Life with a Flare

I survived the first week! Funny how my head was a bigger problem then my hip. At one week my hip feels great! Today I went to school for 3 hours, it was really tiring, but I made it. It was the first time I was crutching a lot since surgery and I had forgot how much I hate crutches. Although my hate might have grown on account of my other joints making it harder. Both knees have been bugging me. My left knee had been doing really well since the Euflexxa but now that it has to compensate it is NOT happy. After all I went through with the Euflexxa injection my knee better hold up till the end of this recovery! My right knee has also been annoying me, it really does not like the CPM machine, also the during the surgery the whole leg is pulled on through the foot which can cause knee pain. And my shoulders are freaking out with the whole crutches thing, and my hands(thumbs) and not excited either. In fact today I was having trouble holding a cup the regular way so I had to...

I haven't posted in a week because I was at my youth groups international convention in Boston! It was an amazing week, and makes me sad I am a senior, so this one was my last. My health did make being functional a bit harder and slightly less possible than when I went to last year's. Mind you last year I was just about seven weeks post op from knee surgery and had only been totally off crutches for a week. I even had to use one crutch for a day because whenever I got shoved my knee would give out. This year while I didn't have to worry as much about my knee specifically, as since the euflexxa it is one of my better joints, I had a lot of other things to worry about. My first issue with any trip I have taken (even overnight ones) is packing, because my hips hate bending. I found the solution was to put my suitcase on my bed (such a no brainer I feel stupid for not thing of it sooner. The bus ride was four hours of sitting, not something I can do easily, but I was ab...

I am done with euflexxa injections!! First thing I did today at HSS was go for right hip x-rays. Worst x-ray experience of my life. The x-ray tech kept trying to move my hip in ways it doesn't move, if it did move that way I would not have been there getting x-rays! Then it was off to the OS's office where the PA came in and asked me how I felt after the last injection and I told her I had the same symptoms as after the first she decided to talk to the OS before doing the injection. He came in to the exam room and asked me more about my symptoms, and told me while he had seen plenty of local reactions to euflexxa he had never seen a systematic one in about 5,000 injections. Apparently I am special. It was decided that it was worth doing the last injection even with the side effects.  There was a little less pain during the injection than the first two times, but the ten minutes after hurt a lot more than any of the injections, the first hour was just really painful i...

Yesterday I had my second euflexxa injection (supposed to be third but Hurricane Sandy screwed that up...not that I am bitter or anything). My last one is next week. The appointment did not take long, only about five minutes. My knee was sterilized, "numbed", and then I got the injection, which hurt as much as last time but at least I wasn't blindsided by the pain this time. After the injection my knee was more painful and stiff than last time. Even today I can't stand on it while it is extended. In other news I finished my six weeks of PT this morning, but I am sure I will be back in PT soon. And three weeks till the rheumatologist appointment. Update- I totally forgot to write about how I am feeling now...which is not good. I feel sick again, exactly the same as after my 1st injection. Even though I was told that is was just a coincidence I got sick after the injection I am sure it is not now, but since I only have one left and last time I was only ...

Last week went from bad to worse, as Tuesday night I got sick, and stayed home from school sick on Wednesday (and missed PT) but went to school sick Thursday. I called the OS's office to see if it had to due with the euflexxa injection, since there was no localized reaction it was probably just a coincidence. Now I feel better and my knee is still status quo, so we will see what happens after the next injection. I don't think I mentioned it in the last post, but the OS doesn't really want to operate on my hips at all currently, because the cortisone shot only gave about 50% relief. The final opinion won't come until after the Rheumatologist appointment, which seems like so far away. At sometime Monday Hurricane Sandy is supposed to hit CT and collide with a cold air front coming from the north as well as another storm coming from the west and crate "Frankenstorm." I keep hoping if I ignore it it will go away. While I have my college applicatio...

Last night I had an MRI on my right hip. This was not one of the more pleasant MRI experience I have had but hopefully I am done with MRIs for a while. The OS told me the results today since I was already there. Basicly the everything he had thought was confirmed and I have a labral tear on the right and it is bigger than the one on the left. Today I had the first of three Euflexxa injections in my left knee. The injection itself was a lot more painful than any of the cortisone injections I had, which took my by surprise. At least there has not been a ton of pain since the actual injection. My hip actually feels a lot worse but I think that is because my knee is not quite bending as much as before the injection, so the hip is protesting the extra slack. On the surgery front everything is still on pause until I see a Rheumatologist. The OS did say that after seeing my right hip MRI he would be more incline to operate on my right hip than any other joint, since it is the wor...

Today at my OS appointment many things happened. I will break it down by joint. Also it was decided I need to see a pediatric rheumatologist, because it is not normal for a sixteen year old to have so many joint problems. Left Knee The MRI showed the kneecap is too high (which was known), general swelling of the joint, and cartilage thinning/damage (aka arthritis but no OS wants to diagnose a 16 year old with arthritis). The plan as of now is three injections of Euflexxa a week apart and see if that helps before investigating surgery further. Left Hip The MRI showed FAI (which I have already discussed) and a torn labrum. The labrum is a piece of cartilage that is in the hip (similar to a meniscus in a knee). The cortisone is working but no surgery will be discussed until after I see a rheumatologist, so just continuing the PT for now. Right Hip The OS thinks that my other hip has FAI as well as a labral tear, which ...