Less that a Month to go

So there are about three and a half weeks until surgery...
Claire, a patient of Dr. Schrader, is now having her surgery the day after mine, so I will have a surgery buddy!! We've already agreed to have wheelchair races down the hospital hallways! haha
So I was given incorrect information, my dad cannot give me blood; as I am O-, I can only receive O- blood. My older sister, Heather, has O-, so she is going to donate; my little sister just got tested, so we'll see what she is soon.
I was asked to be a part of a study about the development of hip dysplasia. I was sent a questionnaire in the mail that I need to fill out, as well as a request to go to Dr. Schrader's physical therapist to test my strength before surgery. That is all I have been informed of as of yet, but I'll let you know more about it later.
Graduation is on Saturday!!! SATURDAY! I can't believe it's been five years already! I am soo excited!! Now, just to find a job!!

One Month till GRADUATION!! :)

Today is exactly four weeks until graduation! I cannot wait! That means surgery is just six and a half weeks away! As much as surgery seems scary, and I hate that it will take over most of my summer, at this point, the sooner the better. This week my hips, yes plural, have been terrible; my left hip has been in so much pain, even as soon as I wake up in the morning. I've had to sit as much as possible all week at school and I'm tempted to bring crutches next week. The only thing is, I don't want to look silly, since no one at the school where I teach knows I have hip problems. Because of my left hip bothering me so much, I've been putting all my weight on my right hip, so it is feeling a bit sore as well. I'm glad it didn't take any longer than it did to find out I have hip dysplasia, it would be terrible to have to live with this pain and having doctors not knowing what's wrong with me.
So, I got my blood type tested, I'm O-, and my dad was O+, so he is going to donate for me. My sisters still haven't got tested so my dad may donate two pints; he'll just have to wait a few weeks between each donation.
Over spring break I went to look at recliners, my parents and I figured that I'd be easier to have my bed and a recliner so that I'm not stuck in bed all day. I also got rid of a bunch of stuff in my room so that when I move back home it won't be too cluttered. I'll need plenty of room to move around with my crutches.

Two months to the day!!

My surgery is two months from today! Oh My Lord! I am still in a slight bit of denial that it is all happening, but very excited to get it over with and to start feeling better. My millennial crutches came in the mail (I figured I'd jump on that bandwagon) and I practiced with them a bit the other day up and down the hall. I can definitely say that this will be an interesting process, especially with my chronic clumsiness!! I was already tripping myself with the springed bottoms of the crutches. My friend jokingly said that she thinks crutches are too dangerous for me because I am too much of a calamity, I should just stick to a wheel chair! haha.
Monday I have an appointment with Quest Diagnostics to get my blood type check! woo! I'll be interested to know what it is. My dad went and got his blood type checked on Tuesday and my sisters should be going soon.
I met another Hip Chick the other day through Hip Chicks Unite. She is 21 (so around my age), lives in Atlanta, has my surgeon, and is going through her first surgery this summer as well! How ironic. Hopefully we'll meet up before my surgery and we can have a chat. I am excited and glad to have someone going through it with me, in a way.
I also emailed my doctor yesterday about what medicines I can or can't take. No fish oil, no NSAIDS, no Birth Control, no meds that can cause your blood to thin. So basically I can take Tylenol!
Hope everyone is getting on well with their recoveries!

Long Time, No Update

Sorry it's been so long since the last update, I have been soooo busy with school work! I am counting down the days until graduation!
Okay, first off, I had my MRI-A, I must say the contrast part was very traumatic. I think it was half that I was overwhelmed at the thought of it and half the odd pain/pressure feeling of the needle going in so deep. I teared up a bit :( The nurse was really nice though and touched my shoulder to console me. The MRI part was fine, I mainly slept, I'm not bothered by the tight space as long as my eyes are closed.
I received the results from my MRI-A, I do NOT have a labral tear; this is good news for a faster PAO recovery, however, it confused me because I have been in so much pain. Dr. Schrader says I do, however, have a hypertrophic labrum, or enlarged labrum; this is caused by my labrum overcompensating for the lack of bone coverage. He also said I am most likely in pain from the constant lack of bone coverage, overcompensating, and acetabular rim syndrome due to my dysplasia.
I have finally set up all my appointments. May 16th: over the phone pre-assessment with Northside Hospital. May 17th: Appointment with Dr. Schrader to finalize everything and get blood work done. June 1st: arrive at 8am for a 10am surgery!
I spoke with Yolanda, Dr. Schrader's nurse; I have to have two of my family members donate a pint of blood each for my surgery. I have asked my sisters... they are not too happy. Haha, I wouldn't be either! First, however, we have to check to see if we have the same blood type. Of course, none of us know our blood type! Not even our mum... maybe it's in our baby book?
I have ordered my crutches, they should get here any day now. I figured I should practice a bit before surgery since I've never used crutches before.
I've been talking with my mum on where the best place to stay is and the things I may need. We've decided my room is the best place, even though it's on the second floor. I have my own bathroom, my own shower, and my own bed. We have decided to get a recliner and replace my desk with it for an alternative place to sit besides my bed. I am going to need to find lots of things to do! We are fixing the cable in my room before then and buying lots of puzzles, books, and coloring books! I'll have to start a new hobby.
I wonder how long I'll be stuck upstairs until I feel safe enough to go down the stairs? I better learn quick! I heard scooting down the stairs on your bum may work. I joked with my parents that they need to get me one of the chairs that takes you up and down the stairs! haha... We'll just convert the whole house to suit a geriatric! Maybe then Grandma can visit! haha. We'll be hippies together, scooting around with our walkers! ;)

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!

You're Kidding, Right? (no pun intended)

Today was my first day back at school. I stood for about 10 hours today!! 8 of which I was teaching little munchkins Science. I definitely forgot how much pain standing all day will put you through. I was great over Christmas break, I was actually beginning to think it was all in my head as I only really had pain when sleeping.

Not only has my left hip been in immense pain since being back from school today, but since Saturday my right hip has even been bothering me. My right hip has NEVER bothered me. It’s supposed to last me at least 5 more years! (My own mental goal). I don't know what I'm going to do with myself and I really wish I had pain killers to help me through the next 4 months until surgery. Maybe I'll take some Tylenol PM tonight and cross my fingers that it does something; at least help me sleep.

My friends have all been questioning me on whether I'm doing the right thing; is surgery the right way to go? Honestly, I don't know. But physical therapy doesn't work and neither does chiropractic (unless I went every other day, just to manage pain, not to actually fix my hips). I mean, honestly, do they think I want surgery? I've never had surgery, why would I jump at the chance now? I just want the chance of being able to walk without constant pain. I'm just hoping I'm not just caught up in the excitement of finally feeling that one of my many ailments can be fixed. Migraines and allergies have had no luck yet!

Any opinions/facts are greatly appreciated on the subject.