21 October 2009

October update

It’s been a month since my last update and I’m in limbo until the hip block. It’s been brought forward and is now on the 6th November, so it won’t be long before I know what’s happening. Unlike the MRI-A contrast injection, this one is classed as a day op/procedure so I have to complete some pre-surgery forms and have an MRSA swab.

About 2 weeks ago I started to get the same symptoms in my left hip, which I couldn’t believe. I felt pretty unlucky to have a problem in one of my hips at 30 years old, so a bilateral complaint was all I needed! The problem in my left hip is identical to the one in my right, with exactly the same triggers and symptoms. Given my limited activity over the last few months, is it likely that I’ve torn the labrum on that side too? I’m not so sure.


I’m now worried that I don’t have a tear on either side and that this is some other issue, but we won’t know until the hip block in a couple of weeks. On the plus side, if one side is successfully diagnosed, at least the other will be too. And at least dodgy hips didn’t stop me rolling down a hill in a giant bouncy ball last weekend! Weeeeeee!

I had the opportunity to have a coffee with a lady called Janet recently. She’s had open hip surgery for FAI, and told me about the op and how she felt in the weeks and months afterwards. Her hip problems make mine feel quite insignificant in comparison, and it was inspiring to hear her speak so positively about the open procedure, the consultant and hospital.

Janet also had a look over my scans (as a medical professional) and could decipher them far better than I could. What was interesting and confusing was that my impingement and atrophic labrum are anterior, yet the pain and discomfort is only posterior. Shouldn’t people with anterior FAI and tears have groin pain? I certainly don’t and have never felt a thing on that side. It has always been, in more ways than one, a pain in the backside.

That’s all for this post. More after the hip block in 2 weeks time. A final word to Janet to wish her well for her next operation later this month :-)