Cutest dogs ever
pumpkins - such artists we are!
Jenn & Peter's georgeous wedding in Healdsburg
The chef with the famous cookies
Friday, November 12, 2010
updates
A lot has happened since my last post, or at least it feels like it. Two days ago I was in Vail - seeing Dr. Philippon. Its a long story, but moral is that I'm leaning towards having my labrum reconstructed with him in January, and then the second hip done in March. I think its just a gut feeling more than finally finding the right answer, since that clearly doesn't exist. I may change my mind in a week, but that's where I'm at now.
I also went to see my clavicle doc yesterday in SF and the xrays show what I thought - the clavicle has indeed started to heal! yay! for now, he doesn't want me pushing it, but to be mellow for another month or so and see where we are at. Ironically, I think (hope) my clavicle will be good to go just about when I'm scheduled for surgery on my first hip - January. So in the meantime, I'm going to just enjoy the holidays and the fall weather we are having, and ride, see family, enjoy the time I have before rehab.
As a side note - I got my first injection of cortisone into my left hip while in Vail. That hip typically just throbs 24/7 and I was hoping for some relief. I'm not sure yet whether its going to work. The first night and following day it definitely hurt more - was tender to even walk on. But, i'm hopeful that it will start to feel better soon...? we'll see.
The best part of going to CO was getting to see Vern and her new (or new to me) house and kitty. Georgeous part of the world. My visit coincided with Denver's first snow fall for the year. The day before I got there was 73 degrees, when I arrived on Tuesday night it was snowing and about 35 degrees. yipes!
The next day was bright blue skies and probably 40. I walked to the gym about a mile and a half away. My fingers and nose froze, but the trees changing color and all the cute houses made it worth it. Yay Colorado. I could live there for sure. Plus I scored some awesome jarred tomatoes and figs from vern. sweet!
I also went to see my clavicle doc yesterday in SF and the xrays show what I thought - the clavicle has indeed started to heal! yay! for now, he doesn't want me pushing it, but to be mellow for another month or so and see where we are at. Ironically, I think (hope) my clavicle will be good to go just about when I'm scheduled for surgery on my first hip - January. So in the meantime, I'm going to just enjoy the holidays and the fall weather we are having, and ride, see family, enjoy the time I have before rehab.
As a side note - I got my first injection of cortisone into my left hip while in Vail. That hip typically just throbs 24/7 and I was hoping for some relief. I'm not sure yet whether its going to work. The first night and following day it definitely hurt more - was tender to even walk on. But, i'm hopeful that it will start to feel better soon...? we'll see.
The best part of going to CO was getting to see Vern and her new (or new to me) house and kitty. Georgeous part of the world. My visit coincided with Denver's first snow fall for the year. The day before I got there was 73 degrees, when I arrived on Tuesday night it was snowing and about 35 degrees. yipes!
The next day was bright blue skies and probably 40. I walked to the gym about a mile and a half away. My fingers and nose froze, but the trees changing color and all the cute houses made it worth it. Yay Colorado. I could live there for sure. Plus I scored some awesome jarred tomatoes and figs from vern. sweet!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
some good news
As promised, I am posting some good news! I am 99% sure my collarbone is healing. About a month ago (shortly after the last post) i returned to my doc for an xray of my collarbone to see what progress the clavicle had made since the xray at 3 months (for those of not keeping track, there was no bone growth at 6 weeks and a tiny amount of bone growth at 3 months). I'd been wearing the bone stimulator every day 24 hours a day since about the 3rd week (which is really no fun i have to admit). Well, at the 4 month visit there had been zero progress from the 3 month visit. I didn't post, because i'd promised good news and that clearly was not it! Next step was to either go back in and re-plate the bone (risking breaking in other places, and continued non-healing) or to try this drug - that has been shown to make bones heal - in off label experiments. It also has caused bone cancer in mice, but apparently not much evidence of that in humans. Well, i quit the bone stimulator (good riddance!!!!!!) and i started on that drug - which is an injection to the thigh every morning... and after 4 weeks i do believe i have some bone growth!! actually i could feel it getting stronger and more stable at 2 weeks... but after 4 weeks, i'm pretty convinced this is working! i can actually feel the bone where there was just a hole before - its solid and hard and it doesn't hurt to the touch! I can pick up things (like my purse) that i haven't been able to carry for the last 5 months! i can do two things at one time - because i can use two hands! i can open heavy doors and carry heavy books using that arm. pretty soon i think i'll be able to do planks, carry heavy groceries and.... use crutches! so, yay for me :) I go for a follow up xray in 2 weeks to confirm for sure... but i'd put money on this.
And thank goodness for a creative and proactive doctor (actually doctors). I have a feeling in a couple of years this drug will be prescribed all the time for breaks that don't heal. Its like magic.
And thank goodness for a creative and proactive doctor (actually doctors). I have a feeling in a couple of years this drug will be prescribed all the time for breaks that don't heal. Its like magic.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Nashville and some realizations
I am writing from the airport in Nashville, Tennessee. I made the trip out here to visit Dr. Byrd in the hope that he could add some clarity on the question of what to do with my hip(s). Over the last month, I’ve been in a “wait and see” and information gathering mode. A couple of weeks ago I went to visit Dr. Sampson to see if he could help me to determine whether Dr. Safran or Dr. Philippon had the right approach to address the ongoing looseness in my left hip. Dr. Sampson, like Dr. Philippon, is of the opinion that simply tightening my joint capsule won’t solve the problem of looseness. He proposes reconstructing the labrum, though he would use a part of my joint capsule itself as the graft, while Dr. Philippon would use a graft from my IT band. Dr. Sampson also questioned whether it would even be possible to simply go in and “sew up” my joint capsule, since there is apparently still a hole there. Dr. Sampson also suggested that I don’t do anything quite yet – but instead give it more time – at least six months from the surgery date. If it is getting better, even slowly, that is a good sign. Since my clavicle is still flexing (major sad face) I don’t really have much choice but to wait, so I am definitely open to this. On Oct. 9, it will have been 6 months since surgery on my hip.
I was a bit indecisive about coming out to see Dr. Byrd. I had sent him my films and op report in the hopes he could give his opinion over the phone, but he wanted to see me before giving any kind of opinion. After seeing Dr. Sampson, I had a 2 against 1 situation – and the 2 didn’t even agree entirely. Did I really want a 4th opinion? And even if he agreed with one of the other three, do I really want to make my decision based on the popular vote? Well, I’m glad I made the decision to come out. Dr. Byrd didn’t actually give me any sort of direction at this point. He was very honest in saying that any one of the three proposals given by the other doctors might well be the correct route, and he was not going to add yet another opinion to the mix, or tell me – yes I should absolutely go with ‘x’. Instead, he was quite honest in saying that none of them really know. I had suspected this, but it was really actually helpful to hear it. It doesn’t make it any happier or easier, but it takes the pressure off of finding the “right” answer. There is no way to know at this point. Its not like there is some piece of information out there that I just haven’t found that would show me the correct answer.
Dr. Byrd was kind, listened, and was thoughtful in his advice. He acknowledged that each of the surgeons I have talked to are intelligent, skilled, and are giving me the best advice they can. And, he said that the reason that I’m getting a different opinion from each of them is that at the moment, no one really knows the answer. He said maybe in 3 or 4 years, they will have a better idea, but for now, they are just feeling around in the dark. While they are the leaders in the field, they only know a little bit more than the rest of the surgeons out there. I appreciated his candor. I had hoped he would tell me that yes, I’ve had a patient (or 10) with exactly this situation, we did X and it solved the problem! But, he said the opposite. He’s never had a patient with this problem and is only aware of one other instance where a surgeon dealt with instability from a hole in joint capsule. He is going to call him to find out what he did and the results. He is also going to “think on it” and get back to me on what he would do.
He, like Sampson, suggested that I wait and see, and not jump into another surgery. Essentially, the message was that – whatever route I choose – tightening the capsule or reconstructing the labrum (with whichever of the methods proposed) – may or may not work. I may be faced afterwards with wondering if I should do something more, or if I should have done something different. That is, the situation may not be better, and may be worse than it is now. He also didn’t think it was wise to move ahead and do surgery on the right hip until we had positive results from the left. Unfortunately, I don’t think he realizes what a negative and depressing impact this is having on my life. Waiting is not a neutral decision. It is painful, physically, emotionally, and mentally every day. I think I need to move ahead with surgery on the right hip, and hope for the best – while covering all of my basis – i.e. make sure the labrum is not removed if at all possible and closing the joint capsule on the way out. At the moment, it is my right hip more than my left that holds me back physically – the one that hurts when I kick in the pool, aches on the bike, and protests just walking sometimes. I may be able to live with the limitations that the looseness imposes, but I can’t live with the limitations of the pain my right hip inflicts.
After visiting with Dr. Byrd he had me meet with his physical therapist, Erica, just to see if there were any additional exercises I might do or try. She had me do a bunch of things and moved my leg around a bunch and gave me some suggestions for additional strengthening work I can do – though it sounds like I’m doing most of what she could think of. She thinks that some of the pain I’m having can be improved by joint mobilizations in the hip – to break up scar tissue, and loosen up the joint capsule. This is something my P.T. consciously did not do much of because she really wanted to allow my joint capsule to tighten, rather than work on stretching it out. I think I will return to P.T. and see if the mobilizations help with the pain and range of motion, while I wait and see if the joint tightens. Some days I do feel like my hip is making progress to being tighter. Other days it feels quite loose. Maybe this is just a matter of waiting – and like everything else is just a situation of 2 steps forward, one step back. I hope that is the case.
At times it makes me so sad that I am still dealing with this. I am so sick of thinking about it, talking about it, complaining, wondering, waiting, being sad and discouraged, spending so much time and month and mental energy on it. I guess I thought that I’d deal with the emotional struggle during the laid up and recovery stage, but I was not really prepared that maybe I’d just have to learn to adjust to a new reality – with real physical limitations. I used to think that with the right surgeon, anything could be fixed. But, I’m coming to realize that is not the case. And, I’m realizing that I might just have to adjust my life to this new reality. I know that many people lead fulfilling and happy lives with much larger disabilities than the one’s I’m facing. I just am having a hard time figuring out how I might do that. I don’t want to have to figure out how to do it. But, I realize, I am already figuring out how to do it. I am doing it, whether I like it or not.
They say there are 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. If I don’t accept it, does that mean I’m stuck in depression? Can I accept what is, without giving up on what might be? Without dragging myself down so much by fighting it? It is all so tiring and so not how I want to be spending months or years of my life.
More positive post coming in the near future, I hope!
I was a bit indecisive about coming out to see Dr. Byrd. I had sent him my films and op report in the hopes he could give his opinion over the phone, but he wanted to see me before giving any kind of opinion. After seeing Dr. Sampson, I had a 2 against 1 situation – and the 2 didn’t even agree entirely. Did I really want a 4th opinion? And even if he agreed with one of the other three, do I really want to make my decision based on the popular vote? Well, I’m glad I made the decision to come out. Dr. Byrd didn’t actually give me any sort of direction at this point. He was very honest in saying that any one of the three proposals given by the other doctors might well be the correct route, and he was not going to add yet another opinion to the mix, or tell me – yes I should absolutely go with ‘x’. Instead, he was quite honest in saying that none of them really know. I had suspected this, but it was really actually helpful to hear it. It doesn’t make it any happier or easier, but it takes the pressure off of finding the “right” answer. There is no way to know at this point. Its not like there is some piece of information out there that I just haven’t found that would show me the correct answer.
Dr. Byrd was kind, listened, and was thoughtful in his advice. He acknowledged that each of the surgeons I have talked to are intelligent, skilled, and are giving me the best advice they can. And, he said that the reason that I’m getting a different opinion from each of them is that at the moment, no one really knows the answer. He said maybe in 3 or 4 years, they will have a better idea, but for now, they are just feeling around in the dark. While they are the leaders in the field, they only know a little bit more than the rest of the surgeons out there. I appreciated his candor. I had hoped he would tell me that yes, I’ve had a patient (or 10) with exactly this situation, we did X and it solved the problem! But, he said the opposite. He’s never had a patient with this problem and is only aware of one other instance where a surgeon dealt with instability from a hole in joint capsule. He is going to call him to find out what he did and the results. He is also going to “think on it” and get back to me on what he would do.
He, like Sampson, suggested that I wait and see, and not jump into another surgery. Essentially, the message was that – whatever route I choose – tightening the capsule or reconstructing the labrum (with whichever of the methods proposed) – may or may not work. I may be faced afterwards with wondering if I should do something more, or if I should have done something different. That is, the situation may not be better, and may be worse than it is now. He also didn’t think it was wise to move ahead and do surgery on the right hip until we had positive results from the left. Unfortunately, I don’t think he realizes what a negative and depressing impact this is having on my life. Waiting is not a neutral decision. It is painful, physically, emotionally, and mentally every day. I think I need to move ahead with surgery on the right hip, and hope for the best – while covering all of my basis – i.e. make sure the labrum is not removed if at all possible and closing the joint capsule on the way out. At the moment, it is my right hip more than my left that holds me back physically – the one that hurts when I kick in the pool, aches on the bike, and protests just walking sometimes. I may be able to live with the limitations that the looseness imposes, but I can’t live with the limitations of the pain my right hip inflicts.
After visiting with Dr. Byrd he had me meet with his physical therapist, Erica, just to see if there were any additional exercises I might do or try. She had me do a bunch of things and moved my leg around a bunch and gave me some suggestions for additional strengthening work I can do – though it sounds like I’m doing most of what she could think of. She thinks that some of the pain I’m having can be improved by joint mobilizations in the hip – to break up scar tissue, and loosen up the joint capsule. This is something my P.T. consciously did not do much of because she really wanted to allow my joint capsule to tighten, rather than work on stretching it out. I think I will return to P.T. and see if the mobilizations help with the pain and range of motion, while I wait and see if the joint tightens. Some days I do feel like my hip is making progress to being tighter. Other days it feels quite loose. Maybe this is just a matter of waiting – and like everything else is just a situation of 2 steps forward, one step back. I hope that is the case.
At times it makes me so sad that I am still dealing with this. I am so sick of thinking about it, talking about it, complaining, wondering, waiting, being sad and discouraged, spending so much time and month and mental energy on it. I guess I thought that I’d deal with the emotional struggle during the laid up and recovery stage, but I was not really prepared that maybe I’d just have to learn to adjust to a new reality – with real physical limitations. I used to think that with the right surgeon, anything could be fixed. But, I’m coming to realize that is not the case. And, I’m realizing that I might just have to adjust my life to this new reality. I know that many people lead fulfilling and happy lives with much larger disabilities than the one’s I’m facing. I just am having a hard time figuring out how I might do that. I don’t want to have to figure out how to do it. But, I realize, I am already figuring out how to do it. I am doing it, whether I like it or not.
They say there are 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. If I don’t accept it, does that mean I’m stuck in depression? Can I accept what is, without giving up on what might be? Without dragging myself down so much by fighting it? It is all so tiring and so not how I want to be spending months or years of my life.
More positive post coming in the near future, I hope!
Monday, August 16, 2010
4.5 Months Post Op
I almost can't believe its been 4 and a half months since I had surgery on my left hip. I thought I'd be all good by now, alas, I still have 2 surgeries to go. But, putting that aside...
This weekend was almost like a normal weekend for me - woke up both mornings and went and rode my bike for 3+ hours. Yes, I was slow, but it left me with that good exhaustion. It was awesome. Then we ate, went to the farmers market, ate some more, saw a movie (scott pilgrim takes on the world is great), lounged on the couch, played with the kitties, cleaned bikes, caught up with friends, etc. pretty basic weekend, and it was lovely :)
If it wasn't for the looseness in my left hip, I would feel very happy with the results of the surgery. That is good to keep in mind going into the next couple of surgeries. I think if it weren't for my collarbone, i could have started riding outside at about 6 weeks post op. As it turned out, I was off the bike for a bout 4 months - but that was due more to the collarbone than the hip. I think riding has been helpful for the hip - and it feels better than it did 2 weeks ago. It feels stronger, fewer tweaks, etc. Before I was able to ride, I was doing a lot of hiking - which was harder on my hips for sure. Last night i had a burning feeling in my joint/hip area - but I would guess that is just muscles/tendons - and just due to the nearly 100 miles i put in on the road this weekend. It is heavenly to ride without pain in the left hip. I hate that my right hip hurts and aches and grinds, but at least it is a remider of where Iused to be on my left hip - so I have something to compare.
I'm ready to start moving forward - to start building endurance, strength and speed, and to start losing the extra 10 lbs I've put on through all this. But, not quite yet. For now, I need to just be happy that i get to ride my bike. Enjoy the sunshine where I can find it, and just maintain a level of sanity until the next surgery arrives... and then the next one. MUCH better than doing that waiting from the couch!! :)
This weekend was almost like a normal weekend for me - woke up both mornings and went and rode my bike for 3+ hours. Yes, I was slow, but it left me with that good exhaustion. It was awesome. Then we ate, went to the farmers market, ate some more, saw a movie (scott pilgrim takes on the world is great), lounged on the couch, played with the kitties, cleaned bikes, caught up with friends, etc. pretty basic weekend, and it was lovely :)
If it wasn't for the looseness in my left hip, I would feel very happy with the results of the surgery. That is good to keep in mind going into the next couple of surgeries. I think if it weren't for my collarbone, i could have started riding outside at about 6 weeks post op. As it turned out, I was off the bike for a bout 4 months - but that was due more to the collarbone than the hip. I think riding has been helpful for the hip - and it feels better than it did 2 weeks ago. It feels stronger, fewer tweaks, etc. Before I was able to ride, I was doing a lot of hiking - which was harder on my hips for sure. Last night i had a burning feeling in my joint/hip area - but I would guess that is just muscles/tendons - and just due to the nearly 100 miles i put in on the road this weekend. It is heavenly to ride without pain in the left hip. I hate that my right hip hurts and aches and grinds, but at least it is a remider of where Iused to be on my left hip - so I have something to compare.
I'm ready to start moving forward - to start building endurance, strength and speed, and to start losing the extra 10 lbs I've put on through all this. But, not quite yet. For now, I need to just be happy that i get to ride my bike. Enjoy the sunshine where I can find it, and just maintain a level of sanity until the next surgery arrives... and then the next one. MUCH better than doing that waiting from the couch!! :)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Kitties, etc.
We got some kitties! Their names are grimace and igor, they are sisters, from the spca. They are awesome. Little purring and snuggling machines, but also quite frisky. They are good at knowing when to use the claws and when not too - which I appreciate. We have had them a week as of today. Levi has not quite adjusted...
We're working on it... Any suggestions are welcome.
More big news... I have finally returned to the gym and to the bike. YAY YAY YAY! I'm not doing anything near what I used to do in the gym, but i'm at least getting some strength in. It is shocking how weak I am. Like doing a single leg bridge is REALLY hard. I'm doing mostly core work, a bit of lower body, and as much with the left arm as I can do. PT stuff for the hips and the right arm as well. I had some major sharp pains in my hips as a result of the gym work (usually a few hours or the morning after), but it goes away.
My first ride was on Saturday and I've ridden twice since then. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at how well both my hip and my clavicle held up. It is funny though - my strongest limb is my left arm. I feel a bit gimpy. The most pain during the rides comes from my right hip - the one I haven't had any surgery on yet. Its the loudest for sure. I'm trying to not put weight on the handle bars much - so going up hills and descending is tricky (and slow), but generally fine! I'm getting the rhythm back. My left hip has felt generally excellent on the rides in terms of pain level. Some strange little squeaks here and there, and some mild achiness at times, but generally quiet and strong feeling. I definitely feel the left glute engaged and like the right glute is impossible to access - its like the pain and mis-aligned structure just prevents me from using it. The only remaining real complaint I have on my left hip is the looseness (I think the pains and squeaks are normal for 4 months into recovery - so don't concern me really). If it werent for the looseness I'd be feeling very happy about the surgery. so....
about that looseness. I finally spoke to Dr. Safran about Dr. Philippon's idea that labral reconstruction is needed to fix the looseness issue - as opposed to just closing/tightening the joint capsule. I asked a ton of questions, we had a good discussion. And, he called me back multiple times with additional thoughts. It was reassuring to have his attention and brain power on this. His suggestion, which I think is a good one, is that I get one or two more opinions, since he and Dr. P. are telling me such different things. Dr. Safran is quite confident that the joint capsule is the issue and he can fix it. He doesn't suggest reconstruction. For many reasons, which I won't go into. My primary take-away from what I've learned is that reconstruction is new, its results not proven, and that the cause of my issue is not really pin-down-able. I hope I can get at least some sort of consensus from the group of docs. The two people he recommended I contact for second opinions are Dr. Byrd and Dr. Sampson. So, I'm going to get on that.
Another piece of good news. I went in and had another xray done on the clavicle today and it shows that there has been some bone growth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! YAY!!!!! its only on the lower part of the bone (the top part is still a nice gap), but it is something - and it means I'm healing, which is so fantastic. He thinks in a month I should be able to use crutches - so, if I decide to have surgery with him, we'll do that in mid-september. Second hip could be done in Nov (assuming all goes well) and I could have this largely behind me by 2011, which is a very appealing idea. But, I still have research to do, so i'm not going to get ahead of myself.
In the meantime, I'm gonna ride my bike :)
Ciao,
v
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
2011?
Talking to various doctors, scheduling appointments, etc. seems to be a verrrry slow process. After several weeks, I finally spoke to the surgery scheduler for Dr. Philippon. I tentatively scheduled surgery to reconstruct my left hip/labrum for the end of January 2011. Also tentatively scheduled surgery to fix my right hip for March 2011. Yipes that is far away!
I haven't even spoken to Dr. Safran yet to get his opinion on the idea of reconstruction of my labrum or to hear the results of the mri i had almost 2 weeks ago (frustrating!). I'm also still waiting to go talk to Dr. Sampson about what he'd do. I'm hoping waitlists will work in my favor here...
The reading I've been doing suggests that having your labrum removed (rathe than repaired/reattached) leads to generally less successful results and apparently causes micro-instability and more rapid wear and degeration of the hip cartilidge. I think its unavoidable in some cases (mine apparently), and only a few surgeons will actually do a reconstruction of the labrum from other sources (if they cannot repair it using the tissue that is there). There is no way for me to know if my looseness and instability is a result of a loose joint capsule alone or if its the result of having 1/3 of my labrum missing - other than to pick one surgery and go with it. If I'm going to have another surgery on that hip anyways, it seems like a good idea to have it be the most thorough as possible? On the other hand, its tempting to just tighten the joint capsule and see if that is enough... since i could have that surgery asap and the recovery would likely be less. I guess there is no way to know what the result will be with either surgery. I just have to take my chances. Not so into that. Either way, a successful result is not guaranteed, and a perfect result is apparently unlikely. I am not seeing very awesome odds with the studies I'm reading. Basically, its considered a success if the patient is better than before the surgery... the dream of having pain free hips may be just that - a dream.
After getting the 2011 appointments set up, I started to reorganize my next several months in my head ... Wonder if I could get back to riding my bike, once my collarbone is sturdy enough (I am seeing progress finally!!!! and am out of the sling most of the day as of this weekend), and just ride and swim as pain allows for the next several months. I miss riding in the sun, coming home exhausted, being fit. Can I get back to enough of that over the next few months to make the wait bearable? I guess I just have to try and see. My collarbone is still not crutch-worthy yet, so I have some time to make these decisions.
I do still have pain in my left hip and in my right. As of today I have pain the the front of my left hip again - similar to what I had before the surgery. The pain levels alternate and migrate back and forth between hips. Burning, sharp pains, popping, aches, stiffness - seems to be in both hips. sometimes i struggle to get up from a sitting position. At the same time, I know I am doing a lot compared to some convalesing hip patients (much less than others!). I do go on hikes and walks. Sometimes I walk through the pains and stiffness, and sometimes I suffer the consequences. I went for a hike this weekend with a friend who does not generally hike (cyclist) and who is 8 months pregnant. I felt about about as i have for the past month or so, and I could barely keep up. So, I don't think my expectations are too high. But, maybe they are. Its been interesting not being able to ride my bike - since i can't compare the pain level in my left hip pre-and post-surgery. I was able to ride pretty hard and pretty far before surgery - but I had achiness, burning, stiffness, sometimes badly, sometimes not so badly. I don't know if I'm better off now or worse. I think its differnet, but its not good. I am almost 4 months out. How long should I expect to wait to get back to living my life normally?
In the meantime, my primary doc is checking to see if I have some underlying issue thats making my joints loose and making my collarbone take forevs to heal. I am guessing they are just two totally separate events, and that the loose hip is simply due to a surgical issue, but I think its better to turn over that stone - for peace of mind.
Not the most thrilling post, but there you have it :)
ciao,
v
I haven't even spoken to Dr. Safran yet to get his opinion on the idea of reconstruction of my labrum or to hear the results of the mri i had almost 2 weeks ago (frustrating!). I'm also still waiting to go talk to Dr. Sampson about what he'd do. I'm hoping waitlists will work in my favor here...
The reading I've been doing suggests that having your labrum removed (rathe than repaired/reattached) leads to generally less successful results and apparently causes micro-instability and more rapid wear and degeration of the hip cartilidge. I think its unavoidable in some cases (mine apparently), and only a few surgeons will actually do a reconstruction of the labrum from other sources (if they cannot repair it using the tissue that is there). There is no way for me to know if my looseness and instability is a result of a loose joint capsule alone or if its the result of having 1/3 of my labrum missing - other than to pick one surgery and go with it. If I'm going to have another surgery on that hip anyways, it seems like a good idea to have it be the most thorough as possible? On the other hand, its tempting to just tighten the joint capsule and see if that is enough... since i could have that surgery asap and the recovery would likely be less. I guess there is no way to know what the result will be with either surgery. I just have to take my chances. Not so into that. Either way, a successful result is not guaranteed, and a perfect result is apparently unlikely. I am not seeing very awesome odds with the studies I'm reading. Basically, its considered a success if the patient is better than before the surgery... the dream of having pain free hips may be just that - a dream.
After getting the 2011 appointments set up, I started to reorganize my next several months in my head ... Wonder if I could get back to riding my bike, once my collarbone is sturdy enough (I am seeing progress finally!!!! and am out of the sling most of the day as of this weekend), and just ride and swim as pain allows for the next several months. I miss riding in the sun, coming home exhausted, being fit. Can I get back to enough of that over the next few months to make the wait bearable? I guess I just have to try and see. My collarbone is still not crutch-worthy yet, so I have some time to make these decisions.
I do still have pain in my left hip and in my right. As of today I have pain the the front of my left hip again - similar to what I had before the surgery. The pain levels alternate and migrate back and forth between hips. Burning, sharp pains, popping, aches, stiffness - seems to be in both hips. sometimes i struggle to get up from a sitting position. At the same time, I know I am doing a lot compared to some convalesing hip patients (much less than others!). I do go on hikes and walks. Sometimes I walk through the pains and stiffness, and sometimes I suffer the consequences. I went for a hike this weekend with a friend who does not generally hike (cyclist) and who is 8 months pregnant. I felt about about as i have for the past month or so, and I could barely keep up. So, I don't think my expectations are too high. But, maybe they are. Its been interesting not being able to ride my bike - since i can't compare the pain level in my left hip pre-and post-surgery. I was able to ride pretty hard and pretty far before surgery - but I had achiness, burning, stiffness, sometimes badly, sometimes not so badly. I don't know if I'm better off now or worse. I think its differnet, but its not good. I am almost 4 months out. How long should I expect to wait to get back to living my life normally?
In the meantime, my primary doc is checking to see if I have some underlying issue thats making my joints loose and making my collarbone take forevs to heal. I am guessing they are just two totally separate events, and that the loose hip is simply due to a surgical issue, but I think its better to turn over that stone - for peace of mind.
Not the most thrilling post, but there you have it :)
ciao,
v
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