I finally had enough of the pain in my left hip, which causes me to awaken after about three hours, so I'm always exhausted. Had an appointment today with an orthopedist. I wanted to talk about having the bursa surgically removed (I've had several cortisone injections which have not given me relief), and was informed in no uncertain terms that my HMO does *not* do surgical removal of a hip bursa.
However, she did a very thorough exam, talked to me for a good long while about my symptoms, and sent me for X-Rays...of my knees. Turns out I have very well advanced arthritis in both knees, (bone-on-bone in both) and her opinion is that the way I have been guarding against knee pain while walking has exacerbated the hip bursa inflammation. She injected both knees with Cortisone, gave me some printed instructions for exercises to alleviate the problem with my hip, suggested I start a regimen of water aerobics, and made a follow-up appointment in 5 weeks. She says I am definitely going to have to have bilateral complete knee replacement surgery in the not-too-distant future.
So, maybe I can finally get enough sleep to be capable of getting all the things done I'd like to do. I loath the idea of knee replacement surgery, although I have been hearing many people who have had good results recently.
Beverly, amazed at how *easy* walking was right after this appointment....