Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - 4.5 Months

Well here I am..19 weeks post op which is just around 4.5 months. I wish my summer hadn't been wasted by yet another surgery. Here we are looking the Winter in the eye and that's awfully depressing. But this post is everything but depressing - got all good things to report since my last post which was what...about 3+ weeks ago. Sorry about that.

Yesterday was another followup appointment. I will say, this PAO has caused a lot more trips to Boston which I'm not overly fond of - my car would have about 5,000 more miles on it if it wasn't for my stupid hips. Let me back up a bit...

Since my last update, life has been going along as normal as ever really. Kevin has class 4-nights a week and I have been (trying) to go to the gym at least three times a week which has been difficult to get myself back on track. When I go, I kick butt....but then I take a week off and it all goes downhill. That and the fact I can't run yet which is also getting on my last nerve. Disclaimer - I ran last week for 1 minute just to feel things out. Worst. It felt horrible. Not painful, just awful. I have this clicking thing going on and with every step I took, I felt something rubbing over something else. UGH. I don't know why I even tried it. Oh...yeah...I do, BECAUSE I WANT TO RUN! And I have no patience.

Fellow hipster came and stayed with us a few weeks ago! Taylor had found my blog a while back and had made an appointment to see Millis (but the waiting list was pretty far out). She is from WV and to save a little on hotel stays, I offered for her and her Dad to stay with us for the night. We're about 2 1/2 hours from Boston and right on their way. It worked out nicely for them and it was so great to meet another girl in the same situation. Unfortunately, he appointment didn't go so swell. He suggested having a shot in the SI Joint first and see if that alleviates some of the pain, PAO is possible but wants to rule out other things not so major. So that was a fun evening!

Now, onto yesterday. As always, Kevin and I drove up Monday evening after dinner to miss rush hour traffic. We parked at CHB and took a taxi to my brothers apartment where we spent the night. The next morning, got a cab back to the hospital and started my adventure. I like to get paperwork and X-rays done before my appointment time to hopefully cut in front of other patients that don't know what they're doing yet. Mean. Crude...I don't care. haha We got there about 8:30am and I ran up to check up, down to X-ray and then back to the waiting room. I had the first appointment, 9am, so the wait time is usually minimal. As I was handing back in my Xray paperwork, Millis came from behind the wall and said "DANIELLE! Come on, get over here let's look at you"....so....I guess my appointment was starting! Usually, the girl calls your name, does height, weight, temp...etc then brings you into the exam room. Not today. Millis ran the appointment and did things HIS way - typical. Must be why I love that man. He held my coffee and my sneakers as I jumped on the scale (the assistant was in tow getting my file). He asked me how things were going on social media as he knows I'm his biggest advocate. Told him of some crazy people and who to steer clear of - he appreciated that! haha

Into the exam room we go and he pulls up the X-rays I just had done. Backwards again - usually his PA comes in and asks preliminary questions, does ROM and angles and then Millis comes in shortly after. Well, halfway through the appt the PA came in...looked at my X-rays and asked me all those preliminary questions AFTERward. It was cracking me up but so glad to get in so quickly.

HIP NEWS. So...hip is healing better. The major cut is pretty sturdy and basically all healed but there is another small cut/crack which just doesn't seem to want to heal fully. He's not concerned and says screws can come out. He's also still hounding me to take calcium - this time he suggested Tums - gross, but it has basically the dose of calcium women need. Sounds delightful. I asked him about the clicking I've been having and him and the PA think it's mostly scar tissue and the screws causing that. It's not painful, which usually signals it's not a big deal. I assumed, but always nice to hear from the big guys. Next, I asked about my stride. I have a long stride but it's being cut short on my right leg causing me to walk funny and have a limp. SO...I wanted to know if it was linked to the screws or if it's because he covered the femur so much that the socket is now restricting my movement. He said that it's most likely the screws as well as the non-healed area causing my stride to be shorter than normal but we will know for sure after those suckers are removed.

My screw removal is December 20th and I told him it was scheduled months ago...he laughed. I don't wait around and wanted to get in before the end of the year for my deductible. AND, I don't need a pre-op. SCORE!

So, I was pretty happy with my appointment. I asked if I can start running now (kind of joking) and he was not amused. :-)  Now, he has become my personal pregnancy advocate. GEEZ! Can I have a full year with no hip surgeries before you push babies on me! I asked if he wanted to cut up my left hip again...that won't be necessary. Funny thing, there are areas in my left that aren't completely healed either. It's crazy how bones and bodies work!! My left hip feels absolutely AMAZING (besides going numb in my sleep)...and to think there are areas of non-union...and I had run on it.

I hope this is a good enough update for everything. I will post some incision pictures soon. It's looking lovely...but going to be cut into yet AGAIN in about 6 weeks so what's the rush?

I also plan on taking part of the 30 in 30 - 30 posts in 30 days in November like I did last year. Some topics refer more to "diseases" as opposed to this, so it won't be a daily post if I don't think it pertains to me. But hopefully get some good topics in since you're all really sick of hearing about my hips by now, :-)