Cortisone Redux (9 Weeks + 2 Days)

The good news: My hip feels GREAT right now.

The bad news: I know from past experience that this is not the cortisone working its magic, but the short-lived numbing agent that is also in the shot.

I'll be sure to enjoy the next 12-18 hours to the fullest!

Surprisingly, the injection wasn't nearly as bad as the first time. Not NEARLY! It actually wasn't bad at all. The funny thing is that while I was waiting for the injection, the doctor popped his head in and said that he was going to look at my X-rays and would be right back. I remember from the last time that he wasn't able to pull up my X-rays (and am not sure why it's necessary), and that must have been the case again, because he came in and asked, 'We've injected you before, right?' I said yes, and must have made a horrible face, because later he said, 'You've already had one of these, so you know it's not your favorite thing.' I told him I was reeeaaaaally not looking forward to it, but at least this time I was prepared for how bad it was going to hurt.

He asked how long the cortisone had helped last time, and I said I wasn't sure because I had had surgery about a month afterward. We then talked briefly about the surgery. I told him that it had been nine weeks and I was still feeling pretty awful. He asked what my doctor thought was going on and I said I had no idea what he thought. He contemplated this for a brief moment and then said, 'Well, I'm sure he's just as unhappy as you are about the fact that the recovery isn't going well.' Uhhhhh, I seriously doubt that! But I refrained from commenting, and just said that I knew it must be bad if I was agreeing to another cortisone injection. He said that he had had his hip injected a few times, so he understood. Then he added that the first time he felt stinging and burning all the way down his leg, but that the second time he just felt uncomfortable pressure in his groin area. Then he fired up the ultrasound and remarked that it looked like I had quite a bit of fluid in the joint. Then in went the needle. I was bracing myself for the worst, but it turned out that it would be exactly the same for me as it was for him. The first time I felt stinging and burning all the way down my leg, but this time I just felt uncomfortable pressure in my groin area, which was NOTHING compared to the first time. It also seemed much faster than the first time, and it turns out that it was.

When he was finished, I told him that it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting; it was nowhere as bad as the first time. He said maybe he was getting better at doing the injections. Ha. I told him that the first time I couldn't believe how long 30 seconds was, and he said he had been able to do it much faster this time; it was only about 15 seconds. So it wasn't just my imagination. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised.

Even better, I hardly had to wait at all. According to the Internet, and a colleague who sees this doctor as her regular orthopedist for a different hip problem, the wait time for the doctor is usually pretty horrendous. I guess I've just been lucky both times I've seen him. I at least felt fairly confident today because my original appointment was at 4:15 but got moved up to 2:00 because the doctor had to leave early for some reason. I figured if HE had somewhere to go, he would try harder to stay on schedule. LOL.

Anyway, I guess now I'll just wait and see, and be sure to enjoy the numbing agent while it lasts. I'm looking forward to at least getting a good night's sleep. :)