Two weeks to go

I had a really rough night last night. My right hip hurt a lot. I must have dozed off on my left side at some point because I found myself lying awake with pain on both sides, the left hurting more than the right. It was as if the left was competing for attention and last night it got it.

I tried having a mental pep talk with the left - you've just got to tough it out.I'm counting on you to bear the weight for the next two months. I haven't forgotten about you. Your time will come.

I hope it listened.

It wasn't a bad day despite the short sleep. I did my self-blood donation and had my pre-op physical.

The doctor who did my pre-op asked me how I was. I told her that I'm great and that I'm a healthy person, I just have this hip thing that's got to be corrected. As much as this situation has been at the forefront of my mind lately, it's not who I am. I'm not going to let this be a part of my identity.

I know there will be pain, I know it won't be easy, I know I will be challenged but I'm trying to stay positive, positive, positive.

The only way out is through.

Popped!

I went to Dr. Andrew Weiland and had the cyst in my hand popped. Easy-peasy I was in and out of his office in less than 30 minutes and less $550. Dr. Weiland is a pro - if I ever need a hand surgeon he'll be the guy I call first. His patients include Carlos Delgado and Jason Giambi (which gives me 2 degrees of separation to Jorge Posada). He's also a spitting image of Ben Stein and has the dry sense of humor to boot. I felt particularly good when he said "don't worry about your surgery - you're in great hands with Bob (Buly). He's the best."

The rest of the day was consumed by back to back meetings from noon until 6PM. Still lots to do for Saturday's show.

Still busy

Had meetings from 9:30AM until 7:00PM with lots to do in between.

I'm off of the IB's until Thursday afternoon due to my blood donation for the surgery. I used to be a big donor and have literally donated gallons of my own blood over the years. I haven't been able to donate for the last 5 years due to all of the international travel I've done for work and otherwise. Luckily, for myself, it doesn't matter where I've been.

I took some Tylenol today (which is allowed) and it seemed to be pretty effective.

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's really starting to hit me that in a little over 2 weeks I'll be in the hospital. In some ways it's like preparing for a big remote shoot. You plan and plan and plan in advance and then everything speeds up just before it's time to go.

Of course, there really IS a a big shoot this Saturday. It's part of Choose Or Lose and it's challenging and complex without a lot of time to get things in place. Lots of meetings, lots to do. I was 30 minutes late to my last Pilate's class because of it.

And I have four medical appointments this week - one to see somebody about the cyst in my hand, one pre-op physical, one self blood donation, and a trip to the gyno to get the annual checked off the list.

Next week I have jury duty and I'm out of deferrals. When it rains, it pours.

I guess the up side is that all of this is keeping me from dwelling on the surgery.

In 17 days Jorge Posada reports to Spring Training Camp in Tampa and I'll report to Camp Buly at HSS.

(I'm posting this from my blackberry as an experiment. Don't know if the font or lack of spellcheck will live up to my standards.)

Paris' Bad Day

Paris wins the prize for having the worst day of the week, by a landslide.

****WARNING - GROSS OUT ALERT!!!!!

She woke up this morning with an infected anal gland - about the size of a grape and filled with blood and puss. This was a new experience for all of us. We rode up to the vet and who "expressed it" and then we were sent home with antibiotics and a week's worth of fun activities that involve hot compresses and ointment. And she's got this smashing collar to wear for a week.

Not a happy camper.

Dinner at 8ish

We had a few friends over for dinner tonight. Our last dinner party until who knows when.

It was a long day with lots to do and an ambitious menu. Thankfully it all paid off and was a very nice time.

I feel a wee bit of mourning for little things as the surgery date gets closer - the last dinner party, second to last agility class, last time I'll wear this kick-ass skirt and boots outfit until next year, etc. that kinda thing. But at the same time, I know I shouldn't sweat the small stuff - I've read the blogs of those who have gone before me. There will be bigger fish to fry.

But, if only for tonight, it was a good time, good food, with good friends. These times will return again. It's only a few months.

good Friday

I felt good walking to work this morning, in that "why am I doing this again?!" kinda way. Didn't need to hit the IB's until the end of the day. Had a decent agility class. Lots to do tomorrow.

Three Week Mark

I'm feeling myself again today. The pity party is over for now.

Got the filling refilled. It occurred to me today that I've never had a dentist whom I actually liked until I found this one about two years ago. For those of you in the NYC area - here's my plug: Dr. Anthony Classi. The best.

Went to Pilate's class - the next to last one on my 10 pack. I'm a big fan of Pilate's - highly recommend it. Right now I'm particularly focused on my upper body strength and ways that I can keep my core strong while I'm on crutches. I'm thinking it'll probably be May before I'm back at it, but I'll have lots of fun, fun, PT to tide me over!

I did about a year of PT before throwing in the towel and going to Dr. Buly. It sucked. I'm hoping that wherever I go after my surgery it will suck less.

My friend Liz is in town from Florida and we met for dinner. Really good to see her again. I think what's most surprising to others about my situation is that I don't LOOK like anything's wrong. I can still walk and sit and be a normal person. It's the 20 Advils that I've sucked down today that make me not normal. She was very encouraging and reassuring. (Thanks Liz! It was so good to see you!)

Now what???

I'm not having a great day. I'm getting a little short-fused as the date is getting closer. In three weeks and a day I won't be able to walk again until Spring. I'm going to be in more pain than I've ever known. I'm not going to be able to move around the way I normally (squirm-worm, fidgety) do. It's going to be a challenge to do everything and I'm not going to be able to do much by myself.

As we were eating dinner tonight I realized that I'd eaten a filling. Have to get that taken care of ASAP. I have a ganglion cyst that popped up on the palm-side of my left hand over the weekend. I feel like I'm falling apart.

I really try to focus on the positive but today that's a bit of a challenge.

Probably the best thing about today is that we had a good agility class. There wasn't a lot of running, so Doug didn't need to step in for me. But it bums me out too - it's another thing that I won't be able to do again for a long time after the surgery.

I'm going to bed resolved to be more positive tomorrow.

Not a lot to say

More pain, more IB's. Will take a Tylenol PM tonight. I usually try to avoid them because of the hangover effect in the AM. I had a fair amount of pain today and last night was woken up by the pain a few times. I want to get some sleep tonight.

Today I got (verbal) confirmation from the insurance company that they got Predetermination Fax #3 for my RIGHT hip. The woman with whom I spoke said she'd try to fast-track it for me. She'll probably be fired for being nice.

MLK Day

Sorry Liver, I love ya' but you're gonna have to tough it out. Had to go back to the IB's x5 today.

The good news is that I found a suitable alternative to the hideous backpack purse. One more thing that I can check off of the pre-op to do list.

Massage

I'm taking yesterday and today as days off from the IB's in an effort to be kind to my liver. Yesterday wasn't too bad, today is a lot worse.

I got a massage today - my therapist is the best. He did some reiki at the end of the massage, which was a first for me. As he was doing it I tried to think of walking without any pain at all. Reiki is a unique feeling - like pulsating heat, although he wasn't touching me at all.

Mentally, I feel like I'm in a good place. Ready for the surgery, determined to be strong. Let's see where I am in another week or two.

Now, a few hours after the massage I'm in less pain than I was earlier today. That's what is all about.

January Blahs and Nesting

It's one of those grey and dreary days that only January can bring. Doug left around 5 AM to go fishing and won't be home until tomorrow night. I've only set foot outside to walk Paris.

There are still a few things that I need to take care of before my surgery and some that I don't but feel compelled to do anyway. Today I ordered bedding for the second bedroom, donated our two old cars to charity, tidied up my side of the bedroom and did some other random organizing.

Not much else to do on a day like today. Blaaaaaaaaaaah....

Occasionally I think I've picked a bad time of year to have my surgery. Crutches+snow+ice=bad news... But I mostly think that this is the best time of year. If the weather is really crappy during my recovery I'll work from home. As the days get longer and the weather gets better, I'll be getting better too.

Five is a good number...

So, this morning I decided to up the ante on the IB's to 5 and oddly enough that seemed to do the trick. For today anyway. It doesn't thrill me that I've consumed 15 in the last 12 hours, but the reduction of pain is nice. Dr. Buly has assured me that I can't burn out my liver in the time that I have remaining, regardless of how many I take.

I'm pretty hell-bent on not taking any opioids after I get released from the hospital. In the past I've taken Tylenol with codeine on one or two occasions post surgery. That seemed to be OK, so if I reach a breaking point, I'll allow myself to take one of those. I don't want anything stronger. I'd rather do without them altogether.

IB's

Thankfully no insurance drama to report today. I need to give them a day or two to make sure they received predetermination fax #3.

I've been taking a lot of ibuprofen lately - 4 at a clip, 12 to 16 a day. Sometimes it helps a little, other times (including right now) it's like I've taken nothing at all. I've been tempted to try higher doses but haven't done so yet. Never been a big fan of pain killers - I only started taking IB's for the hip pain this fall. Since they don't seem to do a whole lot, I often wonder if they're doing anything at all.

Today I'm glad to be on the home stretch. I know that once I get through this I'm going to feel a lot better.

Which Hip???

I leave a message for Allison at Dr. Buly's office first thing in the morning, explaining the whole wrong year bit.

She calls me back - the year on the predetermination is 2008. She faxes me a copy so that I have something to back me up when I call the insurance company AGAIN...

I'm on the phone with the insurance company - at first they maintain that the date on the fax is 08/08/02 (yes, six years ago) and then they finally find the right one. At least they've stopped trying to tell me that this must be an out-patient procedure. Then I notice that the predetermination is written for my LEFT hip. Ooops! I can just see it - a year or so from now, I'll be arguing with the insurance company because they'll be insisting that I already had my left hip done...

I call Allison back - it's good that I caught it. She'll resubmit, I'll hit the New Game button and start the insurance battle once again.

The procedures that I'm having are a Hip Arthroscopy and a Derotation Osteotomy. On my RIGHT hip... The predetermination is just for Dr. Buly's fees, not the whole kit and kaboodle.

My hips don't lie - they'll will be worth more than Shakira's by the time I'm done.

Insurance BS.2

Insurance companies have a bad rap for a reason...

I just called to follow up on my surgery predetermination and was told that the wrong year was entered on the form ('07 not '08) sooooooo it's got to be done all over again otherwise it will be denied. Like someone would actually file a predetermination claim 11 months after a surgery...

And the bill that I received for X-rays the insurance company supposedly paid in full, even though I'm being billed $261 by HSS. Of course they can't send me a copy of the explanation of benefits so I just have to go on their word that they are going to resend it to HSS. The first time I called them about this bill they said that they hadn't paid anything on it at all.

I have the feeling that a.) this isn't the end of this bill and b.) this is only the tip of the insurance BS iceberg.

One month to go

It's January 14th. A month from today, I'll be in the OR right now.

And then I'll be on my way to getting better.

aaaaaarrrrrrrgggggg!

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain... Not sure if it's from not walking much today or from driving for 4 hours. It's the worst it's been in a while and it's on both sides.

Shopping

Went to Nordie's today and bought 6 pair of pants that I can wear to work post-surgery. They're designed for work out, but are loose enough that paired with the right top, they'll look acceptable. I refuse the throw in the towel on my looks throughout recovery. That said, I also got a pair of Mefisto shoes (mary janes with velco closures - ewww!) and a backpack purse that I may later return - it just goes against every grain of my fashion sense. On the way home I stopped at our local bike shop and picked up a pair of gloves in order to make the crutches less painful - thank you Marcy for the suggestion.

I've got a little over a month to go. I'm not known for my patience - I wish I could just go in on Monday and just get this over with. The sooner it's done, the sooner I'll be on my way to not having the constant pain.

I'm going to get though this just fine - it won't be easy, but I can deal. And, I'm going to have beautiful arms this summer...

34 Days Until Pitchers and Catchers

The countdown to my surgery is the same as the count down to the start of Pitchers and Catchers. Let's go Yanks!

The good news of the day is that I found out I'm eligible for short-term disability while I'm out for my surgery and home recovering. I won't have to use any of my 10 sick days. :)

Here we go...

January 10, 2008

T minus 5 weeks - my surgery date is Valentines' Day.

It's days like these that make me feel like I must be crazy. Today my pain level is relatively manageble, I can walk, run, jump. Why am I doing this? Femur bones pointed in the wrong directions, slight hip dysplasia, congenital and degenerative, the sooner the better, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... I am looking forward to the day when I won't have any hip pain at all. It's been so many years that I've forgotten what that's like.

Yesterday was a bad day - couldn't run Paris at agility for the first time. But today is good.

I'm going to have fabulous arms this summer...