I was reading my previous post and noticed that I had mentioned that I would detail my appointment with Dr. P that I had prior to leaving Vail. And, although out of order, I thought I'd do it here.
So my Mum and I hobbled up to the clinic on the Thursday morning of the day we were to leave to come home. I was to be seen at 8:30 am. I was brought back to the examination room by the PA. I really like him (not his notes, but whatevs, we'll get that sorted out soon). I had x-rays done of the left hip. To be honest, I don't know how useful they would be as I barely had any bone work done. I mean, I know they have to check for HO, but still, $40, poof! Not to mention the cumulative amount of radiation from the x-rays I've had on my hips is enough to last a person a lifetime. That's besides the point. I then had my hip ROM measured: 120* of flexion baby!!!!!!!! (on the left side). Still only 90* on the right side. The PA couldn't believe it. I then proceeded to wait for the surgeon to come in.
After 45 minutes of waiting he finally came in, along with his peanut gallery too: the fellow, athletic therapist were also close behind him. He came in, did a hip exam and was beaming. He said that he has never seen a hip so bad get so great ROM so early; it seems encouraging. He said that he absolutely knows why I hurt so much before surgery. Now to figure out whether or not to inject. See, we have a problem that recurs, every time I have surgery I develop scar tissue. Over the last 5 months I completely scarred down my hip and Dr. P was figuring out if he wanted to inject my left hip (we were already going to inject the right one at this appointment.) He decided that he had to think about whether or not he wanted to inject. So he sat down on the chair and we all just stared at him. I feel like every appointment I have with him makes him 'sit down and think' while everybody in the room stares at him. He didn't necessarily want to inject the hip since it was doing so well and didn't want to upset the area since the allograft was so newly placed (and wanted it to attach). When he asked me if I could come back in two weeks, he said he would inject it then. I said I would if I had to, but I have no money, so it is extremely difficult. He said I didn't have to and he would inject both sides right then and there since to not do something to reduce inflammation would be too risky given that I form adhesions like its going out of style.
Injections....
Okay, so I've had three arthrograms and two diagnostic injections prior to meeting Dr. P. And yes, they suck, but these previous injections were nothing compared to the injections Dr. P does. Ugh. Last time I saw Dr. P three months ago, he decided to inject my left hip, he had just whipped out an injection, and poof, I was being injected, no guidance or anything. And when we decided that both hips needed injections, I just knew what was coming. He did my right hip first as he was still thinking about what to do with the left hip. He placed a plastic pen lid-like contraption on the skin for 10 seconds or so, and then took a way-too-large gauged needle (I swear it's so large you can see through it!) and just jabs it into my hip. I don't think he'd describe it as 'jabbing' but that is what it feels like. All the while he keeps saying 'excuse me, excuse me'. He and his French-Canadian accent are too cute. I think he knows it hurts (or at least I hope he knows it hurts!) Then he did my other side. Now that hurt a lot more since I was still all swollen and tender. Heck, more than a week later and I still have a nice bruise on the injection site. The injection proceeded the same as the other hip. The needle was placed 2.5 cm away from each of my scope sites. I'm happy I didn't call Dr. P a jerk while he injected me....it really did hurt. I really don't ever get much relief from the injections, but as long as it reduces inflammation on the left side, I'm cool with it. The right side was injected just to appease the insurance company.
The Plan....
Since the surgery went so well and I had so much ROM and pain relief, Dr. P expects a positive outcome. At this point, I should mention something that is a bit concerning, although he hasn't said anything to me directly, but rather my Mum (kinda uncool, but I don't even want to discuss this at this time anyway). But after surgery, Dr. P spoke with my Mum for several minutes. He said the surgery went well, but I have shallow anterior hip sockets and that he couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't need a PAO in the future. This is something that I can't even let into my head right now, there is no room for me to think of this. I just won't entertain the idea currently as I can't imagine more surgery. I think I'll crawl to a hip replacement rather than to have more hip preservation surgery after we get the right side scoped this summer. I digress.
So the plan as of now is to have the right side done at the 6 week mark. When I questioned him about the left side being strong enough, he said that it shouldn't be a problem. I then spoke with the PA when everybody left the room and he said that we could probably get it done prior to August 1st, but ultimately when I have surgery is up to me.
Here we go, the (hopefully) last round of hip surgery for a very long time. (So long as I can actually schedule the darn surgery).
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