Sunday, September 23, 2007
Crutches are hard
I found this nice picture Lila took of me when I first got back to my place after the surgery.
Friday, September 21, 2007
The Crutchless Wonder
On Wednesday I saw a new doctor here in Atlanta, Stephen Smith. I took him the x-rays that I had from the previous week. He didn't say a whole lot about my situation, probably because I told him I had already had the core decompression on the right hip and had scheduled the resurfacing on the left hip with Dr. Mont. He seemed to think that my choices were good ones and he said he could be my local orthopedist, which was a relief. I needed one here but the ones I had already met didn't seem to be on the same page with me. He seemed like he would have been reluctant to perform the resurfacing himself, which kind of just reassured me about my choice to go up to see Dr. Mont in Baltimore. Dr. Smith has only done around 40, and Dr. Mont has done over 1,200 I believe. I'd happily go to Dr. Smith if I decided to just get a replacement though.
As soon as the appointment was over I Fedexed the x-rays up to Dr. Mont. Jill, his physician's assistant, called me Thursday afternoon--it must have been right after they received them. She gave me the okay to walk crutch-free! She said it would help with the pain to use assistive devices (crutch or cane) when possible, but that I had no more restrictions on weight-bearing. Well, she did say not to do heavy loading on that joint for a year, but with the combination of the ON and the future surgery on the left hip that shouldn't be a problem!! I'll be perfectly happy to stay far away from heavy lifting, marathon running, and downhill skiing, thank you very much. Jill also said she thought my left hip looked good for the resurfacing in November, although she was going to check with Dr. Mont and call me back next week. And, she said he had some number of grams of wine that were okay to drink! I was kind of excited about someone telling me an amount to drink that was considered safe, if this is true. I'll check back when I talk to them next week. I'm not always good at estimating what is a reasonable amount of yummy wine to drink or food to eat! I am, on the other hand, VERY good at justifying "just a little bit more won't hurt!"
It's very exciting to be able to use my arms for things other than getting around. Still, it's a little disappointing to recover from surgery and still be in pain and not be functioning normally. As much as I try to fake it, I'm just not very good at walking these days. A girl in the locker room asked about my limp today. I didn't mind answering her questions and I'd much rather someone just be upfront and ask if they are curious, but I guess I thought maybe if I didn't have my crutches that people wouldn't know anything was wrong with me. On the other hand I realized I've grown sort of attached to my crutches: I didn't have my card to get into the gym, and the receptionist wanted to see it. I said "don't you recognize me? I'm the one with the flame crutches!" even though I didn't have them with me. It still didn't work, she didn't recognize me but I stood there and dug through my purse until she got sick of me and just told me to go.
A week from tomorrow I'm leaving for Paris and Monaco! Between now and then I have two major tasks: complete two papers at work and figure out how I'm going to get around over there...
As soon as the appointment was over I Fedexed the x-rays up to Dr. Mont. Jill, his physician's assistant, called me Thursday afternoon--it must have been right after they received them. She gave me the okay to walk crutch-free! She said it would help with the pain to use assistive devices (crutch or cane) when possible, but that I had no more restrictions on weight-bearing. Well, she did say not to do heavy loading on that joint for a year, but with the combination of the ON and the future surgery on the left hip that shouldn't be a problem!! I'll be perfectly happy to stay far away from heavy lifting, marathon running, and downhill skiing, thank you very much. Jill also said she thought my left hip looked good for the resurfacing in November, although she was going to check with Dr. Mont and call me back next week. And, she said he had some number of grams of wine that were okay to drink! I was kind of excited about someone telling me an amount to drink that was considered safe, if this is true. I'll check back when I talk to them next week. I'm not always good at estimating what is a reasonable amount of yummy wine to drink or food to eat! I am, on the other hand, VERY good at justifying "just a little bit more won't hurt!"
It's very exciting to be able to use my arms for things other than getting around. Still, it's a little disappointing to recover from surgery and still be in pain and not be functioning normally. As much as I try to fake it, I'm just not very good at walking these days. A girl in the locker room asked about my limp today. I didn't mind answering her questions and I'd much rather someone just be upfront and ask if they are curious, but I guess I thought maybe if I didn't have my crutches that people wouldn't know anything was wrong with me. On the other hand I realized I've grown sort of attached to my crutches: I didn't have my card to get into the gym, and the receptionist wanted to see it. I said "don't you recognize me? I'm the one with the flame crutches!" even though I didn't have them with me. It still didn't work, she didn't recognize me but I stood there and dug through my purse until she got sick of me and just told me to go.
A week from tomorrow I'm leaving for Paris and Monaco! Between now and then I have two major tasks: complete two papers at work and figure out how I'm going to get around over there...
Saturday, September 15, 2007
X-rays
Yesterday I went to the doctor and got x-rays to follow up after the core decompression on the right hip. I also made sure they got my left hip too, so that Dr. Mont can check and see if I'm still a good candidate for resurfacing in November. I just went to my regular doctor, so we don't really know what the official interpretation is yet. Last Monday it had been four weeks after the surgery, but I couldn't get an appointment until Friday. And, I have an appointment with an orthopedist here next week. My doctor's office doesn't have the setup to make copies of x-rays, so I'll have to wait until after next week's appointment with the new orthopedist here to send the x-rays to Dr. Mont in Baltimore. Ugh! I'm ready to get rid of these crutches, at least some of the time. I'm in pretty bad pain so I'll probably keep them around, but it'll be nice to not have to use them.
Of course I snuck a peek at the x-rays. The left hip (the original bad one) looks terrible! I'm no doctor, but it's clear on the film that the top of the bone is misshapen and even the area above it looks messed up. I guess it's the cartilage, and I'm sure there's edema (swelling) too. No wonder the dang thing hurts!! The right hip, where I had the surgery, looks pretty much okay to me. I can't see the holes where they drilled, just one little flat area. I'm sure the orthopedist will be able to tell me all about it next week.
And in case you're wondering about my pain, yes it still hurts. The left hip, as I said, is just really painful, and often wince-inducing when I put weight on it or move it much. I kind of wish I had gone ahead and done the resurfacing on the left when I had the CD on the right. The right hip hurts some too, I guess about the same as before the surgery. I hope it worked.
Of course I snuck a peek at the x-rays. The left hip (the original bad one) looks terrible! I'm no doctor, but it's clear on the film that the top of the bone is misshapen and even the area above it looks messed up. I guess it's the cartilage, and I'm sure there's edema (swelling) too. No wonder the dang thing hurts!! The right hip, where I had the surgery, looks pretty much okay to me. I can't see the holes where they drilled, just one little flat area. I'm sure the orthopedist will be able to tell me all about it next week.
And in case you're wondering about my pain, yes it still hurts. The left hip, as I said, is just really painful, and often wince-inducing when I put weight on it or move it much. I kind of wish I had gone ahead and done the resurfacing on the left when I had the CD on the right. The right hip hurts some too, I guess about the same as before the surgery. I hope it worked.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
I've got a date!
No, not that kind, although my flame crutches are quite popular... I made a date for a hip resurfacing surgery with Dr. Mont in Baltimore for November 15. I posted about resurfacing here, and the Surface Hippy website has a lot more information, if you're interested. Basically they remove the diseased part of the top of the femur bone and cap it off with metal, and insert a metal cup into the socket where the cartilage was. It accomplishes the same thing as a THR but leaves more bone. The surgery is more difficult than a THR, which is why I decided to go to Dr. Mont, who has plenty of experience with resurfacing, and with osteonecrosis patients. The date is not set in stone; Dr. Mont has to review my x-rays and make sure I can wait that long. Oscar at work says you shouldn't be a "beta tester", and I agree. But resurfacing has been FDA approved in the US for eight years and has been common practice in Europe for longer, and Dr. Mont has done over a thousand of them.
After my surgery I decided to become a teetotaller for a while. I've been pretty good about it until last night. Yesterday was my birthday and some friends had a little get-together for me. I decided that just one night couldn't hurt too much--as one witty guest said, "that hip ain't gettin' any less necrotic"!! It was fun to have a margarita and some rose, my favorite summer wine. And, the red Power Ranger showed up to wish me a happy birthday!! For a split second I thought he was Strong Bad, but no such luck...
Monday, September 3, 2007
Girls' Weekend and Flame Crutches
I finished the rest of last week at work, and ended up being pretty productive. This past weekend I switched places with my brother-in-law--he stayed intown in my condo, and I stayed with my sister and nieces in the suburbs. We had a nice, relaxing weekend and it was fun to have so much time with the girls. On the flip side, I had just spent some time with my parents recovering from the surgery so I felt a little homesick for the city-I would have liked to have gone to the Decatur Book Festival, for instance.
I'm doing alright with recovery, except for the crutches--I'm so tired of them. Yesterday at work somebody told me that I had the hand grips too low and that I needed to move them up a notch. I did that and could hardly control myself, I felt like I was wobbling all over the place and bobbing up and down! Then, last night at band practice, Joe (probably realizing how sick I was of them) tricked out my crutches for me. He painted them flame-style, blue at the tips with a little white-hot turning to yellow, orange, red and then black at the top with a few orange sparks. Today I put the hand grips back where I like them and got to show off my new flaming crutches to everyone at work! They made everybody smile, and then Young 'n Cute at the gym walked out with me and chatted me up on the way out... ;-) Thanks Joe! Still hate the crutches, but maybe I hate them just a tiny bit less. And, instead of people wondering about what's wrong with me since I don't have a cast or anything (heavens! it might be a disability!! don't look...), they're just checking out my awesome paint job. My camera battery is out of juice but I'll post a picture soon.
My right hip has been hurting some, which is kind of worrisome. I keep telling myself that it's normal from the surgery, but it seems like it might be getting worse. I have an appointment next week for an x-ray, and I'll be interested to see what's going on in there. So please, keep those prayers, meditations, incantations and good vibes coming my way!
I'm doing alright with recovery, except for the crutches--I'm so tired of them. Yesterday at work somebody told me that I had the hand grips too low and that I needed to move them up a notch. I did that and could hardly control myself, I felt like I was wobbling all over the place and bobbing up and down! Then, last night at band practice, Joe (probably realizing how sick I was of them) tricked out my crutches for me. He painted them flame-style, blue at the tips with a little white-hot turning to yellow, orange, red and then black at the top with a few orange sparks. Today I put the hand grips back where I like them and got to show off my new flaming crutches to everyone at work! They made everybody smile, and then Young 'n Cute at the gym walked out with me and chatted me up on the way out... ;-) Thanks Joe! Still hate the crutches, but maybe I hate them just a tiny bit less. And, instead of people wondering about what's wrong with me since I don't have a cast or anything (heavens! it might be a disability!! don't look...), they're just checking out my awesome paint job. My camera battery is out of juice but I'll post a picture soon.
My right hip has been hurting some, which is kind of worrisome. I keep telling myself that it's normal from the surgery, but it seems like it might be getting worse. I have an appointment next week for an x-ray, and I'll be interested to see what's going on in there. So please, keep those prayers, meditations, incantations and good vibes coming my way!
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