Baby Steps (12 Weeks + 4 Days)

So back to more practical matters.

Ever since the semester started, I've only been able to make it to PT once a week, even though my orthopedist was still recommending twice a week at my last visit. Honestly, I could make twice a week work, but with my old PT, AJ, it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth the time or the money. Also, back in August, I mentioned to AJ that I would be cutting back to once a week once the semester started and he thought that was fine. At the time, he said I was doing great, and he actually thought that pretty soon I wouldn't need to come in at all.

Ha.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about how AJ broke up with me. For the past few weeks, I have been seeing Beth, who, despite being 'just' a PTA, is, like, 100x better than AJ. Okay so maybe not 100x, but at least 2 or 3 and maybe even 10. She's just a lot more hands on than AJ, which has actually been pretty helpful. At least, I leave PT with a sense of accomplishment rather than a feeling of extreme depression. I left PT yesterday feeling positive enough about PT that I actually made two appointments for next week.

Something I haven't discussed a lot recently is the pain in my left hip (the non-operated side). This is mostly because I sort of totally can't deal with this right now, so I've tried to block it out. Unfortunately, the pain has recently become un-ignorable because it is preventing me from comfortably sleeping on my left side, and since I can't sleep on my right side, either, this has led to a lot of sleepless nights, which reeeeaaaalllly gets to me. I can't stand not getting enough sleep - although it happens frequently, which probably goes a long way toward explaining my bad personality, lol. 

After a consultation with Dr. Google, I diagnosed myself with bursitis. (This doesn't take a rocket scientist.) And honestly, it doesn't seem to matter what any of any of this is, as non-surgical options for most conditions are the same: rest and ice. (And trust me, I'm 110% anti-surgery at this point.) Unfortunately, 'rest' in a lot of cases means crutches, just like AJ suggested, but let's not go there right now. However, one recommendation for bursitis is a cortisone injection into the bursa - LOL, sound familiar? The up side to this is that it is both diagnostic and therapeutic, just like a cortisone injection into the hip. If it takes away the pain, you know what you're dealing with; if it doesn't help, you can eliminate bursitis as a cause of pain. The down side is, of course, that as I've learned from experience, cortisone injections hurt like fucking hell and are also pretty pricey. Plus, the more I read about cortisone, the more I'm convinced that it's got to be really bad for you or at least not good for you, especially if you use it a lot; after all, it's a steroid. So I wasn't exactly jazzed about a cortisone injection; nonetheless, my left hip has become quite painful and I realize I will have to deal with it at some point.

Yesterday I mentioned to Beth that my left hip hurt quite a bit. She massaged it for a while and suggested that we try a cortisone patch, which basically delivers cortisone to a site without the need for an injection. Instead, the cortisone is delivered via iontophoresis, which is driven by a small battery in the patch. (I looked all of this up after the fact.) Although I've used patches for back pain before (which I'm pretty sure were just numbing/painkilling medications), the idea of the cortisone patch was new to me, and sort of exciting. A cortisone shot without the shot!

And... I have to say... two thumbs up for the cortisone patch. My left hip feels so much better today, I can't even tell you. The sort of funny thing is that I woke up and was like OMG my hip feels amazing! only to realize that my groin area was killing me. It was as if the pain just moved from my bursa into my groin. LOL. However, after a day full of activity, I'm pretty sure the current pain is actually just soreness from all the stuff I did in PT yesterday.

Beth also suggested trying a patch on my right side, and I figured why not. After all, what is one more dose of steroids in the large scheme of things? And as long as it doesn't involve a needle, it seems relatively free of risk. Basically the patch didn't do anything for my right side, but that is at least good information. So it's likely not bursitis on my right side. And actually, at my last appointment with my orthopedist, he did 'check' for bursitis, and he concluded that bursitis was not the problem. I say 'check' in quotes, because I have little faith in his physical examination skills, but I at least agree with him now. :) Unfortunately, when it comes to my right side, crossing bursitis off the list leaves me with much less palatable possibilities, which, in accordance with my last post, I am not going to worry about for the time being. I'm just happy to have some relief in my left hip.

Baby steps, baby steps. :)