Dr. Nowak Consult 11/4/14

Going back to Dr. Philippon’s suggestion from July 2013, I made an appointment with Dr. Nowak on 11/4/14. He spent about an hour with me and reviewed by pre-op imaging from Midwest Ortho (Rush Hospital) in Chicago. Since it had been 14 months since the operation and the results are null due to operation changes, he ordered a new MRI with dye of the left hip only. That was done on 11/10/14 at Everett Bone and Joint. We went over the results in person on 11/19/14. Dr. Nowak stated my case is very complex and he doesn’t have an answer to my lingering pain. Actually this was stated multiple times. The bony impingement should be gone based upon the x-rays. There was a metal artefact on my MRI which distorted the imaging where the dye was supposed to help isolate the soft tissues. They don’t believe the labrum to be re-torn in the anterior region. There is a possible tear posteriorly. The capsule looks good. No bursitits... even though I feel  like I have it, my outer hip is SOO painful.  He  had me walk of the door with my imaging and chart notes in hand… I am guessing so I don’t come back! LOL

I immediately sent the results overnight to Dr. Nho for his review. I really wanted insight why there was metal in hip that I wasn’t aware should be there as well as why I am continuing to be in pain so far out. It turns out the metal is not a big deal since it a small flake measuring 1mm in size embedded in the hip. This is likely from a bur when they made the anchor holes during the scope. This can happen sometimes and should not be impacting me. There is more risk to remove it rather than just leave it there. If I have to have another MRI there is an ‘artefact reduction’ technique they can use to increase the MRI quality. The last one in November is pretty awful! So, at 16.5 months post op, Dr. Nho suggests a cortisone injection to see how I respond to that. I am willing to do it but am not hopeful. I guess the biggest question is why I do have posterior tears on both hips if all of the bony impingement is supposedly corrected? I have put off going to Chicago until the end of January if I decide to go that route. The holidays were just very busy and it is more expensive to fly during that time. And I am certainly not going back to Dr. Nowak! 

Through sorting out all of this chaos between Dr. Nho and Dr. Nowak, someone reminded me Dr. Kelly suggested that I see Dr. Mayo. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to rule out hip dysplasia and the PAO path. I would be one step closer to getting a proper diagnosis and plan for recovery. I would love to be living a ‘normal’ 30 year’s life at the moment! 

Here are some snapshots of my MRI 11/10/14 and X-Ray 11/4/14: