The road to Surgery...Part 5 - Meeting the Surgeon

So now I wait to see the surgeon, all the time wondering whether or not he is going to think that what is wrong with my hip warrants surgery (should it really affect me this much? Am I just making a big deal about nothing, should I just be able to deal with it?). I cant take all this stress-I worry way too much.

But the weeks of waiting weren’t in vain; I got hold of my MRI report and find that it showed something more than the doc told me about. I ring up and ask what they think this sentence means and got told “oh that could mean anything we don’t take any notice of that” so curiosity sets in and I start searching online for some answers.

I find something I don’t really want to know, don’t really know if I have understood right since it wasn’t mentioned to me before and therefore cant understand why they wouldn’t have known the implications it creates. But at least now I am aware that this may be more than we originally thought. That what “could” be wrong with my hip may not be just the quick fix arthroscopic surgery I have been informed of. Yay more to worry about but at least now I have some inkling that this is just the beginning of understanding what is going on. Until I get to see the specialist surgeon all this is just speculation so I try and tell myself I am making too much of it, after all I’m no doctor…

My Mum took me to my appointment and we were early, I was so nervous that I made her sit in the car till just before my appointment time as there way no way I was going to sit in his waiting room! I made her come so she could write down everything he said since my memory is so shocking.
First impressions-I have no idea what he first thought of me, he asked me what the problem was and I just sat there frozen! Thank goodness my Mum was with me and she explained I had a head injury and then started explaining what was going on!
After that not so good start, things went on much better, we pulled my films out and my original so called “normal” x-ray came out. Not so "normal" surprise surprise-he could see perfectly where my problem was! The relief was immense at the same time I felt angry that all this time there was a reason but no-body had seen it.
He did a small physical exam, nothing compared to what others had put me though, he decided not to carry on as he could see quite plainly that I had some issues and didn’t see any point in putting me through more pain than was necessary.

Then he looked at my MRI films and discussed options, (needless to say the extra findings on the report I didn’t get told about had a big bearing on surgical intervention).

The official diagnosis-anterior superior labral tear with bony impingement on the Femoral head or CAM FAI (Femoroacetabular Impingement).

So instead, the arthroscopic surgery I was led to believe was the answer to my problems basically turned into (in his words) “not an option” I needed major hip surgery!
I was so glad I had done my own research and had already prepared myself for this senario otherwise I think I would have properly freaked out at the thought of more intense surgery!

My impression of him? I love him!!!! He spent lots of time explaining everything, treated me like a human being and because I have some knowledge of anatomy etc he explained things on my level using terminology I understood and even gave me the journal article of the surgical technique! He provided information on how he learned the surgical technique (as it is a relatively new surgery and not many surgeons have this expertise) and really gave me lots of info so I could make an informed decision and didn’t rush me through all my questions. All we had to do now was wait for surgical approval and then schedule a date.