Hip Pain

Early, early this morning I was woken up by hip pain - in my left hip. As stiff as my right still gets, it doesn't give me joint pain anymore.

What Blade Plate?

Today I'm flying to Chicago for a shoot. This morning I intentionally opted out of putting my hair up, so as to not have to deal with the barrette setting off the metal detector.

Flash forward an hour and a half and I'm at Laguardia with a sea of Travel Rookies - those who don't know the Do's and Don'ts of airport security and who bog down the lines - traveling for the holiday weekend. I deftly get into the shortest line, thanking my lucky stars for not being behind the TR family of 6 that is directly behind me. Coat off, bag of liquids in the bin, shoes off, boarding pass in hand, and I breeze through. I've done this a thousand times - I'm the model of efficiency at this.

Now I'm up in the AC killing time before boarding and it just occurred to me that as I was passing through security, I never even thought about the hunk of metal that's taken up temporary residence in my leg. I'm walking normally, feeling good, and it evidently doesn't set off the alarms. For this moment, I'm just a normal frequent flyer.

Love that.

Hip Chick vs. Cigna - Round 2

It turns out that while Cigna did decide to process Dr. Buly's fees as in-network, they also took the liberty of applying a 50% multiple surgery discount to my arthroscopy. This would leave me with a $5,000 balance on that procedure plus the $2,500 they aren't paying on the femoral osteotomy.

Of course, when I spoke with them prior to my surgery to find out exactly how much I'd be liable for, they never mentioned a discount. At the time they swore up and down I'd only owe the $4,000 maximum out of network, out of pocket.

The nice Cigna man on the phone yesterday (and I do mean that) told me that they should have told me about the discount when I called in February. Well, "should have told me" isn't good enough. They DIDN'T tell me. In fact, they told me I'd only owe $4,000. I'm so thankful for the copious notes and call reference numbers I so dutifully noted. I'm not letting them get away with sticking this to me.

And so round two of the appeal process begins...

Hip Chickers!

Today I finally uploaded the photos from the night I met fellow Hip Chick Lisa and her friends Kristen and Alka!

Check it out:

http://hipchicknyc.blogspot.com/2008/05/12-week-mark-and-living-in-hip-nation.html

Good News???

I think this is good news...

Yesterday I got a letter from Cigna (dated May 13th) stating that they'd received my appeal request. They will review it and get back to me within 30 business days. Fine.

Then today I get another letter from Cigna (dated May 12th - the day before above letter) stating "I am pleased to inform you that we have authorized in network payment of your claim for Robert L. Buly on date of service February 14, 2008. I made the necessary arrangements with our Claims Department to reprocess this claim by June 12, 2008."

Both letters are electronically signed by the same person.

Soooooooo, now I owe how much?!?!

Stay tuned....

Life In The Fast Lane

A sign of normalcy: I am once again passing people on the sidewalks of my daily commute.

And rolling my eyes and groaning at the slow moving tourists who insist on walking 4 across...

Ooops, I Did It Again

I woke up this morning and realized that I didn't post anything yesterday. But after 3+ months, I feel as though my hip has finally started to take a backseat in my everyday consciousness. As the pain lessens, as my strength grows, as my range of motion increases, my right hip is no longer in the spotlight.

When I went out for lunch yesterday, one of the security guards in our building approached me in the lobby and asked if I was OK. "I'm fine, " I replied, having no idea why he'd asked. "Oh, well you're limping." "Oh, right! Yeah, I was the girl on crutches a few weeks back, remember?" It's exchanges like these that bring it back.

Also yesterday at PT, Adam said that he's going to cut me back to once a week starting next month and then soon after that I'll be at the point where I only come in for a "check in" every few weeks or so before my next surgery. Apparently, he has no plans to use up all 60 of the PT visits I'm allowed by Cigna.

And so, I think I'm going to dial things back a wee bit on the blog - maybe take a modified summer hiatus. I'll still post when there's relevant news in Hipville; I'll continue to update on the Cigna appeal saga. And I'll be back in full force this Fall as I ramp it up in getting ready for my left hip surgery.

Sunday

I went to the gym today and did the 10 minutes I'm allowed on the stationary bike. I'm supposed to do it with no resistance, but I cheated and did it at a whopping level two, which might as well be with no resistance... I also used the speed bag again. I still love it.

As much as my hip is getting better, I still very often feel as though my leg is tired. Probably only my fellow Hip Chicks can relate. Right now I feel totally fine and normal, except that my right leg feels as though it has run a marathon.

Baby steps.

I Can't Dance

Tonight Doug and I went to the wedding of our friend Kristine. She looked beautiful and radiant. We had a good time seeing her and her new husband and catching up with some old friends who were seated at our table.

I've never been a big dancer. I move too much like the cliche of the rhythm-challenged WASP from Connecticut that I am. Tonight I had the perfect Get Out of Dance Hell Free card, and I played it.

Weather Report

I don't know what it is about the rain and cold that makes me feel my hardware more, but it does. Today was rainy and windy, making me creakier than when it's sunny.

Thankfully, tomorrow is supposed to be nice.

The 12 Week Mark and Living in Hip Nation

Today was a noteworthy day for three reasons. The least of which is that today marks my 12 weekiversary since I had my surgery. I continue to get a little bit better each and every day.

Today I also scheduled my femoral derotation osteotomy, and arthroscopy for my left hip and hardware removal on my right hip: my next surgery date is Tuesday, December 2nd. This is, of course, provided that the insurance gods don't frown on my humble request to be relieved from my pain.

Perhaps now I should re-title the blog to: The Year of the HipS. Although, I kind of liken it to a Chinese year - the year of the dragon, the year of the monkey, the rat, the hip... That's just my take on this world.

I often refer to myself as living in Hipville. I think of Sarah as being a close neighbor - the only other FDO I've encountered to date, having had same surgeon in the same hospital. I've met her; I've emailed her with my questions too embarrassing to ask of anyone else - she's someone with whom I can identify in this odd place in which I've found myself.

Tonight my Hip World got a little bit bigger, as I met my second Hip Chick, she being from the greater Hip Nation. Lisa is a THR (one down, one to go) who reigns from the west coast. I met her through the Yahoo Group and she's in town with her friends Alka and Kristen. It was truly my pleasure to meet them all for a drink - which turned into drinks and dinner! (Top photo: Lisa, Me, Kristen; bottom photo: Alka, Lisa, Me)

I am so thankful for the internet that unites us. I've said it before - I'll say it again - it's through meeting other Hip Chicks, on-line and in person, that I feel like I am not a freak. Before my diagnosis, I'd only known hip dysplasia to be an ailment for dogs.

We are all walking (or limping) our own paths in Hip World, but we have a common bond that makes for an instant rapport. We can share our experiences and insights to help ourselves in ways in which our gifted surgeons cannot. I feel blessed to have options, some of the best medical support in the world, and Hip Sisters.

Kristen - get that MRI! I'm going to make sure that Lisa stays on you for that! ;)

12 Week Check Up

Today I had my 12 week X-rays and check up with Dr. Buly. Everything is looking good and the bone has knit back together nicely. He also gave me the thumbs up to have my left hip done before the end of the year. The bonus good news for me, is that he agreed to remove the hardware from my right hip at the same time that he's in there fixing the left, which means one less surgery for me.

Now all I have to do is deal with the Cigna appeal and hope that they don't totally shoot me down on getting the left side done. They have been such a pain in the ass, I fully expect them to deem the surgery not to be medically necessary just to get out of paying any more money.

Rat bastards.

(Sing it with me!) "The Hip Bone's Connected to the - TAIL BONE!"

Ouch. What a pain in the ass - literally.

Lately my tail bone hurts more than any other part of me. I talked to my PT about it this week. He said it's normal and that it's just the tendons that are connected to the end of my spine. Who knew?!

He said the pain should go away in the next couple of weeks as things work themselves out. I hope he's right. It feels as though I've just done a 20 mile bike ride on an unpadded seat.

Ouch.

Essence of Penguin

I realized that my entry from yesterday may have been misleading. It's not like I've lost my limp permanently, I just no longer have it constantly.

When I'm tired, when I've PT'ed too much, when I've worn my pumps for longer than I should have, when I carry too much weight, I limp. I also revert back to penguin whenever I have to move quickly.

Here's the visual: today was a nice Spring morning and I left PT feeling pretty damn good about my progress. I hit the street and begin to j-walk across Madison Avenue on my way to the subway. Halfway to the other side, I'm forced into a "run" in order to avoid getting hit by a livery car and I immediately turn back into a penguin. I might as well be running across the ice to get away from the sea lion. All I need are yellow webbed feet and a beak to complete the look.

Penguin is no longer feeling quite so smug.

Abby Normal

I've reached the point where when people meet me, they have absolutely no idea that I had major surgery a few months ago. I'm seemingly normal. That is, until they ask me to carry something heavy and/or move quickly - then they must think I'm just a slug or some unmotivated lazy-ass chick. I no longer have the cane or crutches to flag me a being a gimp.

Doug and I volunteered at a dog trial today and that was just the case. They needed us to quickly help set up the competition rings which involved schlepping a bunch of gates around. Doug was doing his share but I had to be the "I can't lift that much weight" chick, whom I would normally roll my eyes at if the shoe were on the another foot.

The good news is that I made it through the day without any pain. I'm continually getting better/stronger through PT, but it still feels as though I have an enormous rubber band stretched across my hip that's limiting its movement. My limp seemed to go away overnight. It was if some primitive part of my brain finally got the message that the hip has been re-engineered - it had its light bulb moment of "ah, ha! So this is how it works!" and bingo, the limp disappeared. Unfortunately I can't just snap my fingers and make the feeling of tightness go away - I know it's going to take time and effort, and that's the hard part for me.

I want to be fully back already.

What's In My Pocket?!

Doug and I rode up to CT tonight to attend a going away party. It's about a 2 hour ride each way.

A few weeks ago when I rode in the car for long periods of time I'd get really uncomfortable - stiff from sitting too long, and in pain lingering from the surgery. Now the long rides don't bother me, but bucket seats give me a whole new sensation. It feels like I have something in my pocket. Something that's pushing on the right side of my leg. What I'm feeling is the blade plate. The swelling has gone - I can even lie on that side. It's just feels weird.

Before I had my surgery, I remember Sarah telling me that she could feel her plate. As I recall, she described the feeling as being neither good nor bad just that "it feels like I have a metal plate in my leg." At the time I was like, "huh?" Now I know exactly what she meant.

Citizen Cane-less

I've gone a full week without a cane. I think I'm officially done with it until I have my left hip femoral derotation osteotomy.

I told Adam I'm cane-less and he was OK with it. I even got to use the "circus bike" at PT today. It's a stationary bike with a very short crank and nominal resistance. Your feet spin around in tiny little speedy circles, like a clown bike. Not a lot of cardio, but mas bien de nada, as they say.

Speaking of the left side, it's gotten a lot crabbier in the last couple weeks, as I had been warned and knew that it would. For a little while there was a part of me that was thinking that maybe I wouldn't need to have that side fixed because I was feeling so good. But that's the same kind of thinking I had last fall when I'd convinced myself that I only had a torn labrum when I initially went in to see Dr. Buly. How wrong I was.

Yesterday's Post

So, yesterday I didn't post a blog entry here because I posted one for work instead - check it out:

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2008/05/01/american-idol-a-view-from-the-audience/

Today marks my 11th week in Hipville. I haven't used my cane in almost a week and I haven't had to take any Tylenol for pain since Monday. Not too shabby!

Stay Tuned

Will update tomorrow...