What a bad idea.

Being on crutches while my street undergoes FIVE MONTHS of closures, requiring me to park blocks and blocks away, sounds like the worst idea I've ever had.

My house is behind those huge bushes on the left. There's a backhoe in my parking spot :(

Catching a labral tear early and getting it repaired by a surgeon I trust for free after I've met my insurance max, however, sounds like a pretty sound idea.

So, I am scheduled for right hip labral repair December 18th. I have very mixed feelings about this! Part of me is glad to solve the problem, happy about the insurance and cost situation, and relieved that I know there is a fix. The other part of me really doesn't want to undergo the ordeal I just completed with my other hip, and wonders if I'm jumping the gun.

With my left hip, I was in excruciating pain before surgery: at first, I couldn't walk without crutches; even touching my toe to the ground sent pain shooting through my leg. But now? I'm still running. But then, it is better to catch a tear early before it can lead to cartilage damage, so maybe that's a good sign.

When I went to my doctor's appointment to follow up on my (useless) steroid shot, he almost immediately asked about scheduling surgery. That took me aback - I hadn't even had an MRI done! But he told me he'd like to schedule me first, to make sure we got it in on my insurance before January, then do the MRI in the meantime. "You sound pretty confident you know what's going on," he told me, "And actually, I think I already saw a tear in your right hip from your MRI last summer." I'd had my first MRI done at an outside source, and the report listed nothing wrong with my right hip. But Dr. Van Sice pulled up the film, and pointed out a tiny tear on the right. He'd noticed it before, but back then my right hip was asymptomatic, so he didn't bother with it (obviously, you do not treat asymptomatic labral tears). He remembered it after my last visit, though, and when we looked it up, sure enough - a little tear. So we aren't doing unnecessary surgery, but I still feel a little unease thinking about it.

The truth is, recovery from this procedure is miserable! Totally miserable! Crutches at work are hard, wearing a brace for 4 to 6 weeks is hard, pushing through the inevitable pain later in PT is hard. I do NOT want to do it again. But then I compare my weak, wobbly, throbbing right joint to my strong, pain-free left joint and I know it's a smart decision - unless I want to give up running. I don't want to, so I've committed to having surgery done.