meeting the ortho

I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Kelly on 22 December. I had to wait about four or five weeks if I recall correctly. I figured I was at least getting a two for one deal as he does hips and shoulders.
I brought my xrays and mri and report from the drs. I must say I was a complete wreck when I saw him. I couldn't walk without a limp and was in so much pain that I cried anytime he touched or moved me around for the exam. He felt that I needed to try some PT so get some strength back before we even considered surgery. I agreed, as going into surgery w/o any strength can lead to a very poor recovery.
I started PT for my hip first, eventually adding my shoulder to the routine. This began at the end of December. Dr. Kelly wanted to see me 4 mos later to give the PT some time to work. And I have to admit it definitely helped. It was slow going because of the state I was in, but eventually I got to the point of walking without a limp! This was a great improvement, though I was a long way off from walking distances or bike riding or going to the gym.

I went back to see Dr. Kelly at the beginning of May and he said to keep up the PT and if it plateaued to let him know and we'd do an injection. The bursitis was much better at this point, but I had been feeling more pain in the groin area, which did indicate the tear. In June I rang Dr. Kelly and spoke to Arianna, his PA. She was very helpful and said since I wasn't really improving anymore that I should do the injection, it would help diagnose where the pain was originating from and if surgery would be helpful. Because of varied types of pain and the unstable joint, no one was really sure what was the main cause of the pain at this point.

11 June I had the injection. It was incredible. The dr asks you to rate your pain in certain positions pre-injection and then post. It was like I had a whole new hip ~ the pain just disappeared! I was in heaven! I hadn't been able to walk like that for so long I had forgotten what it was like. I went to a concert the next week and was able to stand and dance a bit to the music! I kept the pain log for a week as directed, and then faxed it over to the dr's office. He rang me to review, and said since the pain had subsided, I should try to strengthen up the leg as much as possible. He said there could be a few outcomes, but pretty much in my case when the injection stopped working, surgery would be the next step. But I was going to use up as much of the good time I had!