hippy chick

You guys, it was not a good week. I did the tiniest bit of exercise and my severe leg pain had me awake until 3:00 a.m. nearly every night,  which also caused me to lose my mind a little bit. Actually, a lot.

how I felt

I saw the rheumatologist who cleared me from any sort of systemic problem (good news!) I also saw two wonderful pain management doctors who spent 3 hours with me investigating this "fascinating case". The doctors dug through all my file notes & imaging studies and consulted with four other doctors  trying to solve this mystery. They think that this pain is not coming from my low back, but rather my hips. So, I am off to see a new sports medicine doc tomorrow who knows a lot about hips. I will likely get a hip MRI, cortisone shot in the hips, and more PT in the coming weeks. I am a professional PT patient although not a successful one. They are evaluating me for at least three thing:  femoral ancetabular impingement (FAI), labrum tear, and psoas syndrome or some combo of the three. I am encouraged that new ideas are on the table! The first two likely require hip SURGERY so I hope that is not what I have!!!  I am no stranger to pain (or "sensation" as the pain psychologist suggests I call it) so I usually  have good coping skills, but this week sucked. With zero sleep and tons of "sensations", I spent all day on the couch panicking that my life was over doomed to worsening disability and suffering until I die a premature death due to horrific agony. So maybe I overacted a bit.  I did sleep through the night last night with no "sensations",  so there is hope for good days in the midst of medical mayhem!

not my actual hip

Thank you to all my family and friends who listen to the same story again and again and again and still try to help especially: Jake who assures he me still loves me even if I am a total invalid, my mom who can relate to chronic pain and lets me call her in the middle of the night, my girls for their hugs and kisses, Steve & Liz who take me out to breakfast after a pain all-nighter, my others family members who think I should take up pot smoking, and Missy who listens and encourages me to have a strong drink (it must be okay, she is a nurse!).  I hate to bore you with all the whining, but I think it is important to be authentic. Plus, it's my blog and I like to complain!

Happy Birthday Momma!!!

Thankfully, my mom came up to be with me...when I feel bad, I just want my mommy! We celebrated her 61st birthday, too. It was not the bash we had last year, but it was fun to take her out for dinner at Longfellow Grill and Izzy's ice cream.  My aunts Tracy, Wendy, Jill & Dale plus cousin Abby stopped by, too.  Wendy's chemo regimen is really hard on her tiny body and Jill is coping with Dale's decline from  Lewy Body dementia, but nothing can stop us from carbo loading on muffins, egg dish, and cinnamon wheels before joining in a dance party with the my girls!

* lest you think I have sugar induced hip disorder, I also ate spinach salads, roasted veggies and tons of fresh peaches and cherries

Go Wendy! You can do it!

nose studs

ladies in blue

all around the birthday Gramsie

Henny mania

eye get it!

My girls  love having Steve & Liz in town! They watched Nori all week and took her to the pool twice so she could show off sweet swimming skillz, made bracelets, and baked cupcakes. Jake played in the USTA sectional tennis tournament all weekend and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt. Thankfully for me sadly for him, they did not advance to nationals this year despite a strong showing by the "fellas". Darn it.

little love

little big love

We also had a summer party with the Decker clan at Steve &  Liz's new house to celebrate  Joan's graduation and lots of summer birthdays. It felt good to shed my imaginary casts and rejoin the living! We are on staycation all week and while I need to lay low (we cancelled our trip to the Dells due to my legs), hopefully we can have some family fun closer to home!

kiddie pool fun

Decker siblings

so serious!

I leave you with some quotes from the Internet Oprah, Glennon Doyle Melton. If you don't read her blog,  you really should.