I haven’t written in awhile, biding my time in a holding pattern of slow but steady healing. The day to day changes are microscopic, but over time they are piling up, enough to share. Meanwhile, we are starting to address what feels like the mangled ribbon from my typewriter (my actual typewriter pictured above) in my left hip, a feeling that has been there since my first hip scope in August of 2018.
How’s the Fusion?
Take a look. I got an extra X-ray last week, a 4.5 month post-op peek while I was at an appointment to finally address whatever mangled ribbon business is going on inside the left hip joint.
Things to notice:
- The right ASIS where he harvested bone fragments for seeding the pubic joint during surgery. (Right beneath the text in the upper left corner of each image) It is beginning to fill in with new bone.
- The six screw holes from the previous hardware are starting to fill in and fade on X-ray. My pelvis is getting stronger and less perforated.
- The actual fusion site is starting to grow new bone. The earliest X-ray looks like there is bone in the center but it is actually just the bone fragments he harvested. You can see that the space turns blacker as those fragments are absorbed. But in the most recent X-ray it is beginning to show true bone growth – the blackness is giving way to grey and if you zoom in very close you can see the structure of new bone. If this trend continues then we may actually be making progress!
Subjective?
I’m happy to see this new X-ray because it reflects what I have been feeling, that the bones are growing and solidifying. It feels very slow but overall quite steady. After 19.5 months of ZERO progress, I’ll take slow and steady!
I’m carrying on with gentle, easy movement, being mindful of my boundaries. I will not mess this up.
Onward.
What’s up with the Left Hip Mangled Ribbon?
Something. What exactly is still to be determined, but for now we are treating it with two rounds of PRP to see if it can fix itself. Wouldn’t that be ideal? That hip has had three scopes – a full on repair of the labral tear, cam lesions, and I can’t remember what else, then a revision, and finally a release of the insanely thick and frozen capsule. It may need a reconstruction at this point so we are putting energy into giving the PRP a chance.
I’ve waited this long, what’s a little longer? Especially if these few invested weeks mean skipping another surgery and a recovery that would ultimately be longer than these few trial weeks.
In any case, it feels like mangled typewriter ribbon. When I do particular exercises and movements, it has an insanely loud POP that doesn’t feel good.
We will figure it out. In the meantime, I carry on with doing my part every day. Appropriate movement, Exogen, excellent nutrition, rest, self-care, and digging into my days as a wife and full-time homeschooling mom to a second grader and a HS freshman, something that feels really balanced and joyful right now.
Big Picture
We started this journey in Spring of 2018, meaning we are about to hit the 5 year mark. Before that I ran my last race in November 2013, a 100 miler, followed by bilateral ankle reconstructions plus 1st MTP joint surgery on my right foot, then a baby, the Pandora’s Box that exposed the hip and pelvis issues. Together it is nearly 9 years of chasing a functional body that allows me to pursue my passions. Close to a decade of being sidelined physically, arguably one of the potentially strongest decades of my life.
I have to believe there are future gifts to come from this that will settle the upset that comes from looking at these 9 years. The unicorn in me says it will be so and it is what drives me each day to make the most of every minute.
What do you think?
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