The Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox, and Patriots games. I got health insurance for the first time since college! I built some bookshelves and then built a new kitchen. Jennie’s wedding. Jaynemarie’s wedding. Topsfield Fair and the racing pigs.
In 2007 I had 8 appointments with my orthopedic surgeon at BMC, an appointment with a surgeon in NYC, 1 MRI, 6 sets of X-rays, a bone density exam, an operation to take the hardware out of my leg, (more…)
Just had my orthopedic appointment at BMC. Basically, they don’t have any idea what’s wrong either. They ordered an MRI to determine if my pain is being caused by osteonecrosis. I have a follow up in 3 weeks. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the MRI before then.
I take ibuprofen every day, and that usually keeps me in a good mood. If not, the leg hurts pretty bad, especially when I stand after sitting for an extended period of time. Walking is okay, but I have a hard time going up or down stairs.
I have to be at Newport Naval Hospital at 0630 for blood work. I’ll sit around, then get a full physical starting at 1020. I’ll sit around some more, and finally have an appointment with an orthopedic doc at 1330.
Tomorrow the ortho doctor and I will sit down and take a look at my future with the Marine Corps. He is either going to recommend I take more time to heal, or that I should be permanently separated. I’m 99% sure I know what the doctor is going to say.
I don’t want to be in pain anymore. I don’t want to sleep with pillows under my leg. I don’t want to have to stop in the middle of the sidewalk because my leg needs to rest. I want to not limp. I want to go for a hike, work out, and work in the garden.
I don’t want to take a bottle worth of Motrin per week. I want to be better.
Luckily my parents are in town and my mother is nice enough to sacrifice her day to keep my company. I’ll let you know how things go.
I showed up to Hanscom Air Force Base at 7:50AM last week to meet with that Army doctor, only to find out “he didn’t show up for work.” I rescheduled for the 22nd, but found out today I might not even have to go. Turns out I need to go back to Newport Naval Hospital to determine whether I will return to full duty, continue treatment, or have a PEB (I think PEB has something to do with a medical board reviewing my case, though I am not familiar with this acronym). I called today to make the appointment but never heard back from them about how many weeks I’ll have to wait to be seen.
Some days I feel like I could walk fine, other days I can’t even bend my hip enough to put on a sock. Apparently things aren’t getting better on their own and I need some therapy advice. Hopefully I’ll go to Newport soon.
Things haven’t been going as well as I’d hoped. A week after I started jogging again, I got some pretty bad pain in my hip, more specifically my hip flexor. It feels like the same pain I had when I tried running for the first time back in March. At first the pain only happened right after a jog. After a few days of gritting my teeth, the leg began hurting all the time, even on my off days. As of now, I can’t walk right and I’m in pain almost all the time.
I think I’m finally realizing that having a job that requires being in excellent physical condition might not be in my future anymore.
I see an Army doc at Hanscom Air Force Base in a week. Hopefully I’ll know more then.