My awful hip treatment!

Hello everyone!

So what's been happening in your world? Here's what's happening in mine:

I’ve been pretty much disabled since last Thursday. I went for a ’consultation’ about my hip to Pinner. When I got there, the doctor nearly choked on his coffee- he expected an older lady to walk in, judging by the X-ray results. I didn’t need to be told how badly my hip was damaged; I knew it from the constant pain and swelling. But it was still a shock to hear my hip was about 60-years old.

He said immediate treatment was eminent. I needed steroids injected into my hip that very moment.

‘But I’ve got Salsa plans tonight’, I feebly protested.

‘You might be able to go tonight still’, he assured me.

After many more questions and feeling totally petrified, I consented to having it done. I mean, how bad could it be if I was to be able to go dancing that night?

Turns out, very. Nothing he said was true and he only admitted it afterwards.

So I lay down on the table, on my right side. I heard him washing his hands behind the screen, he took ages. It seemed as if he was preparing for an operation.

Suddenly, he appeared next to me, very calm, holding a huge needle.

‘You won’t feel much pain’, he comforted me. Then he cleaned the area where he was going to inject with a strong alcohol.

Only one more second, and the needle went it. I with my face deep in the pillow let out an involuntary cry as it was an awful pain. I heard a crunch as if he was scrunching up a foil; then a long inserting of a liquid. Then the warmth started spreading all over my body and I felt myself relax.

When it was over, I got up.

‘How does it feel?’ asked he. ‘Does it hurt?’

‘No’, I said. ‘It feels very warm.’

‘That’s good’, said he. ‘That means your hip bone isn’t affected, it was just your joint’.

‘Now for the bad news’, he continued. ‘You won’t be able to walk for a few days and you’ll be in lots of pain. After a few days, the steroids should kick in and you will start feeling better.’

I asked why I wasn’t told this at the start, images of Salsa dancing going out of the window.

‘Because you were so scared, I didn’t want to add to your worries’, he said. To this date, I’m still debating whether or not he was right not to tell me!

Then he told me to wait for half an hour in the waiting room for the steroids to ‘localize’, and afterwards I drove home.

On the way home, the driving was awful. I was thinking about calling someone to get me but as the anaesthetic was still working slightly, I was sure I’d make it.

The moment I got home and out of the car, the pain hit me. From that point on I was only able to hop on the right leg.

I don’t know what went wrong, whether the doctor did it wrong, but the constant pain was so bad, I haven’t slept a wink that night. I couldn’t move the leg at all so just lay on my back in the warm darkness, endless blankets tucked around me. It felt like I’ve had a tree log attached to my body. I also had a temperature, so I had to endure a few painful trips down the stairs. Even thinking about that night makes me shiver.

Today it’s Tuesday. I’ve gone out and did some shopping this morning. The pain had gone a little but I still can’t walk properly. And as I was relying so much on my right leg, both legs are now hurting at the hip, not just the one that had the treatment.

All in all, an awful experience. I could easily feel sorry for myself- cancer at 29, constant new problems popping out- but I won’t. I’d like to think of it like this:

My body is getting all the major illnesses out of the way so that I can enjoy my up-coming middle age as a healthy, active woman. :)

(taken out of my blog 'single mum will dance')