So I stayed on crutches for a couple of weeks and started PT shortly after surgery which was good. I needed to start moving around because I didn't want to get blood clots. I was driving by Dec 28th but found things very tiring. Dr. Hip said the scope has to go through 28 muscles and it takes time to build up endurance again. I felt I was still in the dark about why this was happening by the year end. Every New Year's day mass at our parish, the priest puts names of saints in a basket for the parishioners to pick as their "saint of the year". He encourages everyone to choose one and that it may be one you have never heard of. If this is the case, then he also encourages you to research the saint and learn about them. He also says "The saint picks you". Now I had already been praying to St. Luke,for my physician, as they are human too and need prayers. I had my children pick the saint for me since I was still on crutches and it was easier. They chose Sts. Cosmas and Damian, saints for physicians and surgeons. As Father said, i had never heard of them and I didn't know there was another saint for doctors, but I was going to use this to my advantage. These were my saints for the year.
At the end of January 2014, I was doing lunges at home as part of my PT "at home" exercises. I felt a sharp pain and pull in my left groin, and subsequently developed soreness in the left groin. Now I was really confused! Why would both of my hips have the same problem within a year of each other? I was hesitant to tell my physician, I didn't know him well then and I didn't know how he would take it. But. I had to at some point tell him, hoping he could give me answers that I would understand.
I was told a few things by people....pinched nerve in my back causing groin pain (PT told me this. A bunch of bull!) or, my left leg was compensating for the limp on my right. But I knew what I felt. It was cartilage tearing. I know the feeling. I started doing hip strengthening on my left as well as my right. I knew the routine by now. Meds, PT, surgery. But I wasn't ready yet for that.
February 25, 2014
It's been 1 year since first injuring my right hip and here i am still in pain, now with my left. Dr. Hip checked my ROM and hip flexor tests, causing much pain on the front of my left groin. He said no MRI yet, do PT. He said this does have something to do with the special shoes I wore as a baby and that the reason my feet point straight up when lying down rather than out is due to my 'anatomy'. He never came out directly and said I have HipDysplasia at that time. But after researching it myself, it sure seemed like I had some form of it.
I had another appointment at the end of March, so mid March, I called and asked if I could get an MRI. I wanted to ask him if this was caused by Hip Dysplasia, but I never got a chance to speak to him. After praying to my saints, I went to my March appointment. This was not a good visit. I left there in tears. My MRI showed labral fraying, bursitis and cartilage changes. He confirmed that this was Congenital Hip Dysplasia, but PAO surgery was probably not recommended for me. Ok, then
what was my option? Another arthroscopy? He didn't really say. Actually, I don't even know what he said the rest of the visit. All I heard was "Hip Dysplasia", and since I had researched it a little bit about it, i knew that it wasn't such a great thing to have. I do remember him saying " It's not like you have cancer". Maybe not, but I still had the pain.
When I left there that day, I cried the whole hour drive home. Cried on the phone to my husband too. I felt very alone. No one really understood this and I didn't know anyone that had it. I turned to my Saints a lot, hoping that Dr. Hip was guiding me correctly because I didn't have anyone else to trust or ask questions to. I also decided that I needed to find out all I could about Hip Dysplasia and what my options were.
April 13, 2014
4 months since the surgery on the right hip and i had gone for my first bike ride with my family around the park. I did ok, but got tired after 45 minutes, mostly because of my left hip. Normally I could ride for a couple of hours. I remember my hip feeling almost normal by then and told Dr. Hip that "4 was the magic number"! He gently corrected me and said " 6 months recovery. 6 is the magic
number". Whatever. All I knew then is my left hip was hurting way more then the right one ever had.
May 6, 2014
I had to make sure I understood everything that was going on with my hips. I had questions written down and I was reciting a whole script during the 1 hour drive down to his office. I also get quite nervous during the visits. They seem so short and this is your life! It's almost like you want to be told what is going to happen to you but you don't want to hear it. It's weird being a patient when you are used to being a nurse.
After a prayer to my Saints, Dr. Hip walked into the visit and explained everything to me, just like I wanted. He showed me my hip xray and pointed out the deformity, i have bilateral retroversion and left hip more dysplastic then the right. It is still mild though, but enough to give me symptoms. I was satisfied with the answers and knew I wasn't crazy. My pain was and is very real. I was also glad that he found the deformity, as my first orthopod did not catch it. And i knew then that God helped me find the correct doctor for this problem so far.
He recommended a hip injection and possible an arthroscopy in the future, but wasn't sure I would do as well since my left was worse then my right. I had to think about what I wanted to do.
