Instead of sending me back to the waiting area up front, they had me wait in the X-ray hall. Here I saw many different characters go in and out. The first was this poor guy that just went in to get his tooth pulled. I guess during the procedure he accidentally swallowed the gauze and couldn't breath normally. They had him sit out in the hallway and try to cough it up. How embarrassing! This poor guy was constantly coughing for about a half and hour! I hope that he finally coughed it up.
The next character that I came across was this sweet little old lady. She got her X-ray done and was waiting for a transfer person to bring her back to her room. The person that was suppose to transfer her took FOREVER! She explained to me that she had to go to the bathroom really bad and just wanted to go back to her room. There were no X-ray technicians around so I tracked down a really nice RN and she got her the help she needed. The transfer person came within the next ten minutes. The longest ten minutes of this ladies life. The whole entire time she complained to me that all she wanted to do was go back to her room. I tried to change the subject to get her mind off of it, but she didn't want that at all. So I just listened and nodded my head. She was very happy once they took her away.
The next woman that came through was there for a swallow test. She was explaining to her daughter that she was having a very difficult time swallowing. Not even two minutes after she stated this, she pulled out a bag of M&M's and starting eating them. Ugh.
As patient after patient went in and out of the X-rays, I waited and waited on the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on! I literally at one point had to just start walking up and down the hallway to give my hip and back a break from the chairs. Finally, two and a half hours later they said they were ready for me.
As I got ready for the arthrogram and layed on the table, the nurse and resident were getting the procedure table ready for the doctor. It was obvious that they had no idea exactly what they were suppose to do. The one technician joked with me that it sounds like the first time they were doing this, but he promises me that it wasn't. That instilled a lot of confidence. Haha. But, honestly, I didn't really mind. I knew that the doctor would make sure they were doing everything correctly and they did. The resident did the procedure with the doctor looking over his shoulder. The doctor kept giving him compliments on how well he was doing and everything looked perfect.
The procedure:
They first injected the local anesthetic to the top layer of skin (which really burns when it goes in!). They then proceeded to do this deeper and deeper into the joint. That really was the worse part. Once they had that done, I couldn't feel anything. He then put the needle in that they were going to use for the procedure and I couldn't feel it until they got really deep into the joint. Even then it wasn't really that bad. I was told that I would feel a lot of pressure in the joint when they put the contrast in but I didn't. Honestly, it was so numb that it felt great! I have had constant pain in my hip for the past 7 months and now I couldn't feel it at all! It was such a relief!
Once the procedure was done they sent me to MRI. I was told to walk over to MRI in order to make sure the contrast moved all around my joint and fulled covered everything. The ladies in MRI were very nice and made me feel really comfortable. I am claustrophobic and they made sure I was OK every step of the way. This is my THIRD MRI now! However, this one went the best out of all of them. I was given medicine to calm my nerves and oxygen to make sure I felt like I had enough air. It was over before I knew it and I was heading home.
On the car ride home the pain started to come back. However, it doesn't really hurt as much as I thought it would. Overall, the whole procedure wasn't as bad as I prepared myself for. It is a little stiff and I can't really walk much right now, but not unbearable. I did have a major headache when I got home but I think that has to do with the medicine they gave me. Right around the time the medicine was suppose to wear off was when the headache came. My headache is pretty much gone now and I'm feeling great.
Overall, I wanted to let you know that even though the procedure sounds scary, it really isn't that bad at all. You just have to breathe and get it over with. This is just one of the first steps to my journey and I'm ready for it!
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