Surgery scheduled august 18 2009 Dr Poole Boise, ID
Still a few weeks to go, but I thought I would get myself
set up here. Been spending way too many late nites exploring this site- it
is great. I am feeling apprehensive about the surgery- resurfacing on the
left hip. I am 44 years old and female. Some days I think I can handle this
pain and then I take a step and actually cry out loud with pain and feel
very glad August 18 is right around the corner. It's been a long road since
December when things with my hip really went wrong. I have had years of
issues with it. I was a serious student of ballet for many years and have
been practicing yoga for nearly 30 years. I honestly never thought it would
come to this... but what can you do. The right hip has issues as well, not
quite as severe, and there is some hope that once the left hip is resurfaced
the right hip will settle down a bit. OK- I will post again when it is
closer to surgery! Lyn
5 days til surgery
Big day yesterday as had pre surgery tests (no big deal)
hip class (more reassuring than helpful as I have done such extensive
research, but getting to talk to the PT and OT I will be working with was
really great) and a meeting with my surgeon- our first since our initial
meeting nearly 5 months ago- when I had 20 minutes of his time- was told I
was a candidate for resurfacing and was not prepared at all with the
millions of questions that would form over the next months while I waited
for my surgery date (yes, it took 5 months to get one- I am a New Yorker
living in Idaho- only two surgeons doing the procedure in Boise and
evidently a long waiting list). I am 44, female, have a long history of
serious ballet study, yoga for 30 years, figure skating, and admit I was a
bit reckless with my body with respect to eating disorders and care in my
earlier adult years...all of which results in being here today. My arthritis
as it shows up on the xrays is only moderate- far more advanced than it
should be for my age- but not severe- yet. I have floating chondral and non
chondral bodies- one that is quite large and is lodged in a place where it
is likely causing some extra special pain~ My MR Arthrogram did not indicate
a labral tear, not that this means anything as they often don't show up, but
my surgeon somewhat surprised me yesterday with his reply when I asked, with
some doubt as we looked at a new xray, "Is my arthritis really so bad that
it requires this resurfacing- and if not- why do I have all this friggin
pain?" He said, "I strongly suspect you have a labral tear in addition to
bone spurs in addition to cysts in addition to the arthritis that is
evident." "Labral tear" sent me lurching into a mental backslide. I have
done the research, I know the odds of the scope surgery- esp when there is
significant arthritis present- which it is in my case, I don't want to give
away another year of my life to pain only to end up back on the waiting list
for a resurfacing...but I also don't want to lose a hunk of my hip joint if
I don't have to... So big restless nite followed by several hours on the
forum here on surfacehippy and I am almost 100 percent back on track with
confidence about my decision to do the resurfacing. I don't think I am a
viable candidate for trying scope surgery first, my surgeon says I am not
and neither he nor the sports medicine guy I started out with have any
confidence in the scope surgery and its success rates. I want my life back.
I want to be able to walk more than a block w/o debilitating pain, I want to
do yoga again, skate, hike, ---- have sex- everything that has been taken
away from me this past year. I have felt this coming for some time- even if
i did not have a name for it. Started about 5 years ago with acupuncture and
cranial sacral and massage and whatever i could find to try and "heal" the
hips. Yes, I did have an event- a very intense hip opening yoga session in
response to increased hip pain back in December 2008- December 23 to be
exact- felt ok- went to bed- woke up with pain off the scale and completely
unable to walk for a week- on crutches for another 2 weeks after that- and
slowly the pain has become manageable--- perhaps tore the labrum that nite-
perhaps it is when some of the cartilage lodged between the bones found its
new home- who knows... but I have been having recognizable hip issues since
my early 20's. So, my job now is to stop second guessing myself. I have done
hundreds of hours of reading and research- reaching out to those who have
had the surgery- read all the negatives on trying the scope to "repair" the
labrum... and I have made my decision... but I am going to keep coming back
to surface hippy every day until my surgery on the 18th to keep my mental
state strong.
9 1/2 hours til blast off
Though I have to leave my house in 5 hours as i have a 2
1/2 hour drive down the mtn to get to the hospital. I am scared but ready -
had so much to do today and now have to spend my evening catching up with
work so probably won't get any sleep not that I would have anyway - but I
would much rather be in bed watching tv and relaxing than writing. OK -
well- not a lot to say except the day before surgery is filled with anxiety
- even if you are 100 percent ready for the surgery as I am. I will talk to
you on the other side- the side w/o pain!
2 days til 3 weeks post op
first post since the nite before surgery. The past three
weeks have been....ok. The first week is hell, I am not going to lie; at
least it was for me. A migrane that came right after surgery and lasted a
week and a half along with constant nausea and vomiting. But you pull thru,
you know, you do what you gotta do. I have the added complication of a
broken left collarbone that won't heal -had a pin in it for 3 months prior
to LBHR- taken out a week before my hip surgery and it went right back to a
non union. Gonna have to go get it plated in a few weeks- so I don't have
the use of my left arm as it hurts. still i was able to manage. was on canes
(2) within a few days of coming home and am now walking well over 1/2 mile a
day with just one cane. There is aching- pretty much all the time- but not
horrible- my collarbone actually hurts worse. The incision is sore but
healing, and sitting is not something I anticipate- it hurts. I am bored and
frustrated after a year of pain and now this- can't wait to see the doc on
Wednesday- hopefully get the ok to drive and go to the hot springs to do
water therapy. the best part is that for the year leading up to this-I could
not walk 1/2 miles- not even on a good day- and now i can. it is gonna be
work to get back to me- and some days i want to scream- and i am sure after
the second collarbone surgery, which will set me back again I will be
screaming. but it is doable and if you are in pain a suggest you just do it
- stop waiting - get your life back.
3 week post op visit yesterday
And I could not be happier. Got the ok to drive, was told
I can start to do stretches as long as it is not toe in- turn in kind of
movements- I can begin water exercises and got a script for PT. And I can do
some snow shoeing this winter (I live in N Idaho and we get snow 8 months
out of the year- so walking will soon be out and snow shoeing in!) I am
going back in two months to talk about getting the other hip done before the
end of the year (for insurance reasons). It has been acting up- not as bad
as the one I had done by any means, but since it was found I had a large
chunck of cartilage missing from my ball joint during surgery- it is
suspected the same issue exists for the other. I have to get a second
surgery on my broken collar bone in a few weeks- it broke 4 months ago and
despite being pinned remains a non union. This has certainly complicated my
whole hip recovery- but not enough to make me have anything negative to say
about the hip resurfacing. Dr Poole in Boise ID, is the tops, and he has
given me my life back by resurfacing this hip. Anyone who is hemming and
hawing about having this done- who is in pain- just do it!
one month post op today!
and to celebrate - I was able to step into my pants with
no support or help from a grabber or a friend for the first time in 10
months! this is huge!
