OP
OP
JMACCA
senior
Thanks so much @dandy_candi - and thank YOU for your amazing support!
JMacca's hip safari
- Thread starter JMACCA
- Start date
- Status
dandy_candi
senior
Any time Juanita, we all know how you feel and are here for you. Crossing fingers for lots of rain tonight and a good nights sleep to both of us.
Candice, 28 yo. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Australia. Sequential unilateral THR June 1st 2016 and July 13th 2016
Candice, 28 yo. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Australia. Sequential unilateral THR June 1st 2016 and July 13th 2016
Cynthia777
big-cheese
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2015
- Messages
- 4,266
- Age
- 72
- Location
- Quartz Hill, California
- Gender
- Female
- Country
United States
Keep your chin up, your OS will know what's best. If you're in that much pain, obviously somethings not right. Wishing you well with your OS appointment tomorrow.
Toddlermom
graduate
@JMACCA This journey has so many ups and downs. The timing doesn't seem precise. My OS had an X-ray and tested my range of motion....the question of timing was mine.
My guess is, he will give you a general guideline....and leave it up to you. One doctor thought that I should do the hips 24 months apart, another asked if I wanted to do it 6 weeks or stretch it to 6 months??? Ultimately, they will place this decision back in your hands. Take a deep breath. You will have some answers and choices very soon....
My guess is, he will give you a general guideline....and leave it up to you. One doctor thought that I should do the hips 24 months apart, another asked if I wanted to do it 6 weeks or stretch it to 6 months??? Ultimately, they will place this decision back in your hands. Take a deep breath. You will have some answers and choices very soon....
OP
OP
JMACCA
senior
And indeed, as you have all predicted I do have answers! I am relieved and know I have a good surgeon.
I don't have OA - which is great! I have bilateral FAI with large bursitis (both hips) - I have deep sockets and the impingement has decent coverage - so restricted movement is here to stay. As there is not too much damage to my femoral head the surgeon is reluctant to do a THR - and rightly so.
So, I will be having steroid injections in both hips and bursa's to hopefully eliminate the pain - that in itself would be AWESOME! If the injections don't work (do they ever not work?) the pain won't go, and then we will need to look at a surgical intervention - what that is at this point is unclear.
So it is GREAT news!
Toddlermom
graduate
Good news indeed!!! Hang on to those lovely deep sockets as long as possible. No OA is such fab news...so happy for you!
dandy_candi
senior
Excellent news @JMACCA ! Glad the surgeon has validated your pain and you that you don't need THR!
I don't know how steroids can work some times and not others. I had steroids into my SI joints 18 months ago- those lasted about 10 months then I waited a few more months to get them again and the second time they didn't really work at all. The radiologist said if they didn't work within a week to book back in and they can do a second one close to the other one and sometimes that helps and it does work. But I didn't have the money to get them again so soon so I didn't.
It would make sense to me that it might not work in some people but I find it strange that it worked in me once and then not again.
Maybe @Josephine could explain this?
Have a lovely weekend x
Candice, 28 yo. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Australia. Sequential unilateral THR June 1st 2016 and July 13th 2016
I don't know how steroids can work some times and not others. I had steroids into my SI joints 18 months ago- those lasted about 10 months then I waited a few more months to get them again and the second time they didn't really work at all. The radiologist said if they didn't work within a week to book back in and they can do a second one close to the other one and sometimes that helps and it does work. But I didn't have the money to get them again so soon so I didn't.
It would make sense to me that it might not work in some people but I find it strange that it worked in me once and then not again.
Maybe @Josephine could explain this?
Have a lovely weekend x
Candice, 28 yo. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Australia. Sequential unilateral THR June 1st 2016 and July 13th 2016
Miss Muffet
post-grad
OP
OP
JMACCA
senior
Yes I am not sure about the injections and what they do.
Obviously it is great not to have to have a hip replacement but I am not sure of the options to get better. Will the calcification and impingement grow and get worse? Will it eventually damage the femur head? HAHAAA - as you can see I have more questions now.
Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
Obviously it is great not to have to have a hip replacement but I am not sure of the options to get better. Will the calcification and impingement grow and get worse? Will it eventually damage the femur head? HAHAAA - as you can see I have more questions now.
Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
OP
OP
JMACCA
senior
*Alert* Debbie downer post
I just want to burst into tears this morning. I am on the train into work and my hips are just SO painful. It is starting to be a real problem now if I sit for extended periods of time, walk, lie down &&@:$ when ever I do anything. I am so flat about it.
As time passes, weight goes on, the pain continues, and life gets more restricted. I now do not go anywhere without my walking stick but it still doesn't cut it, I still can't walk long distances. I am frustrated.
I see the surgeon again next week. The cortisone injections into the bursas did nothing. No doubt he will want to try another 'conservative' approach. I get that he is doing the right thing before thinking about surgery, but with 2 months in between appointments it is such a long time of more pain and being restricted. I am 43. Life shouldn't be like this.
I am really sorry - I needed somewhere to 'vent'.
Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
I just want to burst into tears this morning. I am on the train into work and my hips are just SO painful. It is starting to be a real problem now if I sit for extended periods of time, walk, lie down &&@:$ when ever I do anything. I am so flat about it.
As time passes, weight goes on, the pain continues, and life gets more restricted. I now do not go anywhere without my walking stick but it still doesn't cut it, I still can't walk long distances. I am frustrated.
I see the surgeon again next week. The cortisone injections into the bursas did nothing. No doubt he will want to try another 'conservative' approach. I get that he is doing the right thing before thinking about surgery, but with 2 months in between appointments it is such a long time of more pain and being restricted. I am 43. Life shouldn't be like this.
I am really sorry - I needed somewhere to 'vent'.
Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
Miss Muffet
post-grad
@JMACCA - oh so so sorry for your pain. The injection I had only provided relief for a very limited time too which is incredibly frustrating. I don't get why your surgeon sounds bent on a conservative approach? IF your hip needs replacing he just needs to get on with it - surely? Did you shop around for an OS and has this one done lots of THRs? And no, life shouldn't be like this, so is it time to find someone who can get on with changing things, and soon? Meanwhile Juanita this is precisely where you can come and vent - we all completely understand your pain and anger. I can only suggest you ice in the meantime whenever possible but push on to find a better long term solution. Bless your heart how I wish this could be taken away for you now
Zelda
graduate
Absolutely the place to vent - we all know that pain and understand the frustration that goes with it. Life shouldn't be like that. When you see your OS make sure you tell him how bad it is and how restricted your life is at the moment. There's being careful and there's putting you through unnecessary pain.
Rest as much as you can and come back here whenever you want to vent! There's always someone here to listen.
Rest as much as you can and come back here whenever you want to vent! There's always someone here to listen.
MI Chickie
member
I am not a medical expert but I would ask about this. Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) can indeed cause pain. Please discuss this with your surgeon. And do keep us updated!
OP
OP
JMACCA
senior
No, I went to the first one I found praying that I would hopefully find the right one. He has a very good reputation but I am finding that the conservative approach is frustrating. I see him on Friday and I will see what he will say but I am now booking in to see another that was '2nd' on my list and did a hip of a friend of my husbands. It will take at least a month to get into see this other surgeon - a second opinion can't hurt can it?
Thank you ladies - it is so nice knowing that I can vent here - it makes the world of difference!!
I agree Jaycey, and I think this is what he was trying to find out by doing the injections into the bursas - where was the pain coming from. My concern is that the next step will be injections into the hip and that they wont make a difference - and again another couple of months will pass. I don't think that I can put up with this for too much longer. I don't understand how cortisone injections will actually help if the problem is structural.
I want to know what my options are (@Josephine is it possible for you to shed light on what are the best options? Or where I can go to read more?). My understanding is that they can do a debridement via arthroscopy - but the recovery time is ridiculous and seeing that I have bilateral FAI it seems like a crazy long recovery and I would assume that they wouldn't do the second hip until the first had recovered. Personally I think I would prefer a THR but I very much doubt that the surgeon will 'let' me do that.
I would be keen to find others on this site who have had FAI treatments. How do I search the site for people with that diagnosis?
Thank you again everyone, I really REALLY appreciate your support!!
MI Chickie
member
I would definitely go for a second opinion. The first surgeon I saw didn't want me to consider a THR until I couldn't walk through a store. What kind of life is that? There is always something to learn, and new treatments to consider. You'll never know until you ask, right? As far as a surgeon "letting" you do a THR....well, if he deems that an option, then it would be up to you. My surgeon said I could try an injection, but seeing as that is only a "might get some pain relief" option, THR was definitely needed, I opted not to do the injection. The options they present to you, of course, depend on your particular situation, but a lot of the decisions should be up to you! (just my opinion!)
You can do a search for FAI up at the top right of your screen (maybe better luck spelling it out, and it will find posts with those words in it) Maybe someone else has a better way to search or knows a particular member who has dealt with FAI.
Luck to you!
You can do a search for FAI up at the top right of your screen (maybe better luck spelling it out, and it will find posts with those words in it) Maybe someone else has a better way to search or knows a particular member who has dealt with FAI.
Luck to you!
OP
OP
JMACCA
senior
I agree - while I am feeling positive today, it has been pretty lousy
Yes, I think that I feel extra frustrated as I am the one living through it daily and he isn't - I know that is unreasonable to think that way, but I do have moments where I get angry about it.
Thanks for this...I will go and have a search now
This is my pain chart, which I haven't done before
Zelda
graduate
I think it is very reasonable. He has no idea how you feel and is not the one limited by pain. The people here who do have that experience tend to counsel against conservative, wait and see options and that says a lot.
I hope your second opinion surgeon is useful.
I suggest you find another surgeon. This guy is old school. Frankly it's cruel to put you through injections and any scope. I agree - straight to THR. Recovery is often easier and you are far to young to go through life in pain. Find a surgeon who deals with younger patients. There are plenty out there as more and more younger patients want to get on with living.
- Status
