Diagnosis: Stirred Up Arthritis

As I sat inside the shower stall, the glass doors resting across my back, I wondered how the hell I got there. The last I knew, I had changed into jammies, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and watered the horses before going to bed. I stood up, turned to flush the toilet, and found myself sitting in the shower stall. I'm not sure if I tried to pivot on the damaged right knee or if the problematic left hip locked up again, but the end result was a trip to the ER.

Five days before the surgery to repair the damaged right knee is not the most propitious time to break one's hip, if there is a good time for that injury. Although I was able to extricate myself from first, the shower doors, and then from the shower stall, I knew that I had hurt myself, so climbed into bed with an ice pack. The pain was excruciating as I tried to get out of bed at 2:00 am after the fall, and that was my first realization that I may be in trouble. It finally dawned on me that I could have broken my hip , and then came the internal dialog whether to go to the ER or tough it out, drive myself, because if I have broken my hip, I'm in deep doo-doo, or call "someone" and involve them in the decision-making. The increasing pain and lack of mobility made the decision for me, and I called a friend who tells me regularly to "call anytime for anything."

We drove all the way to Indio to the ER because that's where I just completed the pre-op process for the surgery. I explained all that, described the fall, and then waited for x-rays. Thankfully, the x-rays did not show any fractures, but there is extensive arthritis and deterioration of my left hip that led the ER doctor to assume the surgery Wednesday is for a hip replacement. He directed me to contact my ortho doc and encourage him to access the x-rays, but repeated calls to his office staff have not been returned.

The ER doc gave me a heavy-duty Tylenol, as well as a mega Prednisone, before I left the ER, but told me no 'scrip because I'm having surgery Wednesday. Heating pad, ice packs, and staying on the couch are the best treatment options at this time. Dotter changed her flight and is arriving tonight to keep me on the couch, then take me for the surgery appointment Wednesday. Unfortunately, she's also going to have to do all the errands on my to-do list that needed Sat, Sun and Mon to complete before her initial arrival Tues. I'm sure she'll be glad to be out running around in a strange location during the last frantic days before Christmas. And we still have to bake the fresh cookies for the gift plates that will be adorned with the piles of See's candy!

The best part of the experience is the doctor's diagnosis. When I expressed my thanks for not breaking my hip, I asked the doc what is causing such pain and inability to mobilize. His response: "you probably just stirred up the arthritis." When my face surely expressed my total disbelief, he assured me that there is extensive arthritis in the left hip, which probably needs to be replaced soon, and a bad fall can exacerbate the condition and be quite painful.

Right.

My mind immediately went back to a year ago, when I went from one doctor to the next, telling each one that there was "something" wrong with my right knee, but a manual exam, bone x-rays, and an ultra-sound showed nothing wrong from 3 separate medical professionals. When I finally demanded an MRI because I knew there was "something" wrong, it showed that I had fractured my knee, as well as damaged the ACL and torn the meniscus. I would like to believe the "stirred up arthritis" diagnosis, but I simply cannot find that option at mayo.com!!