From the needle in Saigon to California on crutches

Okay, acupuncture, physical therapy, stretching regimen, light exercise and don't even think of moving were all things recommended by Doctors to repair my damaged leg I hurt while working out in Saigon. Meanwhile, I've been in pain and barely able to walk for going on four months.  Also to my consternation doctors look at me and my white hair then seem to lose interest in doctoring, relegating me to the group of over the hill guys not worth their time. They don't really say that but since my injury the traditional Chinese herbal and acupuncture doc was the only one that came up with a treatment plan except for the crutches which Dr Shea sports medicine specialist at Mercy Medical Group prescribed to keep my weight off the leg in the hope it would heal itself.

Though it’s interesting that Dr Shea's strategy came to pass as a result of my complaints about the failure of physical therapy to improve my condition and was more of a shot from the hip (no pun intended) than a real plan. Waiting in one of those little exam rooms for an hour as they looked for the results of my MRI report, once found, minutes pass, he mumbles about the sad state of my hip and something about a hip replacement to fix it. I add that I had been running/walking 2 – 3 miles a day for as long as I can remember and this is my first problem but I add I'm still in pain but not as bad as it was. So the injury seems to be slowly improving but it’s so slow I'm getting depressed. All this as he is trying to slip out the door and over his shoulder he tells to keep my weight off of it and use crutches and would leave a note with the receptionist referring me to a surgeon and he was gone. His referrals first opening was months away but after I made a scene in the reception area they found another doc with a sooner opening but still a couple weeks away, not good but better.

Meanwhile, I'm conflicted over this whole deal, they are talking hip replacement and as I said I had never experienced any problem before until this latest injury. Even then the pain wasn't really in the hip but generally in the upper part of my leg. Nobody wants to hear my explanation of where it hurt when I injured it so have had an MRI and ex-ray of the hip and from this they all say my hip is warn, arthritis they say. They are probably correct about a warn hip and arthritis but up until the injury I had no problems with it. Doctors I fear have become just parts changers like auto mechanics and feel doctoring just takes too much time and time is money.

Meanwhile, I'm here in California but have a lot of stuff to write about on Vietnam. So please follow me and become a member.

Doug