Steroids, knee buckling, and running, oh my!

I had the right hip injected with kenolog and marcaine on Friday by my PCP and wow!! He is smooth! I didn't feel anything, not even the initial poke, and he didn't even use lidocaine. Who doesn't love that?! I do believe I will be going to him for my injections from now on. The steroid injection I had in July by Dr. Z either didn't take, or there just wasn't enough in it, so I had asked if it would be alright for one more injection before surgery. Dr. Z said it was fine as long as I waited 6 weeks from the one he had done and to make sure it wasn't less than 6 weeks out from surgery. I had it done exactly 6 weeks after the injection in July. I think there is a bit of a steroid flare, because things are sore, but my PCP said to expect that. However, my flexion pain has improved. I can bend my right hip further before I feel the deep sharp pain. I still have just a generalized ache all around, especially in the groin and SI joint and buttock. I've also become more aware of my SDD incision site where the muscles were seperated to be quite painful. The hernia site is really bad, which is just south of the scar. I hope Dr. Z was serious when he said we could get Plastics involved once the hip was settled.

The other unsettling thing is my left knee lately. I have had three episodes of complete giving out/buckling when going to stand up and take my first step. I also am having a harder time controlling the knee/leg staying straight on when I walk. It wants to twist way inward and feels "floppy". The knee cap itself has a nagging pain that is not something I can ignore and I try to rub it out, but then it starts to slide too far left or right and it snaps or clunks over one edge or the other of my femur and that HURTS. With each step I take, I feel a click or pop in my knee, more medial or inside, when I put full weight down and the leg straightens through full extension. That's more gross feeling than painful. But I don't like this at all.
And it's frustrating because I am limited to fixing things one at a time due to work and because the OS says so.

We still haven't narrowed down a run yet, but some of our family members are so excited and proud of this goal that they are going to run it too or at least be there to watch it happen! I only have about 6 weeks left to get my endurance and stamina down before doing a run, so God help me, I'm going to need it!

Determination and small dreams

It's official. I'm addicted. I am back on the treadmill, my little dream of doing some sort of organized run still alive. My husband continues to inspire me with his run times and marathons, and in some ways, I hope to inspire him by overcoming my "chains" and doing something I didn't think I'd have the strength, stamina, or drive to do ever again...try a 5k. Well, I'm realistic and I know a 5k probably isn't going to happen so I've set my sights on a 1 mile "Fun Run". I'm letting the hubby pick the run, and we'll do it together. The plan is for this fall, probably mid to late October. Actually setting a date/run makes me more determined and encouraged to keep up on my training.
So, with that being said, Tuesday I was jogging and kept thinking "I'll just keep going til I hit a quarter mile" then "I can do half a mile", then next thing I know I've completed a whole mile without stopping! I surprised myself and was pretty pleased. This I know I can do. I'll keep at it and build up my endurance because I don't want to lose any ground I'm gaining for this run. If you have gimpy hips, you know what I'm talking about! Letting even just a few days go by with no activity can set you back to square one.

So how are the hips doing with this? At just over 1.5 years out, left is good, not too many complaints, some popping here and there. At just over a year out, right is status quo, it hurts a lot. It's crunchy and achy. It's just never gotten better. That's why we're scoping in November. Things I do to help my hips/legs through the bad days: I ice and heat a lot, I sleep with a heat pad on my legs, I use Salonpas patches on my quads and just below my knee caps and I elevate my legs as much as I can. I also have knee braces and orthotics for my shoes, but I don't feel the inserts really help. I like to use Bio Freeze gel too and massage that into my legs. That's a nice treat. What's even nicer is getting my hubby to do it, but he hates the smell.

I thought that my hips and miserable malalignment would keep me from being able to run, but my pcp put me on a new pain med a few weeks ago and since the first week went by on it, I've felt like a new lease on life! It has really made a difference on my pain quality, sleep quality, and just overall life quality. This is the same medicine my neuro-sleep doctor was going to put me on because of severe restless leg syndrome/pain, so I am in a win/win situation. This medicine makes my pain tolerable and gives me a glimpse of the life I can have once everything is fixed. It's nice! It's not something I want to be on for a long time though. But I think it's the bridge to getting where I need to be.