The Funky Hip Thing

For the past few weeks, my left hip has been MAD at me.  We used to have a great relationship.  I would workout, it would cooperate.  I would run, it would run right along with me.  I would pop it (constantly), it would breathe a sigh of relief.  Recently, the popping of my hip has gotten more and more uncomfortable.  That sigh of relief turned into a whimper.

A few weekends ago, the family and I took a road trip to Columbus.  On the way home, my hip was really painful and I couldn't pop it to relieve the pain.  It was just felt really tight and I chalked it up to sitting in the car for too long.  The next day, while standing in church, I finally got the thing to pop.  When it popped, that former sigh of relief became a blood curdling scream in agony.  I have never felt such instantaneous, sharp pain in my life.  It made me nauseous and, thankfully, I already had my arm around my husband so I could grab onto him to stabilize myself.

A week goes by and I finally go to see the doctor.  At this point, the pain is manageable with Motrin and only gets truly unbearable during extended times of inactivity.  The doctor suggests, after physical exam and x-rays, that I may have torn the labrum in my hip.  For those of you who have no clue what that is, it's basically the suction cup that holds the femur into the hip joint.  He ordered an MRI to be sure of his assessment.

MRI??? WHAT?!?!  I don't do MRI's!  Well, apparently, I do.  But only with the help of some Ativan (happy pills) and a wonderful friend who was willing to babysit me. I survived the procedure, but the tear didn't show up on the MRI.  Wonderful!  Where do we go from here?

My doctor recommended that I follow up with a surgeon who does arthroscopic hip repairs.  Surgery is still questionable at this point.  The only reason I even entertain the thought of going to the OR is because this pain is intense.  I am able to get it under control with the help of Naprosyn (Motrin isn't cutting it anymore), but that gives me horrible heartburn.  Right now I am playing this game of taking drugs to counteract the side effects of my drugs.  Sure, I could take something stronger for the pain, but I need to be able to function, drive and take care of my 4 kids.

The other issue: I'm afraid to workout.  When the pain gets bad, it gets REALLY bad and I don't want to do anything that makes it worse.  So, of course, my weight is creeping up because I am still eating like I burn 800-1000 calories a day with exercise.  That doesn't help with my mental condition at all.

Thank you for those of you who have been praying!  Keep them coming because this definitely isn't over.