Less than 2 weeks and counting...

I have just past the two week mark till my surgery and I feel like time is flying faster than I can move to get things done! The weather lately has been a bummer and my hips have been very angry at me, like I can control the weather!! I totally understand why retirees move to Florida because your body hurts way less in warmer weather lol I have been trying to make up homework and exams prior to the surgery so I won't be behind following the surgery, but my work load was already hard enough and now I have even more work. I have also been cleaning and organizing the apartment so things will be easily accesible for me post-op. I did schedule a hair appointment and mani/pedi the day before my surgery for a little pampering.

I am boarding my pup, Chloe, for about 3 days during my surgery so she can play and get her attention while I get mine. I will miss her though, she sleeps in the bed everynight and it will be very weird to not have her to cuddle with while I recover. She has a luxury suite at Barkefellers and gets to play with other dogs during the day, what a life!!! She also gets to watch movies at night and pupcorn to snack on! Its too cute!



I wish I could sneak her into my pre-op room as a service dog! I wonder if they would notice? lol She has been a blessing to have around and motivates me to recover quickly so I can play with her!

I am just getting so anxious for my surgery. I love my surgeon, Dr. Maiers, and know he will do a great job, but the pain level freaks me out and I wake up very poorly which also scares me. I don't handle anesthesia very well and take an abnormally long amount of time to wake up from it and when I do I shake uncontrollably and can't hardly breathe, which just makes me panic even more! I am also unsure of the recovery. I know, weird, I went through the PAO and that is what I was prepping myself for, but had a curveball thrown my way instead. That and I am so hoping this will be enough so that I do not need a LPAO, but trying not to get my hopes up too high just in case I still need to have it done. I am trying to keep myself mentally prepared for whatever I need to do to get back to running, being active and army training. I have been having nightmares about the surgery almost every night and its not helping with the anxiety nor is the lack of sleep. I am just ready to get this done with so that I may recover!

Surgery in 3 WEEKS!!!

So, I had my appointment with Dr. Maiers this morning and I was there for almost 2 hours, but I have to say that I feel pretty good after talking with him. I had numerous x-rays and will need a ct scan in the couple weeks prior to the surgery. We discussed my options and have decided to pursue a hip arthroscopy in which Dr. Maiers will reshape my femoral head because I have "weird hip bones" and he will also do a cartilage repair and psoas tendon release. The dysplasia on my right hip has improved by ten degrees with the RPAO, but my left is borderline and doing the femoral head reshaping might be enough to avoid the LPAO, which is great! It is not a guarantee, but worth the surgery if it does provide relief. So I scheduled it and I will be having my left hip scoped 3 weeks from tomorrow morning. The surgery should take about 2.5 hours, if all goes well and I will have to use crutches for about a month, but will be allowed to bear weight as tolerated. The total recovery times is upwards of 6 months and I should be able to start running again in about 3 months if all goes accordingly to plan.

Although I am extremely nervous, I know I am in good hands with Maiers and I hope this will fix my problem. Since this is also less invasive than the PAO and might give me more options in regards to the Army. I am hoping that will give me the opportunites I have worked so hard for, but I do have to stay realistic. It is exciting to see some hope again. I was devastated when I got my MRI results Friday and Scheid shoved me off, but I feel much more re-leaved after speaking with Maiers. Hopefully I will be ready for surgery because in 3 weeks it is coming whether I like it or not!

Let it Begin...

We are only a few days into the new year and I can already feel the stress. I am officially 7 months post-op tomorrow and am excited for my progress however the whole process is starting over again, but for my left hip. I saw my OS yesterday, Dr. Scheid, and I am getting an MRI arthrogram and cortisone injection next Wednesday. The type and area of pain indicate a labral tear, something that I am all too familiar with, and he might want to have it arthroscopically evaluated first, see how it heals and then pursue a the LPAO if I continue to have problems. The part that worries me is that I tore cartilage in my right hip and both the scope and PAO were done the same day. I do not have the time to scope it, wait to heal, then more than likely do the PAO afterwards because I have school and training for the army and it makes it soo difficult to work around numerous operations expecially since I have spent the last year recovering from the right. The eerie thing about it all is that exactly one year ago next week I tore my labrum and ligaments in my right hip, which started this whole journey. I know this feeling all too well and would really like to have one surgery to fix it all and move on to recovery. I have to wait for the results to figure out when I will see the doc again, but I hope and pray that it can all be done at once. I hate playing the waiting game. I am just frustrated because I have moderate dysplasia in both hips and don't understand why he is approaching the left hip differently than the right.

Also, my boyfriend, Andrew, and I are taking some time apart because we have hit a really rough patch. I feel that when it rains it pours. Although I have postitive feelings for 2010, it is not starting out how I hoped. I love him very much, but I am not sure if we are going to be able to fix the damage at this point. I physcially can not take anymore stress and I just want to feel better again. All of this makes my depression worse and these are the moments when I doubt myself and I wonder if I will ever heal, or if anything could go right. Sometimes I wonder just how much more I can take.

Fortunately, I have some amazing hippie girls that are always there for support. I am so glad to see that Sabrina, Marcie and Courtney are doing well. Shelly goes in for her RPAO tomorrow and she is all our thoughts and prayers. Shelly also got engaged! Congrats girlie! At least she has something to look forward to and plan while she recovers.


Having the girls around and talking with Jen and Marcie via email and FB has made it easier. Its nice to bounce thoughts off others and get others support. I was just shocked about how my doc has decided to approach the left hip. I had prepared myself for just the LPAO at the end of the semester, not for a possible scope, MRI, etc.

Classes start next week and I have to get a lot finished before then. I have a lot on my mind and I hope that everything will work out...