Thanks folks for the kind words and feedback. I really appreciate it as I have no one else to talk to about this at the moment...I haven't been able to stomach even telling friends or family about it yet because it all seems so unreal that this could happen just a year + after my resurfacing.
Baby Barista - I did modify my activities basically most of the winter. On the advice of Dr. Gross and another local sports medicine doctor I saw here in Colorado I kept away from impact sports for basically 8 weeks and just hiked, walked, used the spinning bike and occasionally cross-country skied. I also did an initial period of complete rest for about 2 weeks. If anything, I seem to feel better with activity than when I do nothing - it keeps the joint moving and prevents the inflammation from just accumulating in the tissues around the joint. I would stay off it for 2 months completely if I thought it would really help at this point. I agree with all you've said about looking at the positive...its true that my levels are not as high as some we've seen here on this board.
In terms of discomfort and physical symptoms, the pain in my left (worse) hip comes and goes with severity but its definitely there every day and the post-exercise soreness is pretty substantial sometimes. If I had had mediocre results from my resurfacing initially then it would probably be less dramatic but because I was completely pain free for nearly 10 months I know that something is not right and its not just muscle imbalances, etc. I agree that it does not yet make sense to jump the gun into more surgery but I am also leary of waiting a full year to do anything if I am in this much discomfort. Which is why I wish Dr. Gross would give me a bit more attention at this point.
I was able to speak with Dr. Pritchett yesterday evening. He is an extremely nice man and was very helpful. He basically confirmed my opinion that I do have some kind of metallosis developing and although its still in the early stages at this point we don't know what will happen. We discussed the surgical options in terms of revision to poly on metal but retaining the resurfacing - he is the only one doing this right now in the US. Ideally, of course, I would just have the socket revised and a poly liner put in so that there is no metal on metal articulation but the problem he is currently encountering is that he cannot get access to enough cup sizes to match the existing femoral heads and its become something of a problem for him. Apparently, he used to be able to sort of "custom order" parts for people based on their anatomy but his hospital is contracting with Stryker and its become more difficult. He is also revising some people with a poly head and keeping the socket but this would really not be my preference because of the bone loss - its not a full THR revision because he is able to use an anatomical sized head since the cup is still large enough but it still requires the removal of the bone which at 37 I am very reluctant to do. So, I'm going to send him my x-rays and he is going to look into what sizes he thinks he can get...Ironically, he has plenty for smaller boned women but I currently have a size 48 head and thats considered on the large size for women.
In the meantime, I'll have to think about what to do. I really still would like this all to go away and just be a bad dream! I guess I will probably do another ion test in 2 months to see what the trend is and go from there. He said he would not advise waiting more than 6 months or so to do anything about it given the risk of more tissue damage.
Goodness. To think I would ever be in the position of not being able to obtain the right sized prosthetic component for my hips!
Not really something you contemplate in your 30s! But I guess this is something of a first world problem
Amy