Hallelujah!

No Avascular Necrosis!
Yaaaaayyyy!!!

via GIPHY

Seriously. I can't lie. I was freaking out about the possibility of having to deal with dying femur bones. I am so relieved.

It's been a while since I had to wait more than a matter of days to get any information about my health, or questions answered. It's also been a while since I have had an unknown diagnosis that was potentially as serious as avascular necrosis.
I believe that the last scare was a multiple sclerosis overlap about 2 years ago, which was thankfully negative as well. But even then, the MRI was ordered, performed and evaluated in about a week. This four week wait felt like an eternity.

Ugh! I am so relived.

Here are the official MRI results:

“The hip MRI's are negative for bone destruction such as avascular necrosis. The cartilage is normal, no fractures, no joint effusion, no muscle inflammation, no tendon tears, the sacroiliac joints are normal.
There is mild degenerative change in the lumbar spine.
A small defect is seen at the right hip where the cartilage has separated from the labrum on the top of the joint. The labrum is a piece of rubbery cartilage (fibrocartilage) attached to the rim of the shoulder or hip socket to keep the ball of the joint in place. Tears can occur with injury or as part of aging. No treatment is needed unless causing pain, the defect can be repaired.
If you are still having difficulty I would have you speak with an Orthopedic specialist.”

I responded to Dr. Grandits with the following questions:

When you mention that there was no muscle inflammation - does that include the thigh area where there has been inflammation in the past? (This would be a major “YAY!”)

Since I have been having the shooting pain in the thighs, could this potentially be activity or changes in the muscle tissue that I'm feeling?
If you think that an Orthopedic Specialist may be able to shed more light on the pain and any reasoning behind it, I would be happy to speak with one, as the pain in my hips and thighs has been pretty bothersome.

 Lastly, I remember that you said that a degenerative change was also noticed on the MRI done of my neck a year or so again. Is this something that I should be concerned about now that it is also on the lower back?
Or perhaps an Orthopedic Specialist can address most of these questions?

I am anxiously awaiting her response and will share once I have more information. After reading a little more about labrum issues in the hip, I did some movements that are supposed to aggravate the area and I’ll be damned – I got a pain response! 

I am very curious to see if that pain can trigger the shooting sensation or if that is something else going on in my thigh muscles, where I have had cell damage from past flares. Maybe those muscles are trying to regenerate? Maybe they’re toast? I don’t know. This is Grade A doctor business, so I’ll wait to see what the pros think!

I continue to progress in a positive direction, however I have had a little trouble with fatigue in the past couple of weeks. I would be willing to guess that the stress and anticipation of the MRI results greatly contributed to my exhaustion. While a great day with family, Easter totally wiped me out.
I still struggle with having more than one “activity” per day as well, however I’m happy to report that taking a shower and getting ready is no longer counting as an “activity” in itself! This is major progress!

I hope that I can share more positive news soon!
Stay tuned!
M