Running/hip update

Since I know everyone is just dying to know how that's going ;) I thought I'd share the latest developments.  The pain in my hip came back a couple of weeks ago.  I had kind of decided to give up, and thought that maybe running just wasn't meant to be.  But, I was reading on the internet and found a less than common running injury, a labral tear, that really seemed to match my symptoms, and then in talking to my sister (who works at an orthopedic office) kind of decided to go to the Doctors one more time and see if they could find the problem.  I found this Orthopedic and Sports Med Doctor that is also an amazing runner and made an appointment to see him.  So, when I got to the appointment, they took some x-rays, then I told the Doctor my long story (I've been having this pain for the last 2 1/2 years) he pretty much knew right away what the problem was, and when he looked at the x-ray, it just confirmed his suspicions.  He is fairly certain I do have a labral tear, which is caused by something called FAI, which basically means that bone in my hip socket isn't completely round and there is little bump.  So as the bone moves around in the hip joint, it has probably torn the lining of the joint, or something like that :).  Next week I have to go in for an MRI to find out for sure what the joint looks like.  At the same time that I get the MRI, I'm going to get a cortisone shot, so I will hopefully be pain free for a little while :)  The cortisone shot is only a temporary solution, and the only way to fix the problem is surgery.  The doctor also said that as far as running goes for now, I can run if I want to.  Running won't make the injury any worse, and resting won't make it any better.  So if I can tolerate the pain, I can pretty much do what I want.

I'm finally feeling like there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but at the same time, I'm a little nervous for what this all could mean.  I'll be honest, I'm already really nervous just to get the MRI and injection, so the thought of surgery kind of freaks me out.  Hopefully by the end of next week, I'll know more what the long term plan is.