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June 18, 2006
The Amazing Body
Hi, Folks. I'm just sitting here reading all the recent
posts; I'm still very interested in everyone's story. It's
been 2.5 years since my surgery (with Dr. Gross) and I'm
moving better than ever. But such wasn't always the case.
For a full year before being diagnosed w/ OA, my lower back
hurt all the time. My right knee hurt almost as much. I
literally had to use my hands to pick up my left leg to put
it in the car. I consumed bottles & bottles of ibuprophen. I
had no idea what was wrong; my family doc kept suggesting
back surgery. Finally I could go no longer. I went to the
E.R. because I could not stand the pain one more day. Simple
X-rays diagnosed bone-on-bone OA in my left hip. They
referred me to a surgeon. He scared the ---- out of me. He
insisted that resurf (which I read about on the internet)
was a total failure. He wasn't nice about it either!
Scheduled me for a THR -- and when I left his office, I was
nauseated. Back on the web I went. AND found the
Surfacehippy site. I contacted Dr. Gross's office --
qualified, and had surgery on Feb 2, 2004. End of story? Not
quite. For a month after surgery, I had unbelievable
insomnia. Could NOT sleep. Also, had huge panic attacks for
about that same time. Something in the anesthetic... No
pain, at least not as I had come to know and hate it. But I
felt very very fragile. I followed the doc's instructions
and read on this site about newly post-op hippys climbing
mountains, running marathons, downhill skiing. Me? My
muscles were so messed up that I couldn't walk from a
parking lot to a store without seizing up. Hurt? Oh my lord,
did it hurt. Trouble was, I no longer knew how to walk! My
muscles had so learned to compensate for my malfunctioning
hip, that they no longer knew how to do their jobs. I
remember posting messages asking for HELP -- what was wrong
with me? Why wasn't I recovering? Well, it turns out that it
just took time. And steady persistence. I kept walking. I
remember when I realized that walking quickly caused me no
muscle seizing, while walking slowly about killed me. Ah
Hah! So I walked quickly until my muscles remembered how to
work. All of that took close to a year. Now I am back to
working out, doing heavy yard work, biking, anything I want
or need to do. My lower back and my right knee have
absolutely no pain. One bottle of ibuprophen will last
forever. I take Omega 3 (flaxseed oil) every day. Because I
can now exercise, I've lost a lot of weight (2-3 sizes in
clothes) and feel better than ever. My follow-up exams show
everything to be "perfect." I have them done by a local OS
and am trying to educate him on the value of resurfacing.
All of this is to say: Listen to your own body. You will
progress if you're steady and pay attention to what your
body is telling you. It took years to get in such bad shape.
It took only a year (or so) to get back into decent shape.
And I am grateful beyond what words can express. Joyce (Dr.
Gross, LHR, 2/04)
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