weekly update

Last Saturday was lovely, I had a nice long lie in and then did nothing all day except make pancakes! I hadn't had a day like that in ages and it was just what I needed. Sunday I went to the pool and then my parents came in for a bit. The brought in this neck massage thingy I had gotten a few years ago and I've been using it to try to loosen up the knots in my neck. It seems to help a bit, though I'm still tight and also getting the pins and needles down the arm.

I went to Dr. Meng, the rheumatologist on Monday for my three month check-up. She feels I should increase the Mobic and take more Tylenol. I told her that the Mobic is irritating my stomach even with the acid-reflux meds, but she still seems to think I should do it even for a little bit. I'm very weary though. I rang up the insurance company as well to ask what I could do about getting to see the chiro again. They gave me the run around saying that I should have the chiro call to speak to their clinical one and explain the whole situation. I asked his office to do that and haven't heard back so don't know if they did. I will try again on Monday and see where to go from there.

Tuesday I went to the pool and had a good workout. Wednesday night I destroyed my body. I went to see Aimee Mann, who was fab, but it was standing room only and by the end of the night I thought my body was going to break apart into pieces, especially my hips and back. That and very little sleep left me a bit funky yesterday, so I did not go to the pool. I just had no energy so went home and relaxed - just what I needed. My left hip is still pretty miserable right now but at least the right one (touch wood) seems to be okay. And thankfully I've remembered to make the Mobic this week.

Tonight I am going to the island for the weekend. Staying at my brothers tonight and tomorrow my SIL and I will take my favourite boys to the beach, so long as the weather is good. Fingers crossed, it's not looking good at the moment.

August looks pretty laid back which is good. I will start in earnest my gym visits again next week. I just finished the required 50 for the 6 months to get reimbursed from the insurance company, and get to start the next six months on Sunday. I am going to get every cent from them especially since they won't pay for my PT or chiro now.

Happily I found out I have 13 days left to take before the end of the year. 2 are automatically put aside for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and so it's really 11. I am looking forward to going to Holland in October or November to stay with my good friend who is having a baby this month. (I am voting for the 26th even though it's a week after her due date! :-) ) After that 6 days left to figure out what to do with. Yay!

Of course I just said the right hip was being good and it's just started a lovely stabbing pain! Argh!

Still haven't heard from Dr. Kelly's office after they left that message to cancel my last appointment. Since I'm so sick of doctors I'm waiting to see how long it takes them to realise they've not seen me for a follow-up in ages. I am definitely doctored out! I so wish I had a somewhat "normal" body! I'm so over this humpty dumpty thing.

Overdosing on doctors...

I saw Dr. Kelly this am. The short of what he said is that "there's no solution for what is wrong with you". Kinda knew that already, but I'm just looking for some sort of relief. Well, relief in a more natural way than just popping narcotics. He gave me another prescription for PT b/c the insurance company is getting cranky - I really hope that helps. And he said the pool is the best thing for me, so will keep up with that. He also mentioned prolotherapy. I've researched that in the past, but it involves lots of stuff being injected into you. I HATE needles. But even so he said I should research it though he wouldn't feel comfortable going that route until we're sure the surgery didn't work, which would be about a year out. I will wait a bit to do more research on it as I don't even want to think about all those needles! He also wants me to see another rheumatologist. I definitely didn't want to return to my original one - see v. early posts - as she has NO CLUE about ANYTHING! I've just made an appointment for the 27th. Dr. Kelly feels that we have to try to control the general inflammation I have so we can focus on strengthening my hips, both of which are v. v. weak. I think he was surprised just HOW weak - though I wasn't.
So that's where things stand at the moment.
At least it's Friday! :-)

21 Weeks post op

This weekend my body felt like it went through the ringer. Friday night I started feeling pretty crappy because of the weather, so just went home and reacquainted myself with my couch. Did not have a good nights sleep which never helps matters and on Saturday I was worse. I had theatre tickets on Saturday to see "Is He Dead?" and didn't want to miss that (good thing too it was quite amusing) so I schlepped to the theatre district. Not sure how I got there without crying, but the stairs to the mezzanine were the worst! Afterwards I had an early dinner with my theater date and then headed home, straight back to the couch! Unfortunately I had another rough night and sleep was not good.

I started to feel a bit better yesterday as the weather was much improved, but last night again sleep eluded me and so I'm still pretty achy today. This does not forebode well for me as I have PT after work and am having major muscle spasms especially in my back.

As for my right hip, yesterday I walked two block and was fine and then all of a sudden the front of my hip tightened up and I was limping again. That's been coming and going now. I haven't been to the pool since Thursday. I believe S will be back at PT tonight so I will have to discuss this with him. Perhaps some sort of stretching will help in that area? We shall see. I will only be going tonight as I have a do to go to on Wednesday. Friday is my appointment with Dr. Kelly - I'm thinking he's not going to be too pleased to see me when I tell him what's been going on.

Good & Bad

Yesterday I was doing really well. PT on Wednesday was good, we didn't over do anything, just took it slow and steady. I wasn't even limping yesterday! It was such a nice thing. Then I had to go to the pool last night. I am going to have to talk to Dr. Kelly about this next week when I see him. S at PT said I should be doing it and A agreed. I was only in for 25 minutes, but am I feeling it today! So much that I'm limping with my right leg. The front of my hip feel v. tight and a it is a bit painful as well. This is v. frustrating as I really need to strengthen up. We'll see what the doc says.

Pool time continued...

Friday I came out to the island. I had a heavy bag with some laundry, so that didn't help but to irritate the body a bit. I was definitely still achy and in pain in my hips. The weather went off in the evening and my knees especially were feeling it, took me a while to finally fall asleep. I had also put half a lidocaine patch on the back of my right shoulder as it was killing me. It was a little touch and go so didn't get a "good nights sleep" as I was a zombie when I woke up on Saturday.

Yesterday I couldn't decide whether to go to the pool or not, but eventually did in the afternoon. Thanks to my mother driving me, as I had no capacity for driving at that moment! I was in the pool for about 25 minutes, did my leg exercises and walking back and forth and then side to side. I am still cutting out the squats as I think that might have been irritating by hips, but not sure. My right hip was NOT happy in the least when I got out of the pool, and I made sure to ice when I got home, which definitely helped.

In the evening we went to my brothers house for my nephew's birthday. I took it easy and was still just so tired. When we got home last night I went straight to bed and was just watching telly. All of a sudden the groin area on both my left and right sides started a stabbing pain, first on the left, then the right. I was crying from the pain it was so bad. My mother came in and then got me some ice packs and that seemed to calm it down. It was the strangest thing, totally out of nowhere. Eventually I fell asleep and slept relatively well.

I think I am going to pass on the pool today though. I am not sure if that is what triggered that groin pain, so will have to ask my PT guys tomorrow. I am also pretty achy all over. Unfortunately I think he is away so it will just be the new understudy. I don't think she has enough experience with this. I see Dr. Kelly in two weeks and right now I am ready to yell at him. It's been almost 6 months and I don't feel that much better, on my right side. I hope he has some better ideas, and not including surgery, because I know I don't have the strength for that with either leg at the moment.

I am sorry to say it but I'm having a hard time keeping the faith at the moment. Hopefully we'll come up with a resolution or plan of attack soon and it will work. I guess it doesn't help that my right index finger has been barely usable for the last two weeks and my jaw/mouth pain has been non-stop. I would love to hop on a plane and disappear, but as we know, running away from problems or displacing them never helped anyone.

Brief relief

Was still pretty achy and in pain when I woke up today, but slightly better (thankfully) than yesterday. I made it in and though it's freezing out there, at least the sky is clear and no moisture or low pressure around.

It's also my chiropractor day and thank G-d for that. The masseuse I had today is one of, if not, my favourite. He just touches my back and can tell what is going on. He asked if I've been stressed lately. HA HA! That was funny. I said, well, you could call it that. Between the pain in the body, hips, and my mouth I'm about to jump off a high floor. I guess that's stressful, no? Well, he sure worked his magic. I felt better from then (about 1pm) till now, so almost 5 hours with less pain. Heck, I'll take what I can get!

And since I've been bad and didn't go to PT yesterday, I am making myself go to the pool. Today I will try the one in midtown though as it's heated and meant for gimp's to exercise in. :-)

Seeing Dr. Kelly in 2 weeks and I'm not sure he'll be happy with my lack of progress. Then again, perhaps he'll think for me I am progressing. I just don't feel it that much. We shall see what he decides. I know my PT said that insurance is starting to clamp down on my visits, must sort that out as well. My major frustration with insurance is they expect EVERYONE to react the same, even though EVERYONE has a different body. The people that need to make these decisions are not the ones that do, that's for sure.

12 weeks post op

It's never a dull moment in Tricia's world, that's for sure. I came down with a lovely cold or something last week, and it has decided it is so fond of me it doesn't want to move on. We are now trying antibiotics as a form of eviction. I hope they work.

As for my hips. The right one is good, I haven't been moving around too much since I've not been feeling well so it's hard to tell. The left hip has been touch and go and last week we didn't do any leg lifts with it. I've started to do them the last couple of days at home and so far so good. But again, I've not been walking much so it's hard to suss out exactly what triggers what pain.

The good news is that Dr. Kelly said I can get an injection into my left hip! I am going on the 21st, with the hope (and a prayer) that it will work like last time and keep me pain free for at least 3-4 weeks so I can enjoy my trip to London. I'm not looking forward to the process again as it hurt a lot last time, but I've got to try something.

Fingers crossed it works!!!

11 week post op update

Yes I am late again, but that's because I didn't go to PT on Monday. To be honest, I did not go Wednesday last either. I was letting some semblance to a social life start to creep in again.

So, last week, after PT on Monday, where we did leg lifts with NO weights, I still ended up in agony for a few days after. This is really getting old. And boring.
For the most part when I walk around I am okay on my right side. The right can get a little unhappy if I do much walking, but I am starting to think that is because I am leaning on it more than my left because my left is hurting so much. I try to ice when this occurs.

Yesterday am I woke up with horrible pain in my left hip. I was so uncomfortable that I rang Dr. Kelly's office and left a message. I have been thinking that since PT is so difficult on that side, and my leg is clearly getting weaker (it's weaker than my right now), some sort of evasive action needs to be taken. Other than this inhibiting me from walking more and seeing how I do without the crutches, and making my right side get irritated, it's most importantly going to ruin my trip to London in a few weeks! I can't have that. I discussed with my PT guy all of this last night and he agreed with everything I was saying, and said that (the dreaded) injection may be a good idea. For those of you that do not know me well, I absolutely dread the thought of putting that poisonous rubbish in my body. But...(there's always a but) it did work from 3-4 weeks on my right hip over the summer, and if I can somehow be fortunate enough to have it done and it works whilst I'm in London, I'll be a much happier person. Also it will help me take the pressure on my not-to-be-abused right hip.
I heard back from Dr. Kelly's office today. Arianne went on holiday so it was some person I don't know which meant going through the whole song and dance about what has been going on. (It's been short of a few days from a year since I first saw Dr. Kelly). I filled her in on all of my left legs loveliness (ie my IT band pops constantly and pain is more so on the outside of the hip), and she said that she thinks an injection might be something Dr. Kelly would want to do, even though I've not had an MRI yet on the leg. She was going to speak to him and would ring me back either tonight or tomorrow.

So, there we are. Oh, and to add to the fun, I think I've caught either a very bad cold or the flu. Ain't life grand? Still, off to see Tom Stoppard's "Rock n Roll" tonight, so perhaps that will cure me???

Happy Hanukkah!!!

8 Weeks Post op

Sorry, these have become more like weekly updates.

Last Friday I went to see Dr. Kelly for a post op check up. He seemed happy with the way I am progressing, definitely a good thing. He said that I still should not try too much in PT, just focus on strengthening the muscles to help stabilise the joint. He thinks that around 4 or 5 months post op is when I can start pushing it up a notch.

I told him how my left hip has been bothering me a lot more. He still thinks part of it is compensatory, but I did remind him it was bad when I first came to see him about my right hip (just that the right was a hell of a lot worse at the time). He said to tell the PT guys to work on my left and stretch it out, as the IT band is popping a lot and it hurts on the outside of the joint.

Sunday I spent a long time on my feet shopping with my mum. I have not really tried that yet as Dr. Kelly kept saying to keep taking things very slowly. I was sore and achy and my left hip and left wrist (from the crutch) hurt like hell, but my right one held up pretty well. I iced as soon as I returned home and was just a bit stiff that night and yesterday. Not a bad test run at all I'd say. Once I get rid of this last crutch I hope it will be much better for my other body parts.

On the root canal front, I've just returned from the "final" visit with the endodontist. Fingers crossed that once the novocaine wears off I will be okay.

L O N G recovery ahead

Yesterday I had a lovely outing sitting outside across the street at Starbuck's. It was the first time I've really gone out for anything other than to and from a place. We sat out there for a little over two hours which was huge for me as I have not been able to sit in a chair that long since surgery. Unfortunately the fresh air didn't help me sleep any better though. I would kill for a good 8 hours in-a-row of sleep. Again, not so much for the pain, which is getting better on the operated side (unlike the rest of my body which is getting worse), but lack of comfort. I was even desperate enough to try to sleep on my stomach, which didn't last very long.

Today I went for my post-op today and the sutures were removed. They told me that I couldn't shower for a day or two as when they remove the sutures they put a tape with some sort of sticky glue stuff on top and want that to stay put for a while. I wish I had known that as I had thought I would be able to take a shower after the visit, so neglected getting up early to take one before. Oh well.

Dr. Kelly came in afterwards and asked how I was doing and moved my right leg around. He said that I could cut the CPM down to one hour a day, but I asked if I needed to keep it because I would have to pay another $350 for two additional weeks. Thankfully he said that was fine to return it and I've seen the last of that machine - they are coming to pick it up today! He then showed me the pictures they took when they were doing the surgery. I cannot believe how red it was inside, really bright, bright red! He showed where I had a bone spur and where they shaved that off and the other bone that was shaved down as well, and also my psoas before and as they were cutting it. All very amazing to look at. Unfortunately the post op report was not typed up yet, but I was told I could ring them next week and they would fax it over. We went over my PT and he said he actually wants me to go very slow, and that my recovery would take about six months. I was not too surprised from this, but it was still not thrilled about it. The key thing is he wants my psoas to stay slightly tight since I have the laxity issue, but at the same time not scar up completely. It is a very fine line and my rehab is going to be very specific because of my multiple issues. He already told me to change one of the exercises I was told to do as he does not want me to externally rotate the leg too much. He said internal rotation is fine for now. I asked if he could reaffirm this with the PT guys as they were having a hard time believing me about having to do only two hours on the CPM and four. I also asked him why he had to make four incisions and he said that was because they had to get to the other side of the bone to cut it down. Fair enough I suppose. He said also to use the brace as long as I want because he doesn't want me to hurt at all. I am to try to put more weight on the leg but only as I can tolerate, it's very important to not inflame the hip. Regarding the crutches I will most likely be on them for a few more weeks. I kept laughing in my head when everyone kept saying I'd be on them only two to three weeks. I knew this was going to take a long time to be able to walk again without pain. But I don't want to mess up everything that was done so I will do exactly as I am told. The last thing I could deal with is having to go through this all again (poo poo, touch wood, etc.).

After I had been home for a couple of hours I noticed that one of the incision site tapes had liquidy stuff seeping through it. I just rang the office and spoke to Arianna. She said that sometimes the incisions open up after the sutures are taken up and that is should heal by itself, and to keep and eye on it and make sure it stays dry. Hopefully it will do this quickly.

I think that's it for now. I'm tired so going to have a bit of a kip if possible.

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!

Background

OK, so I guess I should give some background as to how I got here though that seems to be the big question. How did I get here? I never had an accident or injury to my hip. I do not do heavy duty sports either. So how is it my hip decided to fall apart on me?
Well, my brief medical history is as follow:
age 14 - diagnosed with bilateral chondromalacia in my knees
age 18 - right wrist started to hurt, A LOT! went to 7 dr's in 3 years, most of whom had no clue and one who even told me to call him instead of my mother when it hurt, b/c he was convinced it was in my head.
age 20 - met the hand surgeon of my dreams. (yes this was more important than any other average man!) his team diagnosed me straight away and i was off to have surgery in two weeks time. surgery was relatively successful, until...
age 23 - my right hand/wrist developed chondromalacia so i had to have surgery no. 2 to fix that. then at
age 25 - my left wrist was so jealous that it decided to want surgery too, actually this was surgery no. 3
age 30 - my right hand/ thumb and other bits decided to become a crazy mess of instability so i needed surgery no. 4

Now, in between all of these joyous surgeries, I was diagnosed with fibromyaglia syndrome whilst living in London when i was 22. I love, LOVE, L O V E London, but the weather over there puts me through the ringer. turns out low pressure and high humidity are one of my FMS triggers. I was in PT over there and when I came back to NY. My hand surgeon would not operate until I was stable with that and doing better. He sent me to a rheumatologist, who turned out to be not the brightest or most enlightened or even open to anything other than drugs.
OK, so moving along, my hips have been annoying me for ages, but not to the point where I couldn't really walk or exercise or bike ride. The would hurt, I would shift around, and relatively soon they would be quiet.

That was until last summer...

Ah, last summer. The right hip especially started to pop and click and do all sorts of wonky things on a much more regular basis. I was used to the occasional hip sublexation/dislocation that had been happening for a while, but this pain became all too frequent. It was hurting mostly on my outer hip, which I would later learn was trochanter bursitis.
I had a trip booked to London for a week in October. I decided I would wait to make an appt. to see a dr for the hip after the trip. I wanted to enjoy myself and not worry about appointments or diagnosis or anything of the sort. After all of the medical issues I've had, you start to put of the inevitable.
Big oops by me. I arrived on a Saturday am and left a week later on Sunday. During this time I walked a lot! I usually walk a lot, but in London somehow it always seems to double, especially now that the tubes are horrid. One day I went riding in Hyde Park, something I'd been longing to do. That made all the muscles in my legs ache for a couple of days so I was actually walking funny. I guess one shouldn't do an hours ride when one hasn't been on a horse for a bit! Still my hip wasn't doing hurting too much (I did keep lidoderm patches on it so that was probably masking the pain).

Saturday my friend and I went to do a walking tour in lovely Hampstead. Now, if you've not been, Hampstead is a very, very hilly village. So here we are on the walking tour, going from one lovely old place to another, and on one incline, POP! There goes the right hip. I seriously don't know how I was still standing from the pain. My friend was quite happy to turn back, but I am a bit stubborn (to put it mildly) and refused to let my last night in London be ruined by my crap body, so on we went. All I can say is thanks be to G-d for all the pubs in Hampstead that we stopped at on our tour! Afterwards, I hobbled onto the tube, then to the rail to go out to my friends house where I was staying. I was just hanging in there, and sitting on the train helped a bit, but then I had about a mile walk to his house. That was the longest walk of my life. To this day I do not know how I made it. I was able to take about 3 steps at a time. Stop, whimper, talk myself into moving again, and then another 3 steps. Longest mile of my life! I was a wreck when I got back and literally had to pull myself up the stairs to bed. At this point I'm thinking - yeah, really should have made that dr appointment already! Daft me.
Back in NY I ring some dr's that my main dr recommended. I had to go to the darling rheumatologist that I had written off a few years ago (long story) b/c she was the only one I could seem to get an appt with in the near future. My logic was at least I would be able to have the xrays and mri's started and then hopefully I would know what type of dr I needed to locate. The x-rays were fine, perfectly normal, the MRI not so much. After finally getting the radiologist's report she said I had an FAI, labral tear, bursitis, and some other random things. (btw, my right shoulder had been bad too so she did an xray of that which was fine, but not an mri, something about insurance not doing two mri's at a time). The rheumatologist told me to go see an orthopedist. I asked her for more details, as all of these words were like a foreign language to me, but trying to get an explanation out of her was like trying to find water in the Sahara desert during a drought. The only good thing she did was send me in Dr. Kelly's direction.