Really "HIP" today!

Well, I'm still hurting. A little bit differently, but it still hurts. Yesterday we went to the hip specialist at OrthoIndy. He is a great doctor and I have seen him before when I thought I was having hip trouble, but it turned out to be sciatica. My sciatica is under control, thanks to accupuncture, but having fallen badly on my hip last December has created new pain.

The doctor ordered xrays which I had right there and fortunately, nothing appears to be broken or cracked, which was a surprise/relief to me. The bad news is I have trochanteric bursitis in the hip and he said that can be very difficult to heal. He said the initial treatment would be to inject cortisone, but I had a shot in April and he really didn't like to do it so soon. However, the shot I had in April was with a tiny needle like an insulin syringe and about a half-inch of serum. Terry was watching and said he couldn't believe that little bit would cause me the relief I had for 3-4 weeks. This shot was using a syringe about three-eighths inch in diameter about 2-3 inches long and much more serum than last time. In addition, he pressed around to find the painful spot and when he plunged in that needle, he apparently got right in the middle of it. I really groaned and had to have flinched. His only comment was, "I guess I hit that hot spot, huh?" I think that was what he was hoping, but man, did that ever hurt. It didn't linger, though. As soon as he finished, which was quite quickly, the pain was over. Course, then the aching started. We planned to go to the casino last night, but I was pretty miserable.

The doctor also put me on celebrex for one month and I have to ice my hip 3 times a day and do some stretching exercises. He hopes that does the trick. He said this is the most common hip injury and he sees about 10 cases a day. If I still am having trouble in a month, he said to call back and he will order an MRI. If there happens to be some soft tissue damage, then we will look at other options. He said there aren't many surgical options, but depending upon what might be torn, there are some other treatments, including surgery to repair.

We are headed north from Indy to Goshen today. We will park Phaeton Place in the drive and move into the house for a few weeks. We have to empty the refrigerator in the motorhome as it is getting replaced at Red Bay in a few weeks. We also will be loading the enclosed trailer for the run to Florida with a bunch of Brandon's stuff. He has a house bigger than our "storage facility" in Goshen, so he will get to go through everything and can toss/keep what he wants.

So today we have a travel day. I suspect that will involve mostly Terry behind the wheel so I can prop my leg up.

Till next time. . .

Dale