Drumroll Please...

And the verdict is......SURGERY! Ha. Big surprise, there! Today was quite possibly one of the longest days of my life. It started @ 4:30am and it was a lot of "hurry up and wait". There is no doubt that they are pretty efficient @ the Mayo, but it is crazy how big it is, and how many people they can herd through that place. Dr. Trousdale was very nice, and would make a good living as an auctioneer on the side if he ever needed a gig to fall back on. I can't even begin to tell you how fast he talked and went through all this "stuff". As soon as he left the room, Jennifer and I just looked at each other with blank stares and said "What just happened?". It was like a whirlwind of a diagnosis!

The situation is that I need to have a peri acetabular osteotomy (PAO). I had a "pain test" shot this afternoon, so it turns out some of my pain is coming from inside the joint, but some is also coming from bursitis that has developed on the outside of the hip. That said, he can't guarantee that my pain will be gone after the PAO surgery. Hopefully though, my gait will improve after surgery, which will help promote the bursitis to go away. If I don't have the surgery now, I will need a total hip replacement within about 5 years. If I do have the PAO now, I can put off the hip replacement for 10+ years...hopefully until I'm about 60, but who knows!

It took me 7.5 months to get into see Dr. Trousdale, and I would say it was definitely worth the wait. He is incredibly knowlegeable, answered EVERY question I had, and listened to my concerns and discussed ALL my options, while giving me his opinion on what was best for my situation. If you are reading this and will be seeing Dr. Trousdale in the future, I would definitely recommend typing up all your questions, and give a copy to your sidekick to take notes while you talk. It worked out great for us!

So, aside from an overwhelming feeling that we were on the set of Cocoon, the day went pretty well. The good news is that I won't have to go back to the Mayo until the day before surgery, when I will get another x-ray to determine if the arthritis has gotten any worse. If it has progressed, he may need to do a total hip replacement. Most likely, that won't happen, so we will keep our fingers crossed!

Thanks again to all my friends and family for your continued concern and support. A special thank you to Jennifer for taking the time to come with me and help me out so much. If it weren't for her, my left hip wouldn't have been coined "Bursa". :-)

It's becoming more real...

It's been a while since my last post, as I haven't really wanted to deal with any of this hip "crap" until my appt with Dr. Trousdale was here. Well, I was able to get it moved up from the 31st, and it is this Thursday, March 19th. I figured I should probably accept that I am having to do this whole Mayo thing, it is a real deal, and I need to get my butt in gear...



I will be heading down to the Mayo tomorrow night (Wed) with my wonderful friend Jennifer. She grew up in Rochester, so that helps out my anxiety quite a bit in regards to naviating around the area. She has offered to be my support for the day, and I am so grateful for that! My appt is @ 6:45am on Thursday morning, so unfortunately we can't go hit the Rochester hot spots tomorrow night. Bummer! She will no doubt keep me entertained, and knowing her, she may even be more nervous than I am. Just what the Mayo needs...two loud, obnoxious, nervous 30 somethings on what we are calling our "date". We termed it that, as it makes it seem a lot more fun! :-)



Also, I've finally added a whole bunch of other blog links of women going through the same or a similar situation as myself. So, if you are one of those women, just know that you have inspired me in some way, shape, or form, and I have most likely spent, at a minimum, 1-2 hours up at night reading about you! Not stalking...promise. :-) To my friends and family who want to get a feel for what I am currently dealing with or will probably be going through in the next few months after surgery....there you go! Watch out though...it's easy to get sucked in...



Thanks sooooo much to all of my friends and family that have been so supportive of me with all of this stuff. I could not do it without each and every one of you. I will post more over the next day or two as I have information. Thanks for caring!