Hi
I've been browsing this forum for a few weeks, and finally decided to post.

I was a runner (always have been an athlete--competitive swimming in high school, college, etc., but after having three kids, it's easier to find time to run) and injured my left hip. I tore my labrum (MRI three years ago) but the orthopedic encouraged me to try PT and resting it instead of surgery. Fast forward to this past summer, and the hip pain got bad enough to make me stop running and start riding my bike (indoor trainer) instead. I had another MRI and it showed a bigger tear in the labrum, tendonitis, and bursitis. The ortho said it was time to surgically repair everything. He's the only board certified arthroscopic hip surgeon for about a 200 mile area.

On november 13th (this year) I had hip surgery. The surgeon repaired the labrum, shaved a bunch of bone, and cut my hip flexor (iliopsoas). Everything went very well and I did everything I was told to do in the recovery. About 7 days after the hip surgery, I touched my left foot to the ground and was met with pins and needles sensation. The next day I called my doctor who said it was probably from the traction machine and he'd see me in two more days. Over those next two days, my foot started getting cold to the touch and it turned purple. When I saw the doctor, he immediately sent me to the ER for vascular studies to rule out blood clot (everything was normal). He then referred me to a neurosurgery group and I saw a pain management specialist five days later. The pain dr diagnosed me with CRPS right away. He said I met every single symptom. The pain was constant by this time and it felt like electrical shocks to my foot all the time. I can't tolerate pain medication, but was able to take valium to sleep for about 4 hours. It was awful!

Since I was (and am) still recovering from the hip surgery, crutches were the only way to get around.

The pain dr put me on a 7 day course of methylprednisolone, gabapentin, and told me to continue the naproxen (from hip surgery) and valium at bedtime. He tried two nerve blocks, but they didn't help. I'm still taking gabapentin and sometimes the naproxen. The gabapentin has helped calm down the electrical shock type of shooting pain.

I've been doing Physical Therapy for both the hip and the foot, but one random thing that has allowed me to put some pressure on my foot so I can get a break from the crutches, is taking a hot bath at night before I go to sleep. My foot feels okay in the bath, but when I get out, it starts swelling and doing the stabbing pains. When I wake up, I'm able to put enough pressure on it in order to hobble around without crutches. That's a huge relief! The crutches are driving me crazy. I have a walker and a roll about knee scooter thing, but both of those are really hard in my tiny house. At least I can maneuver more easily with crutches.

On top of all this, we have three very medically involved kids and a small farm. It's been incredibly hard adjusting to a sedentary day. I'm used to being up and moving, lifting heavy things, running every single day, lifting weights at the gym, homeschooling the kids, taking care of all the house stuff, etc. My kids are young, but they've been very helpful.

Looking forward to being part of this site
Mariah