Arthrogram/MRI

Today (well, I guess yesterday now) I had my arthrogram/MRI done on my left hip. Thank goodness the radiologist was nice and gentle. After cleaning the area, he numbed it with some Lidocaine, and then injected the hip with iodinated contrast, lidocaine, and other MRI marking solutions to better able to see inside my hip joint. He was so nice and went well, explaining everything as he went.

This was a far cry from my last marcaine injection on my other hip. The radiologist then was extremely impatient and rough. He repeatedly hip my femoral head with the needle and I was sore for several days afterwards.

Alas it is done. I fretted over this for several days now and it went alright. I have been taking Ibuprofen (therapeutic dosage) and icing off and on all evening. I have been making sure to get up off my butt from studying every hour to move around so as to alleviate any unnecessary stiffness in the hip. All in all I am not in very much pain at all. The joint feels sluggish internally, but this should subside quickly.

One awesome thing is that I was able to have the radiologist's clinic send me a copy of the test when it gets read. Which is pretty neat that I am going to be able to see my own MRI! They said that I might even get the results tomorrow. Having said this, I am already sure of the results as this seems strikingly similar to the other hip; so much so, that I have already signed all the paperwork to get the surgery done in June.