Monday, August 20, 2018

What A Pain

I have much to catch up on.  Mostly it's a combination of disappointing shows and frustrating life in general.

However, it does seem more of this is tying together.  After a recent diagnosis with Ehlers-Danlos, I was referred to physical therapy for hip pain.  I dutifully attended PT and learned useful things like how to stand on one foot, which I have never actually been able to accomplish before. 

Unfortunately during one round of physical therapy, something distinctly went crunch that probably shouldn't have been crunchy.  The therapist suggested contacting my provider and asking for imaging.

The good news is that imaging was ordered quickly.  The initial radiographs showed Femoroacetabular Impingment which essentially meant that excess bone had been laid down in the hip socket and was rubbing.  Makes sense to a certain point.  I was having difficult moving my left leg back and it would just be stuck or frozen.

An MRI with contrast was ordered to see the status of the labrum.  I was not impressed with the radiologist who injected lidocaine first which was supposed to numb the area before the contrast was injected.  Unfortunately, he went to down with the contrast as he was teaching a young radiologist the procedure and I don't think he really let the lidocaine do the whole numbing thing.

10/10 don't recommend doing it without some kind of pain block

The office called the next morning and said they were putting in a referral to one particular orthopedic surgeon as he's the only one in network who will touch this surgical case.  The labrum is badly torn, but the Ehlers-Danlos diagnosis complicates surgery.

So now I wait until I actually meet this doctor.

Not really sure what to think or plan.  I want the hip to heal and have a chance of not being in pain, however, five or six months of no riding seem to be a bit much.  I was hoping to go to Sport Horse Nationals in the fall of 2019, but I don't know if turning my horse out to be absolutely feral for six months is the way to accomplish that. 

Anyone else have a similar hip surgery?  It would be nice to be a little less crooked and who knows, it may be the magical key to accurately riding a 20 meter circle. ;)