due to have pre-op on Thursday

[msmith]

Hi,

I've just found this site, while I was looking for some advice about hip resurfacing.

I have my pre-op on Thursday, and I've been told that I need to decide between resurfacing and total hip replacement.

I'm 34, they've not been able to find what actually caused this problem, they say it's osteo arthritis, but all the blood test say it's not arthritis.

Sorry if that came across as a jumble.

Michael

[Pat Walter]

Hi Michael

Glad you found my Hip Talk Group. There are a lot of great folks here who will answer questions and give you support.

You are very young to be needing a hip.  I hope you take time to do more research before you make a decision to get a THR.  Hip resurfacing is an excellent solution for younger people because you don't have to have a large piece of your femur bone cut off to have the hip device placed.  Then when you get older, if you should need a revision, you have a complete femur bone for a revision.  A THR becomes more difficult to revise with each revision.  That is one of the major reason the expeirnced hip resurfacing surgeons will always try to give a younger person a resurfacing.

Also a resurfacing allows your hip to operate more like the orginal equipment from the way it is designed.  A THR has a long stem down your femur bone and does not allow your body to have as natural gait as a resurfacing  - based on medical studies I have posted.

There are a lot of really expeinced surgeons which you can find by looking at the surgeons list on my website  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php   I always suggest using the very expeirnced resurfacing surgeons since they have done a lot of patients and will normally always try to give you a resurfacing.  The less experinced surgeons will sometimes just revert to a THR if the surgery looks too difficult for them.

Take time, talk to folks here and talk to more than one surgeon about resurfacing.

Good Luck and stay in touch.

Pat

[Todd]

Michael,

I'm 39 and will have my second hip resurfacing tomorrow here in MN.  I had my first on January 7th of this year.  Read all that you can on this website, and you will gain the knowledge that you need to make an informed decision. I had increasing pain each year when it got bad enough that I finally went to get Xrays where the Dr. said I had osteoarthritis.  That's when I started to look at the options.  I couldn't be happier with the resurfacing I have, and although I'm not at 100% yet, the improvements have been huge already!  Good luck and keep us informed on your journey.
todd

[msmith]

Hi,

Thank you, prior to seeing my surgeon, we'd read a newspaper article about resurfacing, and that's what lead to where I am now, that's the short version of the story...

I realise I'm a bit young for either the THR or BHR, but I'm a Student at University studying Media Production, 75% practical, I'm going to be on my feet a lot, yeah I know this was probably a bed decision in a way, but it's the direction I want to go in.

I found your site, when doing a google search, what wouldn't we do without google :D... on resurfacing recovery times, and your article in the FAQ was very helpful.

I've still got plenty of reading to do, but  I will keep you up to date with how things go.

Michael

[uberalan]

Todd and Michael,

Best wishes for your surgeries on Thursday.  I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery.  Todd knows the drill well and has posted extensively about his first surgery.

Michael,

Who is your doctor and where are you having the surgery done? Please don't say on your hip.  :D

The cause of my arthritis was caused by a development problem called Cam Femoral Acetabular Impingement (aka CAM Femoroacetabular Impingement or Cam F.A.I.).  Basically osteotites form on the neck of the femur and with movement of the joint over time destroy the socket.  They don't know the cause.

Please come back and tell us how your surgery went and how your recovery is going.

[msmith]

Hi, Alan,

My Doctors name is Dr Bamford, and I'm having the operation done at Stepping Hill  NHS Hospital, Stockport, Cheshire, in the UK, I' live in the UK.

Our "wonderful" free health system isn't that "wonderful, we have waiting lists for operations, Dr Bamford said that the waiting list for my op was 18 weeks.

The wait hasn't been quite that long.

Michael

[kwarendorf]

Hi Michael,

Take your time and make the right choice. As to your blood tests, I'm not a Doc but I don;t think osteoarthritis shows up in blood tests. It's just the mechanical wearing out of the cartilage. Other types of arthritis like Rheumatoid or Psoriatic are more likely to show up in blood work.

Good luck!

Kyle

[msmith]

Thanks, believe me, I am being careful.

[msmith]

I'm back from my pre-op appointment, took 3 hours, to go through everything.  But most importantly, he signed the paperwork for me to have the op.

June 3 will not come soon enough :D

[kwarendorf]

Congratulations!  :)