Hipster in the city 2

Well I went back to NYC (you can see Hipster in the City post from Sept) and I do have to say I did learn lessons from my last trip.
Lessons Learned:
1.No heels (I missed them but my hip did not)
2.Not a lot of walking (did the cab thing this time)
3.Actually got some sleep (made day time activities more manageable ;)

See we can learn from our mistakes:)

So I am 5 weeks out till surgery and have been having a" touch" of anxiety can you tell sarcasm through my writing....if not....I was being sarcastic w/ the" touch" of anxiety.
I thought a weekend away to visit my sister and bro in law would be a nice way to get away from my daily life and to get my mind off my worries by chillaxin w/ two people I love who also happen to live in an amazing city!!

So D and I got in my car and drove to NYC (which is about a 4.5 hour drive) D did all the driving (THANK YOU) and I got to rest my hipster in the passenger seat.  I like the freedom of driving there, because we could take as many breaks to strech as we wanted..bonus for us hipsters!!  I also realized it is pretty cheap to park your car in NYC overnight ($27 at the garage we found)..sweet!

Sat Day: Went to top of Empire State Building...took cab over...then took elevator up to the top...just a tiny amount of walking for my hip...yay! Bonus it was a beautiful day out so D and I chillaxed for a few hours looking out at the city....nice way to take your mind off things :)

After being on top of the world we decided to get a little "wild" and head on over to the Museum of Natural History (via cab of course).

Had to do a little walking but  I took it slowly..I got to see some dinosaurs as well as visited Africa and Asia
not bad for a girl w/ a bad hip!  Plus got to sit down for an AWESOME planetarium show..a definite must see if you are there..now that really is a show that takes you to another place and clears your mind from all your problems:)

After that had a relaxing Manicure w/ my sister nothing like a good hand rub and shoulder massage to relax you at the end of a day..to bad they didn't do hips ..just kidding..kind of..;) (Thank You Ray-Ray!!!!!! xo)

Then off to dinner (in a cab again w/ supportive boots and no heels, but of course I wore a dress I mean I am in NYC ;) )  Relaxing dinner w/ great people and then drinks afterwards (now that definitely helps w/ pain ;))

So in the end NYC can be done safely  for your hip while  having a fabulous time!!!!

Thanks for a great weekend Ray Ray, Kif, and D  xoxox


Side notes for my fellow hipsters:

*Received My Handicap Placard in the mail today for my car (it takes one month to recieve it from the date your Dr mails out the forms)
*Received my instructions and diet for my blood donation..iron, iron and more iron.  Will have to donate two pints..so I will have to do the blood donation on two occasions prior to surgery.
*I canceled my apt w/ Dr Kelly in NYC..spoke w/ his PA over phone..they reviewed all my medical docs from my Dr's here and agreed w/ the diagnosis so I saved myself some money and more people playing w/ my hip but have the confidence that he agrees w/ my surgery.

Now I just need to work on sleeping!  On that note ..Goodnight!

New Year/New Hope/New Hip??

To all my fellow hipsters and friends Happy 2010!!

Well I am on the 6 week countdown to surgery so even though I want to be Miss Happy Hopeful I have got to be honest I am full of anxiety over this surgery...which I have been told is normal (well doesn't that make me feel better ;) )

So I got the phone call today ...Let the games begin:

1. I will be doing full pre-op apt on the Monday before my surgery: Cat scans, Blood Test, Body work up, etc

2. I will have to donate my blood just in case I need a blood transfusion during my surgery (yes those words almost made me faint today while on the phone w/ my Dr..I am a pretty pale girl but I guess I turned ghost white after I heard that news..according to one of my clients at work who thought I was about to faint..nothing like a little drama during your afternoon work day) After talking to my dad and some friends I realized that this is a good thing because A.It's a good precautionary measure B. The Dr's are on top of my needs and are looking out for me. One of my friends also helped me to realize the reason why it freaked me out so badly, because it is all starting to seem "real" now especially w/ a call like that. I will find out tomorrow how many times I need to go to the hospital to give blood...a pint a time..so i guess it depends on how many pints they will need from me. Along w/ them taking my blood... I mean getting my blood....I will have to go on a high iron diet..I did explain to them that I have Celiac and I am a vegetarian and they said "don't worry we got food on this menu for everyone"..I guess they are on top of it.
3. Most likely will have to be at the hospital for surgery at 6am..but I won't know the final time until the week of....but My Dr is only doing two surgeries that day. So I guess I will be either first or second ;)

Well I hope that 2010 will bring me a successful surgery and a Happy and Healthy Hip! Happy New Year!

** Post holiday celebrations ..Need to enjoy my time even w/ a bad hip!

WAITING

So I am on 7 week countdown till Surgery...ugh!  On one hand I want to get this over w/ because I want to put this behind me, but on the other hand I feel like time is moving to fast and I am not prepared for it mentally or physically. So I decided to blog my list of concerns to get them out of my head and on paper (well you know what I mean) maybe I will find a solution while I write and maybe someone out there in the internet universe will have some good advice for me:)

1. I have a distrust for Dr's now (no offense to any DR's who might read this but It's my blog so pretty much I can say what I want ;)) I just feel like I have had two unsuccessful surgeries ..quite a few misdiagnosis..and this surgery seems so much more extreme so my trust in my Dr's needs to be there(and unfortunately it is not) and I am struggling w/ this ..Don't get me wrong I do like my surgeon (just in case Dr M reads this..I DO LIKE YOU AND PLEASE DON"T MESS THIS SURGERY UP I AM COUNTING ON YOU ;) ) , but I have doubt ..something I did not have during my previous surgeries..but it is a direct result from those surgeries..how ironic.   I am going to NYC in a week to double check one last time that I am doing the right thing by having this surgery, so I have an apt w/ the famous Dr. Kelly "Hip Surgeon to the sports stars".. and one of my friends as well (on that note..hope you are feeling much better S!) I will get back to you with my results from my visit when I get back.

2. Because I am human I have what you would call "The Fear of The Unknown" I have never had open surgery and I am scared of what the pain is going to be like afterwords and how long the recovery will truly take..I know how long it took to recover from the other two surgeries and they are considered "minor" compared to what I will be going through in February.

3.I am trying to prepare my physical surroundings since I know I will be on crutches for awhile..so i have a lot to do to get "prepared" for surgery while I also try to do all my everyday life things which seem to be piling up currently....excellent.

Ok well here is stuff I am doing to try to deal w/ these issues...

1. I filed for my handicap driving card so I don't have to worry about parking/walking while I am currently in pain and while I am recovering (I was told to do this for my other surgeries but I never did but this time I am trying to do everything right to protect myself and my hip)..Dr M got me that paperwork quickly (1 point for DR M..speedy w/ his paperwork..he actually fed ex it overnight to me)

2. I have been asking around about support groups for people w/ chronic pain..I think maybe talking to people who have gone through a similar experience who understand what I am going through will be helpful for my mental well being..I don't want to throw a pity party..what I need to know is how to learn to cope w/ chronic pain so it doesn't take over your life and I feel the way you can learn best on how to do that is by talking/learning from people who have experienced it ..so I am working on that... I have joined a group online for people who also have FAI and I have gotten a lot of helpful feedback from the people on there..so Thank You FAI peeps;) You don't want to burden your friends and family w/ your problems..I really don't want my hip to define me when I am w/ my family and friends so I think talking to people who are going through something similar is the best way to handle this but finding a support group is harder than I thought it would be..but I am working on that

Waiting is hard..because you are in kind of "limbo land"..I am in pain so I can't function normally but I also don't like wasting time and feeding into my pain/hip so I am trying to function as normally as possible w/out causing more injury to my hip.  Also waiting gives you to much time to think.  My life right now is kind of like a waiting room at a DR's office..Busy/ stressful/ a little nerve wracking/ just waiting somewhat patiently to hopefully meet that DR who will make me all better.

Well I am off to write a list of what I need to have done before surgery day (I always find lists satisfying..especially when you start crossing things off)

On that note thanks for listening...and goodnight ;)