Remember Me??

Hey guys,

Remember me? The girl who got injured and reinjured and after months and months just got fed up and bitter. BUT, I finally have the first potential good news after 5 months!

So, quick background: the doctors think I either have a hip problem, like a torn labrum, or a sports hernia. Either of these problems prob need surgery, since therapy isn't working. These last few months have been completely awful. Sometimes the pain is so bad I can barely walk to class. I'm also starting to encounter insurance issues with new patient evals, so long story short I had to fly home to Michigan Monday night, miss Tuesday classes, get a intra-articular injection of steroid + anesthetic in my hip joint, try to elicit the pain before the anesthetic wears off 4 hours later, then hop back on the plane to Arizona Tuesday night, and go to class all day on Wednesday.

So the theory is that if the problem is the hip, the anesthetic will numb the area and I will have significantly reduced pain for 3 hours when I try and do the activities that make it hurt the most. It could also be a sports hernia/athletic pubalgia (basically a tear in the abdomen where it originates right at the pelvis, with a possible tear at the conjoined tendon of the adductor on the pelvic bone. That'd explain the high adductor/inner thigh pain). If it's the sports hernia, then there would be little to no effect on the pain.

So, I got the injection yesterday and it hurt like a bitch! They didn't wait until the skin lidocaine injection kicked in before inserting the needle straight into the hip joint. So, I was under the impression that the anesthetic would start working immediately. Mmmm, not s'much. It took a good 15 minutes, and before it kicked in it felt like I was trying to work on a semi-dislocated hip. I guess cause the joint capsule was filled with excess fluid or whatever, but it hurt so much! And it was so far outside my normal area of pain that I got so discouraged and was like, "this was a STUPID idea!" Haha, I actually started crying walking down the halls in the hospital back to the car.

My mom and I still went straight to the gym, and I started on the arc trainer. I have barely been able to do anything more than walk for 5 months, so I assumed that this would wreck me in about 5 minutes, 15 tops.

The pain started to creep up, but 5 minutes later it just kinda stopped. I was hella confused. I was so sure the pain would be there! So I decided that maybe impact activity would jar the rectus abdominis origin at the pelvis if it was the sports hernia. So I started running on the treadmill. I started at 5.0, which felt like 8.0 used to ;) Still, no pain.... I was getting pissed! Haha it's so counter-intuitive, but I was 90% sure this wasn't the hip! I ramped up the speed to 6.0 eventually and ran 1 mile total. Dude, this was insane.

So then I did a whole bunch of ab/hip/ physical therapy exercises that usually cause pain. Most everything was pain free, except for this tuck+reach exercise where I'd crunch my right knee into my chest. That was still only slight/moderate discomfort. And the whole short gym sesh just reminded me how much I love and miss working out!

Sooooo, my mom and I were like, flabbergasted. The lower abdominal/groin inflammation mostly stayed away during the workout and just started creeping back slightly several hours after the injection and workout. Still, the pain was minimal! Of course, that's when the soreness from the injection itself kicked in, but that wasn't too horrible.

So. Hip, huh? Geez. I'm seeing the surgeon/doctor on May 20 when I get back to MI after school gets out. We'll see, I guess! I'm just shocked something finally helped. NOTHING has worked for 5 months. Not chiropractic, acupuncture, meds, massage therapy ointments, rest, not rest, stretching, foam rolling, physical therapy, ASTYM... nothing. So this was totally out from left field, since I don't have the usual labral tear symptoms.

I'm pretty sore today, lol. It's to be expected, but at least I can still walk! The joint itself is still tight and irritated from the injection, so I have to be careful about rotating my hip.

Ummmm, food blog wise? Many of my meals have been the same. I did finally try kombucha, though! Janetha's blog post on it coupled with a $1.49/bottle deal at the store got me to try it.


Stock photo, sorry! Anyway, loved the citrus and gingerade but that multi-green one is NASTY!

I also really like the guava goddess, grape flavor, and cosmic cranberry. The trilogy one was pretty good, too. They're kinda vinegary, but it grows on you. I also like that they're effervescent and refreshing and they make me feel good! They have little culturey-strand things that still kinda squick me out, but I usually don't notice them when I drink it.

I tried the multi-green one and GAGGED, though! Probably cause of the spiralina. I can't stand that stuff in Amazing Grass, either. Seriously, no way I could choke that down! If you like that taste of the original amazing grass, you might dig it. No way you could pay me to drink it, though!

These kombucha drinks are pretty expensive when they're not on sale (like $3 a bottle depending where you are), but they're nice as an occasional treat. Or if your grocery store ever does a $1.49/bottle sale, definitely try it and/or stock up!

Anyway, just wanted to give you guys an update. I'm actual feeling slightly more hopeful than I've been in MONTHS about this whole thing. I've been injured for 7-8 months STRAIGHT and I am sooo ready to get back to activity and nix this pain!

Q: Have you ever tried kombucha? What are your thoughts?