The Pain In My Backside...

I'm training for a half marathon - was training - until this pain in my hip became too excrutiating to ignore. After two weeks of gimping around, I made an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor. (On a side note, I called the office to make the appointment and the receptionist asked if I would like to come in, two weeks from Tuesday. Why yes, I would love to limp for two more weeks before I see the doctor. Sheesh.)

Anyway, I managed to get in to see the good doctor that same day and after several x-rays wherein I had to pose like Captain Morgan and a frog, pre-leap, I was able to see the guy in the nice white coat.

After he wrenched my leg from side to side asking, "does this hurt? How 'bout this?" he sat down and told me he was thinking tendonitis. He asked if I wanted a cortisone shot and I was like "yeah... cause it hurts," to which he nodded. Then he said we'd try the shot but he wanted me back in a week, just in case it was more like a stress fracture and I was thinking, why not do the MRI right now, but what do I know?

Well now I know that from now on, I will take the MRI first, thank you.

See I've never had a cortisone shot before so when the nurse walked in with the biggest needle I have ever seen in my life, I started thinkin' maybe I'd made the wrong decision. She left that giant needle on the counter so I had some time to really think about the consequences of my decision but my leg really hurt. I've had four children (how much worse could a giant needle be) and I figured if I didn't look, I'd be okay.

Well when the Jolly Green Giant (did I mention the doctor was, no joke, six and a half feet tall) came back, I rolled over and studied the wall while he used some cooling agent on my hip. He kept telling me it "might pinch a little," but I decided if I could keep a conversation going, I would be ok.

He wasn't much for conversation so I conversated for the both of us. Everything was going okay - the needle pinched, as needles do, when all of the sudden. GAH!!!

I have never felt so much pain in my entire life. He must have hit a nerve and liked how it felt because he kept hitting it. I gritted my teeth and prayed for death until he finally pulled the needle from my backside, mentioning there was "a little blood." (Um, you practically impaled me with a jousting lance. I'd be worried if there wasn't blood. Which, by the way, we need to work on our definition of "little.")

Anyway, he asked if I was okay and I nodded as bravely as possible, mentally rattling through every bad word I could think off. Then he left and I cried.

Bravely, I cried bravely. 

My hip hurt so much worse, for the next two days I slept with one pillow under my hip and another between my knees and didn't move the entire night. It was awesome.

My hip feels spades better now but for the lovely bruise where the doctor poked me so I'm pretty sure a stress fracture isn't a concern.

Though, I think I'd take a fracture over a cortisone shot any day.