The Week in Review

There is no place like home! We were in Miami for a week and a half, it was great but it is also great to be home!
The trip began with my (not so) quick MRI the night before, getting the results, L's 4th b-day party and a long trip home!
Last we spoke, my knee "issue" was TBD, possible MCL, as seen on MRI, or muscle imbalances, but I am to strengthen and stay off of my spin bike. I still think it is "joint related".

I have been off the bike for 2 weeks, the knee was ok, yesterday I was thinking that staying off of the bike was helping but this morning it was back to normal. So I was feeling unbelievably fat from lack of spinning and lots of eating (Jewish holidays=food) so I rode. I hurt, but I cannot directly attribute it to the bike.
L's party was great, its no wonder my kids love going to my parent's house, check out the BEST 4 year old party ever.







I never had a bounce house or ponies at my b-day parties!!!

While we were away, J had to come home for a day for work. The day before he was to leave, he received an email from the parking company where we leave our car at the airport. It turns out, they needed to move our car to an overflow lot since we were gone for so long, in the process, they left the car illegally parked for "a few moments" and it was ticketed and towed, due to some unpaid tickets (oops).
So, J had to go from the airport to one office in Queens to pay for the tow, tickets, storage fee, marshall fee and judgement fee, then go to Brooklyn to pick up the car! The parking company felt so bad they drove him to all of those places, paid all the fees minus the actual tickets, and gave us free parking for the entire duration of the trip (that is a HUGE savings here). It sucked that it happened but I count my lucky stars that J went to retrieve the car alone than with all of us in tow, especially after yesterdays adventure.

We flew non-stop, through DC (don't ask). We left Miami on time and made it to DC with time to spare to catch the connection. Initially, the flight was delayed an hour. We boarded, pulled away from the gate and were told we would have to sit on the runway bc Laguardia was slowing down traffic. We sat for 2 hours, then they pulled us back to the gate bc there were 6 kids on a 40-50 seater plane...not happy kids. We ended up arriving around 4PM (left Miami at 8AM), then I realized I left L's sweater on the plane. One more hour in the airport, we finally left, without the sweater, and all I could think was :thank goodness the car is here, waiting for us!)

Activity Modification....My Way

Even I Didn't Think I Would Hear Back So Soon

Before 3PM, my phone rang...guess who it was...you got it! J and I were in the supermarket at the time, with both kids, and both were being extremely wild (the 2 kids, not J and the kids) . It was hard to have a conversation and make sure no one got hurt/killed at the same time.

Since I had already read the MRI report report, we got right down to business! What the heck is going on? He said that there was increased signal on my MCL, so he wants me to go into a brace. To which I obviously had a reply of "hell no". See, I know I have MCL problems, which is what I majorly damaged in December. This is a different feel, I explained, it feels "like joint". He thinks there is probably a muscle imbalance, residual effects of the hip arthroscopy (I knew it would come back to haunt me) and wants me to continue strengthening it and stop spinning. (we'll get back to that soon). I am of the opinion that the MCL is not involved in my complaints, yes, it hurts at times, but there is another pain as well, it almost feels like the same pain I had in my hip, but in my knee.
So.....strengthen, avoid aggravating activities like stairs and spinning and call him in 2 months if it still bothers me and we can do an injection then. I knew he would be stingy with the cortisone! If this persists, I don't think I will last 2 months and will probably call sooner, but hopefully it will go away on its own. I will be more diligent about specific strengthening, not just spinning and pilates, and if necessary, tape my knee like P has done in the past.

So the no spinning thing.....I don't know if I can do that. I tried it for 5 days a while back but went back since it didn't seem to make a difference. I didn't spin once last week because I was super busy at work and then with my appointments, packing and travelling. This week, I had grand plans to return to the gym I used to spin at when I lived at home, but just to "test the waters", I will hold back and stay off of a bike for this week as well. I return to NY on Monday, and if my symptoms have not changed, I will return to spinning. If they have gotten better, I will probably return as well, might as well if there is no pain. So in a nutshell, I cannot give in to no spinning and I don't like bracing knees, especially in a situation like this when it will only weaken all the other structures around it.

I don't feel like I am being given the runaround, I am in no hurry to do anything drastic here, and like I think I have mentioned before, the knee is not surgical, and even if it were surgical, ITS NOT SURGICAL!

I Have The Results

I guess this is why most docs don't like faxing patients the results of exams prior to speaking with them!!!!
No meniscal tears, no ligament tears, no joint effusion, no joint space narrowing!
WHOOPEEE!!!!!!

But...why does it hurt like a bitch?????????

I'm Taking Bets

My MRI report is in, and has just been placed on Dr Kelly's desk. It was not faxed to my office by the Imaging office but I did request that his office send me a copy.

When do you think I will a) hear back from him b)have a copy of the report in my hands

To even the playing field, the receptionist I spoke with is the more efficient one who usually gets things done for me when I need, and has always been very helpful in the past. I also asked her to put a "big, big" not on his desk to call me with the results!!

You Would Think That By The 4th Time I Would Be Used To It

An MRI that is. Yes, today was my knee MRI, I work quickly. After a 1 1/2 hour wait (no exaggeration), they took me. At which point I was pissed off bc at my designated appointment time, they told the "appointment coordinator" was on the phone for me, she apologized profusely but said there was a "complication" with the patient in the MRI machine before me and there would be a 1 hour delay. So I patiently waited, 1 hour became 1 1/2. When I realized that the person in the MRI machine before me had walked into the facility after I had, after my "consolation" phone call", I realized I had been lied to and got pissed!

I didn't say anything to the technician since I didn't want to piss off the person who would be controlling the "torture tube". I figured I would be ok this time, even though MRI 2 and 3 were by no means a picnic. Mainly a bad cold during MRI #2 left me feeling like I couldn't breathe and leaving my "this close" to a panic attack.

I made sure my head would be out of the tube, which he said it would be, but not exactly. There is the tube but on the outside of the tube is a larger opening which to me is still a tube. So I get my headphones on with my own music, I close my eyes, and my heart begins to race. Oh no, I am actually going into a panic attack. Slow deep breaths....I end up calming myself down and continue with my breathing. Luckily, a knee MRI is only about 20 minutes and I survived! Then off to pay my exorbitant parking bill!!!!

I am packing, we are going to Miami tomorrow for a week and a half!!!

A Sigh of Relief

I kept my appointment, thank you for all of your encouragement! Dr. Kelly was pleased to hear that my hips great. He does NOT think I tore my meniscus bc I have tenderness at the joint line in conjunction with pain above and below the joint line. He thinks that a meniscus tear would present with pain at the joint line only. Also bc of the way my knees are angled, and the fact that it started with an MCL sprain (while rehabbing after my 3rd hip arthroscopy...of course I had to throw that one in)!

He said I can get an MRI and we can proceed from there. I asked what he did think it was, he said possible pes anserine issues or a capsular tear "which he can repair with a few sutures" to which I said HELL NO. I got up and joked that now I was going to be messed up for the rest of the day, but I was serious bc after the exam I was in serious pain...so he then insisted on the MRI. So off I go tomorrow, for the MRI, in the city again.

On a side note, many thanks to J for saving us the parking expense! Thanks to our teamwork, I arrived in the city, put the car at a 1 hour meter with a couple of quarters, and then J picked up the car and took it home. I managed to get home with hipster Amy (who also had an appt today, so we double teamed again) on public trasnportation!

I also wanted to mention a HUGE thank you to J, who has just replaced my missing engagement ring, it has been missing since August, when L took it. It is beautiful.

Now if I could only find time for a manicure!!!!

I Told You She Is A Genius

As I have mentioned before, L knows many of her bones and muscles. Here she is doing a beautiful job...until the end when she has trouble with her name! But we love her and think she is the smartest preschooler in the world!

Now if only her parents could figure out how to use proper lighting for filming....

Why I Still Don't Think My Psoas Needs to Be Released

I have been experiencing pain in my psoas with some snapping, and no, it is (still) not pride that keeps me from running back to my OS to have it released. My feelings still hold true in my case, and in many cases regarding releasing tendons.

Many of you have asked me why I was so adamant about not having my psoas released. No, I am not a psychotic bitch who wanted to make my OS absolutely crazy, or an arrogant PT who thinks she knows everything. Firstly, I knew with all my heart that it was not the root of my problem, so releasing it would not have abolished my pain, and I was 100% correct in that, as was found on arthroscopic examination. Another point, for me, is that I have a hypermobile SI joint, which periodically gives me problems. All of my surrounding muscles are extremely tight, hamstrings, TFL, ITB, Piriformis....My feelings are that my muscles tighten to protect my SI and maintain in correct alignment.

My right hip is the one giving me the psoas issues.This is the "revision hip". This hip now has a tremendous amount of ROM, compared to pre-op, and compared to the contralateral side, since a lot of bone was taken down. Don't misunderstand, I love the way it feels now, but, my body has never functioned in this range before, it "thinks" that I now have an unstable hip, which in comparison to pre-op, I do. My ROM values are normal and not indicative of a hypermobile hip, yet I do not have the neuromuscular control yet to feel stable there. Initially, my adductors were tightening and going into spasm to stabilize. Once I strengthened them well (with a few knee blips along the way), they fared quite well.

Then my ITB went haywire, and still does occasionally, but I had been doing a lot of abductor strengthening as well. Psoas is now playing into this and making sure to get its share of the limelight. I am hoping that my new found love of Pilates will help with the neuromuscular control I need in the right hip, to help the entire joint stabilize and function well.

Lets just say, I did not have this realization, and decided that now would be a good time to have my psoas released, since it is acting up, I would most likely end up even more unstable hip and would probably begin to have problems with my ITB or maybe the adductors again. This would lead me down a vicious path of multiple releases. Even if the releases are not surgical, but rather manual (PT type) releases, things don't always work out so well, as I experienced at another course I took. It is imperative to retrain the muscles properly to avoid this and to re-educate the joint. Neuromuscular re-education needs to be a huge part of rehab, not just bridges, straight leg raises and clam shells.

I know I am having issues because I have not been the most compliant patient with my PT, especially after the MCL incident in December. But, I am pretty fed up with hip issues, so maybe I need to stop writing and get my butt into Pilates gear!!!

Disclaimer: This is in no way meant to be printed and brought to your OS to negotiate a tendon release (tenotomy), every case is different and every body is different. This post (and the entire blog) represent only my opinions, are not medically or scientifically backed, but rather, me venting and sharing personal ideas and experiences.
I will get off of my soap box now.

Update on CPM and Gameready Crap

I spoke to a lovely woman at the company who didn't seem to see a problem with paying $100/month until the balance is paid off. Now, J wants to have his HR department look into it and possibly reimburse us, since our health insurance is through his job. Again, I will keep you posted!

Gameready and CPM Crap Still Happening

As I mentioned previously, my insurance company denied payment for my CPM and Gameready. I have been in contact with the company that rented them to me through the process, so obviously I was quite shocked to find out that they put me into collections.

I called this morning and was informed that I was not really put into collections, but it was more of a scare tactic (my words, not theirs), to get me to pay. My balance is $515, that is the rental of 2 CPMs and 1 Gameready (I paid out of pocket for the Gameready for surgery #2 and did not get either machine for surgery #3).

I called and tried bargaining it down, they took off $45, I tried playing the "professional courtesy" card, they didn't buy it. Then I tried getting them to break up the payments for me, so I am waiting for a call back. I don't know what will happen.....wish me luck!!!

Never Stop Learning

If I ever feel that I have no more to learn, I will have to change professions. I learn something new almost every day, just by treating, being in my clinic and with my patients. I just returned from another continuing education course. It was not my favorite course, but it should prove to be very helpful in my treatments. In PT school, and in PT courses, there are no models. We do everything on each other.Luckily, this was a "tame" course which did not require the removal of clothing like some do!!

As usual, I am very "dysfunctional" when it comes to muscular and alignment issues. I am tight in all the wrong places, weak in all the other places, an overall mess. I started off the weekend with pretty bad back pain, my psoas had kicked i again and was unbelievably tight, pulling on my lumbar spine, topped with being in a different car than my own with poor back support (or poor ability of the driver, i.e. me, to figure out how to properly adjust the seat!!) My psoas got so bad that it became tender to the touch and full of trigger points. This usually pulls me into poor spinal alignment, making everything else go to hell.

So.......it turns out that my "partner"at the course used to work with P, she actually taught P how to release a psoas, irony of ironies. Today, she tried a release on me like no other. At the psoas insertion on the lesser trochanter. WHOA! Pain, but I sucked it up and let her do it, and then, less tender, and less clicking. I think this will be the only time I will have this done as it required her to put her hands in places I would rather not have P at!!! But just another trick to add to my "bag of tricks".

I am still on the fence with my knee. I am having less pain, and is always delayed onset pain. It still feels tight often, and the joint surface feels "weird", still "squishy" and "not right". One week to go before the appointment, still time to change my mind!!!!

Click Clack Moo

That is the title of one of my favorite children's books in our "collection". It is about cows with a typewriter who demand electric blankets. Each time I read it I get a smile on my face. I highly recommend it for those of you with kids (I read it to Jk, he is 2).

Lately, when I read this book, it reminds me of my right hip. See, I have started getting into Pilates. I actually really like it alot. The only issue is that some of the moves, especially with my legs straight when I am on my back, cause my right hip to click. It is my psoas. Hahaha!! I know what you are thinking. Don't worry, it is painless clicking, but I do actually feel the psoas snapping over "stuff". No, I am not getting it released. I think that even if it was a "problem" and became painful, pride would prevent me from EVER getting it released (newer readers check out posts from October and November of 2007 to get my feelings on releasing psoas).

I have had it click every now and then. The left one clicks when I sit on a low stool or chair, or the toilet sometimes. I was doing a move on Wednesday night, you lie on your back, legs straight and up in the air, separate the legs a little, circle them around, then bring them low and together, and finish with them bent at your chest. Every time I circle them, the psoas clicks. It is more annoying than anything. Maybe something I will just have to get used to.

In the end, the cows give up their typewriters in exchange for electric blankets, the duck acts as the neutral party, exchanging notes between the farmer and the cow. The last page of the book is a picture of the ducks in their pond, the page reads "Click Clack Quack".

Is it Real or Am I Crazy??

Again with the fucking intermittent pain. This time, I can go a day and half with not even a twinge of pain in my knee, making me "this close" to cancelling my OS appointment in 2 weeks, and then one tiny misstep or walk down a step the wrong way, and bam, pain, and the ever pleasant "squooshiness" in my knee. I know there is a ton of psychology playing here, mainly the fact that I am praying for this to disappear, and I really really want to cancel my appointment, not lose a whole afternoon/ evening in a waiting room, pay a fortune for parking and then get stuck in rush hour traffic, all for nothing. I know, ridiculous. You are probably thinking "susie, just go for the appointment, what is your problem?" well, a lot. First, I think I have a fear of being told nothing is wronfg if I do in fact think there is something wrong, and I wouldn't be going to the appointment if I didn't think something was wrong. So, if I cancel it, it is because I no longer think anything is wrong and then I will be happy once again, and have "great joints". It stinks to think you know a lot but really, not know anything, and on top of it, have schizophrenic joints. Knee, please stop hurting and making my readers think I am a nut job. Please take the cues from my hips and behave yourself.

5 Month and 9 Month Hip Updates

I haven't mentioned my hips in a while as other things have taken precedence lately. But here we go:

I am back to normal, or as normal as I will get with scoped hips. I will not use the treadmill, I think it is too hard on them and I really want to keep "these" hips for as long as possible.
I am getting more aches and pains now than I did before the knee thing (BTKT) began, so I totally attribute it to compensation. Previously, I had almost no achiness. Now I occasionally get achiness, right more than left (right was scoped twice), my adductors still get spasmy occasionally, more now than BTKT. I also now have a alot of clunking and clicking in both, I think left more than right. It is painless but loud. I have gotten into he habit of "cracking" my back, so I use various techniques, adopted from what I would use in the clinic. I always say that whatever needs to crack will crack with a manipulation, so at time, I will be focusing on my low back/ SI joint and will get a nice crack in a hip. I still hold onto the theory that it is scar tissue, and I don't worry one drop about it because it is painless, there is no FAI in either hip anymore so I won't tear my labrum again, plus, a good chunk of labrum was debrided so even less likely to tear (bc it is gone), and it is important to stay positive.

My IT bands get tight and tender sometimes, but I think they always were, even before the hip shit started. My "invisible bruise" on the right is still there, believe it or not. It does not interfere with my life anymore and the box of lidocaine patches sits on my desk, untouched. The area does consistently get smaller but the pain level is about the same, just in a smaller area.

I can push my stroller with no hip pain, I spin with no hip pain, I work with no hip pain, what more can I ask for :-)
A big part of healing, and healing well, is staying positive, focusing your energies and returning to life and moving past this messy chapter, and always remembering, things could always be worse!

I Got Denied

By my insurance company on my second level appeal for the CPM and Gameready :-(
The billing people in my office had told me that if it got denied I could attempt a grievance appeal or something like that.

I thought is was a great letter. I will include it below since I have been asked for copies if it by readers.

To Whom It May Concern:
Please be advised that I have received a bill for a Game Ready TM Vasopneumatic Compression and Cold Therapy device, as well a Continuous Passive Motion Machine (CPM). These 2 pieces of equipment were prescribed to me by Dr. Bryan Kelly, the bill is from Biodynamic Technologies.

I went to see Dr. Kelly for disabling hip pain secondary to a torn labrum, which Dr. Kelly was able to repair via arthroscopy. Dr. Kelly prescribed the equipment mentioned above to maintain and increase range of motion (ROM) as well as to decrease inflammation and decrease pain, and prevent the build-up of scar tissue. At this point in time, there does not exist a CPM primarily for hips, therefore, a knee CPM must be used for all hip surgery. I would imagine that you do not deny charges for CPMs for patients that are status post knee surgery.

The Game Ready is unique because it supplies a combination of continuous cold therapy and intermittent pneumatic compression. RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) is the universally accepted method of treating acute musculoskeletal injury and post-surgical trauma. The Game Ready device combines the two most difficult to manage aspects of the RICE regimen (ice and compression) in one easy to use system.

I am shocked to know that if an in-network physician prescribes a product to a patient, which in turn will help relieve their pain and reduce the possibility of further injury that you, a credible insurance company, would not pay for that product. I was under the impression that anything prescribed by my doctor would be covered. I believe that this decision was made unfairly, and would hope that you will rectify this matter immediately.

I have included a copy of bills from Biodynamic, Information on the Game Ready and a select list of clinical studies on cold and compression.

Respectfully,

Susie


I thought it was a great letter!!! I don't have the "select list of clinical studies" since I forgot to make a copy before mailing the letter. I obtained it by calling Gameready directly and explaining the situation to them. I will keep you posted on the progress!

Dejavu AGAIN

I feel like someone has put me in a time machine, taken me back to 15 months ago, and moved my hips about 18 inches down. All of my "am I crazy" thoughts have returned, along with INTERMITTENT PAIN.

Ok, so really, I should be happy that my knee doesn't hurt all the time, but what happens is I get excited, like the problem has gone away. But then, without warning, it comes back. It is not even activiy dependent anymore, sometimes certain things will bother me, and then the next day I do the same exact activity and I am fine. Go figure! Then, my other knee will get cranky, further pushing me into a state of psychosis!

OMG, I think I may have plagiarized that entire posting....from my hips!!!!!

Someone is Watching Over Me...Why Did I Blow It???

As I was ordered, I have stayed away from my spinning bike, I remained compliant for a total of 5 days, but today, the urge was too intense to resist so I rushed through the kid's bedtime, jumped into my workout gear and mounted my bike. I clipped in and attempted a pedal stroke and heard a loud crash/clunk/metal grindy noise that scared the crap out of me. I then lost all resistance on the pedals, and further freaked out as I thought the pedal had fallen off (mind you this whole scenario lasted about half a second). I looked down and saw a piece of the chain hanging down.

Hmmm, maybe this is a sign that I shouldn't be spinning right now, "baloney" I said to myself (actually, it was more like "WTF, I need to ride"), so I emailed the company I had bought it from and the owner got back to me within the hour (on Sunday, on Easter). Obviously, I had to put J on the phone since I had no idea what he was talking about. But between J and our friend and neighbor Dave, the bike was fixed and I got my 'fix'!

I never learn! Need I say more!

Good People Really do Exist in This World

Warning- not orthopedically related but I really had to share

On Wednesday morning, I put my ipod and phone in my coat pocket and proceeded out the door to my car. We live in NY, so my parking lot is about a block away, a HUGE luxury (seriously). I started the car, stuck my hand in my pocket, and there was no ipod. Shit. Where is it. I assumed I had just thought that I had out it in my pocket but really left it in the kitchen since I have been borderline crazy this week again. When I got to work, I called J and asked him to check the kitchen for me. He forgot, but I assumed all was well. I got home and there was no ipod. My nanny hadn't seen it and L and Jk swore they hadn't touched it. To add insult to injury, my first ipod had been stolen about 1 year ago when I found a super parking spot in front of my building and chose not to park in the lot. Stupidly, I left the ipod in plain site, someone smashed my window and snatched the ipod and the thingy to listen to it through the radio. Buying ipods cannot become a yearly event.

By Friday I had decided it was gone, J was being nice and had loaned me his ipod, probably for fear that I would just go out and buy myself a new one without first truly searching every inch of the apartment. Last night, J went out and called me from the car. 'There is a note on the car " he said, "Did you lose something pink? Call me". Holy shit, it was my parking neighbor. "What did you lose that is pink?" J asked "MY IPOD". Hurray! I am totally shocked. How nice are my parking neighbors?I don't even know them, if I have seen them 1x it is a lot. They live across the street so I will go retrieve it today.

Just in time for me to resume Spinning, as I was 'ordered' to "modify my activities and NOT spin". It is not working bc I am stil in a motherload of pain, so why not do what makes me happy, it is not making a difference!!!

Purim 2008

Today we are celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim. All the children dress up and have a blast. Can you guess what L dressed up as? Jk was a dog but refused to wear his ears!

L and Jk making Purim art projects

And Reality Begins to Set In

This is not going away. I am slowly starting to get over my denial! I made an appointment with Dr.Kelly today, then I emailed his PA. She said to do 8 weeks of PT and then see where I am.

Have I mentioned that I HATE PT. Not PT's, but PT. I have had it. To make matters worse, I began strengthening my quad tonight with some simple, old lady style quad sets, AND THEY HURT. I didn't spin bc I worked an 11 hour day and basically passed out when I got home. It is probably a good thing since it totally killed me last night. I was compliant and iced for a long time tonight. For some reason, I am more inclined to ice my knee than I ever was my hip. Maybe it is due to the superficiality of the knee structures, I can palpate tender spots on it, I never was bale to touch anything on the hip.

My So Called Life (Part 2)

Left knee has been bad, right hip is yelling at me to fix left knee so it can go back to optimal function. J is being a complete ass about the whole thing, as if I wished this upon myself. I wish men in general were more understanding about the way women work, think and act. He asked me what body part will be next, since it seems like a pattern going on, this time a zig-zag, since we went right hip,left hip, right hip and now left knee.Maybe next will be right ankle? J, I hope you never have to experience any ortho issues bc heaven knows I won't be as supportive as I could be, or should be. As the husband of a PT, you could receive optimal treatment from diagnosis to recovery, but you will be on your own.

Ok, I am (sort of) done venting. Am I the only one with a partner who is totally clueless?

I had pain for the first 20 minutes of my spin tonight, then 10 minutes of "OK" then I had to stop. I iced and now I feel swollen and tight (there is no obvious visible swelling). I am tempted to make an appt with Dr Kelly to figure this out, but am mentally exhausted from all of this. I know, I should, but it is a lot to process right now. There is a lot going on in my life these days. Maybe he can offer a quick fix, like cortisone, I love cortisone!!!! I am in no way shape or form accepting surgery as an option right now, which is why I sort of feel a visit with him is a waste, ah, the beauty of having to make simple decisions. And, nothing says I can't cancel the appointment once it is made. But once I make an appointment, it makes this more real, or in J's eyes, makes me more crazy and neurotic, and needy too. J, maybe you should post a comment in your defense, if you have one. If not, stay tuned to more husband bashing to come in the future.

Still Dealing With Crap From Hip Arthroscopy numer's 1 and 2

My wonderful (not being sarcastic) insurance company covered all cost of surgery, hospitalization, anesthesia, rehab (sort of), basically everything associated with the surgery, except the Gameready and CPM, which I was later told by someone in my OS office that these are "luxury items", and "I told you they may not be covered".

Me, being me, initially ignored the bills, which totaled around $700 but were knocked down to $500 for me. After a while, I decided I should stop ignoring them and do something. Again, me being me, I had no idea what to do.Luckily, one of the people in the billing department of my office used to work for one of the companies that rent these same machines, and get this, her job was taking care of denials. So she gave me a huge stack of appeal letters to pick and choose from. I also called Gameready and they sent me literature and journal articles supporting their products. So I wrote a great letter and sent it in, in January.

I then forgot about the letter, until another bill arrived. So I called my insurance and they agreed to "expedite" the claim. Today, I received a letter from them. Excitedly, expecting a check, I opened the letter, which was informing me that they received my letter and will let me know of their decision within 30 days. I can't imagine having to have gone through this for the surgery itself. sigh!

Weekend Update

I think I must make a vow to myself that this will not in any way shape or form become a 'knee blog'. No sir. This is going to have to go away. I do not want to deal with this. But yet I find myslef in a deja vu of how my hip issues started. I go through the day saying "I can ignore this, this is not a big deal, oh, now there is no pain, oh shit, now it is back, what am I going to do". Literally, this is what happens. But I really want this to go away.

An update to the taping: Shortly after I blogged, the joint pain came back, the pes and MCL pain stayed away. The tape began to irritate my thigh (I had recently seen a terrible skin reaction on one of my patients from the tape so I got nervous) so off it came. My MCL and pes anserine are ok, but the joint pain comes and goes. Yesterday, I was in a lot of pain again. Today, I did less and felt better. I am not quite sure what to do at this point.

I feel like I am "one of those people", there is always something wrong.I just want to feel normal again, no aches, no pains, no numbness and tingling. Believe it or not, until 15 months ago, I was normal!

I Am Not Dead

So I am still in pain!! Actually, now, I may headed into a state of unconsciousness thanks to P's grand ideas! My knee was hell today and yesterday. Today, I was limping, I could not jump down from treatment tables onto it, I could not squat. I was wearing my good shoes with orthotics. I was not a happy camper.

I have tenderness right at the medial joint line, on the meniscus, as well as the MCL and pes anserine. P taped my tibia into internal rotation to better align my knee and de-stress the pes and MCL, and miraculously, the joint pain went away too. Now, the key will be how to maintain this, I can't be taped forever, it is pretty ugly!

Back to PT, Back to Working Out

I saw P today since my hip has been tight and my knee is a mess. I am pretty convinced the 2 are related, when the knee pain got bad, the hip started acting up. He did a great job on my hip, working the iliacus/psoas area (painful but it has been much worse), doing some anterior hip mobs and stretching my psoas. Then on to the knee. The meniscus is tender, but so is my MCL and my pes anserine. So...for now, I have been ordered to wear more supportive shoes and if necessary tape my foot before I exercise. I pronate...a lot, and this seems to add to my problems. I had a negative Mcmurray's test, a positive Apley's Compression and a positive "knee scour", the evidence shows that these tests are not all that great though.

I skipped all lower extremity work on the bosu today and focused on my abs. I will know in the morning if it was a good workout if I wake up sore.

I plan on wearing good shoes tomorrow to see if that helps! AHHHHHHHH!!!

Fun and Games on the Bosu Ball

Whoa, where is your mind wandering off to? J is out of town anyway!
I bought a Bosu ball a long time ago, the kids loved coming to my office and jumping on the mini trampoline but I didn't think it was safe to have in the house since the springs made me nervous. So I took them back to my office to try the Bosu and they loved it, they call it the "jumping toy". It has been in my living room forever and I just decided to try the video it came with.

First off, my abs are shot. Beyond shot, they are just about non-existent. I had to modify some of the exercises ALOT bc of my weakness. There was also one exercise where you lie sideways across the bosu and hold your legs up off of the floor, my adductors were too weak to keep the bottom leg off of the floor.

All I can say is thank goodness I was in the privacy of my living room and not at the gym, I would have been mortified!

I did squats, lunges, balancing....the hips did pretty well, the right one did give some indication that the bouncing was not a good idea by throwing in some occasional groin pain. The knee was not happy at all with the squats and step ups, and I didn't even attempt any of the twisting exercises.
It was a short, condensed video but I am going to look into finding some more, with mainly ab work.

I can't believe my abs have come to this, I knew they were weaker but this is bad. Time to kick up the workouts a notch!

I Think That If I Ever Wake Up Painfree I May Actually be Dead

So where do I begin the tale of this beautifully hideous Monday. Maybe with the continued knee pain, or with the fact that I am no longer a PT drop out. Yes, you heard correctly. P will have the pleasure of seeing me again (as a patient) on Wed.

Why? Why is this happening? Should I look at this logically, scientifically? Or more in the "why do bad things happen to good people" way? So....the knee pain is there, it is not constant but it can get pretty bad at times. Luckily, it goes just as quickly as it came. But....I must be somehow compensating (ahhhhh....I hate that word) since my right hip (left knee is troublesome) started acting up yesterday. I have been stretching and FABERing and doing all sorts of fun things but I think it is out of my hands now and needs some 'more' professional help. Hence my crawling back to P to work on it and also have a quick look at my knee since I think this is all due to that adductor exercise way back when.

I am pretty sure the hip thing is the adductor insertion point onto the pubis becoming tight and painful, I am also having trouble getting into a full FABER position. Honestly though, I am not very good about stretching on my own and Spinning is all I do for exercise with a (really) quick stretch at the end. Maybe I need to practice what I preach a little bit more.

I will see what P has to say but the thought of even an MRI at this point makes me want to live in pain for the rest of my life. Also, I don't know how much I want to know what is going on in this knee, in grad school I had it x-rayed for similar issues and it showed decreased joint space and an MRI showed a joint effusion. I never followed up bc I had custom orthotics made which helped 99.9% and then I got pregnant with L, finished school, got pregnant with Jk, had 3 hip arthroscopies...so I have been sort of busy. I am seriously hoping that if I am diligent about wearing my orthotics (cut back on the cute Tory Burch's) and start strengthening and stretching the right muscles, things will get better!

Ok, Its Really Not Funny Anymore

BODY....STOP! I am just besides myself at this point. A while back I did some stupid stuff in PT at the insistence of P, who was looking out for my best interests. I was too weak and I knew it, but tried the exercise anyway. Now, 3 months later, I am pretty sure I tore my meniscus. Cute right! Unfortunately (or fortunately), this is going to be ignored to the fullest bc I am not even interested in knowing the extent of he damage to my knee or what my options are to correct it. I think 3 surgeries in 8 months is plenty for now. The knee is tolerable and only hurts when (what I am assuming to be the ) torn piece gets in the way of the joint. Also, if I wear good shoes with orthotics I feel better. So what's one more injury at this point? I am I 27 or 72? Sometimes I forget.

ITB, WTF????

So I did overdo it yesterday, but there was a Tory Burch outlet! Yes, I went shopping, but not just any shopping, outlet shopping. Which includes walking and walking and walking. Right hip was on strike yesterday, I guess it read my previous post and said "hahaha, I'll show you how happy you can be" and acted up all day. My ITB was sore during the mall trek and my adductors once again began firing little spasms. I am having a ton of company this weekend so I spent some time in the kitchen last night, plus, I am on the committee of a big event on Sat. night so I spent time setting that up. By the time I got home to make my Moroccan meat turnovers, I could barely stand. Add to the picture that J was actually home and wanted to (gasp) help in the kitchen, I made turnovers for about 30 minutes (could have been done in half the time had it been a solo job, but its the thought that counts!)

Fast forward to this morning, 6AM alarm clock goes off and ITB is KILLING me. I mean REALLY killing. Like, call P and beg him to squeeze me in today killing. But I didn't. If things don't shape up by tonight I have a foam roller at home I can roll over the ITB. Or, if J is still in a good mood I will teach him how to stretch it!

One Year Anniversary

Today marks exactly 1 year from my first ever hip arthroscopy. This was supposed to be the ONLY surgery but as luck would have it, it opened the flood gates and resulted in 2 more surgeries, bringing me to a whopping 3 hip arthroscopies in only 8 months. Its like winning the lottery! hahaha!

1 year ago today, at this time, I was most likely downing a Vicodin and in a ton of pain. I actually remember very well that I decided (stupidly) to sleep through the night and went 8 hours with NO pain meds. When I woke up in the morning, I lunged for the bottle and took 2. That began the vomiting with hipscope #1. I learned after that and never went more than 4-6 hours without drugs. I even went to to PT the next morning (absolutely barbaric) and lunch, but that was where the fun ended. It was back to praying to the porcelain god for me!!

I ended up getting Compazine (pretty light weight for me) and Ultram because my pain was so bad, I stayed on the Ultram for 2 weeks. I was in a lot of pain after the first scope. I imagine that it was due to the f---ing impingement remaining in my hip. I noticed a huge difference immediately following scope #2, even from day 1. Its a shame that my left hip didn't become painful first.It would have saved me a lot of time, pain and a hell of a lot of aggravation.

One year later, the results speak for themselves. Yes, there were a few extra (not so) minor bumps in the road, but the important thing is the end result, and my hips rock (for the most part)!

Too bad I didn't begin my blog 1 year ago, but like I have said, I didn't think there would be anything to blog about!

Ride On!

The weather was beautiful today so I piled the kids into the double stroller and went to the park. For those of you who do not remember, pushing the double stroller was what eventually landed me in Dr Kelly's OR 3 times.

Just to recap, I drive this:
And I push

and

This is one of the first times since my revision scope that I remember pushing the double stroller all the way to the park, so it felt like an accomplishment, plus, I like having the experience and knowing that I can do it. My right hip felt weak while pushing. Then again, I am pushing 35lbs of stroller and about 70lbs of kids. I also had discomfort in my trouble spot. The area along the front of my thigh along all of the scope sites, where I have supposed nerve damage. It didn't hurt but I could feel that it was an area that was not done healing.

As for my arm, the tingling has diminished.I have decided to see my acupuncturist this week, I will let you know what happens.The good news is that I don't think it is too serious and the tingling has centralized to my elbow. The bad thing is that my elbow hurts now. I think it may be the way I am doing a manipulation at work so I will have to be careful.

In an unrelated story, have you been following Carlos Delgado's story, from the NY Mets? He was flown from Florida to NY to have an MRI at HSS, the findings were that it is not serious, it is just an impingement in his hip.

WTF???? Not serious? How many of you have been sidelined bc of a simple "hip impingement"?

Why Can't My Body Just BEHAVE????

Just as things are hip world as as close to perfect as I could have dreamed, I have developed numbness and tingling in my left hand/arm. All I can say is SHIT. I think it has started to improve, but I have no idea what to do, who to see (other than NOT a surgeon). Initially my fingers were going numb but now it has moved into my hand and elbow, so it is centralizing, a good sign.

We went to a party last night, I wore high heeled boots from 8:00-1:30, not a peep from my hips!
52 Sundays ago, I was home, having my closets redone, begging the guy installing them to finish quickly bc I was having surgery in the morning and would not be able to finish organizing them past today. Boy have we come a long way!

Many Thanks to J for all of his Disney and Miami updates. It was really needed as I was really sick during our trip (Jk was too).
Disney was great. We were there 1 year ago, it was immediately after my first injection so my hip held up pretty well for the trip. I think without the injection it would have been a nightmare. I ended up having surgery about a month later. This time, it held up beautifully without the help of steroids! YAY!! It did it all on its own merit.

We drove back to Miami on Thursday night. When we got home, I had a horrific headache. By morning, I couldn't move at all, I thought it was a migraine but then realized it was an awful sinus headache. I ended up taking a combination of Sudafed, Robitussin, Claritin-D, Tylenol, Darvocet and Aleve. All over the course of 4 days, much more than recommended dose, but I was dying. We woke up early on Tuesday to go home and again, I couldn't move. I somehow managed to get out of the house and on the plane. As soon as I got home, I hit my stash of antibiotics and felt better by the next day. What was interesting was that I developed all over muscular pains from excessive coughing (it was bad). At one point, every time I coughed my adductors would tighten up (I think only on the right)

So I am back now! I am now officially, forever, a PT dropout. It has been at least 3 weeks, maybe more. We are SO over!

I am also extremely upset with most of my colleagues. Actually, they don't know. They also don't know that I had a mini melt-down yesterday. Tell me if I am way off base. They all want to institute a "uniform" at work, we would all have polo shirts with the company name on it. I flipped out about this and was REALLY upset for a good portion of the day. There are many reasons I am against it, some personal, some professional. But this topic seemed to hit hard bc I was a wreck. J probably thinks I need to get a grip, but I can't help it.
Ok, I vented a little more, I feel better!
So we are home and getting back into the swing of things!

FUN IN THE SUN PART DEUX

Pictures from the grandparents boat

FUN IN THE SUN

While NY was getting hit with snow we enjoyed a nice day at the grandparents pool.

DISNEY DAY 3 (so sorry for the delay...)

Last day at Disney is always such a bummer. We are all depressed.

L and JK outside the Magic Kingdom

L and Susie's back on Thunder Mountain. L LOVED it!!! She went 2x!

What a face. JK on the caroussel before he puked (runs in the family...on the mom's side)

I promised I would show you JKs Crocs.

DISNEY DAY 2

Sue - who cares about the hip update? We're in Disney World. Thats what people want to hear about!!!

I am exhausted.

See you tomorrow for Day 3 update.

Breakfast with the characters. JK's favorite character.

And the little princess with her new best friend. Background - we went to Disney about a year ago and has breakfast with the characters. L wouldnt go near them. JK on the other hand did but was much more hesitent this trip. Anyway, this AM L wouldnt go near (in order) Goofy, Donald and Mickey. When Minnie came to our table she broke out of her shyness and ran into her arms!

JK had to entertain himself in other ways besides taking pictures with the characters.

JK still being JK

Epcott - On our way out of the Universe Energy ride, we stopped off for a frozen coffee drink.

And of course, those thingys you put in your crocs. L got 2 Minnie's (of course) and JK got 1 Goofy and 1 Pluto.

And The Verdict Is....

So far, 1 1/2 days of continous walking, standing, pushing a double stroller and.....my hips are doing pretty well. I won't lie, we had our moments today, especially the right (scoped 11/12/07). It wasn't so much the groin pain, rather, my ITB really acted up at times. Also, those lovely ass spasms came back for short periods of time. The left side (scoped 7/2/07) decided to tighten up adductors.

All in all, not bad. Especially if we are still going on the premise of 6-12 months for a full recovery.
I will probably let J post some more pics later tonight! I am ready to pass out!

THE MOST MAGICAL PLACE ON EARTH

You have not heard from me in a long time, the wonderful husband.

Thought i would share some pics from Disney Day 1.

JBL

More Happy Times To Come

To keep with the spirit of things in hipville, we are on our way to Disney World, the happiest place on earth. Should be interesting to 'put my money where my mouth is' and see how I hold up with all the walking!
Pictures to follow!!!!

Evil Influences

After Amy and I left Dr. K's office, she insisted we go to the most incredible cupcake shop EVER, Crumbs. The following is what happenned that afternoon, in chronological order.

Just some background info, it is no coincidence that amy and I have the same OS. We actually met through labralicious (a yahoo group for people with labral tears). She had posted about her own experience and mentioned that dr. K was her OS. I decided to take the liberty of emailing her off-list. My first email ever stated: "I am seeing Dr. K in a few weeks, I think I have a labral tear. I am a PT and all day long my patients complain about thier doctors. Is he an a$$hole?"

She obviously answered no and we ended up emailing eachother for a few months until we finally met in person last March. My kids adore her, you can clearly see why!

Fun and Laughter at Dr. K's office

A Guest Post By Amy

The day started out terribly... my flight out of Pittsburgh in the morning was three hours late leaving.. I was an hour late for my appointment with Dr. Kelly. I still had to wait forever when I got there, but this time, it was worth the wait. The plan was for me to see him, run out and get a few things at one of the dog stores and meet Susie back at Dr. Kelly's office to see Elie demonstrate all of the bones for him. I had a great visit with Dr. Kelly. Of course, he was concerned about my bleeding/oozing episode, and when I told him that when I finally had the CT scan that the seroma was 2x4 cm. He laughed and said "that's it? that's nothing!" I laughed right back at him and told him that was after I bled to death for three days. I talked to him about the "idiot resident in the ER", and asked if he was an idiot as a resident, to which he answered "no, I was perfect." I won't repeat what I said next... this is a G rated blog : ) He had me walk for him since I was begging to get off my crutches. I would take a few steps and vogue.. a few more.. pose again... Then I said "OOPS Fashion Week was last week!" He looked at my left hip and was really happy with it. I am almost 11 months out from the revision on that hip. It was really great to be able to laugh and be happy about where my hips are. He is happy as well with the progress on the right hip and told me that the surgery was pretty extensive, but there was no way he wanted to go back in there.. EVER! He loved the pictures of my dog, Kooza in her Plaxico Burress jersey and my Giants t-shirt. He did get on my case about wearing a Steelers' sweatshirt, but I told him that he should have snagged me a shirt in the locker room.. what the hell was he thinking, leaving me out like that?!? I go back up to see him in 10 weeks. So, I got out of there just to meet Susie coming in for her appointment. Elie was very happy to go over her bones for me. She is such a smart child. I think he was shocked to see me there... he kept shaking his head... he accused his PA, Arianna of purposely being somewhere else and setting him up for the torture of being in a room with the two of us! L got very shy when Dr. Kelly came into the room though. It was such a shame that she was shy, because Dr. Kelly was very excited to show her anything that she wanted. We had some fun with the pictures of Susie's psoas. He looked directly at me and said these are for the lawyers.. of course, this was a dig at my earlier visit with him when I told him that he would be hearing from the insurance company and that he needed to be clear that I am in the same boat with this hip so that I can settle. Susie's hips are great! She is not lying or misleading on this blog.. I saw it myself. I think that Dr. Kelly was relieved that she is doing so well. I asked him how she was able to get three surgeries in the course of a year, and he said I like her better. I told him that I thought it took me 18 months to get my second surgery because he liked seeing me so much. Of course, he kept shaking his head as Susie and I were double teaming him. He did offer Susie his condolences on the Patriot's Super Bowl loss as well, Susie confronted him about calling her "Crazy." He said "I did not say that about you... I have said it about her (meaning me) many times. We took a few pictures in the office. The best one is the one below of me and Dr. Kelly. It was too funny because I handed Susie the camera and said "there is one picture I want". Dr. Kelly said "It is you stangleing me!" I think it is going to be my new screen saver!! I know that most people could not get away with this with him, but he really does have a very funny and sarcastic side that comes out when he gets to know patients a little better. I am naturally sarcastic and aloof at times, so we are a perfect match.





It was such a fun visit with a lot of laughter and levity and a celebration of 4 hips getting better and two very happy patients who are forever joined at the hip! I missed my flight home, as Susie and I misinterpreted the airline's website, so we had a slumber party.

The Start of Something Great

Yesterday was my 3 month follow-up with Dr. Kelly. For the first time ever, I left happy, satisfied, elated, thrilled...... We actually didn't discuss another surgery. I have never left his office without having a sinking feeling that this disaster was not ending. I think I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day. I know in the past I have said I was really happy and this is over, but this office visit gave me closure! We barely even discussed my hip, I told him it was great, and I am REALLY happy! Really really really happy!

The visit was even more fun bc I had entertainment! I brought L along, since she is OBSESSED with bones, as well as Amy, who had an earlier appointment and ended up hanging out with us. L really wanted to see x-rays, and she has been talking about seeing them and meeting Dr. Kelly for a while. She is such a funny kid. She even got to leave school early for it. But when the 3 of us got into a room, she became timid, and when he came in the room, she buried her head in my lap and wouldn't look up!

He was excited to show her x-rays, he was even going to get her some MRI's if she wanted to!

He started by showing us my scope pics, especially my "intact" (and absolutely beautiful and perfect) psoas. Lots and lots of shots of my psoas, (for the lawyers, of course, he joked). He told me I was very scary when I "threatened" him during out psoas conversations and the pre-cursor to the psoas conversation. He let L have a sheet of scope pics! She was still buried in my leg but when we got home she was so excited to show J and Jk.

He checked my hips, and found the right to have more ROM (right was scoped 2x), he said it was because he had taken down a lot more bone in the right. I think this explains why I was having a lot of muscular issues there. I now have the ability to move more, but my muscles needed to be retrained in this new range. Kind of like what happened during my continuing ed course.

Of course the conversation turned to football (I will let Amy tell you about that part of the visit as well as the rest of the day, plus the best pic of the day)

But...he kept saying "she was right, she was right", (meaning, there was bony impingement in my hip the whole time) see, I knew I was not making this up August-November. And to think of all the times I nearly lost it during those months!
So things went super, I asked if he wanted to see me again....he laughed! I need an x-ray at 1 year out, I can handle that!!

As I was finishing up with the receptionist, he came back out and told me to come back and bring my chart. He had the Chief Resident there, he took out my scope pics and said "this is why you need to listen to your patients"!!