For many weeks I have struggled with severe one sided hip pain. It progressively got worse and worse. I tried physical therapy for two weeks. When that showed no sign of relief, my doctor suggested a referral to an orthopaedic physician. Getting this appointment was difficult because many people along the way want to suggest....."she knows she's pregnant right?" Ugh!!! However, once I saw the Otho dr, he thought it could possibly be a stress fracture, arthritis, or transient osteoporosis. Thinking the latter was nearly impossible because it is so rare. He ordered an MRI to help with the diagnosis. Now, skipping x-rays and going straight to a more elaborate imaging modality is not the proper course for insurance companies. BUT when you're pregnant, you definitely don't want to expose the baby to unnecessary radiation. So we got insurance approval and I had my scan. At this point, I was using crutches to help me walk but I had no idea why I couldn't walk and I am completely exhausted and frustrated to say the least.
This is a picture of an MRI I found on radpod.org. I wasn't big on putting my own MRI on the Internet. Anyway, this looks nearly identical to mine. But the opposite hip is affected here and the female patient has a small joint effusion of which I thankfully do not have. Many of you don't want to see this and maybe can't find what's wrong but you don't really need a medically trained eye to see one hip does not look like the other. I'm told this screen capture is part of a fluid sequence, so the bright white is fluid. This is also known as bone marrow edema. After a quick review, the radiologist came right out to see me. He told me what it was and wanted to be sure I was using crutches or a walker and understood how serious it is. Do what?!?!
So here is what I have learned. Transient osteoporosis is a very rare and painful type of osteoporosis that is usually found in third trimester pregnancy and middle age men. There is no known cause. Pain gradually increases over a period of weeks or month and can be so intense that it is disabling. But guess what?!?! It resolves itself....with time. How much time? We don't know. There is very little known about the condition. In fact, one of the maternal fetal medicine doctors I have consulted with since diagnosis tells me I am likely the only person in the state with this and that there is very little literature on the condition. Ugh! All we can really do for now is protect it from fracturing.
And so, Wesley is off the hook! She is not laying on any nerve that we know of. And it's not that I am not strong enough to support this baby belly. She is growing just fine. This is a problem with me and not her. So, I am busy Christmas shopping online or via wheelchair with Zoe and preparing for her arrival! I know she is worth this pain I have endured! Other than this hiccup, pregnancy has been good. Not easy, but good! We're just gonna keep on keepin' on! This was your science lesson for the year. I hope it wasn't too boring. By the way, it could be worse. It could be in both hips!
Stay tuned for some very fun Christmas posts! We are getting so excited! We might even get some snow this week!!!
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