Lari, I feel your pain...

[Guest guest]

Lari,

I read with interest your post. I'm at 6 months and I too " do NOT have

the sense that I've benefitted in any way from this procedure " . I'm in more

pain now than I was before the surgery. My pain also is under the incision,

sharp, hot pain. Then in the groin area, the front of the thigh, and the back.

Then

when I stand it REALLY starts up. It's a deep aching pain that goes down the

leg to the foot. When I sit it's only in the joint area. By the end of the day

to walk 2 blocks to the parking garage is incredibly painful. Dr Mont had me

get an MRI when I mentioned the leg pain and they found spinal stenosis of the

lumbar spine. So I'll see a spine specialist tomorrow and his associate, a

neurosurgeon, next week. I'm HOPING that they say the pain is for the stenosis,

but I doubt it. I think the stenosis is just something else the old body has

acquired.

I think that something has happened under the femoral cap that can't be

seen and will take a few more painful months before it shows. That seems to be

the scenario from other people whose surgeries failed. When I first woke up

after surgery I was thrashing all over the bed in pain. The anesthesiologist

walked by and said this shouldn't be happening. The nurse watching over me said

the epidural bag hadn't arrived from the pharmacy yet. So I thrashed for about

20 to 30 minutes, sitting up, moving back and forth etc. I think that's when

something happened.. and it will take a while for it to show up. I HOPE I'm

wrong but it seems each month it gets worse and I fear I'm right. The pain

started when I first went to 1 crutch and the weight bearing began. I've done

everything else I was supposed to do so I know it's not from any thing that I

did

or didn't do.

What is an isotope bone scan? What does it show? Can they see under the

femoral cap? Good luck to you. Hang in there, I'll be thinking of you.

Tom in San Francisco

Mont C+ 10/03