Category Archives: Procedures

Beginning to recover

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It’s the day after the big day and I am feeling surprisingly ok. Yesterday was rough, partly because of the surgery but also because I lost all feeling in my foot and lost the ability to move it. As it turns out, I had a reaction to the epidural that caused my foot to go totally numb. It may have been the meds or the placement of the epidural catheter itself but for about 12 hours it was unclear whether my foot was going to work again. However, the effect has mostly (thankfully) worn off and the foot is almost back to normal.

The surgery seems like it was pretty straightforward – 4 breaks to the pelvis and 4 very long screws. 4.5 hours. I finally made it into my own room at around 3pm. it is a shared room (though now i have it all to myself) overlooking the East River. Physical therapy had me up today, sitting on the side of the bed and walking with a walker. I have never been as fond of medical equipment as I was of that walker. I will update tomorrow on how it goes when I walk further and use crutches for the first time.

I am lying in bed with my leg in a CPM machine for about 8 hours/day. It moves the joint up to around 30 degrees in a continuous motion – strangely soothing. I expect to be at the hospital until Monday or Tuesday. My doctor feels that I am doing really well, although my blood count is low due to the blood I lost during surgery.

I cannot say thank you enough to everyone here at the hospital and my friends and family who have wished me a speedy recovery. A special thank you to Lauren from Hip Women and to the Rabbi who came especially to visit me!

I know that it is going to take a long time and I am at one of the first steps (and likely to have lots of stumbles), but I am really happy to be on the other side of this first surgery.
Photos of me in my room and of my view of my foot (the background is Queens).

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Made it, mostly

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Let me preface this post by saying it is going to be short and possibly a but incoherent.

So I made it though the surgery (yea!) – started around 9:00am, I would up somewhere around 1 or 2pm. Lots of pain. I then had a complication that has resulted with total numbness of my right foot, though it seems to be getting a bit better. I’ve been in the ICU getting poked and prodded – it does not seem like foot drop (look it up) which is good news. Hopefully it will clear up and I can move into a room tomorrow.

Better update (and photos) tomorrow but for now I try to sleep.

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Preparing for Surgery

I am 15 days, a little more than two weeks, away from my RPAO and I realized that I need to make sure that I have started to get everything together that I am going to need, day of and once I get home.  It’s crazy all the things you have to think of when you realize that you are going to be out of commission for a while:

1. Order my Durable Medical Equipment (shower chair, raised toilet seat, rental wheelchair) for delivery to my house when I am in the hospital — Check!

2. Order sundry medical aids for use at home after the surgery (pick-up grabber, foam cushion, sock put-on aide) — Check!

3. Take a look at my Suggested Pre-Op Purchases (which can be viewed under the drop-down titled “R U A HIpster?”) to see what I need to shop for in the next two weeks. — Check-ish (this is gonna take a while but it appears I have most of the stuff I need)

4. Line up people to take care of walking my dog / feeding my cat while I am in the hospital (and once I get home) – Check!

5. Make sure all Christmas gifts are purchased in plenty of time!  This is a tough one because I am a terrible gift picker outer and now, I have less time to think about it. Ugh.

I think this is a good start.  Once I started to write it all out it began to feel a little overwhelming, so I gave up for the night.  The one good thing about the surgery is that it will be over and then there’s nothing I can do about it.  I can’t make my hip become unbroken — it will be broken and I have to figure out a way to deal with it.  Whatever I didn’t do will get done.  Whatever plans I have will work themselves out.  I truly believe that this will all come together in the end, and it will be fine, whether or not I plan it to an inch of its life.

Is it weird that I think that having a surgery that will break me into bits is having the effect of putting me together into a calmer, more reasoned person?  Yep, think it is.

Some Tech Specs

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I thought today would be a good day to describe exactly what the hell this PAO thing is and what is going to happen. This is more of a “here is the info for anyone reading this blog” post than a “here is what I am feeling” post.

Here are a few links that describe “what is developmental dysplasia in an adult hip:”

http://www.hipdysplasia.org/adult-hip-dysplasia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_dysplasia_(human)

I thought this general info would be useful because when I first heard of dysplasia, my only points of reference were to either babies or big dogs. And in truth, that’s where most instances of dysplasia appear. Humans normally only have to deal with dysplasia as babies because it’s normally caught at birth.  On the other side, large dogs like German Shepherds and the like start to have problems with dysplasia as they age.  But in either event, it sort-of the same idea.

This is an (animated) video of the procedure (a Periacetabular Osteotomy or PAO) which is available on my Doctor’s website and which I found tremendously helpful when I was trying to figure out what exactly is going to happen on surgery day. It’s kinda great because it shows you how the surgery works without being super graphic or creepy (which, let’s all be honest, this is going to be SUPER graphic and INCREDIBLY creepy):

http://www.hss.edu/animation-PAO-periacetabular-osteotomy.htm

I also really like the drawings on this link which show what the hip looks like before and after the surgery (again, as a drawing, not gross or gory):

http://aussiepaohipjournal.blogspot.com/2011/02/found-this-website-which-might-be.html

I thought about posting a link to a video of a real PAO but it is hard enough for me to look at and I figured most people would be grossed out. However, I can tell you that it’s possible to find if you go to YouTube.

What none of this shows is how your hip looks after the surgery with all the screws (yes, I will have a ton of screws in me after this procedure to keep the newly positioned acetabulum in place while the bone heals).

I am definitely having a PAO on my right side (the December surgery). Depending on how it goes, I will have either a PAO or an Open Hip Debridement on the left (the April surgery).

I figure I’ll wait to get into the details of hospitals stays, recovery times, physical therapy and all that other bullshit until a later date – this post is super fact intensive and I’m getting bored writing it which leads me to believe anyone else would be bored reading it.  But I do hope it’s helpful!

Lab reports should not be delivered after hours

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So I got the report of my CT Scans and X-Rays.  They came in the mail on Friday and I noticed them at about 10pm.  Despite feeling absolutely craptacular from my cold, I managed to obsessively disect the information for two hours.  I fee like some sort of tragic and far less stylish version of Sherlock Holmes, except the clues are laid out in front of me and all I have to do is “search” the internet for answers (i.e., plug in the numbers and see what other people like me have already said).  Basically, it was exciting but not that exciting.

Like a good detective, I have developed a theory based on the information provided.  I think that finding a theory has helped to distract me from the fact that I have more than a week until my actual appointment when a legitimate doctor with a degree and skills can tell me what the hell I should be doing.  But until I have further assistance, I am on my own to find the answers.

Theory 1 – I have dysplasia in my right hip and will ultimately need a PAOBUTsince the dysplasia is mild, there is going to a lot of waffling back and forth about whether it is necessary but then it’s going to become apparent that since my labrum is retorn (Theory 1(a) is that I tore my labrum again), the only long term alternative is a PAO.

Theory 2 – I have mixed CAM pincer inpingement and retroversion of the acetabulum.  OK, this isn’t really a theory because it’s what my imaging report says from my CT scan, so I guess my theory is that I am going to need an arthroscopy to repair the impingement (an acetabuloplasty and a femoral neck osteoplasty).  Theory 2(a) which I seriously doubt is that I am going to need a reverse acetabular periacetabular osteotomy (a reverse PAO) but, again, I think there is about a 2% chance of that happening.

So now I wait, and go see my doctor, and get a second opinion.  I just want to have a plan and to know what I need to do and get going so that someday soon, I can get my life back.  That, I would really like.

In the beginning

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I’m trying to figure some witty way to start this blog but really, I can’t think of anything witty.  I’m not one of those people that’s quick on their feet with a sarcastic retort.  I normally don’t realize when people are being sarcastic and I am incredibly gullable.  However, I am exceedingly introspective and have a lot to say about what’s going.

I’m 35 and I feel like my body is giving up on me.

First things first, though.  I am only starting this blog now because I have some potentially serious situations ahead for me, in terms of my hips.  My right and my left hips, not one or the other but maybe both.  Maybe.  Who knows.  Anyway, so I have a ton of stuff on my mind right now and I think that anyone who is my age would have a lot of things going on in their head if they had pain every day and weren’t able to run anymore and were told they might someday need a total hip replacement if they didn’t take it easy — I’m getting ahead of myself.

OK, so I have hip problems.  Maybe.  The facts that I know are as follows:

I had arthroscopic surgery in my right hip in January 2012 to repair a torn labrum.

When the doctor did the surgery, he found that I had moderate dysplasia in my right hip (“not mild, not severe” as I understood, after the fact, that described to my husband and mother).

I recouperated from the surgery and thought I was doing really well.  Then the pain came back.  And now it won’t go away.

My left hip hurts.  Similar to the right but I have no idea why.

I have had MRI’s, X-Rays and CT Scans.  I have been through numerous physical therapy appointments.

I have two herneated discs in my lower back (L5/SI and L4/L5).  The L5/S1 is pressing on the nerve root.  I am never without lower back pain. (I only mention the lower back pain because I am worried what implication any surgery or procedures on my hip would have on my back.  That and the fact that it literally hurts ALL the time — I haven’t been able to sneeze standing up straight in years)

I have appointments to see doctors and I am scared.  And excited.  I am hopeful but worried.  I am pissed off.  ALL at the same time.

I want to believe that I am not alone in this so I am writing this blog and NOT publicizing it but if someone stumbles on it, more power to them.

I will try to keep it updated, as the process unfolds.  I make no promises.  It is selfish to keep a blog – this is my selfish attempt to connect and yet remain unconnected.  I do hope it helps, both me and someone who might read it.

And so it begins.