Arthritis, what a pain, literally. Lucky me I inherited osteoarthritis. I knew I had it in my left shoulder which I discovered in my mid-40's. So far a cortisone shot has helped with that. Then at the age of 49 I had a pain in my hip that caused me to start limping and stopped me from running. I went to an orthopedic doctor who immediately said it was probably a torn labrum (lining inside your joint) or osteoporosis. I pretty much told him he was crazy I was too young and had never been in an accident which, at the time, was usually the way you tore a hip labrum. Shoulder labral tears are much more common. So after a drawn out process of denial and MRI's it was confirmed that I had a labral tear and arthritis in both hips. Well you have options, do nothing and live with it or hip resurfacing. The do nothing option stinks because you can't walk right, it hurts all the time, you baby the injured side and compensate which in the long run will lead to back problems and other issues. Basically a labral tear is a tear in your cartilage and it catches on the hip femur bone. Not fun and painful. So, two years later I decided to get the hip resurfacing. Again, at the time, there were not many doctors that did it. It's done othroscopically as an inpatient procedure, not a big deal but you have to be on crutches for 5 weeks! No pressure on that leg for at least 5 weeks! Now that was inconvenient. What hey basically do is scrape off the bad cartilage of the femur and poke holes in it to stimulate blood flow to grow back what it can, it's not the same as the original catilage but better than nothing. The doctor did tell me that this would not fix the problem but would put off hip replacement for a while and I should be able to walk better and should take care of the cartilage tear that was catching.
Now let me back up a bit. When I found out I had a labral tear of the hip I tried to find out everything I could about it. I asked physical therapists, friends, doctors, you name it I did it. I searched the internet, whatever I could do to get information. You are in charge of your health, don't let someone else make the decisions, get informed before making your own decision. I've found that nurses, aides and physical therapists and athletes are a valuable and reliable source of information and referrals. I then got referrals of doctors that did the procedure, there were not that many. It's a hard thing to diagnose in the hip. Luckily with technology it's easier now. I found a doctor in Miami that was an expert on it. Made an appointment and went down and interviewed him about the procedure. Then did more research on the procedure. What to expect for the operation, recovery and after. Do your homework!!! I know it's tedious and time consuming but this is your life and body, no one else is going to care as much as you do and you have to live with it. I can't stress that enough. Don't be afraid to ask people questions and ask a lot of people too. So fully prepared I had the operation.
The operation itself was really a non-event. Woke up fairly alert and not a lot of pain. My husband drove me home (2 hours north) and by the time I got home I needed some pain killers, still not awful. The hardest part is you can not put any weight on that hip for at least 5 weeks :( that's rough but doable. You figure it out. Rehab is tedious, you are put on a leg movement machine like knee replacement patients get and you have to do that every day for what seems like forever. After a couple weeks you can go to physical therapy but it's all very basic exercises, isometric for the leg that's operated on because you can't put any weight on it. Finally after 5 weeks my doctor said I could walk on it and could get rid of the crutches. Yea!!! But, my physical therapist said not so fast. He said I could get rid of one of my crutches and over the week work my way up to getting rid of it completely.
Here is the second most important thing you need to do besides your homework. Find the absolute best physical therapist you can. They will make all the difference from a bad or basic recovery to a phenomenal recovery. And then listen to them and do what they say! I know sometimes I told my physical therapist to hurry it up or I could do more or you have to be kidding, surely there is more I can do. But he had his reasons and they were all sound and I was very glad I listened. Don't mess up what you had fixed, do what your physical therapist says! I know people who haven't and they end up worse than before their surgery, longer rehab, or they never get full range of motion back. So why would you not listen to them. I asked people to recommend a good physical therapist and then talked with the people that had used him.
I'm lucky, the owner of our local running store/triathlon is an amazing athlete and knows lots of people that have orthopedic issues and therefore uses lots of doctors and physical therapists. She always has excellent recommendations and has been very helpful to me. I also ask around the local gyms. Once I find some good referrals I make an appointment with them and interview them. What's their education and background. How familiar are they with my problem. I've never had anyone get upset with me about it. Years later they do tease me about it but usually anyone that is good appreciates the questions. If they have a problem with you asking you don't want them.
So, had the hip resurfacing on my right hip. Both hips had lots of arthritis but for whatever reason my right hip always hurt more and it was the one with the labral tear. It did get better after the surgery but never back to what I thought it would. Couldn't run so I started swimming and biking more. LOVE the swimming, wow does it burn the calories. Plus I like the water so it was a no brainer for me. I'm a personal trainer (so imagine hobbling around on crutches for 5 weeks while training clients, such fun) and I continued with training clients and teaching spin classes. I also did a couple triathlons, although I had someone else do the running, I did the swim and he bike. Still fun and it gave me goals to help keep me in shape.
I did everything I could to strengthen my hips and legs. I still had arthritis and boy can it ache in the cold weather. Good thing I live in Florida. Everyone tells you to put off hip replacement for as long as you can, specially since I'm young. And yes I consider myself young :) Just the thought of having a hip replaced was huge to me. To replace an entire joint in your body, how bizarre. I didn't want to get rid of my body parts, it feels final and like the beginning of the end. I found it strange to even think about. I am an active person and hate limitations. But, I do understand that if life throws something at you which changes what you can and can't do, figure it out. Everyone thought for sure I'd get depressed or fat because I couldn't be as active. I have to say I shed a few tears over not being able to run on the beach in the mornings or when I travel. Who likes to be told they can't do something. But you get over it if you are smart. What are your options, keep crying about it and get depressed and fat or do something else. I wish I had taken up swimming years ago. I like it better than running.
Enough for now, I'll continue in my next entry. So far, if nothing else remember these three things:
1) Do your homework on what your problem is
2) Get lots of referrals for the doctor
3) Get lots of referrals for a good physical therapist
Ask lots of questions and then ask them is there anything I forgot to ask?
You can do it! Whatever it is you can get through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment