Mike:
My situation is similar to yours in that one hip hurt far worse than the other. The oddity is that the one that hurt the least (left hip) is the one that showed bone-on-bone in the MRI. But pain can be funny like that. Other than that, they both showed arthritis and labrum tears. My ROM was shot on both sides. He said that he wanted to proceed conservatively and see how things went once the left hip was done and also stated that he thought I may get another year or two out of my right hip. He could very well be right. But the pain in the right hip is back nonetheless. I had a short break from it with all this laying around and constant pain meds. Pre-op I did the icing, NSAIDS, cortisone shots etc but that is not going to work now anymore than it did in the past. While I do agree that if I were not going to return to dance I could minimize the pain and probably make it the two years. But I will go back to dancing the split second I am given the go ahead and the pain will be chronic again. Right now it comes and goes. Not only that, the demise of my right hip will almost certainly be quick. I really doubt, with dancing, I will make it the year without bone-on-bone wear. What I do is analogous to running in place or doing jumping jacks so it is high impact on the hips. So if I were to wait the year, I would just be fully healed from resurfacing the left only to go back in for the right and down for the count for another six months to a year. Like you, I want to go right back in for my other hip and be done with the pain. Somehow being pain free on the left is almost making me feel more intolerable of the pain in my right, if that makes any sense? I toughed through the pain for a couple years and I just plain tapped out from it a few months back. I threw in the towel, slowly quit dance and put on 20 lbs. I stopped exercising, walking and pretty much everything else. I did put a message into his office late this afternoon and explained briefly how my right hip is feeling and if there is any way he would reconsider resurfacing it.
Hipnhop:
The thought that insurance may have something to with it has crossed my mind. I imagine that he has to justify the surgery to the insurance company so maybe my diagnosis of the right hip just doesn’t quite cut it right now. What I do know is that he is an amazing doctor and I do trust his judgment. I do believe he will do what is in my best interest and cares deeply about his patients. I also appreciate that he chose not to rush into it when he could’ve made twice the amount of money doing both hips in one surgery. Not to mention I will be eternally grateful for his wisdom for advising against same day bilateral!! I get intimidated in these kinds of situations and I hate to be that pesky whining patient. But I sucked it up and took your advice and that of another and put a message into his office late this afternoon. Just like your experiment to see if the pain meds were masking the pain, like I explained above to Mike, I know that once I return to dance the pain in the non-operated hip is going to escalate and the demise will be quick.
Like you I want to be free of the pain meds. I have been taking them for a couple of years now and I don’t like how they have affected me. I don’t take much, a Vicodin per day, occasionally two, but I am dependent on them. It’s such a low dose that it would probably only take me a couple of weeks to get off of them. But even at such a low dose I am cranky as hell when I miss that daily dose. It’s like PMS – everybody duck and run!
Boy do I want to return to my active lifestyle. I live right by the path along the Delaware River and I walked several miles of it every other day, went to the Y, did Zumba and yoga and danced 10 plus hours per week. Now I do nothing! I am only 51 years old and I feel like I’m 65. I vowed not to be old no matter what age I am!
Anyway, I know Dr. Su is a very busy man so it will take several days I am sure before he gets back to me, but here is hoping it will work out in my favor. I will definitely post here when he does.
Thanks Mike and hipnhop!