kapachino

Tag: avascular necrosis

  • we’re just a couple of geriatrics

    With the amount of time David and I spend at the doctor these days, we feel like we’re 80 years old. We’re grateful that our medical issues are temporary and not nearly as serious as they could be, though. So without further delay, here’s a recap of our respective doctor’s appointments this morning. I apologize in advance for the boredom I may be inducing.

    (Wow, now I really do feel old. Do I have nothing better to write about than this? Ah, well.)

    Reproductive Endocrinologist

    First up I went to follow up regarding my most recent cycle. As my doctor said, “the plot thickens” and I’m left a lot more to think about than when I went in.

    Regarding what happened with my failed cycle, apparently my body didn’t respond to Clomid and I didn’t end up ovulating at all. My uterine lining didn’t even thicken. She was really surprised, but it happens. But before we can move on to the next cycle, we have to deal with something that was seen on my ultrasound which is possibly a uterine septum. I had never heard of this before, but it is a birth defect where there is a piece of tissue separating the uterus and puts you at a very high risk of miscarriage. It’s not diagnosed by an ultrasound but by an HSG, which is a test where they inject dye through my cervix and take an x-ray. I’ve already had an HSG, and nothing was mentioned about uterine septum on the report. So my doctor wants to take a look at the films herself, and if there is any suspicion at all she’ll have me repeat the procedure. If I do have uterine septum I’ll undergo minor surgery to have it fixed and that will be that.

    In the meantime she put me on a medication called Glucophage which is normally an antidiabetic drug but will also help sensitize my body to Clomid. If I don’t have uterine septum, once I work up to the full dose of Glucophage I’ll take another med (prometrium) to induce my period and then start on the highest dose of Clomid they prescribe. Then we’ll go from there just like the last time.

    Oh, and apparently one of my labs (prolactin) came back slightly elevated, which she thinks might be an error so she wants it repeated at the beginning of my next cycle. I have no idea what happens if it comes back abnormal again.

    Wasn’t that fun to read about? Now, moving on to David’s situation (post hip replacement).

    Orthopedic Surgeon

    The good news is that David has been cleared to walk and drive! I know he’s happy to be mobile again, and I’m happy to have my errand boy back. ;) But for a month he’s had to put all his weight on his left leg, and the disease is in that hip as well. For the past week it’s been hurting him more and more, so we decided to go ahead and get that one replaced as soon as possible.

    His surgery is scheduled for September 2. Two weeks away.

    I can’t wait until it’s over with, and even though his doctor told us he’d most likely have a pretty rough recovery we both know that he needs to just do it because his pain is only going to get worse. He’s off work this whole time – unpaid – and he needs to get back and get 100%.

    What we’re praying for is another successful surgery, easy recovery, and for financial provision. Our budget is already on lockdown because we weren’t prepared to be living off one salary, and I don’t know how long we can last without going into significant debt (we already have some). It’s another area that we’re learning to sacrifice and trust.

    ***

    If you made it through this whole boring post, it probably means you actually care about what’s going on with us, and for that I am truly, deeply grateful! All of your comments, emails, texts, and phone calls have lifted me up and kept me going. Over the past few days I’ve found a lot of peace and comfort, and I am content with my life and whatever it has in store for me.

    Every day is a new, grand adventure. :)

  • humor me

    Y’all, my life is a little bit crazy right now. It seems like, with David and me, we’ll just be going along fine with our little lives for awhile and then all of a sudden something big will happen – usually not something very good – and then the sky opens up with a bunch of other annoyances.

    Oh, you want to refinance your house? No problem, everything is in perfect order, you’re guaranteed a huge reduction in payment along with a refund. But wait, what’s this! Two foreclosures in your neighborhood? Hold on just a hop skip. You’ll probably end up getting the refinance, but you might not get the refund and it definitely won’t be for at least another month.

    Oh, your husband needs his hips replaced? That’ll be close to $4000 for surgery and medication, at least a month of unpaid sick leave, and by the way don’t even think about that vacation you have planned. What’s that, you want to have a baby? Not so fast – we need you to experience a healthy dose of miscarriage & infertility first. And just for good measure we’re going to clog up your bathroom sink so good that not only will nothing go down, water will actually come up.

    Not enough stress at home? We’ve got you covered at work. We’ll start with a patient who’s having diarrhea every thirty minutes and is too weak to wipe her own behind, add to that an angry man who is ready to call administration if you so much as allow his IV pump to beep more than once, and just for kicks we’ll throw in a nice smelly wound full of tumor and infection that you need to keep clean.

    Whew. That was ugly.

    So, now that I have that out of my system, I hope I can get over myself already. There are worse things in the world.

  • In Sickness

    If you were to meet my husband and I for the first time without knowing anything about us, you would probably form the opinion that we are a classic example of opposites attracting. He is talkative and hilarious in social situations, making everyone around him feel comfortable. This is really a huge part of why I married him, because I am reserved and sometimes awkward around new people, and I find it hard to make new friends. I like to bring him places as a kind of security blanket.

    After meeting us, you might be surprised to find out that he’s actually a very private person. Too bad he married a blogger. I might keep quiet around large groups, but get me one on one and I’ll tell you my life story if you ask. I’d also tell you my husband’s life story if he’d let me – okay, sometimes I do anyway. I’m not embarrassed to talk about our struggles, because I figure we all have them and I could definitely use the support.

    Anyway, I try to show David that I love him in many ways, and one of them is by NOT writing about him too often here. Or at least when I do write about him, it’s about how great he is – which is completely true, of course. But today he gave me the go-ahead to tell you about something we are going through that involves him, because it affects every part of our lives. Right now I can’t really think about anything else, so it was either this or nothing.

    ***

    The month before David and I got married he was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of both hips. What happens in this disease is that the bone dies due to lack of blood flow; it is progressive, irreversible, and incredibly painful. Our honeymoon was the last time I remember being truly active with him, because a couple of months later he had two separate surgeries, one on each hip, to try and halt or slow down the progression of the disease. It worked…for a little while. But there was still pain, and a lot of it.

    After the initial two surgeries he decided to see a pain management doctor because the Vicodin that regular doctors can prescribe wasn’t cutting it. Over the last year and a half he has been on at least six different types of narcotics. The pain keeps getting worse, his body becomes tolerant, and there are side effects to consider. Boy oh boy, are there side effects.

    The only real solution to his problem is to get his hips replaced. However, hip replacements aren’t permanent, and he’s still young. There is a long recovery and they only last about 30 years right now. His doctor had told him to hold off for as long as possible because a lifetime hip replacement is in development. Plus, there’s the fact that it’s MAJOR surgery, which comes with its own costs and risks, not to mention that it makes him feel like a geriatric.

    Well, he held off as long as he could. Over the past week his pain has grown exponentially. He can’t get around without the use of crutches. He feels like he’s not on any pain medicine at all, when just one of the pills that he’s taking would kill me if I took it. Yesterday he went to his orthopedist and it was confirmed: he is having the surgery and as soon as possible.

    I’m trying to keep the long-term benefits in mind. How this will bring so much relief to him, how he can wean off the meds and say goodbye to side effects, how he will be able to do so much more things with me, how in the end it will lead to a much happier and healthier home. The surgery makes me nervous, but in general I would be relieved to have it done, if it weren’t for one thing: the timing.

    We have a vacation planned for two weeks away, and now we can’t go. I’m really, really sad about this, and David feels terrible. It’s not his fault, of course, and his health comes first. But apparently I thrive on having something to look forward to, and I had been planning this for months. I write about my job here from time to time, but seriously – it’s the kind of job where taking regular breaks is necessary for emotional health & sanity. Instead I’ll be using my time off doing a different kind of nursing. I’ll do it for him gladly, but it’s not exactly the break I was going for.

    There are also financial issues to consider, which are unfortunately really stressing me out. Surgery is expensive, and we are scheduled to start fertility treatment next month which isn’t cheap. Then there’s our house refinance that hasn’t gone the way we planned, an issue with his medicine & insurance that resulted in a huge unexpected cost to us, and the consequence of all this is that I’m wallowing home alone without even the energy to make myself a sandwich. Anyone want to come do that for me?

    I’m sure this is one of those blessings in disguise. It’s going to be a good thing, and we are going to grow as a couple because of it and when it’s all behind us we’ll be so much happier. Getting to that point, though, isn’t going to be easy.

  • recovering

    For those of you who don’t know, my husband found out in the middle of last year that he has a condition in both of his hips that causes the bone to die due to lack of blood flow. The disease is very advanced in his right hip especially. It’s an extremely painful condition because it causes a deep, aching bone pain, similar to cancer of the bone. If left alone, eventually his hips will collapse.

    Since he’s so young, and hip replacements don’t last forever, we’ve tried a different procedure to help prolong the need for them. What they do is drill holes in his hips to clear out some of the dead bone and relieve the pressure. He had the surgery done on his left hip first, since there was more of a chance of it working. Yesterday he had it done on his right one.

    The doctor’s very words were that the procedure is a “Hail Mary” for his right hip, and if this doesn’t work he will have to get it replaced. Obviously we want to avoid that.

    Anyway, he came through the surgery alright, and I was able to get a really cute picture of him with his surgical gear on lying in the stretcher, but sorry ladies, that one’s for me to enjoy!

    Unfortunately, this recovery so far has been a lot harder on him because this hip was so much worse to begin with. He really should be staying in a hospital for a few days, but they just gave him a bunch of pain medicine after surgery and then sent him home within 45 minutes. Well, that medicine wore off in about 3 hours and what he has to take now isn’t covering it. I took today off work to be with him, and I’m doing all I can to make him comfortable. It’s so hard to see him like this.

    So right now, this is what is consuming our lives. That, and cleaning my house, which I needed to do for my own sanity. It’s not easy for either of us to be going through this. Him in miserable pain, unable to be of much help around the house and practically immobile, and me helpless to make his pain go away, with all the duties of the house and dogs and work on my back.

    There are times when I start to feel myself get irritable – not at David, but just at the situation. But all I do for him is worth it when he compliments me. He’s the best patient I’ve ever had, and taking care of him is definitely the most fulfilling.

  • It’s Not Just For Looking Pretty

    Oh right, I have a blog, and it’s something I’m supposed to WRITE in. I guess I’ve given myself kind of a break, because of the whole my-husband-had-surgery-right-before-we-moved-into-our-new-house business. We are having a lot of fun being there, but it sure is a lot of work. We still have a lot of walls to paint, fixtures, furniture, and other necessities to buy, as well as unpacking and organizing to do. There are times when it’s overwhelming, because I simply don’t have the time or energy to get it all done anytime soon, which is what my personality dictates. David told me the other day, “You know how I can tell that you’ve been really tired lately? I can leave a mess in the living room and you don’t even say anything.”

    Anyway, my sister-in-law gave me a hard time about neglecting this thing yesterday, so please accept my apologies. I will try to do better. SO…here are some things that have happened:

    >My husband had surgery for a condition he has in his hips. It’s going to be a long, difficult process to fix, and please pray for him because he’s in a lot of pain all the time.

    >One of our dogs, Eddy, probably tore her ACL. The vet said it could just be sprained, but after two weeks of rest and a week of anti-inflammatories, she’s still not putting any pressure on it. Poor girl wants to be just like her dad.

    >I was the matron of honor in a wedding, and I gave my first toast. I was really nervous, but it went well. David danced with me on his crutches, and it was cute.

    >Christmas came and went. I worked on the 25th, and it was the busiest day I’d had in weeks. Only the sickest of the sick don’t get to go home for Christmas. No fun.

    >BUT, we celebrated the night before with David’s family, and the day after with my family. It was all very merry. I don’t have any pictures because my camera is dead, I lost the charger somewhere along the way of the 5 houses we stayed in, and the new one I ordered doesn’t work.

    >The book we’re reading now for book club, The Pillars of the Earth, is excellent.

    One more thing: If you are a friend of mine, and you are a female, and you live somewhere in my vicinity, and you are interested in being my bike riding buddy, please let me know! This year I am resolving to use the nice road bike I have, and enter a race at some point. But I won’t ride alone, so that makes it difficult.

    Alright, that’s what I’ve got for now. Happy Sunday!