Texas Hillcountry Magazine Photo Contest - Vote for me!!!

I have entered a few photos into this contest last minutely. I know they aren't professional quality but I like them and I'm just doing this for fun.

 Please view the photos and click "vote" on the link(s) below!!!


North Prong of the Medina river off of FM 2107, in the little town of Medina Texas. Fall 2013.

Lost Maples State Natural Area, Fall 2012.

Lost Maples State Natural Area creek bottom, fall 2012.

Thanks y'all! The contest ends this Sunday, the 19th.

xoxoxo,
Christina 

Surgery has been postponed: I'm sick (Pre-op, left hip)

Well darn...

As it turns out, there was no surgery today. Because I came down sick yesterday with some flu/cold-like bug. High-ish fever, horrible headache, sore throat, chills and severe body aches. My brother had it last week and even though I stayed away from him and tried being a germaphobe for a few days, and here I am.

Needless to say, you cant have surgery when your sick. So we had to cancel it.

 It is tentatively postponed until sometime in mid-November. Hopefully it'll be sooner though, we're trying to get on the waiting list for if someone else cancels their surgery before then that i'd be able to take their place. I'd really like to get it done within the next two weeks, if possible.

God is in this and has a perfect reason why October 15th wasn't the day that he wanted me in the operating room. He will work out the perfect date for when He does want me there though.

I'll keep y'all posted as to when it will actually be :)

xoxoxo,
Christina 

Coming Soon: FAI Surgery #2 (Pre-op, left hip)

Hey y'all. I had mentioned that I'd be having a second surgery this fall. (full background & details in the link) Well here it comes...

I'm having surgery for my left hip's FAI (Femoral Acetabular Impingement), this Wednesday (Oct. 15th). 

It'll pretty much be the same surgery that I had done on the right hip this past June. It will be arthroscopic, using 2-4 small incisions. The number of incisions depends on what all is going to need to be done inside the joint. It'll start off with two, but if the labrum is damaged, it'll need repairing and they'll need to add another couple of holes to get more access.  Hopefully there isn't any labrum damage, but its definitely possible. The right labrum was fine, but lately the left one has been catching on itself and popping more than usual. Torn labrum is the suspect, we won't know for sure until they get in there. On the MRI taken in May, it was only bruised.  But for sure, the surgery will involve shaving off the bony lesions on both the ball and socket sides of the hip joint. 

I don't have too many concerns about this surgery. I have a great doctor, the surgery itself is relatively low-risk, and I've been through it once already and know what to expect. I'm looking forward to getting it over with and am excited that in a few months FAI will no longer be a part of my life. 

I have one  main concern however, and that is that during the past month and a half I've been experiencing severe numbness/stiffness in my left calf muscle and foot and it hasn't gone away. Doc doesn't  doesn't think it'll put the surgery off though. My PT ruled out a blood clot and spinal/brain injuries. Chiropractor worked on my SI joint and it helped somewhat,  but I'm going to have a deep tissue massage on it on Tuesday and I'm opening that that will help. It seems to be a muscular issue, probably since its been overcompensating my weight for awhile since I've been so off balance. Hopefully its nothing serious. 

I'm also stressed out about how this will affect my school year. I'm not going to be able to get much done during the recovery time, so I'll probably have to do school into next summer. I'll also be missing the PSAT next week and won't be able to take the ACT until the spring. I know it'll all work out but its still really stressful to  have this go on in the middle of your Junior year. Which is a pretty critical year for me since I'm planning on attending college and will absolutely need good grades, test scores, decent extra-curricular acheivement etc... to get  scholarships. But I know it will all work out. God's plan is always what's perfect, my plans are not. 

I'd really appreciate your prayers for me, my family, the surgeon,  the recovery period, my physical therapists, the end results, and ultimately that God would be glorified through everything involved in this situation and how I'm able to use my life afterwards. Specifically that the surgery will go smoothly and be successful, and that I won't have any sort of complications from the surgery, major or minor. That the numbness and pain that I'm currently experiencing with my calf isn't anything serious like compartment syndrome.  That I won't have any pregnancy/delivery related issues from the FAI once I'm married and decide to have kids and that the FAI gene won't be passed on, if it was indeed hereditary.  And finally, that the supposed life-long  results will be positive and that I won't re-develop FAI or develop any arthritis in that joint or ever need a  hip replacement. 

Thanks so much.  I love all of y'all so much and I'm so thankful for your friendships,  prayers and encouragement. 

My mom will email an update probably Thursday or Friday. I won't be able to be on the laptop and thus my blog or skype during the first couple of weeks, but I'll have my phone and will thus have access to Facebook/Instagram and some emails and you of course can text me. Visitors are welcome in small doses!

xoxoxo,
Christina 

4 Month Post-op Update (Right Hip)

I'm just here to report that I'm doing well recovering from the surgery I had this summer for FAI on my right hip (femoral acetabular impingement)!

As of this week, approx. week 16 (4 months) I've made a ton of progress. I'm in little/no pain in the operative joint and I'm ready for the other hip to get done and get further on track to being normal, healthy and active again! 

Physical therapy has gone really well, thanks to my awesome PT! 
For the first 6 weeks the focus was on flexibility and non-weight bearing strengthening. Then the next 6 weeks I got to do fairly normal exercises, mostly partial weigh-bearing but some full. Due to insurance purposes I'm done with going to PT but I'm still doing all of it at home, and and am adding some of my "normal" exercises back in. I'm not able the same amount of reps I was doing pre-op but that's OK. I can't workout every day though, because it irritates it and causes further intra-articular joint swelling. But that's  getting much better and will eventually go away completely. 

So far so good! I think its pretty safe to say that the surgery executed its purpose: increased my range of motion and decreased the pain associated with the joint being impinged by un-impinging it!  I'll give a full report on this after I have the other hip operated on. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!!! Sorry I've been such an inactive blogger. Life is  insanely busy these days, especially with FAI related medical activities so for now that's really all I have to blog about. Eventually this blog will get away from being a FAI related medical journal and will go back to being filled with fun. 


xoxoxo,
Christina

Post-Op Update...12 Days late. (Right Hip)

I've been meaning to post an update sooner, but for about the week I couldn't sit at my computer for long enough and since then I honestly don't know what I've been up to. Sorry about that. 

I'm doing really well! Thank you for all of your prayers and sweet comments and emails and cards and ice cream! Y'all are so sweet to take such good care of me. Each and every one of you means so much to me, what would I do without you?!?!?!

Surgery went as well as it could have. Doc says everything looked pretty good and he shaved bone off of the ball and socket, and there weren't any labral tears, just some bruising.  It took about 2hrs, the labrum didn't need grafting, and I only have two incisions, so I'm very thankful for that. I did wake up to a panic attack and a tonnnnnnnn of pain, but aside from that I did pretty well.

 Due to insurance purposes they only let you stay for one night, which in a way is nice. But personally I think you should be allowed to stay until all of your bodily functions have returned to normal after being under anesthesia and have your medications under control. But that's the new medical policy for you. 

I came home early the next morning, and that was a rough first day. For some reason our pharmacy was denying me medication, due to an out-dated allergy list, so I went from midnight until about 5pm without any  pain meds. Not fun. 

Next, I had to get used crutches and the fact that I'd be spending the next two weeks on our sleeper sofa with 2 different machines, one that moves my leg back and forth that I'm supposed* to be doing 6-8 hours a day, and another that squeezes my calf muscles to prevent blood clots. Really annoying. 
But crutches have actually had benefits. Benefit 1: Reduced desire to get up and walk to the fridge for something to eat just because I'm bored. Benefit 2: Great upper body muscle tone. My legs may feel like jello but my arms, abs, and back muscles look awesome. So that's nice. 

I started physical therapy with my awesome PT this week and its gone really well. Not that I can do much - really its more of a "Sit and be Fit" session. But that'll change in the next few weeks as I gain mobility privileges. I'm already noticing a difference when I do range of motion tests, I can actually bring my leg up 90degrees without feeling the joint rub and my internal rotation actually exists now.

I'm completely stir crazy, but I have sorta enjoyed watching a ton of movies and eating alot of ice cream and Reece's Oreos.  But I have to admit, being forced to be lazy and sit around and not being able to do hardly anything for your self is not all its cracked up to be. Honestly, not being able to help out or take care of my own self is driving me crazy. It's sooo against my nature to not be helpful and to be waited on. Its really weird. Sorry Mom, Dad and Michael, I know its driving y'all crazy too! 

I go back to the doctor for my follow-up this Tuesday. Goal is to have my stitches taken out and be relieved of mandatory crutch use! 

 So yeah. That's whats up. Sorry to anyone who was depending on an update post to find out whatever the heck happened to me. I'm alive and doin' fine!  Mainly I'm just really happy that surgery was successful and I'm looking forward to finding out all the cool new things my body can do!

xoxoxo,
Christina

I guess I own y'all an update.

To be honest, I have been avoiding writing this ever since I got the news, so for a little over 3 weeks.

A collage of each hips MRI's (taken 1 month ago

As you probably know I have been in and out've the doctor  for over a year due to severe hip pain & haven't been able to exercise and had to quit ballet. Physical therapy/Airrosti and cortisone shots helped for little while, but I'm a lot of pain once again and am 'back in the system'.  

Some of y'all know that I recently had to change doctors, some of y'all don't so let me clear that up. It's due to my previous one wanting to, how do I put this nicely... uhhh... to completely change his plan of procedure to something that would have disabled me, without performing further imaging to prove his point, just for the sake of earning a few extra bucks? (He wanted to do the surgery 'open', meaning a 10-12" incision, dislocate my entire leg from the joint, and basically have me bedridden for atleast a year.) Long story short, I'll be seeing no more of Dr. S., nor will I be interning with him this summer or anytime in the future. He's lost my trust and confidence as a patient and I couldn't stomach working with him knowing he's over treating pediatric patients just because of the new medical policy (that's my conclusion from research and talks with other doctors).

Sorry, but that is just plain wrong. Right is right even if only a few people are doing it, wrong is wrong even when everyone is doing it. 

So, I now go to a Dr. T. He's the only doctor in a reasonable travel radius who specializes in FAI. I like him alot (as a doctor I mean). Like he actually sent me for extensive imaging about a month ago. Which, while it was not pleasant (the arthrogram part anyways, I do not wish that on anyone.) that definitely was necessary. All Dr. S. did was x-rays. From the MRI we found out everything we needed to know to confirm my suspected diagnosis. 

So yes, I do have FAI (Femoral Acetabular Impingement).

What the heck is that you ask?  It is most likely hereditary, but neither of my parents were athletic and haven't done anything to exacerbate it, whereas I have (ballet/pointe) . Basically, it is  extra bone in form of lesions on the femoral neck/head and in the hip socket. Meaning I have a too-tight/mis-shaped hip socket that is pinching my leg bone which will require surgery to correct.The majority of the pain I'm experiencing is from the cartilage being frayed and severely bruised by the bone pinching it. As well as the fact that the hip socket is cutting into my leg bone - that hurts. Due to the FAI I am in pain almost constantly and have suffered a significant loss in range of motion. I can barely exercise and am thus gaining quite of weight and babysitting (my main income) is becoming very difficult as I can hardly even sit on the floor. 

 So arthroscopically (meaning he'll just use 3-5 tiny incisions) my doctor will go in and shave down the bony lesions to where my hip sockets will be a bit bigger  - to the size they normally would be in a healthy hip joint. 

Therefore, next Wednesday (the 18th) I am having the first surgery, which will be on my right hip. The surgery itself will take approximately 4 hours, unless they have to rebuild the labrum  (cartilage "bumper" in the joint) . Then I'll spend the night in the hospital. Then I come home and spend about 2 weeks on crutches while the initial micro-fractures from the surgery heal. Then I'll be doing physical therapy twice a week for 6-8 weeks. 
Then in October or November I'll go back and have the same surgery, but on the left hip. I'll repeat the PT cycle and then about 5 months after I'm finished I should be back to normal and doing things that "normal" active teenagers can do!!! Like I'll be able to go places and not worry about whether or not there'll be a place for me to sit down, I could wear high heels again, start running, maybe even try Crossfit or something similar, and possibly become mildly involved with ballet again! So to say the least I'm pretty excited. 

As my answer for why I'm having surgery now as opposed to "when I'm older", let me explain. Firstly, I'm in alot of pain (quite miserable actually.) and am gaining weight due to not being able to exercise, which bothers me. Secondly, time wise, this is the most "convenient"  time to have this done. This is my last summer where having a job is optional. Next summer I'll have to have a job to save money for the next years college expenses, car, etc... Having the surgery during college would be pretty impossible if I wanted to keep my grades up, which I most definitely will want to! Then if I meet Mr. Right in that time frame, that wouldn't be an ideal time either. Then when I'm ready to have kids, if I don't have surgery before then I'm at high risk for having a very rough pregnancy and could only deliver via C-section. I most definitely want kids of my own if at all possible but I do not want to  put my health in danger. 

So yes, I admit I'm a bit scared about having surgery, even though  it's low risk and I trust my doctor. I guess mainly because it'll be a first for me. But I'm excited to get it over with and I know that ultimately, God is in control. He is The Great Physician - The Ultimate Healer and Comforter. And while I may have a hard time letting go and letting God, I know that he has a beautiful plan for my life and this is clearly a part of it and He has a very good reason for me to be floating through this storm and clinging to Him. 

Lastly, but most importantly. I want to thank all y'all who I'm so grateful to call my friends. Thank you so, so, soooooo much for your continual thoughtful prayers and sweet words of encouragement. Thank you for putting up with me when I'm grumpy after I forgot to pack some Ibuprophen. Thank you for having an early summer and having fun with me before I can't do anything for the rest of the summer. Thank you  so much! You mean the world to me, I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you all!

xoxoxo,

Christina    

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Texas Bluebonnets! via my photography blog