What Made You Decide to Have Hip Replacement?
I finally had met the right surgeon. This was crucial, having been discharged at 18 from my childhood surgeon I had gone ten years without a surgeon whom I had faith in.
I also was noticing deterioration in quality of life with reduced mobility and with it overall health.
The pain was at times debilitating, more tiring if anything else, after a life time of hip problems, I had no idea my pain barrier was such until close friends told me that it was time to stop fighting and start living again, this above all else, the support from family and close friends who insisted that I should go for it.
What Were You Not Prepared For?
I had surgery at the age of 28. I had a total hip replacement and femoral shortening osteotomy carried out in Guys hospital London in January 2009. It was to be my seventh surgical procedure after a lifetime of trouble due to a developmental dislocation of the hip which was not diagnosed until the age of 7. I was therefore used to major surgery.
The main thing I was not prepared for was the improvement it would make to my life, between reduced pain and increased mobility.
I had some pain management issues in hospital, with the initial week being a bit of a battle, as we sought to establish the correct dosages. But once this was sorted the pain was fine, the downside was the tiredness which this brought on.
I also had bowel problems, with severe constipation, brought on by the trauma, the medication, and the lack of mobility. My advice would be to take any laxatives on offer from the outset.
I spent ten days in hospital the first eight of these being pretty ill, the next six weeks saw pretty good recovery followed by a long period of more gradual recovery. After 18 to 20 months I felt I had reached my peak. My posture had totally changed, the muscle mass around my leg had totally transformed itself and I had never been so strong. This was as a result of the structural changes in my skeletal structure. I only really limp now when I am tired and the hip does not give me any pain whatsoever.
Lessons Learned
- Despite having the surgery at 28, it’s still my view I could have put it off for another five or ten years, by increasing medication.
- So the main lesson learned was to be decisive about such issues, to take control of ones health is the biggest responsibility in life we have.
- You can’t put the price on finding the correct surgeon, I have saw many surgeons over the years, and been impressed by few, but your stomach will tell you when it is right.
- Don’t put it off!
