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 ;)

46 Questions and then some ......

So today was the "Big Day"..big day meaning that I was finally meeting w/ the next man who was going to cut open my hip..woohoo!
 Dr. M (I am tired of nicknames..keeping it short but sweet)

So after an hour wait in the waiting room at Children's Hospital of Boston (outpatient center) me and literally a room full of babies (so does that give me the right to act like one or is it a "suck it up..your old and can handle this situation"..not sure) I met face to face w/ Dr M..and we had a TWO HOUR conversation..I know I know..unheard of..but for reals..it happened!

Dr M..strolled into the room (first impression =kind) he then preceded to tell me he went over my MRI's from my first surgery at Children's and my X-Rays from Baptist and my notes from My visit w/ Dr Yen (2nd impression=smart, thorough, and kind DR)

Even w/out knowing about my notebook full of questions he said before you ask any questions I want to tell you what my impression of your hip is and what I see from all you test. He said I have Cam and Pincer FAI

"FAI generally occurs as two forms: Cam and Pincer.  The Cam form (Cam comes from the Dutch word meaning “cog”) describes the femoral head and neck relationship as aspherical or not perfectly round.  This loss of roundness contributes to abnormal contact between the head and socket.  The Pincer form (Pincer comes from the French word meaning “to pinch”) describes the situation where the socket or acetabulum has too much coverage of the ball or femoral head.  This over-coverage typically exists along the front-top rim of the socket (acetabulum) and results in the labral cartilage being “pinched” between the rim of the socket and the anterior femoral head-neck junction.  The Pincer form of the impingement is typically secondary to “retroversion”, a turning back of the socket, or “profunda”, a socket that is too deep.  Most of the time, the Cam and Pincer forms exist together"

He then went to draw a picture to help explain Cam and Pincer FAI...not Only is Dr M. a Dr he is a regular Picasso ;)

Surgery recommended: OPEN
Surgical dislocation of right hip
femoral head-neck ostrochrondeoplasty (totally could have spelled this word wrong)
acetabuloplasty
labral debridement versus repair
possible microfracture
possible psoas lengthening

He was pretty concern about the case of extreme psoas tendinitis I have..he will not release the tendon if it still swollen and inflamed like it is currently (to deal w/ this quite painful issue= light stretching, rest, ice, anti inflammatorys  meds, and possible brace to keep it still if it doesn't get better after surgery to get that tendon pure rest so it can finally calm down.) Either my surgeries has caused this tendinitis or my messed up hip..only time will tell on that.  If my tendon calms down after my hip is fixed then it was stemming from my hip..if not than most likely it was from having arthroscopic hip surgery (possible side effect). I wasn't to happy about this info, but it is what it is, and I will have to deal w/ it either way, but he promised it would not be a life long issue..worse case scenario is a brace and crutches for it for a month to give it pure rest once my hip is healed.

So I won't write up all 46 questions..but here is a sampling for all my hip peeps,  for all the curious, and for my friends and family so they can have some of the important info....

1. How long is the average recovery for this surgery:?    6 months

2.How long is the average person on two crutches for?  minimum 6 weeks

3. Average Hospital stay?  5 days..more if I have problems, w/ pain, eating, meds, or crutches, due to stairs in my house I may be sent to a rehab place for a bit afterwards..the first 6 weeks is just resting hip totally

4. Can I get a temporary Handicap pass for my car:? Yes and I should for before surgery and for my recovery (I will work on this ..this week)

5.Will I eventually need a hip replacement even after this surgery?   possibly.. but it may buy me a lot more time

Will i have a CPM machine: Yes

"Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) is a postoperative treatment method that is designed to aid recovery after joint surgery. In most patients after extensive joint surgery, attempts at joint motion cause pain and as a result, the patient fails to move the joint. This allows the tissue around the joint to become stiff and for scar tissue to form resulting in a joint which has limited range of motion and often may take months of physical therapy to recovery that motion.
Passive range of motion means that the joint is moved without the patient's muscles being used. Continuous Passive Motion devices are machines that have been developed for patients to use after surgery."


6. Will I need to have the 3 screws put into my hip during this surgery removed from my hip eventually?   possibly..only if they cause me pain..if I do have them remove it is day surgery

7.What risk do I have from this surgery? AVN....but very rare for this to happen


8. What's going on w/ my left hip? It also has FAI but my right hip is a lot worse..most likely will need to fix my left hip..but since I have had no surgery on it it most likely can be done arthroscopically...after my right hip is all better... (ugh)

9. Will I be having a Cat Scan? will be done before surgery..he uses them for surgery 

10. What should I be doing for meds? Advised that I should take my prescibed Vicodin for pain and to try alleve or motrin (if my stomach can handle it..usually it does not) during the day to help w/ the inflammation.  I will be taking blood thinner injections for 4 weeks post surgery to prevent blood clots (not sure what med that is....and will I be injecting this myself..hmmm..I guess I got to email him that ?..I guess this post is now 47 questions..;)

Another week of the Good and the Bad/ Plus Happy Thanksgiving!

As the title says I had a mix week..of  GOOD and BAD

Went to see Band of Skulls again  in Boston (thank you lil bro)(pic of me and lead singer of BOS)..awesome to get out and see the show..unfortunately it is hard standing at a concert in pain..so I had to go sit down for the 2nd half and take pain pills (first time I have taken them outside of my bedroom)..the concert became more relaxing afterwards that's for sure.  I am quite frustrated that I am having a lot of difficulty standing for any long length of time w/ out a huge amount of pain..ugh!

I am still recouping from my psaos tendon injection which has made for a uncomfortable 2 weeks..I guess my body doesn't like cortisone.. (great another thing to add to my list.. my body is too high maintenance it seriously needs to chill out and go w/ the flow) But this cortisone injection seem to produce a pretty bad flare up w/ my psoas tendon, but it is finally starting to calm down..not sure if I will be doing any more cortisone injections....

I had a night at the movies w/ nine of my friend..(movie name will remain anonymous..lets leave it at that)..LOOOOONG Movies are just hard to sit through at the moment....my friends did hook me up w/ a luxury seat theater (only 3 dollars more) and I had the aisle seat to stretch out a bit..It  was a nice distraction to see the cute shirtless dudes on the screen which again was a distraction from my hip..If you guess the movie..no teasing..everyone has there guilty pleasures ...;)




I had a happy Thanksgiving w/ my family..where I got to mix up sitting and standing and having my family distract me from my pain was just the bonus..I love my family it was a AWESOME Thanksgiving..minus the turkey (I am a vegetarian so It's just not my holiday..but I Love the family part)  Even though my hip is nothing but trouble..I feel very lucky and Thankful for all the body parts that are working well..yay..and thankful for all the amazing, helpful, kind, and inspiring people In my life..I am a very Lucky Woman!

 (Me and the newest member of my family..my little cousin who came here from Ireland for the festivities..soooo adorable)


 Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!!!!

A Full Circle

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! 

Maybe I should be a DR!

So I finally had my Apt. at New England Baptist Hospital (it was a 3 month wait to get this apt) but it was worth the wait..I finally got some answers.  My biggest question I have had since this first began is ...WHY???  WHY did my hip tear while I was working out..(no trauma happened during the work out)...WHY did it happen again less than two years later...WHY did I never get any true relief from either one of my surgeries where I felt like I was my "normal" self again....WHY am I having a problem w/ my psoas tendon and sciatic nerve which I did not have prior to my first surgery..The answer....DRUM ROLL PLEASE

Impingement: Pincer FAI

What is it?

"Femoroacetabular impingement or FAI is a condition of too much friction in the hip joint.  Basically, the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) rub abnormally creating damage to the hip joint.  The damage can occur to the articular cartilage (smooth white surface of the ball or socket) or the labral cartilage (soft tissue bumper of the socket).

FAI generally occurs as two forms: Cam and Pincer.  The Cam form (Cam comes from the Dutch word meaning “cog”) describes the femoral head and neck relationship as aspherical or not perfectly round.  This loss of roundness contributes to abnormal contact between the head and socket.  The Pincer form (Pincer comes from the French word meaning “to pinch”) describes the situation where the socket or acetabulum has too much coverage of the ball or femoral head.  This over-coverage typically exists along the front-top rim of the socket (acetabulum) and results in the labral cartilage being “pinched” between the rim of the socket and the anterior femoral head-neck junction.  The Pincer form of the impingement is typically secondary to “retroversion”, a turning back of the socket, or “profunda”, a socket that is too deep.  Most of the time, the Cam and Pincer forms exist together.

FAI is associated with cartilage damage, labral tears, early hip arthritis, hyperlaxity, sports hernias, and low back pain.

FAI is common in high level athletes, but also occurs in active individuals."

So lets call My new Dr...um lets see...Dr. Brilliant!  So Dr. Brilliant did x-rays of my hip..used his fancy plasma style flat screen monitor and showed me exactly where my hip is "troubled" I could actually see the hip impingement. This is why my hip keeps re tearing.... yes it is torn again....this is why I am in pain constantly....this is why I am not "fixed" yet, because they didn't actually fixed the problem in the other two surgeries..they only fixed the symptoms and the damage from the problem.

I can't even begin to express my frustration from this realization..if I did this would be the never ending blog post....so instead my advice to anyone who may be going through a similar situation is don't give up..keep pressing for answers..get second, third ,or even a fourth opinion until you get someone who will dive into your case and look at it at from all angles. Dr's are human and they make mistakes....no matter what, you know your body better than anyone else and you know when something truly feels wrong. I have always asked this question of WHY to both my surgeons and I never got a real answer......until Dr. Brilliant.

The  reason I called this post "Maybe I should be a Dr." is because two years ago after my first surgery when I wasn't feeling better I did A LOT of research on hips and I thought FAI is what I had..but my surgeons at the time said no.  I guess in the end I was right!  If I were still talking to my other surgeons I would totally say.."I told you so"  hmmmm on second thought maybe I will....... ;)

So Now I am looking at another surgery...This time fixing the actual problem.  It's a much bigger surgery than my last two, but hopefully this will be the last.  But learning from my own mistakes I do have two more apts set up for second and third opinion before I let anyone cut into me again.  In the meantime I got two cortisone injections. One for Bursitis of my hip (4 weeks ago) and one two days ago into my psoas tendon because I have developed extreme iliopsoas tendinitis due to my hip.  Hopefully this will help w/ the pain while I wait to make my next decision.

On another note I had a Happy Hipster Birthday this week ..Even w/out being able to dance w/ my friends, or wear heels w/ my dress, or even being comfortable sitting down..I still had a lot of fun, because I fed off the energy of my friends and family which in turn made for a very  very happy birthday!

Also having a birthday makes you realize all the good things you have in your life ..that you survived another year through the good and the bad (and besides my hip my year has been great) and it also is a new start for a new year, new hope, and new adventures..so hopefully this will even be a healthier and happier year for me.

Thank You to all my friends and family for making my birthday very special and for always being there for me! xoxox