Today I went into NYC yet again to meet with Dr. Coleman, my hip surgeon. It was a very long day- 8 hours in all, so I'm so thankful my mom came with me this time. Dr. Coleman was very friendly and informative. We looked at my MRI's and x-rays. So again, I do have a significant labral tear that needs to be fixed. It's been there for a couple of years, but the speculation is it was small and has gotten significantly worse the past year. It has occurred because my femoral head is in the socket, but angled slightly forward, causing me to walk with a foot inversion. It also then causes the head to scrape against the tissue, creating the tear. I also have an eroded pubic bone that has been apparently since my early teens. And that has very likely caused scar tissue to form around my pelvis region.
So, after being examined and going over a lot of information, we scheduled a hip arthroscopy for May 12th. I'm getting it right after my tennis season ends. It's a one day procedure and I'll be on crutches for a week and then I start physical therapy twice a week. I'm also not allowed to do physical activity for around 3 to 3 and a half months. So that means no running, no tennis, no water skiing, no paragliding, no rock climbing, no hiking, no dancing this summer and possibly part of next semester. It's upsetting, but at least I'm finally getting answers. Dr. Coleman has operated on 6 or 7 patients with vulvar vestibulitis in the past, and the surgery has caused most of them to be completely better. He is a hesitant to make any promises, especially since my cortizone injection didn't provide me with any vaginal pain relief. However, some of his patients also didn't get relief from the injections, but the surgery still eliminated all of their pain.
I spoke with my mom on the train ride home, and here are our best speculations. I think the hip arthroscopy is going to fix my problems with sitting down, and all the pain coming from my rear end. However, I think I still might have the sharp localized pain in my vulva, which I think is being caused by the scar tissue from my pubic bone. Dr. Coleman recommended ANOTHER doctor that I should see that specialized in the pubic bone. He's going to inform him of my case and see what he says. We're not entirely sure how you fix a pubic bone, so I'm interested to see what my options are. As nice as it would be to have this arthroscopy fix both of my problems, I might have two different issues to deal with.
So that's it for now. Now that the date is set, I am going to cross my fingers and hope this is the answer I've been waiting for.
