First Epidural Tomorrow wish me luck

My neurosurgeon isn't sure that my symptoms aren't related to my hip arthritis. I had my right hip replaced about 10 years ago and I do have arthritis in my left hip; But I had an x-ray a year ago at an orthopedist's office and the physician's assistant (not Dr) who reviewed it said it didn't look bad. At that time my pain was completely negligible compared to what I experience now, and limited to the hip area, which was comparable to the pain I had years ago from the other hip.

Among other things, my lumbar MRI shows degenerative disc disease at L3-4, with collapse of the disc base on the left side. There is some neuroforaminal stenosis and compression on the left L3 nerve root, as well as some facet arthropathy**.** 

My pain has worsened over the past year. At this point it's in my back, left butt, groin, thigh, shin, ankle and foot (all left side). By the end of each day, it's debilitating - I cannot stand. At my best, I can barely walk - And that's with 1400 mg Gabapentin each day. I'm 71 and I know things begin falling apart, but this is not what I envisioned for my golden years (not that I actually expected them to be golden, but COME ON!).

I guess the difficulty in diagnosis when the hip is also involved, is a pretty common situation; so I understand that this injection is basically a diagnostic tool: If it succeeds in lessening or eliminating some/all of my pain, my problem is spinal. If not, it's my hip. I also have an upcoming appointment (at my neurosurgeon's direction) with a different orthopedist.

So tomorrow's a big day for me, I hope to hell I get some relief because I feel like I've lost a year to this nonsense, at a point when time is becoming more and more precious. Best wishes to all who suffer.