The Journey Begins

I've been researching this hip thing and the only blogs I've come across are ones that were done with the old school style of surgery. That is, with the huge incision, cutting of muscles, and long recovery periods. My surgery is going to be MIS (minimally invasive) so I won't have to face so many of those challenges.

I thought I'd start a blog to help others who might be facing the "great unknown" AKA hip replacement at the young age of 40 (and a half!). It's not all that common to have a THR (Total Hip Replacement) at such a young age, but it's also not unheard of. From what I've learned, the younger you are, the more revisions (more surgeries) you may have to face as you age. Why? Simply put, the parts wear out. But, hey, my original parts have worn out, too, so I may as well get new ones. Right? If I can get a few years of relief from prostheses, I think it will be worth it, even though I'm terrified at the prospect of going through this.

So-- what got me to the point of considering a THR? I've been having hip pain since I was about 7 years old. Why? Who knows. But I remember always struggling to participate in Phys. Ed. class, running was out of the question. Sure, I'm a klutz by nature, but the pain/discomfort far exceeded my limited athletic abilities. I always felt like a goofball-- rather like a crippled platypus trying to vault over a hurdle -- but couple that with shooting, throbbing pain, what 7 y.o. girl is going to really put herself out there? Yeah, I was always picked last for the team in school, but can you blame anyone?

Fast forward to me at age 35-- still struggling with hip challenges. By that time I'd been diagnosed with Chronic Late-Stage Lyme Disease which means I struggle with chronic pain every single day. But the hip? Yowza. It was worsening. Finally I was diagnosed with a tear in the Acetabular Labrum. The only surgeon who was able to help me with that was over 300 miles away so my DH and I traveled to see him multiple times. The Doc was able to remove the torn areas of the Labrum via an arthroscopic procedure. That helped for a good 2 years, but then things started going down hill again.

I was diagnosed with arthritis in the joint after that, but it was never quite bad enough to do anything about. However, over the last 10 months things have gotten even worse in the hip.

I went back to my surgeon (300 miles away) last month and he said that he felt I needed to have a THR. So, in 2 days I'm going back up there to meet with him and another surgeon to see if we can map out a course of action. I'm more than a little worried about all of this so I'm going to whine a little in this blog (yep, you've been warned! LOL), and try to share the experience with you.

I have read some other blogs, as I've said, and the folks chronicled their post-op journey. It was fascinating reading, but because they had the traditional surgery, recovery was a lot harder, more painful, and took longer. I would LOVE to read a journey that more paralleled my situation. Since I can't find one, I'm doing this for all those folks who are facing a MIS THR (that looks like a license plate, doesn't it?). Maybe I can help someone else through sharing my experiences.

So-- the next post will be after I meet with the surgical team. See you then!