"Yeah,
it is dysplasia," the registrar mumbled, prodding at the screen showing the
x-ray. I stared at it with what must have been a blank expression. He
stated my options: I could have an operation which involved
cutting through the hip socket and moving it around so
that it was more cupped (I know this now as an Osteotomy). Or I could
have a hip replacement in about 10 years time (I am 26 now).
I arrived back home after this appoinment and spoke to my housemate. "He said my hip is displaced or something. I've got to have this surgery where they cut out the bone and move it around." My housemate has had surgery on her leg as a child, so wasn't too unused to this kind of idea.
"I don't quite understand how they'll fix it in place after they've moved the bone," I pondered.
"Maybe they'll put a pin in it," she suggested.
"Put a pin through my hip? How is my hip going to move?" These are the kinds of thoughts that were running through my mind at the time.
"What's that? A metal hip?!" I asked. The idea of having a hip replacement really grossed me out. I
asked him if I would be able to run and play sports again after either of these surgeries, and
he said there was a better recovery for someone of my age with the first kind
of operation, so I thought that might be the best option. I couldn’t really take it all in though. I asked if there was any information to read
about it, could I be given something about it?
He said yes, I would be sent some information about it. And that
was that. I couldn't have been in there longer than a few minutes.
The information came so fast and mumbled I felt dazed. Looking back I
reckon I was in shock. (I never was sent information about it.)
It was 4 years ago that I started experiencing pain in my hip, and at first it had mostly been playing hockey and standing for too long, or walking a little too fast. But after a while it had started getting worse. My symptoms became more frequent and it led me to seek an opinion from my GP and an orthopaedic doctor at the hospital.
It was 4 years ago that I started experiencing pain in my hip, and at first it had mostly been playing hockey and standing for too long, or walking a little too fast. But after a while it had started getting worse. My symptoms became more frequent and it led me to seek an opinion from my GP and an orthopaedic doctor at the hospital.
I arrived back home after this appoinment and spoke to my housemate. "He said my hip is displaced or something. I've got to have this surgery where they cut out the bone and move it around." My housemate has had surgery on her leg as a child, so wasn't too unused to this kind of idea.
"I don't quite understand how they'll fix it in place after they've moved the bone," I pondered.
"Maybe they'll put a pin in it," she suggested.
"Put a pin through my hip? How is my hip going to move?" These are the kinds of thoughts that were running through my mind at the time.
The other thing that I don’t know how to figure out is that I am planning a trip to South Africa next summer to volunteer in a
HIV/Aids project, and I don’t know when my surgery will happen. Should I have it before the trip or defer it
until afterwards? With 3 – 4 months
recovery that means I would have to have the surgery in March at the latest,
but is that possible? I am starting to
learn though, that the NHS does not move as fast as we would sometimes like, so
March I is probably unlikely!
I tried to look up some information online about it all, but have had a really hard time finding stuff. I can only find articles about dogs, or things with lots of jargon that I don’t understand. I am frustrated, I have so many questions, but next appointment is not going to be for ages yet.
I tried to look up some information online about it all, but have had a really hard time finding stuff. I can only find articles about dogs, or things with lots of jargon that I don’t understand. I am frustrated, I have so many questions, but next appointment is not going to be for ages yet.
