So today was the BIG day. I finally went in to see Dr. Peters about my hip and to talk to him about performing a PAO surgery on me in the next few weeks. This appointment has been in the works for the past 3 months, and getting that appointment was somewhat of a fight and a struggle.
Chris and I dropped the kids off at school this morning and then headed into SLC. My appointment was at 9:30 a.m. but we didn't even get in to see the Dr. until after 11:00. Apparently, that is just a "normal" day for Dr. Peters!
Anyway, I got new x-rays, and we sat and talked with Dr. Peters' head resident for quite awhile. He was very nice, and actually told us some things that were "new" at least to me. I had been under the impression that the PAO was the best option for me because I was young, and this surgery would "fix" my problem making it so that I would no longer require a hip replacement. Well...that is not correct. The PAO would give me an extended life on my hip, but I would only be prolonging the inevitable. In fact, I would most likely only get about 10 years on my original hip before I needed to have it replaced. That was news to me, and made me think that maybe this wasn't such a hot option after all.
We continued to listen and ask questions, and basically what it boiled down to was my new x-rays, they would show us if I still had enough cartilage left to perform the PAO, and Dr. Peters' approval. Looking at my original X-rays, it looked like I had enough cartilage and would most likely get Dr. Peters' approval.
The Resident left, and then came back a few minutes later to show us my new x-rays. I don't know if the difference in the x-rays was because in the first I was lying down and in the second I was standing, or if it was more the fact that it had been about 9 months since my first x-rays, but I have little to no cartilage left. In fact I am pretty much bone on bone, and my dysplasia is much worse than the original x-rays showed. About 50% of my hip ball is exposed, which is a lot more than I thought. Of course the Resident couldn't tell us if that made me no longer a candidate or not, that was Dr. Peters call, but he wanted to prepare us for the "no".
Long story short, I no longer qualify. I guess maybe if I hadn't been so stubborn, and if I had been more aggressive in getting things going, the outcome may have been different, but things are what they are now, and sadly there is no going back.
My only option now is to have my hip totally replaced. While we were talking, and Dr. Peters was telling us that the surgery was no longer possible, I was fighting back tears, and trying not to lose it. I realize that I am 34, but to me that just seems way to young be having a surgery like that! I was more than a little bummed out and upset by the news, but there are some definite bright sides.
The biggest being that I am going ahead and doing what would have had to be done anyway, and I am doing it when I'm younger instead of 10 years older. Who knows what my body would be like in 10 more years! :) The other big bright side is the recovery time. The PAO surgery was going to be a BEAST to recover from, and I knew that. I was scared of all the down time I was going to have, and all the things I was not going to be able to do. I was looking at 6 months on crutches, and a complete year to recover. I guess when you only have 10 good years left, it seems like a real waste to be healing for a year of that!
So I am going to have my hip replaced and I am going to have the Dr. who did my mom's do mine. My mom has had amazing results, and really liked Dr. Bertin. He also comes highly recommended, Dr. Peters recommended him, so those two opinions are good enough to me.
I feel good about the decision that was made, I guess it isn't much of a decision anymore. Live with the pain, or get it replaced, but as much as I did not want to have to have a hip replacement, I think in many ways it is the best thing for me.
My biggest goals going into this were to find a way to one, get rid of the pain, two, go back to living a normal life and doing all the things I want to do and had been doing, and three, to have another baby. All of those goals can be met with a hip replacement. As much as it makes me feel old, I will meet my goals, and that was the most important thing to me.
My appointment with Dr. Bertin is March 24th, and hopefully I will leave his office with a surgery date. I should be up and doing things like normal with in 3-6 weeks, which sounds MUCH better than 6 months, another baby...well, hopefully he or she will make their presence known sooner rather than later. :)
6 comments:
praying for you. I pray you have peace until your next appointment..pain-free (or as little as possible) peace. You are going to be able to do so many things that cause you pain now, and it will be totally worth it :)
I just had to delete and retype. I should totally STOP watching TV and type at the same time..nothing makes sense. ;)
Wow....I hope that things go really well for you, but I'm sure it really will be worth it when you are pain free. Good luck!! :)
You poor thing! From what my cousin says (she's a physical theripist) she say's the hips are not too bad. Who know's, maybe you will be wishing you had done it years ago (once you are all recovered and all). Let me know if you need help with Keric, and we can keep Cam and Reag here as long as you guys need us to. Good luck!
Hey I am blog stalking ;) My cousin had her hip replaced at 24! So you made it ten years longer than her. She did it so she could have a baby.
well for hells sake! no wonder you have been in so much pain!!! bottom line, you can still get pregnant after all is said and done?!!! i seriously wouldnt spend another second worrying about the surgery. just get it over with and get on with your life. you will be back to normal and makin' babies before you even know it!
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