Wow - Two Years?

So its been a while since my last post. I thought I'd share what's been going on.

I finished culinary school. I worked for about a year as a part time pastry cook (full time was too hard on the hips). After a year I realized that my hips were going to break and crumble into dust, or so it felt, if I continued with the pastry work. And after some swallowing of pride and bitter pills (figuratively, of course), I decided to do some searching and find another avenue, career, path, etc.

In May I finished my first semester of grad school for my Masters of Library and Information Science. Library work has always been something that interested me and you can't walk in our house for books, so it seemed a natural fit. I love it. I even started volunteering at the local library 2 days a week.

But the hips kept getting worse, especially in the last 6 months or so. Oh, and I've lost my health insurance again! I will be getting it back in the fall through school, but it will be less then great quality coverage. Anyhoo, I've been wanting to exercise for soooo long now (years) but everything I tried hurt the hips. Elliptical machine? No way! Stationary Bike? Eh-Eh. Well, I finally sucked it up and decided that I must force myself to drive to the town rec center 3-4 times per week and swim.

Oh My God! Swimming RULES! I take aqua aerobics (with the septuagenarians) twice a week and I swim laps the other days and it feels amazing. If anyone out there lives with any sort of chronic joint pain, I say, "Get Thee To A Pool!!!" Even just standing in the water reminds us of what it was like *before* the pain. I am pain free in the pool. I am graceful and lithe and I swim like a fish. Its wonderful. And when I am not in the pool, the hips are better, less achey, more durable. This gives me hope. I like hope!

So I say to all of you hipsters out there - GET WET!

What's The Deal With Lefty?

So, my left hip....she's tricky.

Doc said that while my right hip needed to be corrected by about 20 degrees, old lefty only needs, at best, a 10 degree correction. Doc said that he'd rather not do a 10 degree PAO unless it's absolutely necessary. But he did say I was welcome to have an Arthrogram/MRI - gee, really? Thanks! Basically, I am back to the beginning. Doc says I should wait it out until I can't take the pain in my left side anymore. Then we'll go for the PAO.

I suppose it could be worse.

The sick thing is that I was kind of looking forward to having another PAO. Not the surgery/recovery, but the finality of it. The knowing that this is it. All finished!

Oh well, it's a waiting game for all of us, isn't it? This life thing....I guess it's what we do while we're waiting that counts. Me? I'm still going to insist on finishing culinary school and despite what anyone thinks, I will be a pastry chef. While I wait.

I suggest you do what ever it is you fancy while you wait.

Never Ending Cycle

Let's just say the other hip's gone sour and leave it at that.

Seeing the OS on 6/5/07. I'll know more then.

Looks like I might be doing this all over again.

Argh!

Updates

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading all along. I know what you're going through is hard, but hang in there! The surgery was totally worth it. I just had my official 6 month, post-op check up a few weeks ago and my surgeon said I could finally start my professional wrestling career! In other words, I am totally, rock solidly healed. The pesky soreness on the op side was a touch of bursitis, which has resolved itself with lots of stretching. Also, my "New Bad Hip" has stopped bothering me! We know that eventually, it will have to be PAO'd, but I hope to put that off for at least 5 years while I get on with my life.

Stay strong everyone! I know it seems like recovery will never end, but eventually, it does!

6 Months Post-Op

Well, it's been 6 months since my RPAO. Here's the update:

I can now walk MILES at a time.
My right side is still sore and feels kind of bruised.
I have partial numbness over the entire front and side of my right hip, but this is way better than immediately post-op when I had total numbness in a large percentage of the area.
My left side is still giving me trouble, but only very sporadically.
In the last few weeks, my right side has also given me a bit of trouble, but not very often and not for very long.
I STILL can't sleep on my right side with making the bruised feeling more intense.
BTW, I have 5 screws in the right hip and my surgeon gives me funny looks when I ask about screw removal.
I feel fairly certain that I will have to do the left side as well, but hopefully its not for at least a few years.

That's about it. There's really nothing else to say. I absolutely advocate the surgery. I have no regrets about it. you can e-mail me with any questions at itsalikelystoryATgmailDOTcom.

Later.

Health Insurance Warning, Part 3,042

Wow. I hate Health Insurance. I mean really hate the whole system.

Our current plan was being raised to ungodly numbers (more than our current mortgage) so we have been trying to shop around for other plans. During the initial quote process, I was being quoted a little over $300 and Josh is being quoted about $200. Why is an older man with back problems less of a risk than little old me? Well, as I am female, Big Insurance immediately assumes that I can't wait for babies to shoot out of my vagina. Oh, the pregnancies we'll have! That will teach Insurance! Who came up with this? Oh, that's right - old white men.

Anyway, the initial quote is fine. A 20% increase would've been fine. After underwriting, Josh was fine. Me? My quote AT LEAST DOUBLED.

Why? Well, because now that my hip condition is "resolved with surgery" it is all the more likely to explode. That is the only possible reason I can think of for such a price increase. The hip requires no more surgery. It's inherent explosive nature must've been "tripped" during the PAO and now I am just a ticking bomb. Ticking bombs are cheap, the aftermath is a different story. THAT costs money.

Money I don't have. Hell, if I can't pay the $700/month they want me to pay in insurance, how can I afford having all of my hundreds of babies while frantically dodging my hip shrapnel?

You tell me!

Culinary School, Here I Come!

I am registered and ready. I start in January. Its about time! I think my hips will be up to it. The big test was about a week and a half ago. We had family in town and thought the local corn maze would be a fun Saturday activity. Well, the maze was over a mile long and as we got lost, we must've lapped that baby at least twice. My hip was trouble free the whole time. We were exhausted after words, but the hip was a-ok.

If I can get lost in a corn maze and still find my way out AND still walk then I think I'm ready for school.

Keep your fingers crossed!

4 Month Update

Things are good. My operated side feels really good. I STILL can't lie comfortably on that side for any length of time and I have no idea why, but that's ok. I front half of the operated thigh and most of the hip is still numb but that, too, is ok. My other side, the "new bad hip" is holding steady. I decided to cook us a full fledged dinner last night, with heavy cast iron pots and by the end of it all I was limping on my non-op side. While it was temporary, that does scare me a bit, what with me starting culinary school in the spring.....

I have new and improved goals. I bought an elliptical machine (a really cheap one) and its fun. I am so out of shape, I can only do 5 minutes at a time before I feel like I am going to die. So, I figure if I can do 5 minutes a day, soon I'll be able to do 10 minutes a day, etc. etc. The elliptical is great b/c its super low impact on your joints. Its even better for your joints than walking and it doesn't bother either of my hips. I want to lose about 40 lbs. Getting the extra weight off of my hips will be sooooo good for them, it might even eliminate the pain I am feeling now. Also, it will put me well within the "healthy BMI range" which is someplace I don't think I have ever been. I hear it's nice. Warm and sunny, all the time. And its always bathing suit appropriate.

We'll see.