Bad News Blog?

I feel like I either don't post anything or I post bad news...boo. Unfortunately I have more bad news. I have been having hip pains off and on for a few months. I had all of my other health issues going on so I decided to wait to get it checked out. Apparently I was waiting until I could no longer walk and was forced to get it checked out. I work long shifts anyway, but there were 2 days a couple of weeks ago that I worked 16 hours both days and when I woke up the next day after working both shifts I almost fell out of bed because I couldn't put weight on my right leg. I worked through it a little and found what aggravated it and tried to avoid until I could call the doctor on Monday. Monday is when I had the stomach virus, but by evening I felt well enough that I went to get the xray. Waited 2 days for results which merely said I needed a MRI (which I asked for in the first place, but was told that insurance generally requires the x-ray first). Had the MRI the following Saturday, which was this last Saturday-one week after the severe pain started. I got a release of my results because I could barely walk and wanted to know what was going on. Basically confirmed in a more detailed fashion what the x-ray showed. I have avascular necrosis or osteonecrosis of both hips, right hip being more severe with swelling and a fracture in my femoral head. Hmmm, might be the cause of severe pain and inability to walk on right leg. Osteonecrosis is basically lack of blood supply to the bone, bone weakens and collapses. I started walking on crutches as soon as I found out. Monday, my doctor sent my records to an orthopedic surgeon in St Louis so I waited to see when my appt would be, never heard back Monday. Their first appt was way far off, but I obviously need to be seen much sooner so they needed the doctor to review the record to approve and recommend when I needed to be seen. Tuesday, the scheduler told me they were still waiting to hear back from the doctor about when they could see me. By this time I started having severe pains in my leg. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I am on the verge of tears when this happens. It basically feels like someone is crushing my leg-not fun. It only lasts about 5-10 minutes thankfully, but it is miserable. I called for stronger pain medication yesterday, which helps when I am moving in bed, but I don't think anything can't touch this pain. Anyway, never heard anything about the appointment yesterday-absurd. Finally this morning I was so miserable and felt like something needs to be done right away. I knew going to a St Louis hospital was going to cost more because we have a local hospital insurance because that is where Casey works, but decided to call to see about out benefits. They told me only 60% of my bill would be covered after a $1,000 deductible vs 80%/20% with no deductible. Eek. Of course I have a max out of pocket, but still that would be like $3-4,000. I started thinking maybe I should see about going to a doctor at the local hospital. I just really want this done right and generally the research hospitals in St Louis have the most up to date procedures. I decided with as much pain as I was in, it wouldn't hurt to see someone today and decide from there what I wanted to do. He got me right in, like 30 minutes after I called, they called me back and told me to come right in. Casey was able to meet us there too which was great. So after talking to this doctor, he recommended that I be seen in St Louis anyway. If I were 20 years older the treatment would be a total hip replacement, but it isn't ideal to get a hip replacement now and have nothing to work with in 20 years when I need another one. He said they would have more options for me since I am so young and with my history with my blood counts he thought they could follow me better. It actually worked out good that I saw him because hopefully the insurance company will use his recommendation and cover me with the local benefits since it's not something I can have done locally. So they were going to try to call over and work some magic to get me an appointment. Something worked because I got a call on my way home that I am meeting with the surgeon I originally wanted to meet with in St Louis tomorrow at 11am. So I should have a plan tomorrow.

On our way home today, Brennan and I both decided we needed some mexican for lunch-yum yum!

This poor guy has been stuck at home with me the last couple of days and I can't do much on crutches. Plus my pain seemed to be when I was up so yesterday I stayed in bed all day except to use the bathroom and get him something to eat. He has been entertaining himself, seeing me in pain when I have those episodes and finally witnessed my breakdown this morning when I felt like I was going to rot away in bed, in pain forever because I couldn't get an appointment.

 I actually have felt much better this afternoon, spirits and pain. We enjoyed our lunch together and I caught this super sweet video of my boy♥

In case you can't hear it, he says "I love mexican so much. It's really yummy. I could almost eat it every day. I love chips and cheese." I asked what else he loves and he said "I love rice with cheese on it. And especially, I love...you." Aww, love that baby bear!