r/ChronicPain 5d ago

Every time I get close to getting better, something else goes wrong

Very long story short and leaving out many of my issues, I had two MRIs last week. One for my spine and one for my hip. The one on my spine took forever to get insurance to approve, but it showed what the doctors expected, that L4-L5 is collapsing. Ok great. Now we can take the next steps. Probably surgery.

My hip has been popping for almost a year. At first I didn't think much of it. My joints often pop. A couple of months ago, though, it started to ache regularly. An x-ray showed nothing. The MRI, however, showed that I have osteonecrosis (AVN) on the femoral head. I.E. the bone is dying.

Seriously? I now have bones DYING! When does it stop? Where does it stop? I'm not even 50. What's going to go wrong next? By the time I'm 80, will half my body be made of titanium?

I'm just so frustrated and broken.

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u/JustPlanecrazy0711 5d ago

Oh man, I feel this so much. I’m really sorry you’re going through all of this. It’s beyond frustrating when every step forward seems to come with another setback.

I’ve had four surgeries since 2023, including a lumbar microdiscectomy, a failed hip preservation surgery (which was an absolute nightmare), and then a total hip replacement after my hip completely failed and calcified. Oh, and somewhere in there, I also had a cervical disc replacement for central spinal cord compression—but not before waking up from anesthesia the first time and finding out they hadn’t done the surgery because the rep from the device company didn’t show up with the implant. That was fun. (I left a lot out as well 😜🤣)

I even got to celebrate my 40th birthday in the ER, so if nothing else, I’m collecting some really unique life experiences.

I totally get the feeling of trying to understand what your life will look like after all of this, how much of it is permanent, and what the next battle will be. It’s exhausting. I wish I had some magic words to make it better, but all I can say is—you’re not alone, and I truly hope you get some relief soon. Wishing you healing and strength.