That's what the first doctor said to me before Christmas.
I am scheduled for a MRI and consultation with Dr. Mast up in Mammoth. His specialty (he brought the technique to the States over 20 years ago) is periacetabular osteotomy. They go in and dislocate the femur from the pelvis and cut up the socket part of the hip to better fit/cover the ball part of the femur. The cut up pieces are pinned together and you grow bone. That's at least what I think the procedure is and what I've been told I need. I have insufficient coverage of the remoral ball and that's what's been giving me that burning pain in the groin the last year and a half and ended my career as a wanna be Rockette. It's a congenital thing. My friend had the same problem and waited too long. That's why she has artificial hips now.
The second and last guy I saw said I was a very good candidate for this surgery, that I needed to work hard to keep my "native" hip because it would last 30 years as opposed to 10 on artificial, and that I needed to consider doing this soon. He's the one referring me to Mast.
Mast will be the one to say, "Get out of here, you are wasting my time" (he only does younger patients and athletes and I am at the old end of the scale he'll consider) or "When are we scheduling you?"
Recovery is 6 months per hip. 3 months with no more weight bearing than 30lbs of pressure on the operated hip. I will become good friends with pain killers and lie on my back for days. There will be days I won't be able to do more than lie there while Wyatt watches his Wiggles or Barney (the horror, the horror, Wyatt really likes this one Barney video that Auntie Gerrie gave us) next to me.
I did a very good job, I think, of not crying like a baby at the doctor's office when they told me some of this. The second doctor I saw said that Wyatt will learn to know me by my voice commands. Both he and the nurse reiterated that I would get well some day and it wasn't like I had cancer.
It's true.
But I am a control freak. I have a boy who is like a monkey on speed. I love him sooooo very much and I will miss out on a lot of being there for him. He is particularly clingy right now. We're not sure why. I have a supportive husband who will have to do double duty and lose spousal use of me for a long, long time. There is fear. There is guilt. We will spend a pretty penny just so I don't grimace when I walk. We just closed escrow on the rental property a few days ago. I booked some frequent flier tickets to Europe for September the day before I got the hip news. I would very much like to still go.
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4 comments:
Did you end up having the surgery?
I ended up having a "derotational femoral osteotomy" last November. They went in, cut the femur in half horizontally, and reset it at a new angle (lower half of leg turned in 15-20 degrees) It wasn't nearly as invasive as a PAO, I think. Basically, it allows the head of the femur to rest in the socket of the hip at a normal angle and slow down the progression of arthritis. Dr. Mast (who assisted on the first PAO ever and brought it to the US) was the one who made the call not to do a PAO.
Will still need a hip replacement in a decade or so, but it took away a lot of pain, doesn't feel unnatural, and still allows me to ski or bike. Menstrual periods are a pain, though, and the cysts that already formed in the socket get inflamed.
I just saw that you had exactly the same pre-op experience I did, as in , "Is this even necessary? I'm not in THAT much pain to warrant this HUGE sugery, am I?" In the case of the Femoral Osteotomy (my sockets were borderline deep enough), I was only feeling so good pre op because it was still warm weather. Had I not had the surgery, the hip would have continued to degenerate.
I wish you luck with your procedure. I rather enjoyed the "time off" in a strange way.
Swiss Kriss, the herbal laxative, was a godsend, as were the compression stockings and percocet at night.
I will either have the other leg done this winter or have the angle plate in the hip removed. The angle plate (huge, thick) doesn't set off airport detectors.
Take care of yourself.
Tricia
Thanks so very much for the quick reply! One of my sockets is borderline, I should ask my dr about another option. I cannot even think of having one surgery, let alone plan out another one.
The femoral osteotomy was a good alternative only because I was so splay legged and footed (outturned), like Charlie Chaplin.
Good luck in finding all your questions answered.
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