what do i do

[peteuk]

hi, i am new here, i have had pain and discomfort in in my thighs for a couple of years, in september i was diagnosed with arthiritis of both hips, i am 51 and my job entailed quite a bit of heavy lifting which made things worse,

i was booked in for a bhr of my right hip which is the worse one of the two and in the meantime i have taken a redundacy package from work,

i have been off work for 2 1/2 months now and my hips feel a really lot better ,so much so that the pain is almost gone,

the op date has just come through this morning for 2 weeks time and i am in a real dilema about what to do,

does arthritis get better by itself ?

i can/t imagine being in any less pain when everything has healed than what i have now,

has anyone else been in this posistion or was your pain so bad the op could/nt come quick enough, pete

[Pat Walter]

Hi

Welcome to Hip Talk.

Most of us that had OA in the hips did very little because it hurt if we were active. I could not even walk from the parking lot of Walmart into the store.  I sat in my chair for several years because that was the only way I did not hurt so much.  Unfortunately, with bad OA inactivity helps the pain when you are awake - but no amount of meds could stop the pain when I tried to sleep.

Arthritis never gets better - at least with any medical treatment available today.  If you are bone on bone - there is no way for cartilage to grow back. Test it yourself, start lifting heaving things and walking long distances - do you start to hurt again??? 

How bad is your arthritis?  Are you bone on bone?  Do you have cysts? Do you have any leg length problem?

You should know all of this.  If you are bone on bone and have cysts - you could miss the window of opportunity to get a hip resurfacing if you hips gets too bad. 

I think you should really talk to your doctor and get the whole picture of what's wrong.  If you haven't been able to work for 2 1/2 months - that's pretty major stuff.  If a day off doesn't fix your pain - then you must have major problems.

Trust me nothing heals - I know.  If I did nothing I did not hurt - then if I started to walk or be active - bang, the pain was back.

Test it yourself.  You will know the answer quickly. Go back to work and see how long it takes to get the pain back.

I am sorry I can't tell you more other than I don't know one person from thousands that post on the Yahoo Surface Hippy Group that had their hip cured from arthritis.  I have never read a medical article on any way to cure advanced OA of the hip. If there is a way - someone or some company is going to make a great deal of money because that's what we all want - a cured hip, not a hip replacement.

I was in pain for years and am sorry I had to wait until I learned about hip resurfacing.  I would have been happy to get my hip fixed much sooner.  I lost many years of an active life.

Sounds like you have just lost 2 1/2 months of a normal life by not being able to work.

Good Luck and keep in touch.

Pat

[peteuk]

hi Pat, thanks for the quick reply, the doctor who is going to do the op is a very experianced but when i went to see him i just did/nt know enough about hips and resurfacing etc to ask all the right questions, its only since looking through the internet and this site that i know a fair bit more about everything,

i was/nt in a lot of pain when i spoke to him so asked his advice on what he would do if he was in my position, my xrays show undoubtably i have arthritis and his advice was its better sooner than later to have the resurfaceing done,

this was back in september ,but at the moment i feel almost pain free , don/t walk with a limp , can run up and down the stairs,

if i had been like this 6 months ago i probabaly would/nt have gone to the doctors, i feel my heavy lifting at work just made everything so much worse at the time,

i have a couple of days to make up my mind what to do , tomorrow i am going to go on a long walk to think and see if i get in some more pain, pete

[Pat Walter]

Hi Pete

One other thing I can tell you is that most of the really experienced surgeons won't do hips that are not ready to be done. 

My doctor, De Smet of Belgium, has looked at my right hip twice in two years and keeps telling me it is not time.  I guess I have more bursitis than anything else, but it can really hurt when I get too active.  The doctors are so busy that I don't know any that just decide to do a hip resurfacing to make money or get experienced.

The doctors are very serious and the ones I know of personally, just would not be suggesting a hip replacement unless they felt it was necessary.

We all feel pain at different levels.  Some people have terrible hips and don't have much pain - while others have less problems and terrible pain.  Sometimes just pain is not always the deciding factor if your hip is deteriorating quickly.

I hope everything works out for you.

Always go with your gut feelings  Be honest with yourself, but make sure you are comfortable with the doctor and the upcoming surgery.  Normally, a person always knows what's best for them and should listen to their inner voices and feelings about things.

Pat

[Ronnie]

Hi Pete
           I just had my BHR 6 weeks ago. The pain  your talking about i did not have. Check this site out all of us have had a similar pain i hope the Doctor took xrays and seen bone on bone. I am a elevator mech. I felt if i did not do this kind of work i would have waited longer. Good luck
                                             Ronnie

[rlm869]

hi pete- i wanted to add that in the past, i had days or even weeks of no pain even when i was physically active. in the last 2 years, things have progressed and i have pain every day. i am only 38 and i am having surgery in march.
get all the information you can and find out exactly what is wrong with your hips and at what stage you are. i am pretty much bone on bone with cysts. most people don't believe it because i am so young, but i have a congenital defect plus oa that has caused this to happen so quickly. i also ran 3 miles every day for two years straight which may have caused the condition to worsen at a faster rate.
thanks to pat, i have a long list of questions to ask my surgeon.
rebecca

[peteuk]

hi, thanks once again for all the replies, i have had my pre-op and surgery is on the 2nd of feb,
signing the consent form was frightening , you have to sign consent that if the bhr is not an option at the point of surgery the doctor will do a thr,
 i think this is a formality for everyone

i will speak to the surgeon before the op so will pin him down on the reality of ending up with a thr , i have some necrosis on the x-ray which alters things a little but i don/t feel in control of the situation at the moment,

if i knew for certain it would be a thr i would wait longer, if i wait too long from this moment a bhr option will be gone, devil and deep blue sea senario ,

pete

[rlm869]

pete, i understand your fear. at my age, i really don't want a thr. but, at the same time i want to feel better. i guess the most important thing is trusting your surgeon. right now, i don't trust my surgeon so i am going to see the original surgeon i first met with about bhr. he has performed over 100 resurfs and i think he would be better able to judge whether i am a good candidate for it.

good luck and think about how much better you will feel!
rebecca

[peteuk]

hi,
i was due in hospital tomorrow for surgery saturday, hospital phoned to say they have no theatre staff so op is cancelled until the 26th feb , good news is it is re scheduled in a private hospital ,surgeon will be the same, i feel a sigh of relieve that i don/t have to go in but will have to go through the same anxiety as the date gets closer again,
pete

[momzer2]

Pete,

Sorry to hear about your surgery delay.  I had to wait 10 weeks for mine to be approved by my insurance, and I couldn't wait to have it done.  Then, the last few days before THE DAY, I was nervous, too.  It's normal to have apprehension, but you are too young to have to limit your activities.  I have not regretted my decision.  I'm 48 and loved to jog/run 3-4 miles a day.  I had to give that up last May.  I'm 4-1/2 mo. post-op and I feel GREAT!!  I also have a congential reason (hip dysplasia) that sped up the arthritic process which means I'm going to need to have my right hip done in the future.  My doctor feels I have about 3-5 years before that happens.  I know that as soon as I start getting the groin pain that travels down to my knee that I'll be in the OR as fast as I can!!!  Don't wait any longer than you have to, especially with your necrosis.  Good Luck!!!

Karen (6 weeks til I can run again!!)

[Pat Walter]

Hi Pete

Maybe the delay is for the best since you will be in a private hospital.  Maybe the care will be better.  Don't know much about your system. 

You still have to go with the flow no matter what.  Maybe for some reason, things will be better this way.

Keep in a positive mood and know that you will be out of pain soon.  You will have a great summer once this is all over.  Everyone is nervous before surgery. 

Keep in touch and let everyone give you support.

Pat