In 2015 I started seeing doctors for unbearable hip pain. It started with the right hip. I saw a doctor in Wisconsin who did a soft tissue injection in June 2015, then a right hip joint injection in July 2015. It did not help and the doctor felt they could not help me - and sent me to the doctors in Illinois. So in September 2015, I started with a new team. They did a MRI; the most painful MRI process I've ever been through. They filled the joint with contrast liquor dye. They said I had hip impingement and labral tearing, but it "wasn't that bad". By December 2016 that first doctor transferred me to another one in the practice when walking became so painful I avoided it as much as possible. Another hip injection followed and physical therapy. The injection gave me relief for 8 weeks, wearing off by February 1st.I had arthroscopic surgery on February 22, 2016. They found so much damage, there was not much they could do. I was told it is common for the MRI to not show the full extent of the damage. The surgeon cleaned it up and sent me for more physical therapy. By April, my left hip was hurting as much as my right. The first week of May 2016 two more injections followed the previous three done. Still trying to be “normal” I set off to visit my Daughter-in-Law and grandchildren in Virginia, over Memorial Day weekend, I had a heart and infection incident. Too much cortisone n the past year caused my body to react. The abdomnal CT in Virginia showed a problem in my intestinal track, and labeled “possible terminal ileitis.” After I was released from 3 days in the hospital in Virginia, I came home and underwent 30 day cardiac monitoring to get cleared for surgery. The right hip replacement was done on August 10th. During surgery, the right hip was a bit mangled from prior surgery and disease. a drill bit broke off and is lodged in my bone (reverse image above). The doctor said it is not the cause of continuing deep hip pain on stress (stairs, incline walking), but nonetheless the right hip continued to hurt.
The left hip never recovered from the stress put on it and the cartilage melted away, putting it bone-on-bone friction. The left hip was replaced on December 21, 2016.
