A Pain in the A***

When I signed off my last blog, I'd hoped that the next post would be a review of some exotic foreign city I'd been to on my travels. Unfortunately, things haven't quite worked out that way and I'm conscious that we haven't updated many of you on the last few weeks events.

Towards the end of my cancer treatment I was also having physiotherapy for what I thought at the time was sciatica (lower back pain, caused by a herniated disc). After six weeks without any improvement I went for an MRI scan and the results came back showing that I have avascular necrosis (link). In a nutshell, this is the degradation of my hip bone most likely caused by the steroids that I was taking to reduce the swelling around the tumours.

After a couple of cortisone injections that weren't effective, the orthopedic team I'm working with decided to perform a core decompression (link). This involves drilling a small hole into the femur head to relieve pressure and stimulate bone growth. Sounds like fun, eh?

I had that surgery a little over a week ago and have been recovering at home, on crutches, since. The pain from the original condition was bad, but since the surgery I've been in more pain than I ever thought bearable. I'm trying hard not to over-dramatise, and regular readers will know that I generally tell it like it is, but this has been tough. I find I'm counting the hours until I can take the next dose of (very strong) painkillers.

A lot of people have asked "how long until you'll get some relief?" and it's very difficult to answer. The surgeon told me beforehand that results from this procedure are 'mixed' and each patient recovers at a different rate. I can only hope that the pain I'm feeling now is the bone regenerating itself and that the decompression will achieve what was intended. If it does, then I've been told I should be able to resume normal activities (cycling, but no running) in six weeks or so.

That's been one of the hardest aspects of the last couple of months. This all came to light just as Minnesota was entering its beautiful springtime and the cyclists started flooding out onto the roads. It also means that I've had to pull out of the MS150 in June that I talked about last time - bugger!

So, there we are, another chapter. I'm just hoping it will be a short one and that next time I can bring more positive news.