Left Hip FAI Diagnosis and Surgery 2012

Back to Dr. Bruckner I went. X-rays and MRA confirmed the same diagnosis on my left hip but it was not as bad of a labral tear (the right side was shredded). He didn’t think it was necessary to do cortisone shot in the left hip since they did not give me much relief previously. He considered it a straight forward procedure as the right side so we booked surgery for September 24, 2012. 

As a side note the MRA was excruciating for the left hip during the diagnosis phase! When they injected the dye there was a huge pop sound and so much pressure. I am assuming it was in my hip capsule and psoas? The hip had never popped like that until the MRA was done. It continued to snap daily in my groin area by simply rotating my hip outward.  This was mentioned to Dr. Bruckner prior to my surgery but he didn’t think much of it? My stomach was in knots since this conversation was during the pre-op preparation. 

My surgery on the left hip was much shorter. Bruckner only had to shave the bone on the femur and the labrum was repaired rather than debrided (removed). It was in much better condition than the right side. Our hope with this surgery was to not get to such a debilitating point as I had been with my right hip. Recovery was not as smooth with this side..

There was a huge clunk in the hip after the surgery while sitting up in bed. I was advised this is normal and to continue on. This was not very settling. I knew by about 2 weeks in that something wasn’t right. I tried driving at 2 weeks but ended up being in such agony due to having a stick shift car. Pushing the clutch in repeatedly on the same operation side did a number on me. Luckily I got the approval to work from home so I could delay having to drive. I recall not being able to drive for about 5-6 weeks? And this still was not pain free! Just to get by… and limit my time. I did end up trading my car in for an automatic one a few months later which definitely helped my day to day living and commute. I continued to see Bruckner or his counterpart every 3 weeks trying to get more than "just be patient." We did start physical therapy sooner than Bruckner would normally start to try and alleviate my pain. All it did was increase my pain. 

At my 3 months follow up, Bruckner said everything was doing just fine and we went over my x-rays. As I was changing back into my normal clothes, I realized we had gone over another patient’s x-rays!! I was infuriated after being in the waiting area for 2 hours and then another half an hour before he showed up in the exam room. Also, this is a total HIPPA violation. Don’t worry, a complaint was put into Proliance but honestly I should have pushed more. We did go over my x-rays correctly since I was able to catch him on my way out. But I still wasn’t impressed!  By four months post op I was getting worse not better. A trochanter bursa injection provided some relief while sitting but he refused to do another MRI/MRA or cortisone injection until 6 months post op.  Overall our personalities just did not mesh well. He always used medical terms that I didn’t understand or wouldn’t take the time to explain them to me. He was always in a rush and I didn’t feel listened to or respected. It was time for me to move on.