Greetings from Music City...

First off, my thoughts & prayers go out to everyone in Boston and all the members of my running family.  I heard the news just an hour before we boarded our flight to Nashville, and sitting in the airport was a different experience.  The only noise to be heard was the overhead announcements and the two TVs in our terminal.  People got off flights unaware of what had gone on.  People were hugging, calling others, shielding their children from the screens.  Columbus Airport did a fantastic job responding. There were security guards at every terminal and even in the jetway as we boarded the planes.  The same was seen when we arrived in Nashville.  While it was scary to leave home hours after a terrorist attack in our country, I felt safe the entire time and I am thankful for that.

Our first stop today: 

I finally got to meet Dr. Byrd today!  On my previous trip I had met with his nurse practitioner so I was excited to meet with him today.  He was so nice and genuine, I feel like I am in great hands.  He talked through my procedure and what I could expect.  He just had a great way of making me feel at ease which was great timing as my nerves are starting to kick in full blast. He was honest in that we really won't know what my recovery will be like until they go in and see what the damage is.  If the torn labrum is all they need to repair he said I could be off crutches as early as 4 weeks!   He decided that since it had been so long since I had any imaging done that he would like another MRI done before surgery.  He sent me over to the next stop of the day for a CT scan and MRI of my hip.

Next stop...

We arrived at the Centennial Medical Center imaging tower to find a long registration line!  Everyone here was super helpful and oh so nice.  That's one of the many things that I love about Tennessee, everyone is so nice and have such great manners!  Plus I love that everyone calls me 'sweetie' and 'darlin', gosh I love the south!  My first stop was for a CT scan of my hip. This was an open machine and only lasted about 10 minutes.  The worst part about this was the way they had to position me for the imaging.  Laying on my back with my toes pointed in and then they rubber band them together to make sure they can fully see the hip joint.  This was extremely uncomfortable and put a lot of strain on my hip that I am not used to.  

I returned to the waiting room to wait for my MRI.  Eventually I got called back for my 40 minute MRI.  As soon as I entered the room I began to panic. It was a closed MRI.  The only time I have ever had a closed MRI I had a Valium before to help with my claustrophobia.  I didn't have much time to react so I just went with it.  I quickly asked if I would have to go all the way in the tube and the nice nurse told me yes.  He must have seen the panic in my face because he automatically asked if I wanted ear plugs and a wash cloth to put over my eyes which I immediately took him up on.  I laid down on the table and out came the big rubber band to go around my feet again.  40 minutes of this? I began to sweat, more.  From there they put a metal cage type looking thing over my hips to keep me flat on the table.  Enter a claustrophobic nightmare.  I was proud of myself for facing my fear and getting through it, but left with white knuckles and pit stains. Literally.

After that we went over to our favorite restaurant in Nashville for lunch...

Yummy food that hit the spot since we were at Centennial for 3 hours!  From there we to fill my prescriptions and went back to the hotel.

Tomorrow is the day! I will keep you all posted. I will try to at least post a picture tomorrow, not sure how coherent I will be to write much.  Next time on this blog I will have a fixed hip! Stay tuned...