Abacus
junior member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
- Messages
- 27
- Age
- 55
- Location
- Sacramento, California
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
I am 51 and have been through a two year saga that started with getting out of bed with sharp stabbing pain in my right hip out of nowhere. I was treated in PT and by the GP for bursitis, which treatment increased my pain immensely. At the time, I was teaching art at 7 schools a week and was in excellent physical shape. I had to cut back then cease exercising, which increased stress- and pain.
I went to walk-in clinic after PT said they couldn't help me when I asked them to treat ME not the diagnosis on paper. Finally I had an x-ray, blood work and got a cane.
The doctor I then saw left the practice suddenly after one visit so I was bumped to the bottom of the waiting list for another doctor. In a visit with my wrist doctor, I begged him to help me see the right doctor and he referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. I then had cortisone injections, which helped at first.
The PA asked me to wait until in the most pain before having another injection and ordered an MRI with contrast.
Due to the coronavirus, the MRI ordered was pushed back each month while the pain grew worse and worse (to where I regretted choosing to wait). Finally, a person in the scheduling office named Nancy took the time to hear my story, and got the MRI upgraded to STAT and found a cancellation, called the doctor on his vacation, and I had the MRI last May. The people who take the time to listen, like my wrist doctor and Nancy, are blessings.
I then got a message from my primary care doctor saying my hip is bone-on-bone and I needed a total hip replacement- but was too young.
I saw two different surgeons and the first one said to wait as long as possible to have the surgery. He had me come back in a month for an x-ray to see if it was rapidly worsening or not, and said to wait until more of the cartilage was gone. Per the x-ray, he said to wait so I can make the replacement last longer.
I decided to get a second opinion and found a surgeon who does a high number of THRs every year at a hospital with great success rates for THRs.
The second said I am a good candidate for the anterior approach, answered all my questions, and felt right to me in his balanced approach of my age and the level of my pain and decreased quality of life. So I said, let's do it and told myself I could always change my mind.
I'm nervous and have moments of total overwhelm. I'm here. I still have moments of doubt over being too young. I also can't drive far, dance, sleep well, or climb the three steps to my front door without pain.
Nice to "meet" you all.
I went to walk-in clinic after PT said they couldn't help me when I asked them to treat ME not the diagnosis on paper. Finally I had an x-ray, blood work and got a cane.
The doctor I then saw left the practice suddenly after one visit so I was bumped to the bottom of the waiting list for another doctor. In a visit with my wrist doctor, I begged him to help me see the right doctor and he referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. I then had cortisone injections, which helped at first.
The PA asked me to wait until in the most pain before having another injection and ordered an MRI with contrast.
Due to the coronavirus, the MRI ordered was pushed back each month while the pain grew worse and worse (to where I regretted choosing to wait). Finally, a person in the scheduling office named Nancy took the time to hear my story, and got the MRI upgraded to STAT and found a cancellation, called the doctor on his vacation, and I had the MRI last May. The people who take the time to listen, like my wrist doctor and Nancy, are blessings.
I then got a message from my primary care doctor saying my hip is bone-on-bone and I needed a total hip replacement- but was too young.
I saw two different surgeons and the first one said to wait as long as possible to have the surgery. He had me come back in a month for an x-ray to see if it was rapidly worsening or not, and said to wait until more of the cartilage was gone. Per the x-ray, he said to wait so I can make the replacement last longer.
I decided to get a second opinion and found a surgeon who does a high number of THRs every year at a hospital with great success rates for THRs.
The second said I am a good candidate for the anterior approach, answered all my questions, and felt right to me in his balanced approach of my age and the level of my pain and decreased quality of life. So I said, let's do it and told myself I could always change my mind.
I'm nervous and have moments of total overwhelm. I'm here. I still have moments of doubt over being too young. I also can't drive far, dance, sleep well, or climb the three steps to my front door without pain.
Nice to "meet" you all.
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