Post op!

Post op day today. Dr. Sampson was pleased with my progress thus far. I have to say, I am also. He went through all my pics and explained that he removed a lot of adhesions. There was also a little bone regeneration. He had to do a tiny big of microfracturing for my cartilage, there was a little degeneration and erosion; he also anchored some of it back in. He also tightened my hip capsule up some. I could tell he did that in a couple of the pics. One of the initial pictures you can see them dislocate my hip - which he said it came out pretty easily. The suction wasn't that great... Then near the end of the picture series you can see that he sutured it up and it doesn't appear out of the socket.

All in all, I feel that I'm doing great. He said I was right where I should be in terms of range of motion. He's confident that he should have taken care of my source of pain. No physical therapy right now. He doesn't want to push my range of motion too hard. He said that doing the bicycle and taking care of the kids is more than enough for rehab...and I have to agree! Luckily I've had help from my mom for things around the house. I don't know what I'd do without her! Regardless - this is my final surgery. I can't do it again. So fingers crossed it continues to just get better and better and better!

One Week Post-Op

Here we are one week later... Well. A week and a day. But who's counting?? ;) So far, so good. I can't complain too much. I've been riding on the stationary cycle since post-op day 1. I'm up to 30 minutes. I've been walking around without my crutches, and have been for several days. My post-op pain has pretty much been non-existent. I've been taking the toradol and the ibuprofen per Dr. Sampson's post-op protocol, but I haven't had to take any REAL pain meds (narcotics) since post-op day 1!

Yesterday I got my sutures out, everything looks pretty good. Then I even went and did some errands with my mom, but without the kids. It was a lot of time out and about and it wasn't really that bad! Dr. Sampson told me three weeks until I'm ready to care for the kids by myself, and I'm thinking it will be more like two weeks. Hubby and Mom have been here with me the past week, and he took off a couple days this week. When he is back to work on Thursday of next week, I think I'll be fine.

Other than that it's been pretty uneventful -- which is a good thing!

Third time's the charm??

Sitting in bed, had surgery with Dr. Sampson this morning. Finally bit the bullet and decided to go for arthroscopy #3. But first... let's do some updating!

I had a successful delivery of my sweet baby girl, Buggie. No, that isn't her name but for now I'm going to call her that. She came in October of 2012. It wasn't easy, with that big head of hers and Ben nearly 9lbs! But I survived.

I was lucky enough to stay home with her for almost 9 months! During that time, Dr. Sampson brought me in and we did an injection; unfortunately it brought no relief.

I went back to work and quickly realized that being pregnant had done a number on my hip. I couldn't handle the constant up and down and standing that my job required. They worked with me for a while, trying different modifications. I loved where I worked, but it made me sad that I couldn't come home and play with my baby girl!

I kept at it for another year, but it was taking its toll and my manager noticed. She graciously offered me another position that involved more sitting. After time and consideration, I decided it would be best for me. Three months after that, on baby girl's second birthday I discovered I was pregnant (oops!)...

Pregnancy seemed better this time, and I credit that much to the fact that I wasn't on my feet as much. I left work slightly early on maternity leave again mostly because we planned to induce early again due to the fact that baby girl was so big. I was having some preterm labor issues, but those were manageable.

Well, little man decided that he would just come early. He came fast and furious three weeks early. We barely made it to the hospital, and I certainly didn't have time to get an epidural. That was fun.

During Little Man's glorious entry into the world, my husband felt and heard a big pop from my hip! My doctor heard it, but she thought it was from Little Man coming so quickly. I didn't notice it, but I think that's because my mind was on other things... after delivery I noticed. In fact, my hip hurt more than anywhere else.

Since then things have been pretty low-key. I know that if I'm up and down too much, walk too much, or just over use my hip I get that shooting feeling. I've been avoiding all those things and have been in relatively low pain. I did reluctantly decide that one last surgery would be warranted before going back to work.

So here we are.

I'm feeling good. Not needing a ton of pain killers. The ice machine is a God-send. Only time will tell how successful this last surgery has been, and I'll be patiently (or not) waiting!

Seesaw

I feel like I'm on a seesaw. I have good weeks and bad weeks for my poor hip. Last week was a bad week. So far this week isn't too bad....but it's only just begun!

I don't know what seems to make some days worse than others. I can't find any rhyme or reason to my hip pain, other than knowing that my cartilage damage seems to be the culprit. Last Thursday night, well, I think it was Thursday so we'll go with Thursday... Every single time I moved in bed, I had that shooting pain. I woke myself up each time I moved. I keep telling myself I need to call Dr. Sampson, but I've been lazy. And I feel like he can't do much for me at this point. His other option was surgery and obviously we can't do that right now!Otherwise, things are going well. I went to the city and walked around, and went on a garden tour with my mom that we do every year. It was nice. Although, I could tell I was a little more sore than usual.

My pregnancy is going well. 4 months (14 weeks) and no complications yet! I'm a little spoiled and I work with my OB/Gyn so I get to peek at the baby all the time. We had an appointment last night and watching the development is amazing! We have seen the baby grow from a little speck in to what looks like a person! I have to admit, I always strain to find the heartbeat first. I know that the risk of miscarriage is low now, but when you work in the medical field (especially with an OB/Gyn in your office) you tend to keep things that could happen at the forefront of your mind.

Other than all that, my life is pretty consistent. Work, work, work! But who can complain about a job right now!? Now it's time for breakfast and more work :)

Flying Time

Time flies. It's been a long time since I posted...so much has happened!
First, I can't believe that it has been 4 years since my first surgery! Gosh really where... has the time gone? I posted last in June of 2010 from what Blogger told me. I got married in October of 2010 and then in April of 2011 I went back and saw Sampson. I was still having problems with walking. I still get those sharp pains whe I'm walking that I can't duplicate and at times my I hurt when my leg is in extension while walking. He thought it would be best if I do another MRI.
While I was waiting for my MRI appointment to get here, my father unexpectedly passed away. To say it was devastating would be an understatement. Luckily I know that he was a saved child of God and he is in heaven. That gives me comfort that I can't even measure or express. Everyone has a time to go. It was my dad's time and more importantly God's plan. And I know that I can praise God in this and still so share His love and mercy through this situation. I have no idea how I would have made it through if it weren't for my faith!
My MRI appointment finally came and luckily this one didn't involve a dye injection. Whew! So a couple weeks later Nic and I went to see Sampson. He had some bad news. I don't have much cartilage left and my labrum is also pretty worn out. He had a couple options for me. The first was obviously surgery. He would go in and do some microfractures that would help induce cartilage growth. He also would go in and basically take a tendon and fashion it into a new labrum. Needless to say I wasn't very excited for that option... The second option was...to have a baby! Nic was very excited at this option. He is very ready to be a dad! I was a little more hesitant, worried about how my hip would handle it. Dr. Sampson seemed to think that it may help get some cartilage growth going with all the hormones floating around.
Fast forward through buying a house and puppies in September...yes! PUPPIES. Two mini dachshunds. We named them Bruce and Buster. February 21, 2012 rolled around and we found out I was pregnant! Had some rocky weeks but here we are at week 13 and I'm doing a whole lot better. Everything is progressing normally and we're very lucky and excited for that!
My hip is doing ok...I wish I could say it felt great. Last week was a bad week. More cartilage pains while walking. This week seems to be doing better. I'm hoping that it gets better and better. Only time will tell! All I can say is I hate plain tylenol! I'll b better about updating... I've just been waiting until the pregnancy got further along before I started talking about it so openly. :)

Good days. Bad days.

I've been having some good days and some bad ones. I try not to complain much. I never have through this whole thing. Doc and I are still busy. Super busy. Busier than we've ever been in a summer. Usually it drops off by now. By April the viruses start waning away and allergy season kicks in to gear! Although this year it's still very viral and with some strange weather we've been having, allergies have kicked into overdrive! We don't have as MUCH over time. So that's good.

Most days are good, even great I'd say. However, lately it's been a little on the weird side. I haven't really had any pain in the same spot as pre-surgery. It's been more like,a deep, burning buttock pain. I remember telling Connie about a similar pain shortly after surgery and she assured me that many weird pains can arise from surgery. I stopped noticing it for a little while, but over the past couple of weeks it has returned. I've also had some pain on the side too! STRANGE!

So, I see Sampson for my 1 year anniversary from his surgery next month and I've been keeping a symptom diary. So I'll see what he has to say about the pain. I can't pinpoint it to any action(s). I'm thoroughly puzzled. It's not all the time, so that's good. Last time when I visited with Sampson, he thought perhaps that I may need an injection or an oral dose of a strong steroid. I still have some range of motion problems. So for now, I'll be doing my stretches, working hard, and planning my wedding! Lots to look forward to and this darn hip just needs to get in check!

Two Years

Today is the two year anniversary of my first (unsuccessful) hip surgery. It's bittersweet. I thought everything was going to be great after this surgery. The first several weeks of the recovery were going pretty well. I had improved some. Just not enough.

Today makes me feel thankful for finding Dr. Sampson. I've come a long way between my two surgeries. Most recently, that I didn't blog about... I had to take several weeks off!

Since I had been back at work, I had been working 9, 10, even 11 hour days at work. That was 5 months of working 50 hour weeks. My bank account was loving it! However, my hip wasn't really. I was sore and exhausted, so I went to go see my favorite doctor with my Sweetie! When I saw him we did some x-rays. There's a tiny bit of recurrence of my FAI, but since he shaved down my bones quite thoroughly, he didn't see it as a problem. He DID see a problem with me working so much! He said he could feel that my joint was inflammed. He told me I looked exhausted and I almost started crying.

He and Connie could tell I needed some time off so he gave me three weeks! That allowed Wifey and I to go to TwiCon in LA. We had a great time! Then her family and Sweetie came down and...he asked me to marry him! Yay! I said yes, of course! We've been wedding planning ever since! The big day is October 16, 2010. Yes, this year!

I'm excited. I'm feeling much better after my time off. It really helped. I feel 90% better from this time two years ago. It's amazing to look back and see how far I've come, and I've only got farther to go!!