I got my cortisone/lidocaine injection in my right hip joint Friday. It’s still too early to see if it’ll be effective, sometimes it takes up to 72 hours to see any benefit, if all. My pain was at a 0 for about the first 3 hours (which I think was thanks to the lidocaine.) My groin pain came back, but my anterior hip pain has yet to return.
They use this injection to see if the pain is originating from the hip joint. If it relieves the pain, then it’s coming from the hip joint, if it doesn’t relieve it, it may be from somewhere else. However, I have read from many accounts that it isn’t completely accurate, just another diagnostic tool and it appeases the insurance to show you’ve done all the conservative measures possible.
Physical Therapy is aggravating my hip still, I’ve cut back to once a week because my insurance isn’t covering a lot of visits. Another stressor.
Speaking of stressors, on top of my likely stomach ulcer, my back pain, vomiting & fever from last week was not related to that…
After my injection, I had to go to Urgent Care because of my back pain and frequent urination. Turns out I have WBCs and RBCs in my urine which is indicative for an infection and apparently has caused me to have renal colic and a kidney infection.
Now I’m on antibiotics, which exacerbates my acid reflux because I have to take them on an empty stomach.
When it rains, it pours. I am really having a hard time staying positive and being happy. I find myself at times, not taking deep enough breaths, almost like I’m holding it. Then I take a big deep breath and I relax, if only for a moment.
Don’t get me wrong, it is NOT lost on me that I could be so much worse off. Sometimes I think maybe God is giving these minor annoyances (they are awful now, but minor in the grand scheme of things), to put things into perspective in my life.
I got so consumed with my hip pain, the imminent surgery, and time off work/finances that it overtook every thought, 24/7. I never really truly looked to God for this burden. I took on the brunt of dealing with it, and believe me it doesn’t go well when you try and do it all on your own. I’m thinking these new onsets of infection and ulcers is God’s way of saying, “Look, this is fixable. It may not be immediately and it may take awhile to recover. You are not alone, but life is worth living and you have the ability to overcome this.”
Cheesy or not, it’s really helped me and comforted me in this depressing time.
I look at this scripture (it’s paraphrased) multiple times a day, and the reassurance it brings me is just what I need.
