, defrosted
3 8.5oz cans cream style corn
1 small can French Fried onions (optional, less healthy version)

Combine vegetables and corn in a medium sized baking dish (I used my large, round corningware dish), top with french fried onions. Bake at 350' until golden brown.

enjoy!!!!

Inconsistencies

I have been a lax blogger this week, other than posting the pics of the kiddies. Truth be told, I have been lax with many things. Things got pretty bad in the Crohn's world, which leaves me feeling blah! I did not go for a walk with the kids once this whole week and neglected my beauty of a bike. I passed out every night once the kids were in bed. I had a terrible reaction to a drug, luckily I had leftover Zofran from scope #2 to get me through the day. I am still in the drug 'experimental' phase, it is a trial and error game coming up with the right combination. I have been so frustrated with all of this plus my awful reaction to the meds, I have decided to seek alternative treamtent and am trying acupuncture this week (thursday). My friends are in shock that I am being more 'open minded'. I am in no way expecting a cure (that is too far fetched for me) but maybe some symptom relief, stress relief, pain relief, and added energy??? I hope this is all a possibility.

Being that I sat on my ass for most of the week, my hip has been fabulous. I had so little pain and discomfort...until today. Why? after 5 days of doing nothing, I experienced that 'spongy' feeling in the joint, like something is there that shouldn't be there. I am now even more convinced my labrum is torn, even though my OS is 'confident' it is not. It has bothered me all day, that sponginess, even after an hour and a half nap, which has left me groggy and eager for more sleep!!!

I am fast approaching my 4 month left side anniversary. I think I am at 17 weeks now, which is the point at which things went seriously downhill for the right. Let's hope this will not be a repeat scenario and I can have a bilateral happy ending!!!!

L smiling

I stand corrected! I just received pictures from L's school trip...adorable!!

Family Portraits

I have to admit, I have not been taking as many pictures of the kids as I should because our cameras are broken. Yes, both of them. The better of the 2 was dropped, and is dead. The other one works but the screen is cracked, so I never know if I have the flash on, red eye, nighttime....so I do my best. I decided to post some of my favorites!!

L and Jk are 19 months apart. This is what a 3 day old baby and a 19 month old toddler look like! Note the disarray of my home in the background!

My home gym, put to good use!!!

Jk loves smiling for the camera, It is a challenge to get L to smile!

Finally, L smiling nicely!!

And not so nicely!!

The reason why I am not getting a cpm the third time around...

Insomniac

I have really been up since 3AM, it is now 11PM and I cannot go to sleep? Anxiety????? I think this happened last time once I scheduled. Do I need a shrink? Xanax? Sleeping pills?

Reflecting

I have been up since 3am. Out of shear boredom, I have been reflecting on the past few months of the soap opera that has become my life! Don't worry, I am still laughing. I laughed as I downed 7 pills this morning for Crohn's. I tried for one week to skip the steroids my gastro had wanted me to take, but the other meds alone were not enough. I laughed as my right hip ached in bed, as I did nothing. I laugh as I spin each night since I know all the possible damage I may be inflicting will soon be fixed. I laughed especially hard as I looked over my PT visits this morning, as I logged in to my office's server from home, to schedule my post-op PT eval, and decided to see how many times I have had PT. A whopping 60 visits.
I am not being sarcastic, I really laugh, you can't take things too seriously bc then you will really run into problems!! At least I had plenty of time for hair and make-up this morning!!!!

Surgery #3...scheduled

It is now written in stone (well, not really), my surgery will be Nov. 12, that is 3 weeks from Monday, really soon!

I guess they got the message after last night's email!! I received a call this morning from Dr. Kelly at 7:45. I was already exercising, no chance of waking me up at that time! He said based on everything (read older posts if you don't know what 'everything is), he feels confident that surgery will help. He will address the cam and will NOT release my psoas. He wants to release adhesions in the psoas and do a bursectomy, but, and I asked, more than once, this will not require him to release my psoas. He said that he can't in 'good conscious' release it. He even offered to give me the tool he uses to release the psoas to hold, so he has no access to it!!!
No CPM, no Gameready, Brace as needed, not a huge deal! I have to email his PA and remind her about my Percocet/ Zofran cocktail!! I requested the same anesthesiologist who did my first 2, and first case of the day if possible!

I think that covers everything. What am I going to do for 3 weeks? Oh, Spin!!!! I just finished another fabulous ride! It is amazing how much energy I have while on the bike and how I can spin through the pain, I always pay the next day but it is soooo worth it!!!

Still in Limbo

I have not heard back yet. This makes me incredibly pissed off, especially since I made it clear at our last conversation that I need a return phone call. I sent out another email last night since I have a tentative date for surgery, but nothing has been finalized, that date is 3 weeks from Monday (I know, shit). If I do not hear back by today, I may possibly lose it, again, for real, so if I never post again, it is because they do not provide Internet access in the psych ward!

My Butt hurts

I went for ride #2 yesterday afternoon. I didn't have a lot of pain after my first ride from the seat. Once I sat down for a second ride, the situation was slightly different. I feel totally bruised, I know this will go away as I become re-accustomed to the narrow, hard saddle!!
I need to get back into shape though. I have been pushing really really hard on the bike, and I think I am becoming hypoglycemic. I am totally fine while riding, the second I get off, disaster strikes. I am wobbly, dizzy and horribly nauseous. I have been told to eat protein+carbs before riding to avoid this little issue!

Yesterday my right hip was pretty painful following my first ride (it did not prevent me from riding more though!) We will see how today goes. Oh, I did not hear back from Dr. Kelly, shocker!

When P worked on me yesterday, my hip flexors were really really tight, especially on the right! But with some TLC, they loosened up! I am not surprised, cycling is all about those muscles!!
If all goes well, I will ride again tonight!!!

My First Ride

I still have it!!! I don't know what 'it' is, but I still have it! 2 babies and 2 hip surgeries later and I still have it! I definitely don't have the speed I used to have but hopefully with time, energy and chondroplasty, it will return!

I had my bike put together today!!! It is up and functional and awesome! I love it! 1 year later, but I got my bike! I am approaching the 1 year anniversary of my 'hip thing', just around the time I decided I needed a bike, but held off due to pain. My first ride was not that exciting, I used one of the DVD's that the guy who sold me the bike sent. It was a lame ride, but a good one for my first. Not too much resistance, no racing/ sprinting, which is what really gets my heart going. The thrill wasn't as great as I thought so tomorrow I may forgo the video and freeride with my ipod!

The left hip was a little sore in the beginning but once warmed up, it did great! The right was OK on seated flats, but any resistance or increased hip flexion was painful. I did complete the ride though, I knew I would, even if I had been in excruciating pain, I would have completed it, I have waited too long to have a bike to not ride!

I emailed Dr.Kelly tonight. Let's see when I hear back!! I need a finalized plan! I want to be the spinning maniac I once was and need his help!

I am lying in bed with an extremely sore right hip, I am paying for my ride! I will try to post an update in the morning on how I feel. I leave the house before 7 to get in my PT before I see patients!

Bike Status

My bike has arrived. It is sitting outside my front door, in the hallway! Can anyone HEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!!!!!!
I already called Vinny, my handyman, he is coming by later in the afternoon, I hope I can ride tonight!!!

Objectives Vs. Subjectives

I can't believe no one 'de-lurked'. I am very disappointed. I was going to go on a blogging strike until you did, but this is killing me.
I am going out of my mind. I have been having so many doubts about whether I am making the right decision or not with revision surgery. I think L sees that I am losing it. I went out tonight, to Target (needed milk, light bulbs and undershirts), as I was leaving, she said to me: "Mommy, be careful, don't step into cars, wait for the walking man and if a car comes, stop." How adorable is that, L is only 3!

So here is my dilemma. I went through this with my first surgery as well. I always have good days and bad days. On the good days, I wonder if I am going crazy. What would calm my fears was that I had an MRI which showed pathology, it disproved my theory that I was crazy (at least in this sense) . This time, I have inconclusive scans. But, there is the cam impingement. Do you see where I am going with this? Yes, straight into the psych ward!!!

My intra-articular injection got rid of all of my pain, the psoas injection helped with some of the pain but the joint injection was a million times better. I really don't want my psoas released, and Dr. Kelly knows that (maybe bc I repeated it like a million times!). But what if I am wrong? What if he is right? But none of my imaging revealed a problem with the psoas, but then again, it didn't reveal a problem with much of anything. But he has never touched, stretched or looked at my psoas, much of our discussions have been over the phone. So really he is going on all of my subjective complaints. It is scary. So that is why I have been freaking out.

On a different note, I ordered a spinning bike. I am so excited, it should arrive tomorrow. I used to be a maniac spinner, nothing in the world gives me the same high as spinning. I don't see any reason why I can't go back to spinning, I desperately need to exercise and this is perfect for me and my lifestyle since I don't have time to go to the gym! Hopefully by tomorrow night I will be able to go for my first ride!!

Lurkers....De-Lurk, please!!

I want to meet everyone who is reading my blog! I know there are plenty of you who are reading and simply lurking which is great, a big part of this is educational, and I hope you learn a lot. But I would love to meet you! Leave me a comment, introduce yourself, and why you find my blog interesting. Did you have surgery? Do you have FAI? Labral Tear? Problem with a hipscope? Trouble in PT? Undiagnosed hip pain?
I want to meet you!!!!!!

Always a Party at Casa de Susie

My psoas is a lot less sore today, it doesn't hurt unless I try to really abuse it, like lifting my leg onto the bed, or try a SLR, but it is still weak. The joint hurts, so where does that put me with this injection? What a mess.

To make things more interesting, I had doctor appt #3 today (warning- not hip related). My stomach has been funky the last few weeks, so after countless emails back and forth with my GI doc, he finally told me to come in and see him. After discussing what is going on and trying to piece everything together, he didn't think my last CT scan (in June) made sense based on his exam and my symptoms, so while I waited, he called the radiologist. He re-read the films and changed the diagnosis. So once again, different body part but same issue- everyone reads scans differently. Hopefully, the re-read will work to my benefit, he changed all my meds. It also helped that I was in the office and we were actually having a live conversation as opposed to back and forth over the Internet. So we will see what happens, of course the pharmacy was out of my meds!

The NOT Pre-op Appointment

Yep, you read it correctly. Here's the play by play.
I want to start off by saying this visit did go well, and I really like Dr. Kelly a lot, I hope I can portray it as such in the dialogue!
First, I saw him in the hall as he was going to see another patient while I was waiting, and he said "Hi Susie", so he def. knows who I am, but then again, I am huge pain in the ass!!!!
He came out after he saw that patient and asked me if I had had the injection, I said yesterday, he wanted to know how it had gone, I told him I really hurt and can't really flex my hip. He thought that might be a good thing because if the psoas was inflamed, it may be reacting to the injection. But he said we will talk more when I get a room.
I only waited 1 hour! He came in, checked the ROM, and strength of a SLR, I could not do it on the right. Then we talked. He said there are 4 possible reasons for a hipscope to fail: 1) residual impingement 2) psoas issues 3) retear of the labral repair 4) severe arthritis. I do not qualify for 3 and 4, so we are left with 1 and 2. He is pretty convinced it is psoas, I don't know how convinced I am. He did say it is definitely doable with a scope, I don't need an open procedure. I asked who does 'opens' here? He said he does with his partner, some other guys in NY, the guys in Switzerland and some in Boston. I told him I sent my stuff to Boston but he told me 'to stick with you'! I had no issue telling him I had gone for a second opinion.

He wants to wait 1 week and see what happens with the injection, he feels that if it is psoas, an injection may take care of it altogether (sound familiar). And, he added, I know you REALLY don't want me to release your psoas!
So I said, you want me to call you next week? Will you actually call me back? He laughed, and said they are trying to work on a better system. Maybe email would be better, but he doesn't always check his email, so I am going to email Ariana his PA, who will pass along the message. Keep your fingers crossed.
I asked if we could just take care of it and schedule surgery, I am sick of living like this, he said that after we see what happens with the injection, he can do it next week. Seriously, I said, what does your operating schedule look like? No, I am serious, I will do it whenever you want. No, come on, seriously, I didn't believe him. He said I have been on enough of a roller coaster ride, he will do it whenever I want!
So, now another week of unknown and then we will see. We did set a tentative date of November 12.

Ultrasound Guided Psoas Injection

If you ever have the choice between getting your hip joint injected or your psoas, go with the joint. It really hurt. It hurts now, alot, I am limping. At least I was smart enough to go get waxed last week since they inject slightly higher than when the joint is done.

In the past, my injections have taken 20 minutes start to finish, this was 1 hour. First, the radiologist had to find the correct place to inject. He injected the local and that was fine. Then the big needle came, it took him a fair amount of time to slowly guide it into the correct place, at one point he said he was going to angle it differently. This whole process really hurt, it was not sharp pain but a lot of pressure and a weird pain. He did hit one area that apparently was not numb, but it was for one quick second. (just walked away from computer to pop a Darvocet).

There was a long period of time that the needle was in me as he moved it around and injected various things, also, he added some more local anesthetic partway through.

Before injecting, he motion tested me to see what hurt and had me give a painscale number, so flexion, 7/10, flexion with IR and adduction, 10/10, ER with abduction, 0/10. He retested after the injection, I went to 5/10, 3/10, 0/10 respectively. But the whole hip HURT. I told him, he said the muscle is sore from the needle. Holy shit, is it ever.
I limped out of the hospital and came straight home, and am still limping now. This better get better soon, I am an unhappy camper, and now I think I have mixed results with this injection! Dr. Kelly will have to sort it out tomorrow!!!

I Almost Forgot

As I was writing earlier tonight,I kept thinking that there was something I wanted to tell you but I couldn't remember. As I lie in bed at 11:30, it just hit me.

Dr.Millis' office called me this morning. He reviewed my films and said I should stick with a scope with Dr. Kelly. So now, one less thing to worry about!

Snafu Number ?????

I thought everything was all set for this week, injection on Tuesday followed by OS appt Wed. Wrong. Friday afternoon I get a message from the radiologist who is doing the injection to make sure I really wanted to change my appt from this week to next week, bc he is pretty sure I want next week. NO! I want this week. What the hell is going on now? I thought this was actually going to go smoothly. Luckily, we touched base today and straightened this all out, so injection tomorrow and OS appt the next day.
I also spoke with my GI doc today, he would like me to come in as well this week, so I have 3 doctor's appts this week! I think that is my all time record!!

My left psoas is being a pain, it is so tight and snapping all over the place, P worked on it today, hopefully it will stop snapping, again, like it already has!
I will report back after the injection!

This Week

Before things get busy, I know this is a big week for a lot of people. So good luck with surgery to blog readers Amy, Rachel and Yona. If you are having surgery and are a blog reader, let me know, we will be thinking of you! Jess, good luck with your OS appt, it should be coming up, my father in law (hopefully NOT a blog reader) good luck with your surgery too, and I have my OS appt and injection (hopefully), will update on OS office snafu tomorrow with full and hopefully 'taken care of' story!!!
Keep us posted on your recoveries!!!!!

The Nanny Diaries

I have left you again, and I apologize. But I am back now, for good!! I have been dealing with a couple of things, Jewish holidays, nanny issues and a Crohn's flare up. The right hip has been a lot better than it was last weekend, ever since the pain peaked and I took a Darvocet, it has been better. I will explain the nanny situation and why I think it is related the my Crohn's flare up! Warning... this is not hip related but I need to vent!

3 weeks ago, we went to Miami, in the airport, my cel phone rang, it was my nanny's sister. She was calling to let me know that my nanny was in the hospital and she would be working for me all week. Anyone else would just be relieved to have a back up nanny, but I was so annoyed that she was coming, I needed some extra hours, J was going out of town so I needed her to be here very early so I could go to PT before work....I was pissed. To make matters worse, I actually needed her Friday night and all day Saturday, but the sister said she couldn't work those days. Oh, and she said she was in the hospital for back pain. On Mon., she said that my nanny thought she would be discharged on Wed., but could not work for me this weekend. I started getting suspicious, so I started asking questions. The sister said it may be her kidneys so tomorrow they will do a CT scan, hmmmm, why not today? I asked which hospital she was in, the sister wasn't too sure. Earlier, she had told me that she had an IV in her arm and they were giving her medicine that way, now she told me that she hadn't been able to go visit her in the hospital bc she was busy working for me and cooking for my nanny's husband. That was weird bc my nanny has her health insurance through one particular hospital, around the corner from her house. So I asked the sister why she didn't go there? She told me bc they don't have bathrooms in the rooms. This whole time, I had been trying to call her on her cel phone with no luck.

By now I was really suspicious and angry as well. On Wed., the sister told me she was running upstairs to another apartment to give them her number bc they were looking for a nanny, she walked into my apartment, on her cel phone, and this is the conversation as she walked past me: " Oh, your cel phone died....and you didn't have the charger, oh, and you didn't get a phone in your room bc it was $10/ day..oh, hold on, here is susie". Do you know what the first thing she said to me was.... why didn't you come visit me? Well, apparently no one knew where you were and your cel phone was dead. So she answered, you know I only go to the hospital around the corner here, and my cel phone dies. So I answered, but your sister said you were NOT there. She told me she went bc her back pain got out of hand and then when she was there her blood pressure dropped...nothing about her kidneys.

So by this point I am pretty sure she is lying to me, and I am ANGRY. I decided to do some detective work, just to back myself up, not that I would ever confront her, bc I am too scared! But just so that I would know. If she was lying to me, my goal would be for her to know that I know she is lying, but I wouldn't need to discuss it with her, I am too passive aggressive to deal with it, basically, I am scared of her bc she takes great care of my kids, runs my house and L and Jk adore her. I had J call the hospital to find out if she was a patient, NO. Then I went on their website bc I didn't like the story about the $10/day for phone. The website says 'all patients get a FREE phone in their room for local calls' BUSTED.
At this point, I was mega ANGRY, but I had no outlet, I told a friend who is a social worker that I needed serious anger management. The only way I could describe how I was feeling is that it was 'eating away at me inside'. My friends said they had never seen me so pissed off before. It kept getting worse. The sister had to leave early a few days, she kept feeding the kids chicken nuggets for lunch every day (they are my emergency only food). In reality, I may have overreacted, and should have been glad for the backup, but I felt so betrayed and she was an accessory to the crime.

The next week, my nanny came back and we went away on Wed., so she had no kids thurs or fri., but I wanted some things done around the house....to her defense, she came back to work with an awful cough, but I was still pissed and was acting like a diva, so I told her I needed her to do all this work for me. To which she answered "I don't need you to go away on vacation in order for me to clean your apartment, it can all be done next week when you are here, and anyway, I am really sick and have to go to the hospital". This pushed me over the edge, she was having 2 days off, had not shown up the week before, and was giving me attitude. We left it off by her saying' fine, if you want, don't pay me for these 2 days'. I should have yelled and screamed and gotten all of this off of my chest, but I didn't, again, the fear factor.

This whole time, J was upset about having to pay someone else to watch the kids over the weekend since she was supposed to do it to make up for all the days she had been off, so he decided to deduct $100 from her pay. I hadn't yet told him about our latest fight.

I was so scared to come home, I was crapping in my pants! On Monday, she came and said nothing. She asked me if I had paid her or if J had paid her, I said J, oh, bc there were $100 missing. Hmm, I'll speak to J about it, I just bought myself another day! Wed., she brought it up again, no escaping her this time, Ummmm, J deducted it bc we had to pay someone else for the weekend when you couldn't come. Oh. Shit, she was pissed, this was soooo not worth the $100, I am going to kill J.
On a side note, the reason I am left to deal with the shit is bc of a language barrier between J and the nanny, they do no communicate, ever!
I then ran out to the store. On most days, I let her go home early, I don't need her around, and she will stay late or come early if I need her to, it is a nice working compromise. I got home and she was sitting on the couch, I told her she could leave.
No, she said, this is how things will work from now on,. I will stay everyday until 5, regardless of whether you need me to or not, I will never work late for you, never come early for you, you have no regard for me and no consideration for me, I was sick, and this is disgraceful. She went on and on, I argued a little, she did most of the talking, I agreed to give her the $100.
Things ended well, everyone is happy, I am relieved, I got totally walked allover but at least I still have her. For me, it is priceless to have her, I walk out the door in the morning, I never call her to tell her what to do, where to take the kids, what to feed them.....she is in total control...of everything apparently!!

During my anger/ angst over what she would do minus the $100, my Crohn's kicked up. I don't know if I believed that stress can cause a flareup, I am now convinced.

3 month Update

It has been 3 months since my second hipscope, wow, time flies when you're having fun! The left hip is doing great, fabulous, awesome!!!! I am thrilled with the results. I have minimal groin pain when doing a lot of walking, and the only other time I really experience any pain is when doing plie's at work, still getting adductor pain on the way up. I think I can live with that!

P took measurements for me today, here are my ROM and strength test results:
ROM:
Right hip flexion: 110' with pain, 112' with severe pain
Left Hip flexion: 120'
External Rotation: R: 42' L: 35'
Internal Rotation: R: 36' L: 38'

Strength:
Seated Hip Flexion: R: 4+/5 L: 4+/5
Prone Hip Extension: R: 4/5 L: 4-/5
Sidelying Hip Abduction: R: 4/5 L:4/5
Seated Hip External Rotation: R: 4/5 L: 4-/5
Seated Hip Internal Rotation: R: 4/5 L: 4/5
Supine Straight Leg Raise: R: 3+/5 L: 3+/5

My PT exercises have not changed since the last time I listed them, I have added a new exercise, I do not have a name for it, I'm sure P does. I will describe it. I stand on the left leg, P places a cone directly in front of me, one to my right, and one behind and slightly to the left. The objective is to touch each cone with my foot, they are placed so I must reach for them, and the one behind me requires rotation and extension, very challenging. I am supposed to add sidelying straight leg raise in adduction but I keep forgetting!

My hope is that once my right leg is 'taken care of', it will do as well as the left! As it stands right now, I think the ROM is as good as it will be, but the strength can improve a bit!!

The Joy of Scheduling

In my craziness over the last few days, I neglected to let you in on the fun time I had scheduling my injection. After I was called on Friday to find out when would be good for me, I, of course, never heard back from anyone. I called again on Monday, spoke with J, who said A would call me, but she would let her know that I had called. Wednesday, no one had called me yet (and then you wonder why I have had pain for 3 months and am finally starting to get it resolved now), I called again. J answered. I told her no one had called me yet to let me know when my appointment would be. She put A on the phone. A: J told me she called and told you the appt would be on the 16th. sigh. Me: No, she didn't call me. And...after I initially spoke with J, I called her back and told her I had given her the wrong date, I need the week before, followed by an appt with Dr. Kelly. A: Oh, so J never called you? Me: No.
She was going to have to call me back to reschedule this, but the problem was that Dr. Kelly was only going to be in the office for half a day the next day. Screw it, I will leave work early, this is always soooooo complicated. It doesn't help that someone else is making appts for me. So while I was away, A called and left me a message with the appt time. I have to call and confirm it, wouldn't it be 'funny' if she gave away the appt bc I didn't call back soon enough!!!

Where Have I Been

Sorry to leave you guys in the dark for so many days. Truth be told, there is not a lot going on these days anyway, but in my defense, I was away since Wed. I am home now.
I finally have an appointment for my psoas injection, it will be a week from Tuesday (the 9th maybe), and then I see Dr Kelly the next day, when all decisions will be made. I am waiting to hear from Dr. Millis' office regarding my package.
The last few days were ok, I find that I go in cycles. My right hip was so bad in the beginning of our trip, I endued up taking a Darvocet on Friday and have been fine since then. The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago, the pain escalated to 'awful', I took a pain med and then didn't hear from it for a while.
I am thrilled with the left hip, It rarely hurts, occasionally it will remind me that there was a problem there, but I can run after the kids without a problem there. I am just about 3 months out. In the coming days I will post a detailed 3 month update, maybe I will have P take measurements and post them!!

Too good To Be True

I do not have a date set for my injection. When someone actually called me to schedule it, I was shocked. Having not heard back from them with a day and time is more the norm. I will see what tomorrow brings.

I feel like I have finally "made it" in this world!!!
I have a feature on Google called 'Google Alert", I type in certain keywords or topics, and whenever a new webpage comes up in Google with these words, I receive an email with the link. Today, I received an email for my Google Alert keyword 'hip arthroscopy', guess what the webpage was? MY BLOG!!!