July 02, 2009
Update
Hi everybody,
I received a nice e-mail the other day from the author of the book and the blog, A Blue True Dream of Sky, a very informative and entertaining site about Sarah Van Arsdale's recovery from hip surgery. Please check it out using the link on the right-hand side of this page.
Hearing from Sarah made me realize that I hadn't posted any updates about my total hip replacement in ages and that's because my hip feels fantastic! I had it done more than six years ago and I had a slow recovery. But once the post-op pain and rehab were finally behind me, I was able to say in all earnestness that the artificial joint felt as real as my good hip. And now, I rarely spend any time thinking about my hip. Occasionally, of course, it does come to mind when I'm lamenting my inability to sit cross-legged on the floor, but otherwise I don't think about it and that's why I don't post. And that's good news for any of you who are contemplating hip surgery, especially if you're still in your 40s as I was at the time of diagnosis.
Now I'm doing my level best to avoid a knee replacement, or at least to delay it as long as possible. I broke both my hip and knee in my late 20s when I had a serious car accident. Only the lateral compartment of my knee is shot and the rest of it's pretty good, although I have a lot of pain and swelling around the patella. I decided to buy a compression pump -- really expensive -- but it takes down the swelling, which reduces the degree of pain (not down to zero by any means but far enough so that I can live with it at the moment). So not all surgical decisions are the same. It was a no-brainer for my hip -- the joint was completely destroyed on x-ray and the films matched my symptoms. My knee is more complicated and I'm trying to preserve it, although at times it feels more like it should be buried in an archaeology site!
Stay hip. Sigrid
I received a nice e-mail the other day from the author of the book and the blog, A Blue True Dream of Sky, a very informative and entertaining site about Sarah Van Arsdale's recovery from hip surgery. Please check it out using the link on the right-hand side of this page.
Hearing from Sarah made me realize that I hadn't posted any updates about my total hip replacement in ages and that's because my hip feels fantastic! I had it done more than six years ago and I had a slow recovery. But once the post-op pain and rehab were finally behind me, I was able to say in all earnestness that the artificial joint felt as real as my good hip. And now, I rarely spend any time thinking about my hip. Occasionally, of course, it does come to mind when I'm lamenting my inability to sit cross-legged on the floor, but otherwise I don't think about it and that's why I don't post. And that's good news for any of you who are contemplating hip surgery, especially if you're still in your 40s as I was at the time of diagnosis.
Now I'm doing my level best to avoid a knee replacement, or at least to delay it as long as possible. I broke both my hip and knee in my late 20s when I had a serious car accident. Only the lateral compartment of my knee is shot and the rest of it's pretty good, although I have a lot of pain and swelling around the patella. I decided to buy a compression pump -- really expensive -- but it takes down the swelling, which reduces the degree of pain (not down to zero by any means but far enough so that I can live with it at the moment). So not all surgical decisions are the same. It was a no-brainer for my hip -- the joint was completely destroyed on x-ray and the films matched my symptoms. My knee is more complicated and I'm trying to preserve it, although at times it feels more like it should be buried in an archaeology site!
Stay hip. Sigrid
# posted by Sigrid Macdonald : 6:37 PM
