there are good days and bad days with a torn labrum. around that time of the month, cold weather, after deciding you feel like skipping down the street, running in the rain...all times when the pain radiates from the joint. its a pain that is like a memory. your body tenses in anticipation of it. muscles spasm and your body shakes. it honestly takes every ounce of energy out of me. it isn't even that the pain is that bad, it is how my body reacts to it. it also does a mind trick where i emotionally and physically shut-down. it is like my body is self preserving and telling me to stop.
bad day please turn around into many good days...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
hurdles
9.23.10
physical therapy in essence was nothing but twenty dollars down the drain. i was told there was nothing my pt could do for me at this point. i had these lofty hopes i could get strenthening underway before surgery hit, but that was crushed. i am more than deflated...i thought there was more i could do pre-op to make post-op life a bit easier. the reality is sobering...
i was even more devastated to find out there might be warning signs of osteoarthritis...talk about a downer. at 26 i shouldn't feel like an 85 year-old woman, but after a long day i hurt...i wake up achy and now the possibility that i will live with the prospect of hip replacement in my lifetime. i might be looking too far ahead, but to know my life will forever be altered by this is a hard pill to swallow.
let's look at the positive. from going to the pt i was able to read the mri-a results, hence the arthritis scare, and find out where my tear is. i have an anterior tear (@ the front of my hip socket). affirming the pain i feel when i sit down is the pain i feel from the tear and not something else. i like having the details, putting the pieces together and knowing where things are jacked up and why i am in pain.
i am ultimately blessed beyond my own belief. i have such an amazing support system that lets me complain and cry when i need to and that is there for me every step of the way. i am thankful to not go at this alone.
physical therapy in essence was nothing but twenty dollars down the drain. i was told there was nothing my pt could do for me at this point. i had these lofty hopes i could get strenthening underway before surgery hit, but that was crushed. i am more than deflated...i thought there was more i could do pre-op to make post-op life a bit easier. the reality is sobering...
i was even more devastated to find out there might be warning signs of osteoarthritis...talk about a downer. at 26 i shouldn't feel like an 85 year-old woman, but after a long day i hurt...i wake up achy and now the possibility that i will live with the prospect of hip replacement in my lifetime. i might be looking too far ahead, but to know my life will forever be altered by this is a hard pill to swallow.
let's look at the positive. from going to the pt i was able to read the mri-a results, hence the arthritis scare, and find out where my tear is. i have an anterior tear (@ the front of my hip socket). affirming the pain i feel when i sit down is the pain i feel from the tear and not something else. i like having the details, putting the pieces together and knowing where things are jacked up and why i am in pain.
i am ultimately blessed beyond my own belief. i have such an amazing support system that lets me complain and cry when i need to and that is there for me every step of the way. i am thankful to not go at this alone.
mri-a
9.15.10
yesterday was the long awaited mri-arthrogram! this all begins three or four weeks ago when i got the go ahead from my physio-medicine doctor.
as i made my appointment with radiology, i was told that there would be an injection. my first instinct on the knowledge of an "injection" was to freak out. an injection?!? what do they mean by injection?!? i am a freak about knowing all the answers so i quickly googled the procedure. i read a few different blogs about others experiences with mri s (yes i opted out of specifically looking up arthrograms in the hopes that a real, true, large needle was not needed for the procedure) for the hip and came across conflicting experiences. i continued to ignore the word injection and with calming words from friends i minimized the...ahem, injection, to a simple iv. no biggie! i can take an iv any day!
well, injection it was!
i walked into radiology, waivers signed, money paid and clammy hands clenched. my dear friend michelle walked with me down the corridor, she was left sitting in the hall as i donned the hospital gown. i then walked into a white room with a mechanical dinosaur, yes, a mechanical dinosaur; then plopped myself onto the table where the adventure began.
the great thing about the mechanical dinosaur was that is was an xray machine that took continuous images to guide the doctor's needle as it entered my hip joint. the bad thing about that damned machine was that is allowed the dr to enter a needle into my hip joint! talk about uncomfortable. even with local lidicane i would never wish the grinding of needle on bone and cartilage on anyone!
take a glimpse into the joy of fluoroscopy...
yesterday was the long awaited mri-arthrogram! this all begins three or four weeks ago when i got the go ahead from my physio-medicine doctor.
as i made my appointment with radiology, i was told that there would be an injection. my first instinct on the knowledge of an "injection" was to freak out. an injection?!? what do they mean by injection?!? i am a freak about knowing all the answers so i quickly googled the procedure. i read a few different blogs about others experiences with mri s (yes i opted out of specifically looking up arthrograms in the hopes that a real, true, large needle was not needed for the procedure) for the hip and came across conflicting experiences. i continued to ignore the word injection and with calming words from friends i minimized the...ahem, injection, to a simple iv. no biggie! i can take an iv any day!
well, injection it was!
i walked into radiology, waivers signed, money paid and clammy hands clenched. my dear friend michelle walked with me down the corridor, she was left sitting in the hall as i donned the hospital gown. i then walked into a white room with a mechanical dinosaur, yes, a mechanical dinosaur; then plopped myself onto the table where the adventure began.
 |
| fluoroscopy x ray machine |
take a glimpse into the joy of fluoroscopy...
there really is a point in the procedure, although i would never like to admit is. i even ragged on the dr and tech about having to pay for it...its my patient charm at work. the fluoroscopy allows for an injection to loosen the joint and then insert a die which allows any damage to illuminate in the mri.
after receiving the injection to my hip i was wheeled down to the basement sucked into the tube for thirty minutes. thankfully i had music in my ears and i dreamed of being at the beach to escape the confines of the tube. ultimately the mri itself was easy and i could have taken a nap for half an hour.
walking after was a bit difficult. my hip felt loose and a bit out of the socket. my rang of motion was limited and strength was minimal. there was pain and stiffness that lasted a few days
results
9.18.10
mri results in and the news is torn labrum of the hip. I got the call from my doctor wednesday with a referral to orthopedics for surgery. a 40 minute hold and i'm scheduled for a consultation with orthopedic surgeon dr.powell on october 20th. i'm relieved to finally have an answer 9 months in the making.
mri results in and the news is torn labrum of the hip. I got the call from my doctor wednesday with a referral to orthopedics for surgery. a 40 minute hold and i'm scheduled for a consultation with orthopedic surgeon dr.powell on october 20th. i'm relieved to finally have an answer 9 months in the making.
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