Went to Children's Hospital today to meet w/ the surgeon who may be doing my hip surgery..I guess I am still considered "young" ..their cut off is 35.. whew..just made it! ;) So I have come back full circle at the moment since Children's Hospital is where it all began, but this time w/ a different Dr..(No Dr.McCrappy this time around )!
I saw Dr. Great (I like to give my Dr code names to keep their privacy..plus it's fun) He agreed w/ what Dr. Brilliant said after looking at my x-rays and giving me a physical exam. He said that my impingement was pretty bad on my right side but my left side also has an impingement..wawawhat you say..I am right there w/ you....left side stay strong ..PLEASE!
His recommendation is as followed:
Revision arthroscopy,acetabuloplasty/labral refixation, osteoplasty of head neck junction and possible psoas release VS Open Surgical dislocation
So pretty much what that all means..They need to shave the bone of my head and neck of my hip so it fits into place nicely and stops tearing my labrum (the protective padding for my hip). and maybe release my psoas tendon because it has been in full spasm for two years and the injections don't seems to be helping that much. Unfortunately Dr. Great thinks the only way to do this successfully is through open surgery due to the fact of the damage my hip already has and the scar tissue from my previous two surgeries. Open Surgery also require putting screws in my hip and having them removed a year from now..plus a lot longer hospital stay and recovery.
Ok the good news (yes there is some) my hip could be fixed once and for all, my pain can go away for the most part (YES!) and I may never need to get a hip replacement ,because of this surgery or at least it will save my hip for a loooooooooooong time from being replaced, and by that point medical science may be able to fix things w/ lasers or something cool like that and Dr's wont be playing w/ knives and scalpels anymore..hey you never know..medical science/technology moves fast!
So now Dr. Great is sending me to his partner at Children's who does the open surgery for this particular surgery to consult w/ him and see what he has to say ,and then I get to make my decsion on what to do. So I should have more info in 2 1/2 weeks. Until then lots of ice, some water therapy PT for pain, and pain meds..good times...uh not! But I will try to put on a happy face and keep on keeping on till surgery..cause in my book that the only choice I got!
I found your blog from the Yahoo group--I'm a three scope girl myself, though it was righty twice and lefty once they threatened to scope righty again earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my three scopes were done at Children's by a Dr. Amazing, the other was done at Newton-Wellesley by a Dr. I-don't-scope-hips-anymore-because-I-suck-at-it. If your Dr. Great is the same as my Dr. Amazing, then he's super awesome and his partner is as well--if they think they'll be able to help you then they will and they'll be completely honest about the potential outcomes with you.
good luck!!
Hi.
ReplyDeleteI also found your blog from the Yahoo group and I just have to say OHMYGOSH! I think we saw the same Dr. yesterday. I was there at 9:30.
Anyhow, I'm sorry you're going through this but I believe you are in good hands. Best of luck to you and I look forward to hearing some good news from you in the future!
-PJ
Hi Meegs and PJ:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your info and comments!! So funny that we are all dealing w/ our hips at Children's hospital...small world! Ok I am now very interested if Dr. Amazing and Dr. Great are the same..I am so nervous letting any Dr. work on me at this moment..my trust level has gone down since I have had two unsuccessful surgeries (and they didn't bother to actually diagnose the problem in the first place) So I guess giving names of my DR's in the name of my own well being may be useful and I doubt many people are even reading my comments..:) So I met w/ Dr. Yen (aka Dr. Great) yesterday and I have an Apt set up w/ Dr. Matheney (because he does the open surgery at Childrens) he also mentioned DR. Kim and Dr. Millis. I also have a consult w/ Dr Kelly In NYC just to make sure I am making the right decision by doing this surgery this time since he is suppose to be one of the best hip surgeons in the country. I am really nervous about open surgery but I am so worn out by the pain ..I just want it fixed. How are your hips currently? Hopefully well! Thanks again for your comments :)
Alas, Drs. Great and Amazing are not one and the same. I had Kocher for mine but I believe Dr. Yen was doing his Fellowship at Children's around the time of my first scope there and was definitely involved with my case because the name and face are very familiar.
ReplyDeleteMy hips are, for the first time ever really, doing fairly well. My last scope was a little over a year ago and it was definitely the toughest to get back from but they're holding up far better than I thought--I'm currently pursuing a dance major in college and dancing upwards of 25 hours a week. But I was really really close to jumping at the exploratory scope and potential open surgery that would follow. Right now I'm just taking things a few days at a time and I keep hoping for the best--every little twinge still freaks me more than I'd like to admit.
LOL...the more ironic part is that your Dr. Amazing and My DR. McCrappy are the same person..Dr. Kocher did my first surgery..I have to give him credit that he diagnosed my hip problem when two other DR's said I just pulled a muscle from working out..but Dr kocher did fix my large labral tears and removed the loose bodies and did the microfracturing of my hip...but he refused to believe anything could be wrong w/ me post surgery..he kept insisting it was my pain switch not being shut off..and then I got frustrated because I knew it felt just like it did prior to my surgery so went to get an opinions elsewhere which led to surgery #2 and FAI diagnosis. My disappointment w/ him came from the fact he never look to see why my labrum tore in the first place and how after he fixed me he wasn't very helpful.he also told me I would be back to running in 3 months....but I am glad he helped you!!! I guess it's like any relationship sometimes you just don't click and I don't think DR. K and I clicked ;) But he does have a good reputation and that is why I went to him orginally.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are doing better! Dance major..AWESOME..I did dance for 18 plus years..I would love to be able to dance again..hopefully one day..soon! :) I am hoping the third time will be the charm and if my right hip finally gets fixed my hope will be that my left hip will stay ok even though they say it has impingement as well. I can understand How tweaks get you nervous..I am so overprotective of my hips..and after 3 scopes how could you not be nervous but it seems you are heading in a great direction..which is awesome! I hope your hips keep on getting better for you and it will soon be a thing of the past!
hahaha, I can definitely see that as Kocher's downfall though--I have a friend that had a similar experience as you did with him I was already on my second labral tear and another doctor at Children's suspecting FAI by the time I saw him so I didn't have to deal with the diagnosis process as much with him. He also really understood dance which was more than enough to make me overlook any other shortcomings.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! If I could get through this to get back to dancing as much as I am, I'm sure you'll be able to.
I also went to see Dr. Kocher. My surgery is scheduled for January 8th. This is my first so you both have much more experience than I!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you get some relief this time, SJ. And Meegs, I'm happy to hear you had a good outcome with Dr. K. I am an Ironman triathlete and I'm so freaked out that this whole ordeal is going to stop me from doing what I love. Ugh.
@Meeegs LOL..well I am glad he fixed your hip. Thank you very much for your info and your positivity..I definitely hope to be dancing soon:)I hope your hip keeps improving!!!
ReplyDelete@PJ Good luck w/ your surgery..you will have to let me know how it goes..I understand about being freaked out but at this point if you are in a lot of pain surgery is the only option for hope to get you back to doing what you love..it looks like meeegs is on her way and hopefully after our surgeries we will be too...just make sure you get a good physical therapist ...do you have FAI??
SJ -
ReplyDeleteI found your blog on the yahoo group site too. I'm a patient of Dr. Great's! My PT recommended him to me, but I havent known anyone else who sees him. I'm glad you think he's great. He's supposed to be doing surgery on my right hip in February, but I'm trying to push it off until summer because I'm a teacher.
I'm happy to have found your blog. Keep posting!
Hi kate!
ReplyDeleteSmall world ;) I really liked him..he seems very knowledgeable and conservative..not a surgeon who wants to open you up immediately..My first visit w/ him he almost spent an hour w/ me..unfortunately he doesn't do open hip surgery for FAI just arthroscopic so he is sending me to one of his colleagues because he thinks my hip cannot be done arthroscopically at this point. If you can hold out to summer it is probably a good idea because from my past experience the recovery is a good solid 6 weeks before you can start functioning in a more normal way. But if you are in a lot of pain you don't want to suffer another 6 months..what is your specific surgery? If you end up having in February who knows we may end up at children's together ;) Good Luck w/ everything!
Thank you and I will :)
SJ - I do have FAI (Cam). Do you have a good PT you can recommend? I've seen several over the years but I don't think any of them have any experience with this specific injury.
ReplyDeleteHi PJ-
ReplyDeleteyes it isn't easy finding someone who works w/ this specific injury unfortunately...I do like My PT guy a lot..but I guess it depends on where you live..where do you live?
Hi, SJ.
ReplyDeleteI live in Cambridge, work in Boston.
Fingers crossed that your guy is near the city. :)
Ah! I just posted a big thing and my computer did something funky and I don't know what happened.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, to summarize, I have cam impingement in both hips. We're supposed to do the right one first, but there was a significant pop in my left joint the other night and now it's on fire. It's not so much the pain that bothers me as the constant catching in my joints. It freaks me out and scares me because it can just come out of nowhere when I'm having a seemingly good day.
So the surgery would be a scope to repair the impingement, repair the labrum, and clean up anything that needs to be cleaned up. I've never had surgery before and am very hesitant from things I have read that this will not work, and I will have gone through surgery and recovery for nothing.
How did you hear about Dr. Yen? My physical therapist says he's one of the best, but there's so little information I've really been able to find out about him. I do love how much time he spends with me though. It's nice not to be pushed out of his office.
Happy Thanksgiving! Glad to have found a "virtual hip friend" from my area!
-Kate
@PJ..If you call Middleton ma near the city than you are in luck..;) I do know that Children's Hospital has "THE LIST" of all the great PT peeps in the Boston area so you are probably better off getting one from them..At your two week post surgery apt Dr. Kocher will give you "the List" of those PT peeps so maybe it will be better to wait to do PT till Post surgery..sports medicine massages are nice for pain relief just make sure you have a sports med person do it so they don't make anything worse.
ReplyDeleteHi kate
ReplyDeleteTrust em I totally understand about something just happening out of the clear blue and hurting..all my hip issues seem to go like that and from other people I have met who have impingement problems it seems to be the same thing..If you do something the wrong way that could be enough to irritate the hip to the point of pain..all my surgeries stemmed from that moment of everything is fine to everything is not...ok not trying to scare you because on the same token some times you just have a bad hip day and it does get better..prob should have started out w/ that line.
I heard about Dr Yen from Dr Ward at Baptist..he said he was the best for this kind of surgery and i trust Dr ward's opinion and i felt after I met DR Yen he was right. Surgery is definitely scary besides having my hip scoped twice I have also had my appendix and gallbladder out..I have celiac (can't eat food w/ wheat oat barley or rye) but lost those two organs before that diagnosis/...and I am still scared about having my upcoming surgery because I have never had open surgery and this will be the first time I have surgery for impingement and I am worried that I already have to much damange from my other two surgeries to get pain relief but I fall back on that at the moment my hip is hurting me a lot that it is interferring w/ my daily life and preventing me from doing things I like so if surgery can give me a chance to get some of that stuff back than its worth it..it won't make it worse hopefully and me personally can't live well the way it is now so I guess the pros outweigh that what if con (which trust me goes through my head on a daily basis) gettinga second opinion is always a good idea just to confirm this is the right surgery..There are Dr's a other Boston Hospitals you can go to..I am meeting w/ Dr Thornhill at Brigham and Womans and the "famous hip god" DR Kelly in NYC before I do my surgery just to make sure I am doing the right thing..third time I am not taking any chances..
It is always nice to have a virtual hip friend it's nice to be able to chat w/ someone who understands what you are going through..me personally none of my friends and family have ever had a hip problem or chronic pain and I hate complaining but sometimes I don't think they undertsand really what I am trulygoing through which is hard..so any questions or if you want to complain or anything def email me..I found a hip friend when I first got injured and she was a huge help to me and still is! Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
ps. just read through my post...please ignore my grammar and mispellings..I am sooooooooooo tired ;)
ReplyDelete