Dr. A., We Meet Again......

Waiting for Dr A, French Fries (special treat) and my car hit 100,000 miles all on the same day!

 I had my 2.5 month check up with Dr A. last week. There was a lot of waiting involved..like 2.5 hours worth (it must have been an honor of my 2.5 months with a new hip). I waited in the waiting room for about an hour and then my hip couldn't wait any longer, so I spoke with the receptionist and they let me wait the rest of the time on a gurney (which I actually think was temperpedic, seriously, I am not being sarcastic (it was so comfortable I got a nap in ;)).

Dr A finally did make an appearance and I asked him every question I could think of. The main points I got out of our meeting were:

1. My hip is not like a regular hip replacement, so I need to get those kind of ideas and timelines out of my head. There was a lot of previous damage as well as a lot of surgery done to my hip, tendons, and muscles. I need to stop comparing my hip to regular replacements (he reiterated that to me quite a few times..ok I got it!)
2. I can start weening off crutches! Dr. A also pointed out my crutches are to short for me. Ironic no one has said that to me before including him..it's not like this was the first time I have shown up with these things with me (ok now I am being sarcastic ;)). He was talking about drilling holes in them to lengthen them (it must be the surgeon within him ;)). I am just dealing with the situation by just trying to get off the darn crutches. At this point I am down to one crutch and have taken a few awkward steps without them. Hopefully can transition to a cane this month. I do have to say it really is hard to walk on my own currently. I can't do it very well and I have a limp. They say it is due to my leg being weak at the moment...
3. Physical Therapy: For the next 4 weeks PT should be focusing on deep tissue massage and stretching, so that's what I have been doing! Don't go and get all jealous over these massages ,they are more of the ones that make you cry than feel relaxed, but it is needed to get to the other side of this so I am just rollin with it.
4. All precautions lifted..YES!!! This is the one hip thing that is makes me hip happy...Hooray! Having precautions sucked to say it bluntly. The first thing I did when I got home was lay down on my floor and just stretched which felt amazing it just took me a little bit to figure out how to get up afterwards. Just because the precautions are lifted doesn't mean things start working automatically I came to find out while I laid on the floor contemplating a plan to get my body off of it, lesson learned;baby steps :)!
I got back to see Dr. A towards the end of January to find out what happens next!

Every day has been different some up some down. This hasn't been easy, but it is what it is and I just hope that 2012 will bring me the hip that I have been working so hard to get. At this point I don't really have it in me to type my complete feelings about this recovery because it has been difficult and I just honestly don't want to focus on all the negative parts because it is emotionally draining for me at this time and I pretty sure it's not so much fun to read about either. If you have any questions please feel free to write to me in the comment section and I will be happy to answer any questions about my THR recovery. I have been doing a photo documentary on Flickr on my day to day recovery (they say a picture is worth a thousand words anyways so you can follow my progress there if you would like :)
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwNA6f3

Happy Holidays xoxo

Happy Holidays and Cheers to a New Year!

Two Months Down...One More To Go!

Day 56 Of 365 Days To Becoming Truly Bionic

The past 48 hours put me out of commission again..swollen hip again.hurts to move..UGH!
Seriously so sore couldn't even be inspired to get my camera out again this evening..(thank goodness I got my iPhone ;))
On a positive note tonight is the last day after 8 weeks of wearing T.E.D. Anti-Embolism socks..I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to take these darn socks off after 8 weeks of wearing them. First week had to wear them 24/7. The last 7 weeks I had to wear them at all times except when asleep. D did the honors of the last night removal of taking off the  last wearing of these socks (well he had to do it every night because I couldn't but this seemed more special ;)). Seriously magical butterflies should have been flying around my bedroom because this was definitely a well earned milestone/moment : 8 weeks accomplished! Buh-bye T.E.D. Socks!

#1 So first things first..I started a 365 Photo Journey to track my day to day process of my recovery from my hip replacement. I really wanted to do it to help bring hip awareness to as many people as possible, to be able to provide myself and others a photo journey of what's it's like to be a "young" person dealing with major hip issues and multiple surgeries, to give myself at least one moment a day no matter what is going on to get a chance to be creative with photography (which is a true passion of mine), and hopefully I will be able to visually see a huge positive progress with my hip journey. Please feel free to share my 365 Days to Becoming Truly Bionic   photo journey with others: Flickr link to 365:  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwNA6f3

#2 Dr. A..could stand for "A"mazing! I saw Dr. A for my first follow up a few weeks back and then realized after the visit I forgot to ask half of my questions, so I sent him an email with my list of questions. He got back to me in less than 24 hours with very full answers. When I was at the appt. with him he mentioned to D (my BF) that he noticed that he was talented with the ukulele. D brought it to the hospital to help cheer me up and it is definitely more compact than him bringing his guitar (he even did a jam session with the harpist on my floor!),  so they talked music for a second. As an after thought I emailed Dr. A the video the filmmaker Gary Barmin did of D and one of his songs (that I am also in.) I didn't think he probably had time to watch it ..but hey why not. I then got a second email from Dr. A: It is as follows:

" Dear Sarah,

After I replied to your questions, I  clicked on the  Delvis YouTube site. That is a beautiful song, and the video is excellent and particularly poignant...especially since I have experienced you both as you go through this whole  ordeal and recovery.  I knew Dennis was a musician, having heard him in the  hospital room once or twice, but didn't know he was also a singer. Very well done, indeed, with you both in front of the camera.  I am amazed, as I had no idea that there was so much artistry and talent at hand."

This email actually made me tear up

1. It was so sweet and he took the time to write such a caring and beautiful response

2. I couldn't believe he took the time to watch it

3. It made him more "human" than "surgeon" and I really needed that..he saw me as a person not just as a patient..and being a patient for so long with so many surgeons and Dr's it really just meant a lot to me.

If you want to check out the video I sent to Dr. A of D's song "She Walks In Beauty" starring me and D ;) than you can click here: http://youtu.be/Pc2V_m9mnBc

So since we last spoke it has been sort of a battle with my hip...a battle I plan on winning (see pic on left) ;)  I have been trying to achieve balance by doing some stuff with out over doing it..haven't quite found that balance yet, but working on it. Unfortunately the over doing it has caused sooooooooo much painful swelling that I get mini setbacks. I have spoken with Dr. A and it is par for the course..or my course. So ice packs 24/7 for me..it's the only thing that can get pain under some control, but the swelling is doing funky stuff to my nerves and tendons down my legs which is really really really uncomfortable.

I have started in the past week experimenting a little with using one crutch around my apt which is a big step..literally I am taking bigger steps! I am also officially done as of tomorrow morning with wearing my blood clot socks. I am still on an aspirin regime for another week every morning and evening to help reduce risk of blood clots, but that is better than the shots and wearing those socks. I start outpatient PT after thanksgiving so that will be another milestone, so even though I get frustrated at the pain and the "waiting" as I write I do see how things are still moving forward.

3.  I  celebrated my 37th birthday last week (wow) this whole hip thing started right after my 33rd b-day, so having that birthday kind of made things feel a little surreal that this "hip journey" is still going on, but it is what it is. I had a really great birthday though. I went on my first outing outside of my house post surgery with my Dad, Step-mom, and D for a b-day dinner which was a few milestones rolled up together. I had friends throw me a beautiful surprise get together, I got so many beautiful messages and emails from family and friends near and far, my mom came over with a delicious b-day cake to close off the day..truly it was my best day since surgery and a very HAPPY birthday. D also got me a new lens for my camera as a gift..when I take pics it helps me forget about my hip. It truly was a perfect gift that I have been having soooooo much fun using. When you keep your mind busy it doesn't have time to think about pain :).

So I am still a big work in progress...but "progress" is the key word! Trying to do my best every day.

My goals for the next month would be

1. To start getting some sleep (this has been truly difficult ..it's 4:07 am as I am writing this)

2. to try to get off crutches and switch to cane

3. To get muscles stronger so I can do more

4. To hopefully have swelling become less

5. To achieve better balance (How not to overuse my hip, but use it at the same time)

6. To hopefully be in less pain

I am sure there are more goals I have for myself but those are the first few that popped in my head. I see Dr. A in the middle of Dec and hopefully get my major precautions lifted..I think that will be a big game changer for me!

In the meantime just taking it day by day and trying to remind myself of all the wonderful things that I have that I should be very thankful for!

Until next time..Peace out fellow hipsters and friends. xxoo

Also please feel free to ask me any ?'s about hip stuff in the comment section..I am always available to be of any help to others..and can answer any ?'s the best I can. 

Below are some pics taken with my new lens (including one upbove of d and I right after D gave me the camera lens). All shots were taken in my bathroom except the last one which was in my living room..that's is as far as my body is going to take me for fun with photography at the moment! You can see plenty more also on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46454976@N03/

One Month Down...Two More To Go!

At BI Hospital/Awesome T-shirt is a gift from my friend Nancy

Had my first outing two days ago..unfortunately it was to the hospital. I had my 4 week post surgery check up with Dr. A! The first question Dr. A and his Physician Assistant (who the majority of my apt was with)  was "How are you?" My answer was "a million times better than last time you saw me." They also agreed I look a million times better than the last time they saw me.
So Upgrade:
4 weeks ago: Felt like actual death
Now: Just feel like hell ;)

I was told that all my pain is quite normal and it will probably be this level of intensity for the next two months (first 3 months are the roughest). They said my incision looked great and that I can now start putting Vitamin E on it. They want to see me start making the transition from at home physical therapy to outpatient in the next few weeks.
I have 1 week left of giving myself blood thinner injections,
4 more weeks left of wearing compression stockings to reduce the risk of blood clots,
and 8 weeks left till I can stop my restrictions (this really sucks to be quite honest..restrictions are a true pain in the butt, especially having to sleep with a pillow in between my legs which makes sleep for me virtually impossible, so one month down two more to go)
It was not that exciting of an apt. to be quite honest, they watched me walk with crutches, looked at my incision, gave me more details about my surgery now that I was more coherent, and told me they were pleased with my progress. They also reminded me that I am going to be on the longer side of recovery due to all my previous surgeries, so not to be hard on myself that progress is slow, and that it was a MAJOR surgery. They also reminded me that I have a bonus of youth being on my side..with my 37th birthday approaching next week and being in bed with a hip replacement I am not feeling that totally youthful feeling..I mean my 91 year old grandparents walk faster than me!
I was given the OK to start venturing outside my house for small adventures to help strengthen my body and hip. The two hours in the cars to the Dr's apt., and the two hours in the hospital in turn led to a 3 hour nap when I walked in the door, so I found one way to make sleep happen with precautions...get out of bed! ;) I did ok with my adventure except for the last 1/2 hour.. that was pretty  torturous in the car due to swelling and nerve pain from swelling, but all and all it went better than I expected.
I did tell Dr. A that I watched a hip replacement surgery videos online..he was like, "What are you crazy"..and I said crazy would be watching it BEFORE surgery..this was just curiosity! So if you want something scary to watch for Halloween tomorrow definitely Google "Hip Replacement Surgery"! From those videos I had a much better understanding why I am in so much pain..quite informative and disturbing footage! ;)

Steri Strips Off...Ta-Dah!

My steri -strips finally came off and now I can see myself that my incision is healing pretty well. I am glad that went through my SDD incision instead of adding on a new scar.

I also found out my Bionic parts are as followed:
"Stryker Trident PSL HA cluster acetabular shell 52-mm E secured by a single 20-mm bone screw. Trident X3 10-degree polyethylene insert 36-mm E. Stryker Accolade TMZF standard ofset 132-degree neck shaft angle V40 hip stem size #3 x 35mm neck length and a Biolex delta ceamic V40 femoral head size #36mm by +2.5mm necck length"

Not sure what that all means, but I thought I would share ;)  They said my new Bionic hip was a nice, tight, and a perfect fit, so that sounds good to me! They also did something with my piriformis muscle/tendon/capsule (a detaching, lengthening, reattaching) and that is why it hurts to sit currently.

I go back to see them in 2 months and they said hopefully by then I will be on a cane instead of crutches.


Where I am now at home:

Chillaxin in Bed

I am moving around the house a little faster on my crutches now which means my walk is getting a little stronger. I am doing more exercises for physical therapy now that I have a new physical therapist (side note: I realized I wasn't getting proper care with original Visiting PT person and spoke up, and now have a person who is doing the right program for me and my hip. Always speak up if you feel like you are not getting the correct treatment for your health, so glad I did. You have to always be your own health-care advocate to get the best possible health care treatment..always! :) My new PT woman set up my wheelchair in my house with a pillow, so I have a comfortable seat that also follows my precautions in my house or for when I venture outside of my house. She also helped me to set up other comfortable areas in my home with pillows.
Icepacks are still my #1 source of pain relief I have them going in constant rotation (as I type now I have one large ice pack under both of my butt cheeks)...seriously it hurts to sit! I am having friends over to visit the past week which is great, because it definitely helps with my mental health ;) and it means I am improving, because I really couldn't do that the first few weeks.
I have my moments of sadness and frustration due to pain and being in a recovery situation again(sometimes it feels never-ending), but I am lucky I have a great support system that helps me refocus when that happens. I still can't believe I have a new hip... it's strange that it still hasn't hit me yet. I feel I will believe it when I see it..well ok I seen the X-rays but I guess when I feel no pain then it will feel real. I know slow and steady wins the race..so cheers to the champion of slow and steady: The Turtle.. I strive for your strength and determination! Until next time Hipsters  xoxo!

Having fun with my iPhone apps in bed..and look I am actually smiling :)

My Halloween gift to you! Links the two THR videos I watched online..if you dare..haha! Thanks Nicole for helping me find these ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJyd8NiKvjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTIrdGU175A

An Ode To Three Weeks Post THR

First pic with iPhone

Decided to write a cheesy poem to mark my three weeks..hey I am bored so I am going to roll with it :)

AN ODE TO THREE WEEKS POST THR

My hip is now three weeks old
My future is waiting to unfold

In the past three weeks I have made some strides
The biggest one being I can sleep on my left side

With my crutches I have walked down a street and up a tiny hill
I still need to keep a journal by my bedside to keep track of all my pills

Giving myself blood thinner injections daily I truly despise
I get very freaked out by the needle but can't close my eyes

I have watched hundreds of hours of television and movies and now I am so beyond bored I really need to vent
I am burnt out on TV and using my computer and even tried to entertain myself by only speaking in a British accent

Hip surgery is extremely hard and I think recovery is even harder
It definitely makes you a stronger person like a soul with coat of armor

You have days that are up and days that are  quite down
It's quite the roller-coaster and you need to put in effort to not frown

Every two hours I walk around my apartment for ten minutes
And have had some loved ones come over for special visits

I have laughed and I have cried and sometimes my pain makes me groan
But there was a light that came into my life this week when I got an iPhone

iBored in iBed with my iPhone camera apps!

Time is surreal and the past three weeks have felt like many years
I have made many small improvements and try to battle through my tears

I am happy to get these past three weeks behind me and look forward to getting to week four
Because I get to see my doctor again and hopefully get to throw some restrictions out the back door

In the end as long as I get a pain free right hip
I will be at peace with this crazy hipster trip

My doggie Sky has been my hip bodyguard!

On The Other Side

My New Hip! This Xray was taken the same day as my surgery!

I HAVE A NEW HIP!!!! WOW! I still can't quite believe it myself. What a journey it has been to get to this actual point. Very surreal. I am writing this from my bed on my 2 weeks post surgery anniversary. Probably won't finish this blog piece tonight, but today was the first day I felt inspired to write,so I felt it was important to get started.
Not even sure where to begin with this post because the past two weeks have felt like two years, and I don't want to babble on forever, so I think I will seperate it into parts....don't worry short and to the point parts..well I will try my best! ;)

Surgery Day:

My surgery got bumped up from 2pm to 11am so I had to arrive at the hospital at 9:30am. I had my entourage of my dad, my stepmom, and D. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, but I still cannot put into words what was going on in my head. I checked in at the front desk at the hospital and they gave me a light up pager like the ones you get at The Cheesecake Factory, still not quite sure how I felt about that. When the buzzer went off they were ready to give me a new hip (yes, it was a little strange). While I was waiting for my table..I mean for my surgery.. I did some laps around the waiting room..a kind of farewell to my hip;taking it out for a final spin. There was a harpist in the waiting room which was actually relaxing and serene, but I still couldn't actually sit still. Buzzer went off and they took me to the pre-op room..on my OWN! Yes I am 36, but I really did'nt want to go anywhere by myself at the moment, but I did...I had to "woman up" ;) They got me into their beautiful hospital gown, put an IV in, met with Dr. A who autographed my right hip, and then got my epidural put in. It's strange during this 30 minute time period you feel like the most popular person in the world. You have about 40 people in and out asking you a million questions at the same time, putting blankets on you, trying to make you "comfortable'. Then they drug you( and you are ready and willing) nerves are in overload at this point. I got the epidural on board, then they put a anti naseau patch on behind my ear, got my hair up in a blue shower cap and now they let my "entourage" come say there goodbyes/ or goodlucks to me one by one. It was a surreal moment. My loving "entourage" was giving me positive advice to keep me strong up to the last second and then they were ready to roll...literally they move D out of the way and rolled my bed past him and down the hall we went.
Back in the OR again; Cold, noisy, lots of people you never met, cold, lots of "machinery", and oh yeah cold. The rest is kind of basic, they talked to you for a few seconds, you have a moment of panic, I look the people in there right in their eyes and tell them they better take good care of me, and then lights out.

Waking Up:

I woke up and remeber being cold and feeling pain, but it really is a hazy blur. I do remember my epidural was misbehaving and numbing the left side of my body and not my right (the injured part)..I guess I had a 50/50 shot on that one. I remember getting A LOT of medication, I remember a nice nurse who was with me the whole FOUR HOURS I was in there. I remember someone bringing an x-ray machine to my gurney, I vaguely remember Dr. A coming in twice telling me all went well, I remember getting a blood transfusion, and I most clearly remember that I wasn't allow to see anyone while I was in that room..which to be honest totally sucked! At 4 hours they let my mom come in and see me before she had to leave, but I can't remember the conversation we had just that I was happy to see her. Finially they rolled me on up to my PRIVATE room (yes I got the VIP plan this time). I figured after 5 surgeries I deserved some peace and quiet and DR. A agreed with me. When I got to the room my dad, stepmom, and D were there and it felt really good to see them.
Seven Days:

Me and My Hip

Blood Transfusion

Tackling The Stairs With PT

I spent the seven longest days of my life in that hospital room. Epidural came out on Day 1 they couldn't get it to work. Day 2 got a 102 fever (which was scary, but they got it down), and I also received a second blood transfusion that night. Catheter came out on Day 3. PT started on Day 4. Climbed 5 Stairs on Day 5. Walked the halls with a walker on Day 5 and 6. Went home using Crutches on Day 7. This was my roughest stay in the hospital. They tried every pain medicine uder the sun with me. I got every side effect they came with them except for actual pain relief. The pain was actually unbearable and at moments I didn't know how I would make it to the next moment. The swelling was extreme, I had to wear and still have to wear long "ted socks" to reduce blood clots (8 weeks). I went through an array of emotions, but the most important part is I got through it. I want to thank my friends and family who visited me, as well as the ones who couldn't, but sent me such encouraging texts, messages, and cards...they all helped so much in keeping me positive. Also thank you D for staying with me the whole time in the hospital no words could express my thanks for being there for me like that.

First time sitting up to eat in hospital.

Home Sweet Home:

Dorothy was so right.."there is no place like home". First I had to get there! It was a little strange that you could have a major surgery and spend seven days in the hospital and then when it's time to go..that's it. D wheeled me out of the room and I waited outside for him to bring the car around. No one told us how to actually get in to my low seated car. You would think there would at least be an escort out to help you not destroy your new hip before your even leave the parking lot (yes that was full blown sarcasm). Thank goodness there was a nice nurse outside with another patient who saw the situation asked what surgery I had an showed me how to get into my car. So If you are ever in this kind of spot and have a low to ground car (I have a Toyota Corolla) you adjust the seat in almost full recline than you put your bad leg forward and with the help of others you ease yourself into the seat backwards while holding bad leg out and then when seated you have someone lift bad leg up and help you swing it gently into car, seriously there should have been someone from the hospital there to help with that. Once in car I dispersed ice-packs that we took and spread them around hip and braced myself for car ride home. We were very lucky that there was no traffic,so 45 minutes later I was home and it felt amazing. I swear you just get healthier by entering your own home, plus it was the first time I got to be outdoors in a week nothing like some fresh air!
I slept pretty much the moment I hit my bed.
Adjusting to home life is different post surgery because you are not the same person physically you were when you left for the hospital. "Lucky" that I am a "surgery pro", so I knew kind of what to expect. I had a raised toilet seat already on toilet. I had a special pillow on my bed
for my legs to help with my hip precautions (legs can't touch for first four weeks...not easy to sleep like that). I had house cleaned, organized, and made handicap accessible. I had shower chair put in shower and grabber next to bed for hard to reach things. Had computer set up on table next to bed for entertainment and no wires or movable rugs on floor to prevent tripping. Home life this past week has not been very "exciting", so not much to write about. What I do want to point out is the major changes that happened from week one in hospital to week two at home.

First time walking outdoors and sitting outside post surgery

Had visiting Physical therapist 3 times so far and he has had me walk around apartment for 10 minutes every 2 hours. I have walked down my 5 stairs and walked down my sidewalk twice without tears. I can't even to begin to describe to you the pain I felt the first time I tried to walk post surgery in the hospital, it took to day 7 to do it without either crying or vomiting...for reals. There is still A LOT of pain, but walking doesn't bring it on like it did last week. It actually feels kind of good to walk with crutches around house because it help stretch things out, the only thing that gets hard is muscles are weak so you get exhausted with your "bad" leg quite quickly. I even sat outside for 10 minutes which was amazing thinking where I was just last week.
I also have a visiting nurse twice a week. Yesterday on my 2 week anniversary she removed the 28 staples that helped close my incision. I was a little nervous about the removal. I thought it was going to be done in a hospital with Novocaine, but that is not the case. They use pretty much a staple remover and no Novocaine. I closed my eyes for this "operation". It felt like the staples were breaking in half some hurt more than others, but no tears from me. She then applied steri- strips to the incision which she said would fall off on their own. It feels much better without the staples. The staples were getting sore and itchy and pulled on my skin. Now the area feels a little raw, but no pulling and weird little zings, plus they really grossed me out so I was happy to say buh-bye to them.

Staples/ No Staples!

There is so much to say, but at the same time not so much. It feels good to be on the other side of this, deep breathing is my friend, it is so important to keep your mind in a positive space or you can go downhill fast, and be proud of all your accomplishments..they may be small but they are so big at the same time. I have been through a lot, but I am very lucky because I hopefully will one day get a chance to be pain free ,and that I am very lucky to have great friends and family so I don't have to do this all on my own. I will try to update weekly to give status on my progress. I got a NEW HIP..WOW! Still can't believe it!

A Farewell To My Hip!

48 hours till my THR..WOW! I guess this is my wrap up post, so I will catch you up on my last few weeks I have been having as well as say a fond farewell to my hip!

Well like with everything in this journey it has been interesting and quite definitely a learning experienece.
I have had a few email correspondences with Dr A with questions I had for him about surgery, and I will share a couple of my questions with you..I mean at this point we all are family and especially for my hip chickies out there I thought it may be helpful ;)!

ME: What is the company you use for my hip replacement parts (which brand??) 

Dr. A:STRYKER  (see www.stryker.com for details)   You will have a Trident titanium cup, an X3 polyethylene liner, a Biolox Delta ceramic alumina femoral head and a titanium Accolade press fit femoral stem.  Obviously, no metal-on-metal composites.  These implants are the best in the business...sufficiently long and excellent track record on the joint registries worldwide.


ME:They have me donating 2 pints of blood to my surgery in the next two weeks..I know we spoke about one pint..will two pints weaken my system at all before surgery. I had two blood transfusion 2 weeks post SDD surgery so not sure if this is why the # was changed?  
Dr A:One unit should suffice, and two would be optimal  to all but eliminate the need for added transfusion. I think you will likely lose a total of about 500-600 cc of blood at surgery and with drain in place, ie, the equivalent of two donated units. this is revision surgery as we have to go through old scar tissue  and it is certainly the biggest of your hip surgeries!

Blood Donation #1

I did donate two pints of blood to myself for my surgery. This time I did it at my local Red Cross and they were truly amazing! They ship your blood to the hospital where you will be at 2 days prior to surgery. They took very good care of me and made it into a pleasant enough experience. I did feel a little icky after the donation, but they filled me up with fluids and some food and then about an hour later I went home and rested. First pint down..one more to go. I waited 1 week in between donations (that is the way they set it up) you can't donate 10 days before surgery.


Round 2 happened a week later. Staff again was AWESOME there, but my body didn't cooperate the same way as the week before. It started off fine but after 20 minutes things started to go downhill fast. Got dizzy, naseaus, faint feeling. They hydrated me, gave me some food,  had me rest back in my chair, gave me a cold compress, but after 2 hours my blood pressure was extremely low, my lips were blue and my skin was ghost white. At this point the head nurse said she was calling an ambulance and I was like, "Um, no!" she expalined I had no choice and that in my condition it would not be safe to send me home. She did try to make me feel better by telling me that grown men 5 times my size who come to donate blood have the same thing happen sometimes..so I wasn't "abnormal". The ambulance came, D and I went to the hospital where I was seen immediately, given medication and fluids and was kept under watch for about 5 hours. My friend Malana was nice enough to snap a pic of the whole experience..for a keepsake..lol!

Thank you Malana for coming to the hospital and making me laugh when I needed it most xoxox!

Since then I have been busy organizing my apartment, so it is post surgery ready, had my pre-op apt which went well, and just been trying to take care of a lot of last minute things...trying to be prepared as possible. Got a bad upper respiratory thingy too this past week and currently on antibiotics..but why go there, nothing exciting to say about that, but will now need a physical day of surgery to get the official OK that my body can handle the surgery.
So 48 hours till THR..I am pretty much scared out of my mind to put it bluntly! It is hard to rally up hope when you have had 4 unsuccessful surgeries, but at the same time I am very hopeful that this will work and I will get back to truly living. Life with chronic pain is more difficult then you can ever put into words , and you can't even begin to understand how hard it truly is unless you have experienced it. I am very lucky that I have a built in hip chickie support group (Love you guys/Amazingly strong group of woman who have been through so much but still stay so positive and have been such a  constant  and loving support system to me xoxox)
My biggest lesson I have learned is to appreciate what you have, appreciate your body, appreciate the small and big things in life, appreciate what you got. On the morning of Dec. 23, 2006 I had NO pain....if i could go back in time I would have given every minute more appreciation. I know I took it all for granted, I was young and healthy I had no idea what was in store for me later on that day. I had no idea that I would be in pain every day for the next four years. At the same time I could be a lot worse and I need to be thankful for the moments I have now. It is important to appreciate your body, your love ones, the people around you, the world we live in..just appreciate!

Dear Right Hip,
Sorry I have been angry at you the past four years! You have kept me on my feet for 36 years even through the toughest of times. Thank you for all that you have done! You will be missed!

Will be back blogging once I am on the other side of this! If you can please keep me in your prayers on Sept 27th, all the positive vibes, energy, and thoughts I feel could definitely help.....well at least I know it can't hurt!! ;)  Thank you all so much for all of your support through out the years!!

Ps. You can check out a post on my other blog about an amazing alternative therapy I have been doing for my hip: http://sj-sarahinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/09/healing-journey.html
xoxox

You Can Get a Hip Replacment At Any Age!

Dropped My Cane For This Picture!

Ok this post may be slightly sarcastic, but with good attentions! :) If I had a dollar for every person who has said "Wow, you are way to young to have hip problems!", well lets just say the answer to that question is I could probably retire after my hip replacement with all those dollars! There is not a certain "look" or age for anyone who has a disability. For hips I have known people to get replacements from 16 to 80 and everything in between, so I am so surprised why people (including myself sometimes (oh o) put "old age and hip replacement in the same category"). The only restrictions I will have for this shiny new hip will be running and singles tennis (I can do doubles tennis, so don't rule me out for making a US Open debut ;) ) It really smacked me in my face when I was reading through my Hip Replacement Notebook from my hospital. First off on a side-note the notebook is quite helpful, and it would have been really nice to have that kind of information prior to my other surgeries that were just as big of a deal..just sayin!
Well back to what I was saying before I got off track in these books/notebooks there were cartoon characters of hip replacement patients....it was agesim in reverse! Where were the people who looked like me and other people I know who have hip replacements...seriously it's 2011 lets be up to date with what is going on people. It actually was making me anxious every time I read these books, because it made me feel "old".  I am already in pain I don't need to feel I am aging rapidly on top of it! My friend said I should tell the company that made these books that they should make age friendly hip replacement literature, I thought it was a good idea. I decided to make a prototype! Here is some samples of what I am talking about (of course it wouldn't be all pics of me, but hey that's all I had to work with at the moment ;)....

Their page is to the left my updated page is to the right. The lady on top of their page is the youngest one in the book. 

Here again I put my ridiculous two sense in. You can do laundry with a bad hip and you don't have to have gray hair and wear a house coat, and seriously I know a lot of "older" people and they dress much better than that!

Again another comic misrepresentation of all hip patients(they go with what people may associate hip replacement patient as), and they can't even give this poor woman a good haircut and stylish outfit??!!

The men are not being represented either by all different age groups!

So if I can do anything through my blog is that I would like to bring awareness that hip issues can happen at any age, so appreciate your hips and take good care of them!
Since this is my sarcastic post (yes it feels good to be sarcastic every once in awhile about my hip ;) ) . My friend brought up the point that I got to keep the screws from my hip from my screw removal  surgery, she asked if I will ask to keep my hip this time...hahahha! Hmmmmm I could and send it off to my past surgeons, so they can hold onto to it as a trophy to show off all their work they did to "help" my hip...oh snap! Ok positivity posts from this point on..just needed to let off some steam!! Later Hipsters!

September 27th!

Me and D ignoring my hip together at the beach after one of his gigs

Hi! Sorry it's been a bit since I last blogged. I guess one may say I have been in hip hell. I started first with ignoring my hip after my last post which in turn meant ignoring my blog for a few. I needed some time away from my hip and since I couldn't do it physically, mentally was the only way to go. I got through a week of ignoring my hip, the pain, and thinking about my hip and during that time did have some moments which I truly enjoyed. Then my hip (just like it's "owner") didn't like being ignored and not be given any attention too, so hipster came back w/ a vengeance (owner of hip is much kinder that that..I am not vengeful like one body part of mine ;)  To make a very long story short I ended up in BI hospital for three days due to an intense amount of pain, because my hip cartilage tore and got stuck in my joint, which caused inflammation, which caused pain, which landed me in a hospital bed; I guess I really can't ignore my hip.

Me at BI

Nurses Discharge Paperwork

It was a loooooong three days of pain and frustration as well as a visit from Dr. A. BI hospital was great in getting me as comfortable as possible w/ pain meds, ice, and bed rest. Dr. A reunion came two weeks early..he looked at me and said, "Hi, you need to get your hip replaced ASAP, and I will do it" (well that's the very abbreviated version of our conversation). He wanted me to stay in the hospital and get the pain under control, and then still keep my appointment with him on August 8th. There was not much more to say about that hospitalization....the nurse note to the right pretty much summed up my situation.

August 8th: My dad, step-mom, D and I met with Dr. A and went over my Total Hip Replacement surgery (still can't believe it is happening after all I have been through in the past 4 years with this hip to save it..hard to process still at the moment, but trying). It was a long visit and I honestly can't remember everything he said, but here are the basics:
*Need my hip replaced no other options for me

I understand the cartoon is just the illustrators representation of a hip patient..and yes I do have a cane and a dog, but if they think I am going to stop coloring my hair and get a bad haircut just so I can look the part..well that just ain't happening!

*My hip will be part ceramic and part polyethylene and a bigger "head" ( he said this is the best plan for someone my age..it could last 30 years, it should have extremely good rotation, less risk of dislocation, and the material won't be an issue if I would like to have children)
*He is also going to lengthen my psoas tendon (this psoas has been a true pain, I am nervous about this part of the surgery since I have heard mixed reviews about this procedure, but he explained the benefits and it seemed to make sense to me)
*He went through the whole surgery procedure and the hospitalization. It's a lot of info! If interested in further detail write me a note at the end of this post and I can give you any info you may be looking for. It looks like I will be in the hospital for 5 days and then sent home with visiting nurses and visiting PT. If all goes according to plan I could be off of crutches after one month
*Due to my past hip surgeries and my chronic pain issue he will use an epidural for the first 24 hours to help with pain post surgery (so I won't freak out ;) )

*He gave me a notebook on everything hips. How to get prepared for surgery, what to expect during surgery, and what will happen post surgery at hospital and home..quite a captivating and relaxing read (ok I will get my sarcasm in check)
*I need to donate blood for myself
*No PT before surgery, but he showed me a few exercises he would like me to do at home. PT post surgery. First in home then outpatient.
*Once I am better he said I will be able to walk, drive, bike, swim...but no running!
*He will be going through the bottom half of my SDD scar (from last year) which is on the side of my upper right leg
*He said my recovery will take longer than the average patient due to my four prior surgeries, but he has confidence that I will be ok when all is said and done, and that I guess is really all that counts!

I am hoping for the best and trying my best to put all the past surgeries in the past, but I am only human so it isn't the easiest thing to do. It is hard coming to terms with getting a hip replacement at 36, can't even explain exactly why, but it just is, but I am working on those "issues". I am just hoping with everything I have that this will be the surgery that is a huge success!  2pm on September 27th I will be saying buh- bye to my hipster for good and hello to a new pain free life (fingers crossed..you can cross yours too for me if you would like ;) )

Dr A! Part One...

Me patiently waiting in the Land Of Limbo!

Still waiting patiently in the land of limbo, o.k. maybe not so patiently, but it sounded good ;). 3rd Time is a charm????!!! Hope so! Went to see another surgeon for my 3rd opinion on my right hip to discuss my hip replacement. I wonder how many hip surgeons it will take to fix my hip for good? Look forward to finding out that answer soon! In the meantime I had another face to face meeting with a surgeon that my father recommended to me, by talking to a friend of his who is a Dr. in Boston (thanks Dad xo).
Dr. A is at BI Hospital in Boston. I am really making the hip surgeon rounds, I realize it is a very small circle though every time I am in an apt with one Dr. he talks about how he is friends with all my other surgeons...tight little community..oh o ;)!


  Like most of my hip surgeon apts. I get a little anxious prior to the meeting, thought my jitters would be under control at this point, but that does not seem to be the case. They only seem to come on the morning of an apt. Not the fun butterflies in your stomach you get before a first date jitters, more like how I feel before surgery jitters. Maybe it's because I feel there is so much riding on every meeting I have with these Dr's. There is a lot a pressure on a "hipster" when trying to find the surgeon who hopefully will bring you a pain free hip/life.
Like most of my surgeon apts. Dr A. was running late, so 2 hours later I was called in. I always find it funny how they ask you to arrive 15 minutes early when most likely they are going to make you wait a few hours (is the 15 minutes early request a test to see how bad I want to see this Dr, since you know you are going to wait and wait and wait!) O.k. I will stop the sarcasm now...well I will try my best ;)

Once I was brought into the room Dr. A made a quite prompt entrance. Immediately I felt a sense of comfort with him. He wasn't as warm and fuzzy as Dr. M, but he was serious, interested in my whole story, and had a decent bed side manner which made the apt go very smoothly. He even complimented me on how well I gave him a play by play story on my hip in  a quick but clear manner if he only knew how many times I have repeated that story that I could tell it in my sleep he probably wouldn't have been as impressed. ;)
So the break down of my appointment with Dr. A!
1. I tell my hip story (the very brief concise version)
2. He looks at my photos from my SDD surgery and points out all my cartilage damage on them. I never even knew what I was looking at when I looked at those photos, I just saw some gory pics, but now I see the anatomy of my hip destruction, so pretty much I see the same thing, but know what I am looking at now....cool!
3.He photocopied my records from all 4 of my surgeries and my notes from my apts. with Dr. R and Dr. W as well as made a copy of my MRI's I had done in February. I made sure I got back all my originals I know if they stay with the Dr. once he leaves the room they will never be seen from again.
4. We discussed my two different opinions from Dr. R and DR. W.   Dr. A felt that I do need a replacement that is the only surgery I should be having. He felt there would not be an issue with putting one in me. He talked about if he did it he would do it laterally instead of interior or posterior ( he feels why "destroy" new sections of my body)
5. He explained to me why my hip is caving in. It is due to muscle atrophy and my surgeries that kept cutting away little by little of that muscle.
6. He said that my psoas tendon and IT band can not be fixed from this surgery, and that there is no guarantee with those parts (but I pray they will get better once the hip is solid..fingers and toes crossed)
7. He said we would need to meet again before he discusses doing surgery on me. He wanted to call Dr. M. and get the scoop from him about me and my hip. He wanted to examine my MRI's more closely, as well as read all the Dr's notes he photocopied. He then said we will meet again in 3 weeks to discuss my case further.
8. He then sent me down to radiology to do weight bearing X-rays which we would look at/discuss at my next visit in August!

So I will update Part 2 with Dr A after my August 8th visit. I really hope he is the one that is going to fix my hip once and for all! Peace out for now! xxoo

Waiting In Limbo!

My ode to "Blue" My Favorite Color and my Current Mood!

Sorry I haven't written much lately, but my hip life has been in limbo. I saw Dr. W for my 2nd opinion, but unfortunately he had a total opposite opinion than Dr. R (You don't understand how that could be...I don't understand either..they both had the same MRI and X-rays).
Dr. W feels I could still have a lot of issues with pain post hip replaement and possible risk for side effects due to my particular hip and body? He also said the surgery will not help my psoas issue either...ugh! I was suppose to hear back from Dr. W last week after he spoke to a few other Dr's at Baptist Hospital to discuss my case as well as talk to Baptist's radiologist to discuss my MRI's from Children's, and get their opinion. He was suppose to get back to me within 48 hours, but it has been over a week and still no call. I have left messages for him at his office, they keep saying he will call me back, but nothing yet. They also said I just got to keep calling him to stay on top of him. I am not sure why I need to chase him down to get answers to an appointment I already paid for when he promised me he was going to get back to me asap with the information he couldn't give me at he appointment. Getting in touch with a surgeon is almost as difficult as getting a call through to the President (well not that I ever tried to call the President, but I imagine there is a big level of difficulty with doing that ;) )! This is why it has been so hard for me to write a post, because for the first time I am speechless. I really don't know what to say. Also I was told early on in life " If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all"......... ;)

So until I get more info I am at a standstill with my hip and my pain, and with a complete lack of understanding on what to do next. Unfortunately my hip has been feeling worse lately (the awful cold rainy weather we are having currently here isn't helping the situation). I am thinking the only move at this point while I am waiting is...A. a third opinion or B. moving to Hawaii (just to help with the weather situation at least)????

So while I am waiting in "limbo land" I do have some cool/interesting news to pass on that has put a smile on my face;)

1. Me and a few of my "hipster" friends have made it onto the Millennial Medical In-Motion Crutches website along with 26 professional athletes! Yes us "hipsters" are a strong bunch!!! Very cool to see us ladies with hip "issues" being represented !!  I am picture #27 (same pick that is to the left of this post): http://www.millennialmedical.com/Content/User-Gallery/
They are the best crutches (and they are DEFINITELY not paying me to say that..lol), and they have lasted me two years so far. I am due for another pair soon especially with my upcoming surgery (whenever that may be). Maybe they can hook me up with some sparkly pink ones now that I am on their website ..wink wink;)
2. My boyfriend made his first official music video and my hip story is kind of in it (a twisted version, but nonetheless). You can check that out here: http://vimeo.com/23670585
You can also check out my other blog to get the full story on this music video:http://sj-sarahinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/05/she-walks-in-beauty.html

Video Still From "She Walks In Beauty"

Once I hear back from Dr. W I will give you a better update! Until then..Peace!

New Chapter: Dr R.

New Chapter: Went to my new hospital and met with Dr. R. It was strange going to an "adult hospital" to meet with a hip surgeon ;). At Children's it's all bright and warm and friendly.....and loud! It has fishtanks and balloons....I know, I know..it's a kids hospital, but being a patient at a hospital there is something to say about a comforting atmosphere. Nothing agaisnt my new hospital..it was just so bare and "hospitaly" . The waiting room was the size of a cubicle for Dr. R unlike Dr M.'s large colorful waiting room with stickers and stuff ;) I just started feeling anxious in there..it gave off a pretty depressing vibe..there was no covering it up..I was in a hospital!

I brought my hip book with me that weighs so much now that D had to carry it. My hip book contains all my Dr's reports, all my surgical reports along with the pictures they give you post surgery, as well as my PT papers, Dr's Notes, Cd's of my X-rays and MRI's. This is actually very helpful to have when you have a situation like mine, because when you see a new Dr. for a chronic situation it gives them a full medical view of the area of concern. After 4 years of surgeries, recoveries, etc. I forget a lot of what has happened now..dates, how many cortisone injections, etc. this is why the hip book helps and all my Dr's have found it very helpful too. So to you fellow hipsters out there I guess I would suggest having a hip book if you don't. 

I waited about an hour in the waiting room (this seems to be the average wait time in a surgeon's office..my longest wait time was 4 hours!) Name called:
First up was another Dr who introduced himself, but I forgot his name..oops! He wanted to get all my basic info down, took my MRI and x-ray cd's and loaded them into the computer, and did a physical exam of me. Then took all the papers from my hip book he needed and left the room. About 5 minutes later him and Dr. R came in.

My first impression of Dr. R is that he seemed very nice and put together, he was older than Dr. M, and he was a guy who wanted to get to the point...no hour visits like I had with Dr. M (and I don't think there will be hugs either ;))  Dr R and the Dr whose name I don't remember (sorry doc) started looking at my MRI's together like I wasn't even in the room... discussing my hip and all the problems they saw..I didn't completely grasped the whole converstion..they were having fun using real high level medical jargin ;) I really wanted in on this conversation....I should have went to medical school!

Then Dr. R said to me "I know all your hip surgeons, we actually have all been on my boat together" I wanted to say..well that's nice ..it's good you all keep operating on me, so you can afford to go sailing around together...oh snap! ...but I kept my big mouth shut and said something like.."that's cool". ;) He then proceeded to do a physical exam on me pointing things out to Dr "I don't know his name". At that point he asked to see my surgical incision, and then told me to have a seat. He told me he had a long conversation with Dr. M about me and my hip which I thought was good...he got right to the source!

Dr. R then opened up his brief case which I though was just a regular briefcase, but the surprise was on me...it was filled with hip parts! He then put a fake hip in my right hand and then went on to say...." You are a tall girl so you could handle this size metal ball, but you are also still in child bearing age, so we will go with a  ceramic ball. I don't think we should go with a ceramic pocket, because it could actually squeak at times, and then you couldn't sneak up on people...so we can put a plastic cup into the metal socket instead which will give you a chance to do a lot of weight bearing on this hip, and still also be able to have children if you choose to do so...but if you do you may have to have a c-section instead of natural.  I just looked at him with the fake hip in my hand and a few tears rolling down my cheek and said, "Are you saying that my hip is definitely damage to the point that I have to have a hip replacement. That all three surgeries to fix my hip didn't do anything...at all!" He said, .."Yes!"

Even though I thought this would be the outcome I didn't think it would be so clear and definite..especially because of my age and all the surgeries I did to fix my hip. I wasn't expecting my reaction ....which was a mixture of sadness, anger, and panic! All the questions I had for him started slipping out of my head into an abyss somewhere, and for the first time I had nothing to say. Eventually I came up with a few questions mostly about recovery. He said the average stay in the hospital is 3 days, they put the hip in using a minimally invasive hip replacement procedure through your posterior region, so he wouldn't being going through the same area that has been operated on before. He did say I was at a disadvantage with 4 surgeries done in my hip (well I guess the screw removal was a waste of time since now I am removing the whole damn hip...ok I am still a bit angry ;)), but he has worked on many people in their 20's and 30's with similar situations. He said after that I would be home for a month with visiting nurses and PT and then within 3 months I should be walking on my own, but it could take 6 months or longer to fully recover. The goal would be that I would have a full functioning hip that could do all the things that I can't do now...pretty much the hope is that I can have my life (and hip ) back!..and that would be amazing!!! I don't remember what life was like with out this pain anymore.

At this point my body feels very weak ....it has been through hell to put it mildly this past year. I have huge muscle loss in my right side along with the other issues (tendons, IT bands, bursitis, sciatic nerve, etc), so I have a lot to think about when choosing when I should do this. My physical therapist said to me that he feels this will be great for me, but he would like me to get a little stronger first so I have the best chance for this surgery to be a huge success. I also have a call into Dr. M. to discuss my visit w/ Dr. R.  So to conclude this very long new chapter: Going to get myself a new hip! When :TBD ....will get back to you on that :)