8 hours in the car...

So yeah. 7 hours pretty much non-stop and then another hour after that is no fun :( But my vacation, which was much needed was very fun! The 6ish hours on the way down to So Cal wasn't too bad, surprisingly enough!

Wifey and I were crazy (or stupid pick your own adjective) to leave at about 2 am. Which wasn't too bad. We stopped off at Starbucks and listened to music and talked. Once we got into Beverly Hills, we found a nearby Target to grab some stuff that we needed. We cruised the streets a little bit since we got in at around 7 am, which was far too early to check into our hotel. We scouted out where we wanted to shop and stuff. And we just kinda cruised the hills and we went to Rob and Big's house.... YEAH. THAT Rob and Big...hahahaha! That was fun!

We headed to the NBC studios after that so that we could see what we needed to do to check into our Jay Leno tickets. We were on"the list" which I must say pretty much ROCKED. We opted to take the studio tour which was pretty fun. We saw where they filmed Days of Our Lives and Jay Leno and stuff. Learned some of the history. But April and I saw Phillip on Day's and stopped paying attention...

After that we totally slept in the car for an hour...we were SO tired! Then we freshened up and headed on over to the show. We were amazed at how many people showed up and seemed to be on the list! However, we had this tiny yellow slip that pretty much rocked because it put us on the floor to shake Leno's hand. He actually shook mine...and passed over Ape....awww.. lol

After the show we finally headed into our hotel and had dinner reservations made by our concierge and honestly. It was some of THE BEST food I've ever eaten...and we made fun of the trophy wives at the next table over who were pretty sloshed. After that we headed back to the hotel and I passed OUT.

We awoke the next day to bagels and cream cheese and pretty much took our time getting ready and everything. We didn't have really anything to do. We just went shopping down Robertson Blvd in Kitson etc. and then went over to the mall and walked around. I have to admit by this point, I was hurting pretty badly, but I hate admitting it all the time. I feel like a whiney baby. We ate lunch then headed for one more looksy at Rob and Big's house and headed off to Disneyland!!

Disney was fun as always! We didn't ride much. Pirates a couple times and Splash Mtn once. We watched the fireworks of course, which was good because the next night it was cancelled! We did the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour and that was fun! Saw most of the electric parade. And just walked around and shopped.

After lunch with the hot bread boy at the Blue Bayou and watching if we could see the riders being evacuated off of Pirate's we sadly headed home...To a bunch of traffic! But what's So Cal without traffic, right?! Except for the fact that sitting in cars makes me hurt :( But my surgery scheduler called me today and I told her ASAP! So she's supposed to get back to me pretty soon... Very soon! But for now, just one step...or limp as the case may be lol...at a time!

Factors!

SO. I called Dr. Lazzarini's office to see what the heck was taking so long for the surgery scheduler to call! The office gave me the lady's number and transferred me to her voice mail. So I left my little polite message telling her who I was and asking her to give me a call back.

To my surprise, she actually did so fairly quickly. I wasn't sure if she would be in or not. A lot of times medical offices take ANY holiday as an excuse to not show up for work! She explained that they were looking for a place to actually do the procedure. I'm thinking...What?! How hard is it to find a place to do it?!

Apparently they don't do them at the surgical pavilion anymore? Not sure why, she didn't say. But then I'm like, well there's only a couple of hospitals to choose from. John Muir Walnut Creek, John Muir Concord, or Sutter Delta. And last time I checked, he didn't have privileges at Sutter! So is it really THAT hard to find a place to do it?! In my opinion: NO!

So, we'll give them a couple more days. I'm HOPING that this pushes them to finally pick somewhere. I mean seriously. You have patients, in pain, who want to be operated on...JUST DO IT!

When I get bored...

So when I get bored...it's always interesting. So this is what I did today...You can count on one thing...SELF PORTRAIT!



That's my bored face.

So, I woke up this morning, around 9 am (yes, I was lazy and I'm a heathen today...no church)...and I decided that today I was going to count how many times my hips popped. I knew I didn't have much else to do... So I got out of bed...that was an easy two!

I went about my daily business making a mental note of each time they popped. 9/10 times it's on their own, there are a few times when I get up like off the couch that they feel they need to pop, so I stretch a little extra and POP. I noticed they mainly pop if I have to get up out of a chair or off the couch...Usually if I'm laying down they don't pop. Which is nice.

SO...the grand total is as of 8:15 pm .......... 63 times today. Give or take a few. Still waiting on the surgery scheduler. They should call sometime early this week. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. But I just remember to take it...one day at a time.

Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself!

I've found, it always helps to write things down so you don't forget them. Such as appointment times. So, that's why a couple years ago I got a Palm Pilot, and it helps A LOT! ...When I use it... I thought my appointment was at 9:00 and they wanted me there about 20 minutes early...WRONG! For some nagging reason, my head kept telling me to call my doctor's office to see what time my appointment was. So I did. Yeah, not 9:00 am....9:45 am. UGH. So Julie and I drove home and she did a little bit of school work and we made our way back.

After going through registraion...again...I sat and waited anxiously for the MA to call me back. She finally did and pulled out some sexy blue shorts for me to wear incase he wanted to examine my hips again...

...Who's excited to wear the blue shorts again?!...


Close up of the shorts...tell me these aren't sexy!?


So then we (Julia and I) waited for Dr. Lazzarini...and waited a little more. So he walked in and looked puzzled at Julia. And I said, "This is my sister, Julia." He lightly chuckled and said, "Ok, I thought you were a little young to have a daughter so old!" So he sat down and said, "You wanna do the scope?" and I said yes. He told me to point to where it hurts blah blah blah. And we talked a little bit about the pain and I told him that it really gets to me when I'm sitting for long periods of time, like after a 2 hour car ride and then a few 2 hour classes. And it just...and he interrupts "And it hurts like hell!" ....Couldn't have said it better myself!

So his surgery scheduler is supposed to call me about dates, but he made it seem like it was going to happen soon, which is good! So until then, I'll just take it one day at a time!

Socks?!

UGH! So, I was putting on my socks this moring, and I am NOT a morning person by any means so I'm not really paying attention when I do things in the morning...

So, I was standing up putting on my socks and I don't remember how I moved my leg, but I moved it funny and when I put it down, another stabbing pain in my hip!

SERIOUSLY!? What's up with that!? Oh well. I see Dr. Lazzarini tomorrow to figure out about surgery and all that fun stuff. I'm ready for it too! I've got a list of questions and hopefully he has the answers!

MRI

So my MRI was an adventure all in itself... My appointment was at 12:30PM, so I worked in the morning for a couple hours before hand. Then it was off to the surgical center!



I went in and got this snazzy bracelet. But I first had to sign away my life pretty much. No suing, and I might get an infection and DIE. And I had to sign that I would pay a stupidly ridiculous amount of money to get it done...



Who's excited to get their vitals taken!? Ok, I wasn't really excited. But they took my blood pressure, which was about 15 points higher than it normally is...nervous much!? hahaha So then I got into my hospital gown and waited for the nurse to come back in...



Then they marked me to make sure they got the correct hip. At least it wasn't like an amputation where it would have been devastating if they got the wrong leg...



OK. THIS is where it gets "exciting". So they wheeled me into a sterile room with a large, cold table. I got up and layed down and they started to get me set up. They exposed my hip and cleaned it off with some iodine. They chatted me up to make sure I wasn't too nervous...but I knew the drill. Then he marks me and kinda numbs up the skin a bit. That was nice, because then he pulled out a freakin SIX INCH needle. Yeah. So he stabs me with it and is trying to find the right place to inject the dye which isn't TOO bad...until he JABS me in the bone! Honestly, I jumped an inch or so off the table. It hurt so bad! I was tense the rest of the time. He kept remarking on how my hips looked normal to him...I'm like "great!" So he finally injects the contrast dye into my joint so the MRI will pick it and pulls the needle out.

Then they wheel me down to the MRI. And I saw my old neighbors there! I was like great...I looked like CRAP but it was nice to see them! :) So when I get there, he hands me a list of music and I looked at it and decided on Maroon 5. They didn't have much of a selection, so I decided that I would pick some music I could rock out to a bit.

They load me up on the MRI and strap me in. I wasn't too nervous about being in there. Thankfully it was only my hip so I didn't have to go all the way inside the machine. So they put on the headphones and he laughs and tells me not to dance and I laugh and say that I won't. He tells me that I should still hear the machine spinning and clanking even with the music on, and that if he asks me a question while in there, that they have a mic and not to yell..haha

So in I go and he puts on the music and it's getting into the first song. Yeah. Anyone out there have the "Songs About Jane" album by Maroon 5?! Well, in case you don't, the VERY FIRST SONG has a lyric that goes, "is there anyone out there 'cause it's gettin' harder and harder to breathe." Um, that seriously made me have breathing issues! I had to tune out the lyrics and just focus on my breathing!

So I'm just waiting for it to be over with and every once in a while they stop and move the table and start it back up again. This went on for 7.5 songs. Yeah, I began counting the songs instead of listening to the words. I get nervous just thinking about it...haha



Oh gosh I was so happy for it to be over! They wheeled me into the dressing room where I could put back on real clothes, but thought I would take a pic in my hot hospital gown first...hahaha



There was the finished product. I had to wait almost two weeks to find out the results! Even then my doctor disagreed with what the radiologist said! Big surprise. The radiologist said there was no abnormalities while my orthopaedic surgeon said there was some tiny fraying in the lining of my hip socket. He then told me that since there are no significant tears at this time, surgery is at my discretion and that I shouldn't wait long to get it done for the risk of osteoarthritis. He told me that if it becomes too painful to sit through, say, a movie that would be a good indication that I should have the surgery.

So...that point has come. I can't concentrate in class and my grades are suffering :( ... I go in this upcoming week to talk to him about scheduling the surgery...so this should be fun...

History

Ok. So. Before my hip journey goes any further, I suppose I should go back to how it alllll started....

So, when I was around 15, I jumped off the horse I was riding because I'd rather not have been decapitated by a barn, and landed funny in the yucky, manure, clay mud. I had a sharp pain radiate from my hips out. I didn't think much of it. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain...

From time to time I would have pain in my hips but I wouldn't think much of it. That is, until it got really bad in the late spring of 2007. I FINALLY decided to go see a doctor about it. Every one told me to go, and when asked why I haven't gone yet I'd simply reply, "I work at a doctor's office. I KNOW what they DO to people!"

My first visit was quite fun...I got to wear these hot (ok not really) blue shorts and have my picture taken! (ok just x-rays) So there I'm sitting in my exam room waiting for my doctor to come in and he finally does. My first thought: "Wow...he reminds me a of a stalker...and Data from Star Trek!" So he introduces himself and I get on the table, because apparently that's how he likes it...hahaha... And he examines my range of motion and asks me questions and I answer them. He's very quiet, but reassuring. He leaves to go get the x-rays.

While he's gone, I keep thinking..."This is going to be just like my shoulder when I hurt it, and nothing is going to be wrong and he's going to look at me like I'm on crack..." So he walks back in and sticks them on the little light board and is looking at them intently. Then he goes for a pen in his pocket...

"Oh crap!" I'm thinking. Pens on x-rays usually are never good. He says they look pretty normal BUT...(but is never good in this sense...) He draws on the x-ray in this little figure-8 on my hips. And explains that I have femoroacetabular hip impingement of the pincer kind....say what?! Basically, my hip sockets cover too much of my femur and they scrape together some. Fun huh?

So he tells me that it can be fixed with surgery, and since my right hip bothers me more we'll do a contrast MRI to see if there's any labral tears...tears in the lining of my hip socket. Honestly, my heart sank. Couldn't it have been something a little more simple wrong!? I teared up when he left the room...surgery?! He was so nonchalant about it too. Typical surgeon. So I left as well and set up my MRI.