Monthly Archives: December 2013

My Unscrew’d New Years

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It’s that time again – time for New Years Champaign and celebrations another hip surgery!  Heck, I would barely know it was the holidays were it not for my annual surgery (in case you’re counting, this is year 3).

The good news is that this one’s supposed to be WAY easier than the last two.  As of 12:30pm tomorrow, New Years Eve, I am having all of the screws in my hips removed.  The procedure, expected to take less than an hour, will be bilateral (on both hips) and will involve my fantastic surgeon removing 5 screws from my right hip and 3 from my left greater trochanter.  Two big incisions to be sure (they will be reopening the incisions that were previously made and healed), but hopefully not TOO much pain.  If all goes perfectly, I could be home in time to see the ball drop.  Otherwise, I’ll see it from my bed at HSS.  I honestly hate New Years Eve so spending the day in the hospital didn’t sound like such a bad option.

The screws have been rubbing the soft tissue and causing a lot of pain and inflammation, especially on my left side where the pain shoots into my knee and all the way down to my ankle.  On the right side, I can feel the heads of the screws through my skin — CREEPY! On a positive note, the screws are no longer needed.  Since they were initially installed (in December 2012 and May 2013), new bone has grown in the spaces that the screws were holding in place and now they are superfluous.  The idea is that once the screws are all removed and I get back to physical therapy, there should be no impediment to my getting better — like all the way, walk without pain or a limp, do things like a normal person, better.

Until tomorrow!

1 Year post-PAO

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1 year ago at this hour I was in the PACU (Hospital for Special Surgery’s post-surgical ICU), newly broken hip held together with screws, drugged to the nines and unable to move my right foot (because, as we later learned, the epidural was in a bit too deep). I was just at the beginning of this latest stage in my hip journey. I was hopeful that my right hip would be in pretty good shape by this past May and had not even started to realize how hard my recovery would be.

There’s no new news today but I felt that this is a day I needed to acknowledge, like a birthday for my sorta-new right hip. In less than 3 weeks the 5 screws will be gone – they will be removed along with the 3 screws in my left femur (the remnants of my May surgery). My right hip scar is healed to the point that it’s hard to see, in some places, where the incision was. That will all be reopened soon enough but for now, it seems like such a long time since I really even thought about it.

People ask me if my right hip feels better than before the surgery. The thing is I think it does but I don’t really know. Before the surgery I had pain when I would do certain strenuous activities. Now, I have some level of pain anytime I’m not sitting or lying flat on my back. I don’t do strenuous activities because the pain makes it impossible. I feel confident that once the screws are out and the soft tissue stops getting rubbed the wrong way I will be able to give a better ‘status report’. Like the one year ago version of me I am hopeful.

Before my surgery I had posted a very personal message to those of you who have followed my surgeries and recoveries. I promised to update my site and all of you, to push myself out of my shell and write even when I wanted to hide. And I asked you to stick by me so that I would not have to go through this alone. Please know how incredibly thankful I am for all of you.  It has been a rough year and I cannot thank you enough for sticking by me, and continuing to do so.  I have also been happy to learn that my site has been a resource for other ‘hipsters,’ with over 12,000 views from people in 65 countries.  I am certainly not alone.

As an aside, some holiday carolers we’re wandering down my Brooklyn street and for the first time this year, it felt a little bit like Christmas. Since I likely won’t post again until closer to the New Year and my next surgery, let me wish you all a lovely and joyful holiday season full of love, happiness, and a whole lot of hope.