Wherein I complain about my hip pain, and my pain in the ass insurance

I'm a little out of the loop this week. Tuesday night I walked on the treadmill for a total of 75 minutes (in two shifts) and Wednesday morning at 5:30 I woke up in pain. My right hip is swollen and more than just sore. It got worse over the day also.

I went to my doctor in the morning and they took x-rays and gave me two anti-inflammatories to try, one is a patch and the other is oral, but I'm not supposed to take them at the same time. Tried the oral one first and it didn't touch the pain at all. There was no comfortable way to stand, sit or lie down. It hurt constantly, to the point where I can confidently say it was hurting just as bad as my 12 hours of unmedicated back labor with Nicky. So we were told to go to the ER by my doc. Nicky's Grandma and Grandpa came over to sit with him while Tom took me to the ER.

While in the waiting room we got the results of the morning's x-rays, no fracture. But the ER doctor could see the swelling in my hip just by looking at it, and it hurt even to the touch. So they ordered a CT scan in case there was a hairline fracture the x-ray missed. 45 minutes later that came back clear too. The ER doc said the next step would be to get my normal doctor to order an MRI. They did give me a script for heavy duty pain meds though. I really didn't want to take anything since we are trying to get pregnant, but I can't stand this pain.

Of course the doctor's office was closed by now, so had to wait till morning. I put on the anti-inflammatory patch to see if that would do better than the oral one,(it hasn't), and then took the first Lortab (heavy pain med) too. I can say that after a while the Lortab is allowing me to at least sit, in a very specific way, not-moving an inch, without pain, so that is definitely worth it. But still, any movement, even just rotating my foot slightly, causes the excruciating pain. Getting to and from the bathroom, which is about 15 steps away from my recliner, is just as painful as without the medicine. It hurts more than getting around after my c-section did!

This is just a crazy amount of pain to be in after a stroll on the treadmill. Yes, it was longer than I was used to, but I had it on the slowest setting and we just spent 3 days at Disney a month ago, where I walked 12-16 hours a day straight, pushing or carrying Nicky and a backpack. The only pain from Disney were blisters.

So today I called to get the MRI scheduled. My doc had to go thru my insurance company, who sent it to "physician approval" so that a doc at Avmed would be looking at it. And they denied it. DENIED it! They said I would need to first go through 4 weeks of physical therapy. WTF?

I figured they must just not get how much pain we're talking about here. So I called them for an expedited appeal and talked the phone answerer person's ear off. Of course you don't get to talk with anyone who can actually make a decision. So she will pass that along and IF this qualifies as an expedited claim, they'll respond within 72 hours. That's freakin MONDAY people! And if it doesn't qualify, then they have 30 days to respond AND I have to send my appeal in writing.

I'm so glad I pay hundreds of dollars a month for insurance. Argh!

So I sit, frozen into a single position in my recliner, jacked up on Lortab and dreading the next time I have to go to the bathroom, or move at all. I have my last huge project due soon, and of course it's a group project, so I am not affecting just my own grade by being out of commission.

Oh, and then today, I started running a fever. Low grade at 99.9, but I rarely run fevers, and this one isn't related to any cold symptoms. Just a fever causing burny eyeballs and general achiness. I don't know if it can be related to the hip pain or not. But this is just crazy to be laid up, totally disabled, out of nowhere. I want answers damn it!