MRI - Arthrogram

This week I played a lot of phone tag with Northside Hospital, and LaWanda the lady that schedules MRI's at Dr. Schrader's office. First of all, as I mentioned in the last post, Northside called ME and left a message. So i call them up on Monday ready to schedule my MRI-A and the lady on the phone says, "oh, there is an 'attention Dr.Lee' on this, I'll have to call you back." What!? Your the one that called me to make an appointment, shouldn't you have actually read the forms before calling me?? Anyway, the by the next day she still hasn't called me back. I called up and explained what happened yesterday and said I still need to make an appointment. She goes, "oh, I thought we did that yesterday?" !?!Were we in that same conversation yesterday? At what point did we schedule an appointment? So I say I would like my appointment for April 4th, as I'll be off for spring break and that's two months before my surgery, as Dr. Schrader suggested thats when I should get it done. She goes, "oh, well we don't have the calenders up for April yet, I'll have to check with my manager and call you back." OF COURSE! Meanwhile, I get a message from LaWanda saying that she went ahead and schedule me an appointment for an MRI February 17th! I was baffled! One, why did she make an appointment for me? Two, How did she know if I was available that day? and three, what about the 2 month rule Dr. Schrader gave me!? So, now I call LaWanda back, ask if it is okay to get the MRI-A that soon... of course, it is. :(

So now here I am, MRI-A on Thursday, and I don't know what to expect. I am scared of the dye and the big needle involved. I wish I was just getting a regular MRI :(

For those of you that don't know, an MRI arthrogram is two-part procedure, involving fluoroscopy and MRI. First, a special type of X-ray technology, called fluoroscopy, is used to take pictures of the joint after a contrast material has been injected into it. This allows the radiologist to see the soft tissue structure of the joint. The joint is then examined with MRI, a routine diagnostic imaging procedure that uses a large magnet, radio waves, and a computer to produce 2- and 3- dimensional images of the body's organs, tissues and bones.

Now, just find someone to go with me... my mum and dad will be at work, and my sister might possibly be too... hope I'm not in this on my own : /

But in a way I am kinda of glad I'm getting it done early, I really want to know the nitty gritty of my hip. I know I most likely have a laberal tear, but who knows what else they'll find in there! I'll give you all the details as soon as I know myself!

Wish me luck!

Surgeries Galore!

So I haven't updated in a while so I thought I'd make a wee note. It's now February, so there are four more months till my surgery. The lady from Northside Hospital called my parents house for me to make an appointment for an MRI... of course doctors offices never seem to call the right numbers... so I am going to call them tomorrow to set it all up! eek! I was also thinking of writing an email to Dr. Schrader and see if I need to donate my blood for the surgery; I have read that other people have done it, and to tell you the truth I am terrified at the thought of having someone else's blood in my body! On the other hand it seems that most people that have had a PAO never even needed a blood transfusion; so the question is, should I really waste my time, money, and energy donating it? I also wanted to ask him questions like, what kind of crutches I will need, will I be okay to start working after two months of recovery, and other LPAO related questions.
So I say "surgeries galore" because, firstly, I found out that I'm finally getting my turbinate reduction which I've been wanting forever to help open up my airways. I've had a chronic stuffy nose my whole life and have been on all sorts of meds, nose sprays, allergy shots, etc. this is my last and only hope! (Turbinates are the things in your nose that swell up when your sick, mine are swollen ALL the time!) It's an in office procedure so I'm hoping it won't be too bad. We'll see Friday!
Secondly, I found out that my dad is having surgery on Wednesday for a torn rotators cuff in his right soldier. Thanks for the update Dad! But he said it's arthroscopic so he should be just fine, just a few weeks rest.
Hip-wise I haven't been terrible, my left hip screamed after I worked last Saturday and thats the last time its been agonizing. My right hip is still having pains but they are weird because they are not in my groin like my left hip. My right hip gets sharp pains and they are in the back of the hip, almost like the side of my bum, but in my bone/joint still.  The pains are usually during movement in certain directions, not just all the time like my left hip... so I'm not quite sure what it is. This new found right hip pain however is making it difficult to get in and out of sitting positions such as the car or the toilet and because it causes sharp pains its something that is more likely to stop me in my tracks for a second before I gain composure.
Anyway I'm exhausted so im off to bed! Oh, btw the Packers won the Super Bowl!