Back in March I had my 6 month hip replacement review with my consulant.
Personally, I’d felt like things were going pretty well, although I’d had a small surgery to remove a bladder stone under general anaesthetic which I think they were less than careful flinging my legs and new hip around so I’d been a bit sore.
Before my hip replacement, my hip looked a bit like this (this is my xray so I suppose I should say that my hip looked EXACTLY like this):
As an added bonus you can also see my bladder stone (it’s the round circle in the middle of my pelvis – you may notice that there is big empty space where the end of my spine should be and that I have a very small pelvis!
My consultant was very pleased with my progress, I had an xray to check all was as it should be, he watched me walk a few steps and was pleased that as my hip alignment has been corrected a little, my leg length discrepancy has improved which in turn has improved my gait. So good news all round.
Here is what my hip looks like now, you can see the new hip and that the pesky bladder stone has gone (sacrum and coccyx not grown back though).
You can actually see in the second xray the new, improved alignment of my hip.
The consultant will see me again in another 6 months, which will be a year after my hip replacement. I had an extra review at 6 months because of my disability.
The last couple of months have been a bit tough – I’ve not been in the best of health, with a few bladder infections, the removal of my bladder stones and some disabling and sometimes quite frightening migraines and headaches. The cats have kept me company if I’ve had to take to my bed though.
I’m also struggling with my weight a bit at the moment, before my hip replacment I’d successfully managed to lose quite a lot of weight and keep it off, but as I was less mobile following my surgery and I’ve been having major pain issues with an arthritic right ankle, I’ve done not very much at all except for eat rather too much. Pain in my ankle means I’m not managing to get around as much and I’ve seen a huge decrease in my daily steps from the months before my hip replacement to recent months.
I only ever set a goal of 3,000 steps. Anymore than that and my body just cant cope. I used to reach 3,000 steps every day, but lately it’s hugely rare to meet the goal.
I saw my other orthopaedic surgeon a few weeks ago, it wasn’t great news unfortunately and I am now on a waiting list for ankle surgery. I have already had a similiar surgery on my left ankle, which was a life saver. I went from 24 hour a day pain and being able to barely walk anywhere to no pain at all, which was brilliant.
My right ankle will undergo a similiar procedure but with an added bone graft and potential removal of some defective bone. There are a number of risks associated with the surgery, such as the bone graft not taking, infection, the surgery failing completely, the pain simply being transferred to the lower part of my foot and many other things all not helped by the multiple surgeries I have already had. However, I am more than willing to take the risk to gain even a small improvement in the pain I have in my ankle now.
I’ve been keeping myself busy and am practising my creative skills a lot at the moment. It takes my mind off my disability which has been an overwhelming part of my life lately.
All in all, I am thrilled with my new hip. I’m still struggling to take shoes on and off, but to be fair I sometimes needed help anyway. I get a bit of a shooting pain if I try to sit on anything that’s a bit low and I get some pain getting in an and out of the bath. Things are going really well, my overall hip pain has gone and I’m no longer having to be rescued by my husband because my hip has locked up!
If you are weighing up the pros and cons of a hip replacement, especially if you are a bit younger than your average hip replacement then I would recommend you definitely go for it. I’m hugely pleased with my progress and a little bit proud of how well I am doing.
Have you had a hip replacement? Was your recovery everything you hoped it would be? Get in touch below.