My version of my version.....

.....Femoral Retroversion that is.  When Dr. Mast told me that I had some retroversion, I didn't really know what this meant.  I had heard of it before, but I needed to do some googling before I actually understood what this meant.  Femoral retroversion is also known as out-toeing.  The femur is rotated the wrong way and causes the foot to point out.

There is a condition called slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), which is an affliction that happens to young adolescents.  Usually about the age of 12 for boys and the age of 13.5 for girls.  Exactly the age I was when my hip pain began.  When you are a kid your growth plates are not totally formed.  You can see the space between the ball and the femur.  If a child has some sort of endocrine abnormality, then the fibrous tissue that supports the growth plates around the femur can become loose.  This condition often happens to obese children.  I was not obese at the age of 13.5, however I was running cross country.  Running 3 miles a day can add a lot of stress to the hip joint especially since I already had a joint abnormality, congenital hip dysplasia.

Angie's feet, right foot is rotated out

I believe that I did not have the retroversion until I was 13.5 and began running cross country.  One day after a cross country race, I could not walk because my groin pain was so bad.  I believe that on this day my femur slipped and became retroverted and caused the impingement.  I never had groin pain prior to running cross country. All my symptoms match that of SCFE down to the exact age that it usually occurs in girls.

If the condition is caught early, and surgery is performed, then the prognosis is good.  However, none of the doctors that I saw caught this condition until I saw Dr. Mast last month.

The surgery to correct retroversion is nasty.  I hope I can manage without this surgery.  My hope is that Dr. Sampson can correct the impingement and that will be enough.  I don't want to run a marathon, or be a gymnast. I dont even care if I go snowboarding again or play sports.  I just want to take a walk on the beach and be able to do my grocery shopping.

Furthermore, since SCFE is often caused by an autoimmune disorder, I am going to be vigilant with my doctors about testing me for autoimmune disorders.  One disorder that I am particularly concerned about is Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.  I have many of the symptoms for this disorder and I know of other FAI patients who also have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.  I am still waiting on my test results for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

As much as I hope and pray that I don't have an autoimmune disorder, it would be better to know now so that I can manage the issue.

Symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

• Loose, unstable joints that are prone to: sprain, dislocation, subluxation (partial dislocation) and hyperextension (double jointedness) ^[5]
• Early onset of osteoarthritis
• Easy bruising

• Chronic fatigue

• Migraines and headaches, including postural headaches from spontaneous intracranial hypotension

• Deformities of the spine, such as: Scoliosis (curvature of the spine), Kyphosis (a thoracic hump), Tethered spinal cord syndrome, Occipitoatlantoaxial hypermobility^[8]

• Swan neck deformity of the fingers ^[11]
• Insensitivity to local anesthetics.^[12]

My email to Dr. Sampson

Dr. Thomas Sampson, OS

Dear Dr. Sampson,

I am very nervous about doing another right hip surgery after one failed right hip surgery already under my belt.  However, after meeting with you I know why other FAI patients have so many great things to say about you.  I definitely want to have my surgery done by you.  My husband and I still have some questions for you before we schedule a surgery.

My biggest concern is that I have femoral retroversion in my right leg.  Dr. Nicholas Mast diagnosed me with femoral retroversion.  After doing a google search I saw that this was also called out-toeing.  My right foot turns out at an angle while my left foot is pointed straight forward.    I am worried that if the retroversion is left uncorrected that I will still be in pain and it will still be difficult to walk.

Do you think that there is a good chance that surgery to correct the impingement will take care of the pain even if the retroversion is left untreated?

If I am still in pain after the impingement surgery, is surgery to correct the version still an option?

Since the surgery would be on my right hip, also the leg I use to drive, how long will I not be able to drive?

How much time should I take off of work?

Finally, how many months does it take to fully recover? 


My husband, Gavin, also has a question for you.

I have a leg discrepancy.  My right leg (also my problem hip) is longer by about 17 mm and I wear a 17mm lift 95% of the time.  My husband was wondering if the leg discrepancy is causing my hip pain? 

 I can be reached at www.prettyhippyangie@blogspot.com

Thank you,
PrettyHippyAngie 

Kandee Johnson's Lemon Sugar Face Scrub

If you are not following Kandee Johnson's blog, you should.  She has the best tips, makeup tutorials, and giveaways on the internet. 
http://www.kandeej.com/



Here is a link to her Lemon Sugar Face Scrub video tutorial
http://www.kandeej.com/2010/07/3-daily-steps-to-perfect-skin.html

I tried Kandee's Lemon Sugar scrub and it made my face so soft and smooth.  It gets rid of blackheads, pimples, dead skin and leaves your skin as smooth as a baby.

First let's start with a freshly cleansed face.

I am also deep conditioning my hair.  Don't  mind the shower cap.


Here is what you need.

Cotton Pad, Lemon, Sugar

You will need:

A Cotton Pad

A Fresh Lemon

Sugar, any kind

You will need one or two lemon wedges

You only need two lemon wedges.

One wedge is for the margarits

One is for your Margarita.

Squeeze lemon

Squeeze the lemon wedge onto your cotton pad.

A teaspoon of sugar

Then you need a spoon full of sugar.

Now you have your lemon sugar scrub

Pour the sugar onto your lemon drenched cotton pad.

Scrub

Then scrub away.

Scrub

Scrub Scrub Scrub!

Scrub

You can give your lips a gentle scrub too but don't forget to moisturize afterward.
Now it is time to rinse.

When you are done rinsing, gently pat your face dry with a clean towel.

And now feel how smooth and pretty you skin is.

Movie Review: Love and Other Drugs

Last night I sat down with Gavin to watch what I thought was a feel good, romantic comedy, Love and Other Drugs. I was looking forward to watching this because I needed a good laugh after an afternoon spent crying and feeling sorry for myself about my hip problems and all the fear, anxiety and embarrassment that goes along with having a disability. This movie is actually a romantic, drama, comedy.  The first 20 minutes of movie had me laughing, but the rest of the movie was sad, thought provoking, and paralleled my own life.  The movie goes like this:

Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal), a handsome and charming pharmaceutical rep., falls for a Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a sexy barista not interested in a relationship.  While trying to woo Maggie, Jamie knows that she has stage one Parkinson disease.  As Jamie falls more deeply in love with Maggie, Maggie fears that her disease is too much for any one man to handel.

Like Maggie, I also live with a disability.   I don't want to compare myself to someone living with Parkinson disease (or any other disease or disability that I don't have)  because each disability comes with it's own unique symptoms and struggles.   However, I could relate to the emotional roller coaster she was on throughout the film.  In the film, Maggie is young and has been fairly recently diagnosed (I can totally relate to this).  She also went through a ton of doctors and tests before she got her diagnosis (me too).  I can relate to her fears that no one will love her, because she is "broken".  I can also relate to the embarrassment that she feels.  In the movie there are scenes were she is embarrassed by her physical limitations, and tries to hide the symptoms of her disease from Jamie.  I too, find myself trying to hide my limitations from others because I am embarrassed.

These two particular lines in the movie hit a chord with me.  The first is when Maggie says, "why would you want to be with me?  I can't go do things.  I am not fun."

The second line is when Maggie tells Jamie, "I will always need you more than you need me."

These two lines sum up how I feel about my disability and my relationship with Gavin.  In fact, I bring these things up quit often when I talk to Gavin about my fears.  There are so many things that I cannot go do with him.  We can never go for a walk on the beach, go snowboarding together, or travel around Europe together.  There are so many things that he won't be able to do because of me.  If he was married to another woman he would be able to go do all these things, and many more.

There are so many things that I need Gavin to help me with.  Gavin works all day, then he comes home and does housework, helps to make dinner, fixes things around the house, does all the shopping for our household items and groceries.  On top of all this, he has taken complete care of me during my first surgery and he will need to do it again when I have my second surgery.  Who knows how many surgeries I will need.  He has never once complained.  I wish I could do more for him.

I just need to remember that Gavin didn't fall in love with how far I can walk, or how many boxes I can carry.  He fell in love with me because he loves me!  He loves my heart.  He tells me that the only thing he needs me to do for him is love him.  And I do love him with all my heart!




Maggie's prognosis is that she will inevitably get worse.  Unlike Maggie, there is a possibility that I could get better.  There is also a possibility that I could just get worse.  I feel very anxious living with this unknown, but I know, no matter what happens, Gavin will still love me.

Everyday is an emotional roller coaster for me.  It is nice to see a fictional character that is going through the same emotions that I am.  The movie portrayed in a positive light, a young person, pretty and full of life,  living with a disability.  Life still goes on after you have been diagnosed with a disability.  Just because you have a diagnosis doesn't mean people will stop loving you.

A Spider Commited Suicide in my Vanity and it is all my fault.

I usually close the lid to my vanity after I am done doing my makeup, but sometimes when I am in a hurry I forget to close it.  One afternoon when I came home I saw a little spider crawling all over my makeup.  I thought "oh no you don't little spider.  Get away from my makeup?"  I chased the spider around my vanity for awhile, but I couldn't catch it.  I didn't want to kill the little guy.  My intentions were to catch him and release him to the wild.  Well, I was in a hurry to leave again and I didn't have time to catch him.   I didn't want him running all over my makeup.  I took a clear drinking glass and trapped him underneath.  He freaked out for a little bit running in circles, but I turned the lights off and he calmed down.  I figured I would release him to the wild later when I got home.




After I got home, I was so tired I went straight to bed and forgot about the spider.  When I woke up the next morning the first thing I did was check on him to see how he was doing.  The spider was half way on the inner portion of the glass and half way on the outer portion of the glass.  I thought, "is he escaping?"  No, he was dead.  He had tried to escape while I was sleeping.  He tried to crawl under the rim of the glass, but instead the rim of the glass crushed him.  Awwww and it is all my fault. I never meant for him to die.  Poor spider.

Finally some pain relief!

I have been in so much pain it drives me crazy.  I don't want to get out of bed in the morning because each step feels I have glass grinding away in my hip joint.  I don't want to do any standing because I feel like someone is stabbing me in my hip.  Even sitting and lying down is uncomfortable because I can't escape the pain.  Thinking is practically impossible because the pain consumes all my brain power.  On top of all this, I am exhausted from lack of sleep.  Even if I fall asleep I will be up at 3 am because I moved my leg the wrong way while I was sleeping.  Good luck falling back to sleep after that.



Before, to escape from the pain, I used vicodin, sparingly.  You only want to use it sparingly for a number of reasons.  One, you can get addicted to it.  Second, you can build up a tolerance, meaning that it may not work so well for pain in the future, like if I were to have a big surgery.  Thirdly, vicodin can also cause stomach problems, and I already have a sensitive stomach.  Furthermore, the pain relief wore off after 4 hours.  After the pain relief wore off, my pain would come back with a vengeance.



Good news though, I found a NSAID that actually gives me pain relief.  I was really skeptical when the doctor handed me the prescription for this.  No other NSAID has ever worked for me in the pass, and believe me, I have tried a lot.  This particular NSAID is called Voltaren.  It is a gel that I can rub on up to 4 times a day.  I have a strip to measure out how many grams I am using, then I just rub it all over the front of my hip, my groin, side, and butt.  The directions say not to put on clothes for 10 minutes while it dries, so I hang out naked for 10 minutes and watch youtube videos.  Youtube videos are an easy way to time 10 minutes.




It works like a miracle!  I still have pain walking and standing, but 10 minutes after I rub this gel on, my pain is practically gone while I am sitting or lieing down.  This means I can sit and get some work done and I can fall asleep at night.  Even in the morning, after the effects have worn off, my pain is not as intense as it has been in the past.


The only thing is that the side effects are kinda scary. 

• Stomach pain
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Heartburn or indigestion (dyspepsia)
• Gas
• Unexplained bleeding
• Ulcer in the stomach or intestines (peptic ulcer)
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Anemia
• Dizziness
• Swelling
• Increase in liver enzymes
• Headache
• Itching
• Unexplained rash
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus).  

I think I actually overdosed on it one day.  It says I can use up to 4 grams 4 times a day.  Well, when I first tried the product I was using 2 grams once a day.  Then one day I got wild and crazy and used 4 grams three times in one day.  After that dose I got really nausea, my head ached, and  my stomach started cramping up very painfully.  Then I couldn't sleep that night because of my stomach pain. Now I either use 4 grams twice a day or 2 grams four times a day.  I am careful not to use to go over 8 grams in one day.

This stuff has really changed my life.  Being in pain is really awful.  It is my hope that I won't have to use the product for the long term though because I am looking for a surgeon to fix my hip for good.




Right now I am going to go put some Voltaren gel on and clean my house because we are having company this weekend for our BBQ!




P.S.
If you are suffering from arthritis pain, I would definitely talk to your doctor about this.  You should also, discuss all the possible side-effects with your doctor, and if you can use this for long term use.  This product is not meant to be used on your hip, it is actually meant for smaller joints, such as your elbow, wrist or ankle.  I would defiantly talk to your doctor about weather you can use this on larger joints or on your back if that is where your arthritis pain is.  I have a lot of pack pain but I would be hesitant to use this product close to my spinal cord.

I Saw the Plastic Surgeon Today plus my Botox experience

Today I went to go see a plastic surgeon for a surgery consultation.  Can you guess what for?

No not for these silly.

No not for this.  I like my pencil lips, thank you very much.

No not for this either.  Although, I think Ashlee Simpson has a great nose job.  But I can just use strategic shading with makeup to make my nose as cute as a button.

Yes, it was for this guy right here.  You see, almost all of the hand and wrist surgeons in the Bay Area are also plastic surgeons.  This is California and I am assuming these surgeons make a lot more money off of plastic surgery than with wrist surgery.  The plastic surgeon was very kind and reiterated what my previous doctor, Dr. Shieu said about my wrist.  I can do the surgery to release the tendon in my hand and that should help with the pain in my hand.  I can also have a surgery to remove the ganglion cyst in my wrist and that might help with the wrist pain but it is hard to say.

The plastic surgeon also calmed my fears about my wrist and hand getting worse.  He said it probably wont get much worse but I could develop trigger finger later on.    If I can deal with the pain, which I can, it is alright to delay surgery as long as I like, or choose not to have surgery at all.

The surgery would also keep me out of work for one week.  (Oh yeah, I got a job!)  I think I will wait on the wrist surgery for another year since I am dealing with my impending hip surgery now.  I will wait until I am recovered and off of crutches.  My wrist pain is manageable compared to my hip.








Now I want to tell you about my botox experience.  Since I was already seeing a plastic surgeon about my wrist, what better time to ask about botox?  So I told the doctor about my twitchy eye.  My eye twitches like there is no tomorrow.  It happens when I am especially stressed out.  For example, when I took an organic chemistry class from hell, during finals week, or when starting a new job (like right now).  My eye has been going crazy.  I explained the twitch to the doctor.  How long it usually last, what direction it twitches in, ect. 



The doctor thought that the botox might help and he said he would do a little experiment with me to see.  He offered to give me a botox injection for free, since I would only be needing a couple of units, and he had a free sample that the manufacture just sent him.  The doctor was nice and chatty and he even knew where Western Washington University was, in Bellingham, WA, my home town.  Chatting about my home town really calmed my nerves and distracted me from the needle coming towards my eye.  He gave me three quick shots where my crows feet are and it didn't hurt a bit.

It has been 3 hours since the injection and my eye hasn't twitched since.  In fact my eye feels fantastic.  I feels like it just had a great massage, so relaxed.  My eye doesn't look any different; it is not droopy and I can still smile.  My eye feels so relaxed I just want to bath in a tub of botox.  I wish my whole body could feel as good as my, no longer twitchy, eye feels.  In the future I think I will get botox again for my twitchy eye and also for my tension headaches.  These are the things that botox was originally developed for.  I will keep you posted on the long term results, since it has only been 3 hours since the injection, I don't know if the effects will last.

Would you ever get botox?  Either for beauty reason or for medical reasons?