So, if you know me or have had the privilege of listening to me whine about it online, you’re aware that I suffer from what I like to call POORLY DESIGNED ANATOMY, also known as hip dysplasia.
The short story is my hip sockets are too shallow, which has caused arthritis and bone spurs in my right hip.
I’m in pain every day. Even if I’m not moving, I’m in pain. I always know when it’s going to rain. It’s getting much worse much more quickly as time goes on, and I’ve noticed other parts of my body are starting to suffer, specifically my left knee and foot that support all the weight I can’t put on the right side of my body.
I’m never in alignment and I always have knots in my lower back. My limp has gone from noticeable to, “Hey! What the heck happened to you? Why are you walking like that?”
It’s gotten to the point where just putting a sock on my right foot is painful and difficult because I’ve lost so much mobility in the right hip. It moves like, well, NOT AT ALL. I can do less and less with much greater pains than ever before.
Seriously. It sucks.
Physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications have done very little to help a problem that there’s really no cure for, save surgery.
The orthopedic surgeon I see in Erie doesn’t know what to do with me or my stupid hip. He seems to understand the pain level is becoming intolerable but he has never put an artificial hip into a 29-year old woman. His main concern is the younger I am when I have the replacement, the more likely I am to need multiple replacements down the road.
“I put an artificial hip into someone and hope it lasts for 20 to 30 years,” he told me last night. “I need yours to last 60.”
Soooo, he’s sending me to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for consult on a total hip replacement.
There is an alternative hip resurfacing procedure, but my orthopedic said it’s unlikely that anyone will perform one on a young female of child-bearing age because the metal on metal involved circulates metal in the bloodstream, which could be dangerous to an unborn baby. (Uh, and me.)
I’m hoping that the doctor I’m going to see in Pittsburgh will tell me to wait. I’m hoping that he’ll tell me to hang in there until I can’t possibly take it anymore. I don’t want to have hip surgeries the rest of my life. That is ridiculous. I’m not even 30 yet.
But I also can’t bear the thought of 10 to 15 more years of pain that’s so bad I dread standing for even an hour. Thirty minutes on the elliptical and I undoubtedly wake up in the middle of the night in a ridiculous amount of pain. I can’t even run into the grocery store without a pit in my stomach because I better hurry and find what I need before my hip becomes unbearable.
And if things are this bad now, how am I going to chase all my future dirty, snot-nosed toddlers around the trailer park and Wal-Mart parking lot with a hip that doesn’t function properly? That’s totally unacceptable.
Actually, I’m scared. And that really pisses me off.
3 Comments
December 18, 2009 at 4:42 pm
I’m sorry Katy. It sounds so painful, but I hope you get some hopeful news at the Pittsburgh medical center. Please keep us posted.
December 19, 2009 at 1:45 am
Hi Katy. I also have bilateral dysplasia and am getting my L hip replaced at the end of Jan. I’m a bit older than you (late 40’s) but feel like it’s worth it to start enjoying my life again. THR has changed so much so the procedure, recovery is faster and the parts last so much longer. I would encourage you to get as many opinions as possible and send your x-rays to other hip specialists (even out of state) who can give you a phone consultation. I consulted with 7 doctors before I finally made my decision. I highly recommend my doctor, Dr. John Moreland in Santa Monica CA. He has a great hip manual that you can download for free as well. http://orthodoc.aaos.org/johnmorelandmd. /library.cfm. There’s a procedure called periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) that’s done to reshape the socket using your own bone. Has anyone mentioned this to you? It’s a big surgery, but usually done for younger people. Dr. Joel Matta, also in Santa Monica is the nation’s top PAO surgeon if that’s something you want to pursue. Keep searching for answers because you deserve to live without so much pain. All the best…
March 5, 2010 at 3:44 am
Hi Katy
I just read some of your blog and I felt the need say hello; also, to offer some humble encouragement.
Listening to the eternal optimist within me, I guess you could consider the following;
You are young. Less than 30. The best thing about being young is that your body heals infinitely faster than if you were say, 40, or even worse, 50. I don’t know anything about hip dysplasia but I do know that with any sort of surgery, youth helps. A lot. I can’t comment on your pain either but I can say that this is the best time in history to have any sort of medical issue, given the nature and rapid development of the latest in technology, be it with procedures or treatments.
I’d get multiple opinions – sounds like you already have, or are in the process of doing so. Put yourself in a position of being able to make the best possible decision, based on the information you’ve gathered. Knowledge is power and the more you have the better your final decision will be.
I’d like very much to think that you’ll find that special solution – act on it, and be rewarded with the mobility and pain-free life that someone of your age deserves. Chin up kid, the sun can’t hide behind the clouds forever.
Sincerely
Adam