Life with a Flare

I manage to survive all three of my appointments yesterday somehow. First up was my OS for the six weeks on the left hip and six months on the right hip. He was happy with where I was with both and said to worry about the motion but focus on the strengthening. When I asked for a cortisone injection in my left knee he said okay, but at first he said that he thought the pain in the left knee was probably referred pain from the hip, but after he examined it he did notice fluid. I also ask for a prescription for a home TENS unit, so that is being ordered as well now. My last question for the OS was when can I start horseback riding again? In 6-8 weeks (at 3 months post-op) I can start riding a little but no jumping, and I can ride without restrictions at 4-6 months post op. The rheumatologist appointment was not exciting, I may eventually get an MRI on my left knee but not for a while since I just had a cortisone injection. We aren't changing any meds or anything. I was not total...

Actually I missed both milestones, yesterday I was 6 weeks post op on my left hip and the day before was the 6 month mark for my right. Scars! L vs. R! I decided to look back at the post I wrote the day my right hip was 6 weeks post op, and that post was not focused on my hip. I was in pain at that point, a lot of it, and not hip pain. I was in a flare that day my knees and shoulders were not happy. Here I am 6 month later, having had two major hip surgeries in the recent past, and once again I am in a lot of pain, and once again it is not hip pain. My knees, well mostly my left knee, have been killing me. Once again I feel like I am having trouble pushing my hip because of my knee, its like a never ending cycle of pain and horribleness. On Friday I see my OS, Rheumy, and PT so I am hoping for some answers on my knee. However I doubt I will get them straight out so I think I am going to ask my OS for a cortisone injection for my left knee, because this has gone on for long enou...

Today I am going to write about a taboo subject- body image, and how living with chronic illness/pain has affected it. I get told how great my body is a lot, I am tall and fairly skinny. Not to be egotistic but I look pretty good in a bikini. I should love how I look. I should be confident of my body, after all I just bought a pair of size 2 jeans. Yet I still struggle with loving my body. My New Jeans! In middle school I thought my legs were fat, that was when I had muscles from horseback riding, today I miss my muscular legs. My thighs tend to be two different sizes, the left one is almost always smaller. The reason for this is simple, my left quad has atrophied from months of limping and being on crutches when I was 15/16, at one point it was so bad my doctor measured it and the difference was a good 2 cm in circumference. Today they are almost the same size, and probably look the same to anyone else, but to me they still look different. If you haven't guessed it yet, ...