Am I having surgery too early? Will I regret this?

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MissMoo

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I'm 41 and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my right hip about 5 years ago, after suffering pain for 3 years prior to that. I've lived with it for this long and I'm an extremely active person. However in May the pain took a significant turn for the worse and I went back to my GP. To cut a long story short, I'm now scheduled for THR in November. I am in pain almost all the time; I have a noticeable limp, I'm taking Mobic 15mg daily and some nights I have trouble sleeping.

However, I remain very active, I do taekwondo 3 times a week and participate in other sporting activities. It hurts and my movement is becoming progressively restricted, but I do it anyway. I suppose ultimately its down to me to make the judgement call but I'm worried that I'm expecting too much from the surgery. My surgeon is Stephen McMahon in Melbourne, who has an excellent reputation, and has reassured me that I'll be able to resume an active lifestyle but I always come up against the caveat 'of course we're used to performing this surgery on people much older than you'. I've seen 4 surgeons across these 8 years (2 back in the UK and 2 here in Australia) and they all say something much along these lines.

What I'm really asking is - should I be having the surgery early, electively, while I am still fit and active, albeit in pain and deteriorating, or do people think I'm being stupid and should just slow the heck down with life and wait? I'd also be really interested to hear from very physically active 30 or 40-somethings who have made the decision one way or the other.

Thanks for reading.

C
 
@MissMoo , welcome to BoneSmart! Lots of 30-40 somethings have had THR. To be honest - getting this done now while you are active is the best way to go. Waiting until you are literally immobile means a longer recovery - take it from one who made that mistake.

Have a read around our Hip Recovery area. Although many of our members have had their THR and are off living active lives again - so they may not be posting. No, don't slow down - get it done and get on with living!
 
welcome 94.jpg
@MissMoo, so pleased that you have joined us here on the forum. Jaycey is so right---life is to be enjoyed not endured. Also, if these doctors you've consulted with live long enough they won't be saying that most of their patients are 20 or so years older.

New BoneSmart members like you are in various stages of their journey to joint replacement. Making the decision whether or not to have surgery and preparing for surgery can be easier once you have done your research and know what lies ahead. Here are some tools that can help you decide what is best for you.

If you are at the stage where you have joint pain but don't know for sure if you are ready to have surgery, these links may help:

Score Chart: How bad is my arthritic hip?
Choosing a surgeon and a prosthesis
BMI Calculator - What to do if your surgeon says you're too heavy for joint replacement surgery
Longevity of implants and revisions: How long will my new joint last?


If you are at the stage where you are planning to have surgery but are looking for information so you can be better prepared for what is to come, take a look at these links:

Recovery Aids: A comprehensive list for hospital and home
Recliner Chairs: Things you need to know if buying one for your recovery
Pre-Op Interviews: What's involved?


And if you want to picture what your life might be like with a replaced hip, take a look at the posts and threads from other BoneSmarties provided in this link:

Stories of amazing hip recoveries

We are here to help in any way we can: answering questions and concerns; supporting and encouraging you from start to finish; giving you a place to vent, whine, complain if you need to; sharing experiences with one another; and having fun and some laughs along the way.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.
 
@MissMoo hi and welcome from a fellow Aussie. I cannot agree more with what @Jaycey and @bottomshollow have said. You will find a great improvement in the quality of life. By the way we have a daughter in Canberra and my wife and I have just been down to see her and are pleased to be heading home to the warmth of Queensland :)
 
Welcome @MissMoo - I have a very close family member who had his first THR at 26 and the other THR a year later and he is a number of years older than you and enjoying life - don't choose to sit on the sideline and watch others living.. This surgery is life changing... From another Aussie, I look forward to following your journey..
 
@MissMoo welcome to the forum. You've come to the right place. This forum has helped me tremendously and I'm sure you'll find it useful to you as well.

I am in pain almost all the time; I have a noticeable limp, I'm taking Mobic 15mg daily and some nights I have trouble sleeping.

What I'm really asking is - should I be having the surgery early, electively, while I am still fit and active, albeit in pain and deteriorating, or do people think I'm being stupid and should just slow the heck down with life and wait?

I'm not sure I would call it elective if you are in pain most of the time and have a noticeable limp. That's no way to live you life.

Three months ago I was running 4-5 miles a day, then I was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis (AVN) in both hips. That was about 7 weeks ago and I can't believe how much worse it's gotten since then. Now I'm in constant pain and can hardly walk. I'm schedule for my RTHR on Sept. 23. I wish I was having it done today.

I used to think that hip replacements were for old people - people in their 60's or 70's. Thanks to this forum, I am now one of the educated. I know now that this is a very common procedure for people of all ages and I don't have any reservations about getting it done at 43. I want my life back and I know that a THR is what will 'fix' my problem.

Best of luck to you.

Rick
 
I kind of feel the same way about my upcoming hip surgery Oct 1st. I am not a cripple as I was before my double knee replacement. I have dealt with the hip pain in both hips since I was 30. It is worse some days than others... if I over do it etc. Can not put on my socks without effort. Now that my knees are pain free I can go for walks and work in the yard again... until this left hip( the bad one) acts up and I am lame for a day. Then it will start to feel better until I over do it again. I decided NOT to wait until I was miserable and cripple this time. The hips are shot, and I will replace them before I am desperate as with my knees. I hope I am not jumping the gun as I can go without Tylenol for the most part unless I over do it.
 
@MissMoo You are NOT too young to have this surgery. I just had both my hips replaced in the last 6 months at age 43. My pain started getting bad last summer and within 6 months I could hardly walk around. Ended up I had congenital hip dysplasia but didn't know it so that caused my early arthritis (along with obesity). I am so glad I had the surgery because life had gotten miserable. You will find that because you are so active your recovery will be quick. I was not necessarily in shape, but had been losing some weight and swimming before surgery (although had to stop a month before because of pain). I was back to work part time (sitting job mostly) within 2 weeks and then full time at 4 weeks. Same with the second surgery. Been 4 months since my last replacement and I hardly think about the hips anymore. There is some residual stiffness, but my doctor I just saw this morning said to give the soft tissues a year to heal and then I will not even be thinking about my hips anymore. Yahoo! Do not put off the surgery. Good luck. :SUNsmile:
 
Well, look at it this way - you've already 'wasted' a number of years of your young life doing things in spite of the pain. It will only get worse, you know, and the years you waste will mount up and up. How much of your life do you want to live a half life instead of a whole one? See the first link in the articles Judy left you - the score chart. Print that off and complete it. I bet you will be astonished as how much of your life you have withdrawn from already.

If you want further proof that you're not crazy, look at these two ladies

2 shugaplum's lift 4m small-horz.jpg

BarbaraR THR at 6 months.jpg


And further, take a look in the Amazing Hip Recoveries.

The one I like best is Nick Skelton who won gold at show jumping in the 2012 London ONE YEAR after having had a hip replacement!

I found this in the Telegraph-online dated 06 Aug 2012
The victory was remarkable enough, but Skelton’s place in the winning four was even more so, given that he was once injured so badly that doctors warned another fall from the saddle would kill him.

For good measure, he has also had a hip replacement and two knee operations. He finds walking harder than riding. Skelton yesterday became Britain’s oldest gold medallist for more than 40 years.

nick skelton 2012.JPG
 
@MissMoo I echo the other encouraging comments. I was 49 and am grateful I didn't wait any longer. I went downhill fast. My Os initially wanted me to wait, but after the surgery he said he was surprised at how bad my hip actually was. I didn't want to slow my life down- I wanted to enjoy life. The difference pre and post-surgery is amazing, and I don't regret it for a moment!
 
@MissMoo probably by now you have figured out that you are doing right to get the new hip :)
I agree with everyone, and Josephine puts it so well regarding not wasting any more time. Best of luck!!


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!
 
A huge thank you to everyone who's taken the time to reply. I've just sat down at my desk this morning and thought I'd take a quick peek at the forum and I'm overwhelmed by the number of responses. I guess the support of others who've been through this feels more important, in an odd way, than the support of friends and family who love me to bits but can't quite see what's going on inside my head each day. @Josephine, those pictures were especially inspiring, although it did bring to mind the joke "Will I be able to play the piano after my operation?" "Yes? Brilliant because I'm rubbish at it now :)" I'm actually not sure what level of flexibility I'll be able to get back to but seeing such great results quashes some of my worst fears. (I'm from the north east of England too originally :))

@fulafoto things are just warming up down here now - we had 17 degrees yesterday and I even managed to take my jacket off!

Looking forward, now, to my journey with you guys who are having surgery around the same time as me.

Thanks again everyone

Clare
 
Hi Clare, @MissMoo - I notice it was a minus 1C in Canberra this morning... Brrrrr!

I have spent time in Canberra (professionally) and appreciate the warmer days after a chilly night, particularly the minus 7C's :)

By the way, I like your choice of surgeons, his bio is very impressive.
 
Why live in pain any longer than you need? My first OS wanted me to wait until I turned 50 to have THR. So my second OS was the keeper! I had my surgery three months ago and have zero regrets. I had no idea how impacted my sleep was and how that affected me. Now I sleep like a baby on both sides when I want and can do my three to five miles a day at the gym. Working out and my age made me recover faster than many so I'm sure you will as well!!


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart®
 
Hi Clare, I just wanted to give you these links - they are truly worth reading - hugs x

Slow and steady and remembering that recovery from a joint replacement can be a marathon and not a sprint gives one permission to recover in one's own timeframe :)

The following is a link to an article which provides the current science regarding the healing beneath and around the implant and approximate timeframes for the healing phases and processes and the relevant nutritional information for each phase.

Healing Phases & Nutrition

This second link is to other nutritional articles which you may find interesting, including one relating to bone health.

Nutritional advice for pre op and recovery

This third link refers to my ongoing research..

nutrional-snippets
 
Thanks @Poppet. I really did my research when looking for a surgeon; its just a shame his secretary isn't equally wonderful. I emailed some questions over to her yesterday, following reading so much material on this site I realised how much I hadn't asked at my consultation - things like when could I drive and would it be an anterior or posterior approach; all the things that everyone here mentions. I also realised I had no fees estimate. Well she called me and was quite short, saying I was asking way too many questions by email and I would need a consultation. I explained I couldn't really get back there in person and she eventually relented and offered me a phone consultation..on the 30th October (first available date). Then she practically refused to give me an estimate of fees saying that she wouldn't be doing November's fees for quite some time - I had to pry from her a rough guesstimate - which she plainly wasn't pleased about doing. I felt drained after the phone call - this is stressful enough without her creating roadblocks :cry:

I hope venting is ok here too....:unsure:
 
I hope venting is ok here too...
It certainly is and frankly you have plenty to vent about! I hate that attitude. This is major surgery and you have every right to ask all the questions! Please don't let that secretary bully you. It's a partnership between you and your surgeon and she needs to stop this disruptive behaviour! (rant over - sorry)
 
Absolutely vent here @MissMoo - that is shocking behavior! I ran into the same issue with the secretary of my first surgeon.

I kept pestering (nicely, because I didn't want to lower myself to her standard) eventually indicating that I was the paying patient/client and it was my right and the surgeons's duty of care to answer my questions...

So keep pestering, don't allow the secretary to treat you like this... xx
 
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