Third Orthopedic Doctor and AVN

Since my last blog so much has happened. The doctor I was so hopeful about totally blew me off and just abandoned my case. I spent two months of my time and six appointments later for him to not even return my phone calls. Steward Orthopedics in Arizona is the worst. He caused me so much anxiety over having to have my shoulder replacement taken out and replaced. He never called me back when I called, his assistant had no notes on my case and was so rude to me each time I called her to find out what was going on. The Doctor never updated my notes or told anyone what he was doing. So here I am, six months in with the shoulder having something wrong and not knowing what is going on. It was the most frustarting and disheartening situation ever.

I gave up on Dr. Kavanaugh and Steward Orthopedics and called another Doctor, Desert Orthopedic Specialists in Tempe, Arizona which happens to be down the road from my house. It is a ten minute drive. I was nervous for the appointment and was a little anxious but it went well. Dr. Fox was very kind and nice and not judgmental about my illnesses and health problems. He said he is not sure if my shoulder needs to be replaced. He said it looks good on xrays and imaging but he wanted more time to do his research to determine if I need a ct scan of the shoulder. He also said that he can shave off the osteoarthritis in my shoulder on the AC joint and that will alleviate some of my pain I am having. He said if the shoulder needs to be replaced he can do a reverse replacement but since my shoulder replacement I currently have is huge compared to the new ones he said it would be a major undertaking to replace that shoulder.

I am concerned about the shoulder replacement but I have less anxiety and feel as though I am in good hands with Dr. Fox. He knows what he is doing. We would need to explore ways to get me through surgery due to not being able to tolerate pain meds and he was worried about a major surgery like this with my illnesses. He took my entire history into consideration. That made me feel good about my decision to move forward with him as my Doctor.

Dr. Fox and I also discussed my hip and he thinks AVN is in there so we need to repeat the MRI. It has been bad for about ten or more years now and getting worse. The other orthopedic doctors all told me they could not help me because I would need a hip replacement. Dr. Fox said its best to do a hip replacement and its an outpatient procedure for him. I would go home the same day. As we can not control my pain with pain medications I need marijuana that would be amazing and best case scenario. I do not want a hip replacement but the pain is getting worse. The injections into the hip helped a lot but we can not keep doing those as there are a little bit of steroids in the injections. So either way I need a hip replacement to stop the pain so the question is when would I do it? That would be explored at a later date. However I am so thankful I have a plan for the hip.

I am having trouble with the knees, we just did an MRI on the left knee and my ankles are bugging me too. The small joints as well and I am having a lot of trouble with my hands and elbows. The doctor tested me for RA and nothing came up so most likely its AVN or the damage is starting everywhere. The horrific part is we have no clue what is causing the AVN. Someone in one of my groups said there is a Doctor who will tell you what tests to order to find out if blood clotting issues or another rare genetic issue. At this point I am over what the cause is I just need to control it or stop it somehow. I am told there are no cures and joint replacements are all you can do besides manage the pain.

I will keep you all updated on the shoulder as I have my follow up appointment on September 30th. I have a ways to go but he needed his time to do his research to come up with the the plan. I respect that very much instead of him just writing me off.

Dr. Fox's daughter is a naturopath so I have made an appointment with her to discuss PRP treatments which could help. Its all cash pay so I need to be able to work part time to pay for it but it would be my top priority after my wedding. Once my wedding happens and I am married then I will start PRP hopefully. I will post a separate blog about all of that as naturopaths might be our only hope.

I wish you all the best and thank you for reading my blog!

Sarah