Appointment

I wanted to do this post yesterday, but there was so much going on I didn't have time.  I finally was able to see Dr. Dahners yesterday about my pain.  The pain in my right hip had gotten worse every day since Thanksgiving, and on Wednesday, it was so bad I spent most of the day in bed.  I couldn't work or carry on a lucid conversation because the pain was so bad.  Of course on Thursday at the appointment, there was no pain at all.

Gus was able to get a neighbor to watch Evelyn for the afternoon so he was able to come with me to the appointment.  I value his presence because he knows my situation better than anyone except me.  My friend, Ashley was also able to come up from Laurinburg to attend the appointment with me.  She is an excellent doctor herself, and it was great to have her there to take notes and help translate any doctor-speak.  Ashley's uncle Ed Campion also attended.  He's a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, and the head of orthopedics at UNC.  I've heard nothing but good things about him or Dr. Dahners.  So I had three doctors at my disposal.  It was a pretty full exam room.

Here are the highlights:

• My pain is either caused by HO bone fragments grinding in the joint or is a phantom pain sometimes associated with spinal injury.  Either way, there's not much they can do about it.
• The blood test that indicates bone creation is ongoing is called Alkaline Phosphotase.  My levels have returned to normal, and the HO fragments appear mature on the CT scan so I can have the surgery any time.
• Surgery on the first hip is scheduled for January 16
• They expect I will probably be in-patient at the hospital for only a couple days after the surgery
• They expect to put me on Naproxyn to prevent recurrence of the HO after surgery, but Dr. Dahners, Ashley, and Ed were all fairly vehement that I should not do radiation therapy.

My rehab doctor, Dr. Walker, was pretty adamant that I should have the radiation therapy, and the surgeons agreed that it is very effective, but the surgeons thought the cancer risk was unacceptable for someone my age. At the end of the day, it's my choice whether to get the radiation or not, so I'm not sure what I should do.  I really don't want the HO to come back even a little bit, but they say it's a lot of radiation, and there's a bunch of stuff in the pelvic region that doesn't react well to it.

In other news, my short-term disability ended on Wednesday, and due to the pain I've been in, I was forced to tell IBM I could not continue working part-time.  That means I have been separated from the company so I can be put on long-term disability.  It's not what I wanted to do, but since the surgery is coming up, and I'll have to stop working while I recover, I may as well do it now and have more time to rest and less stress while I wait for surgery.  Of course losing my job is also pretty stressful, but I can only worry about so much at a time.  I'll just hope I can have my job back when this is all over.