The Diagnosis

The Diagnosis

I knew it wasn’t going to be good news but it still arrives with a jarring thud.

“Bone on bone with the joint collapsing.” Dr. Dive delivers this in a very neutral but kindly tone of voice. No doubt he has had to say this many times, as he is a prominent complex joint surgeon with the experience to know exactly what he is talking about. People ask who my surgeon is and when I tell them, they all say things like, “Lucky You! He’s the best.” My GP was very impressed. A quick Google finds that he is a well-respected academic in addition to his creds as a great surgeon. This has been quite reassuring.

I smile, a bit blankly, “Any options with injections?” I was hoping that the lab made synovial fluid injections might buy me some pain relief and time before surgery.

“I’m afraid that you are well beyond that.” Was his answer in the same tone of voice.

Sigh and a nod on my part.

“We are looking at four to six months to get a surgery date.”

I nod again, with some relief, as this means there actually is an end in sight. I have been in limbo for the past year as I have been on waiting lists and increasing painkillers to deal with my decreasing mobility.

Dr. Dive is gentle and efficient. He recites the diagnosis into a digital audio recorder and I get to hear it again in medical language as he spells out just what is happening to my hip and what needs to be done.

Afterwards, I make sure to let his office know that I am interested in any cancellations that might come out and would be very flexible with my schedule. I am pleasant and accommodating with the very efficient assistant, while silently hoping for that slim chance that an opening that I could slip into would appear.

How Did This Happen?

“You are too young to need joint replacements yet!” My GP, Dr Lee (a wonderful woman) was surprised when it became increasingly clear that I was losing mobility. I was less surprised, coming from a family with a long history of osteoarthritis. My knees had been deteriorating for years and I am one of the fortunately ones that benefit from the lab made synovial fluid injections. But, this was different. I had been gardening one Sunday afternoon in April and when I got up, something catastrophic happened. I had tear-inducing pain all throughout my right side, running from back to toes.

“Sciatica is a possibility, but we need to take a look at that hip.” (It had been feeling ‘funny’ over the past month) she said, and sent me off for x-rays.

The Radiologist decides that there is nothing evidently wrong with the hip, and there is some disc bulging  in the lower back. Initial diagnosis of sciatica, and I go onto my first waiting lists. One for an CT Scan of the lower back and the other for the Spine Clinic with its attendant surgeons.

The Wait – I

Time Passes. Dr. Lee ups my pain killers and now nerve medications as I wait. I continue to go to work because not working would be boring as well as painful. There is always lots of work to be done.

My CT Scan happens at the end of May. Nothing exciting to report except that there is no bone to nerve impingement in my lower back. This is very good news, but I am still in severe pain.

I take my vacation in July and spend part of that time with a massage therapist who eases the tensions in my leg muscles. This balances out my walking, but I cannot lift my right leg and all I can do is mark time by observing the slow loss of mobility. I went from walking at least 12,000 steps a day, down a couple hundred each week until it was no more than 5000 in a day.

I continued with my Community Kitchen Activities and everyone is very good about letting me organize the activities. I spend a lot of time sitting on the side watching the action as we can up 500 pounds of tomatoes, 150 jars of salsa, litres and litres of pickles, and two sessions of the famous “Apple Pie in a Jar” canning at the Copley Community Orchard.

Then a phone call in October! I have an appointment with the spine specialist at the end of November. Having a location, date, and time on the calendar brightens up

First Specialist Visit

I am finally in at the Spine Clinic for my consultation. I’m also down to 4000 steps a day before I hit serious discomfort and disability.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Hunter. What seems to be the problem?” I explain how I ended up in his office; give him a quick rundown of symptoms and actions. He asks a few questions, has me walk back and forth across the room, and examines my spine…and hip.

“I may be wrong, but I don’t think that your spine is your biggest problem. You have almost no mobility in your right hip. Let’s get a new set of x-rays right now.” The Lab is right there around the corner in the building. New x-rays are taken and I wait for a few minutes before being called back in.

My hip x-ray flashes on the screen. “See this side?” pointing to the left hip “This is fine. Now, the other side...” And it becomes completely obvious that the right hip is not fine at all!

“I am referring you to the Complex Joint Clinic. You should expect to get in within four to six weeks.” I thank him for a clear picture about what is happening and leave in a bit of a daze.

Okay, another round of hurry up and wait.

The Wait – II

I won’t say too much, except that I am very good at waiting now. I keep busy. I work at controlling my pain and that includes breathing techniques along with medications. By the end of January, it was taking two days’ worth of energy to do one day’s work. I am grateful that I could do half of my work remotely and/or online.

With Christmas in the offing, I guess (correctly) that it would be more like six to eight weeks and was not surprised to get an appointment with Dr. Dive, a noted hip surgeon, for the 25^th of January.

The visit with Dr. Dive was informative, concise, and direct. I now just needed to wait…again.