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Author Topic: Nov 21, 2018 Dr. De Smet aka too small for resurfacing, stop running  (Read 760 times)

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rag33

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Other people's stories have been so helpful for me. So I wanted to share my own. I'm a 43 year old woman living in France.

When I was 12 years old, I was hit by a car, a direct impact on my right hip. One of the doctors told me, “one day, you’ll have arthritis”. I ran cross-country in college and then did road races (10k- marathon), training 4 times a week, and running through both of my pregnancies. I was 36 when the pain started wandering between my knee, hip flexor and SI joint. 
In March 2012, I started seeing a PT, did my stretches religiously, strengthened my core, reduced my mileage and started doing more cross training. For 5 years, I was caught in a vicious cycle : I was ok for a few months and then pain would come creeping back. No one mentioned my hip but I knew there was something wrong because it started “clicking”. My GP sent me for xrays that found the beginning of arthritis.  So I started living with the pain.
By Spring 2017, the pain had settled in my lower back after a series of lumbagos that led to a herniated disc.  I cried to my PT, “I’m doing everything right, I don’t understand”. She sent me to a new foot doctor. Within 4 months, I was out racing 10k for the first time in a 3 years. But slowly, the pain started trickling back in. The podiatrist sent me to a rheumatologist. 
The rheumatologist sent me for a MRI and cortisone injection. The MRI revealed a torn round ligament (probably from the car accident 30 years earlier), severe cartilage damage and a torn labrum.  But the injection made my hip feel worse because the inflammation had been cushioning my joint. 
I was done waiting. I made an appointment with a hip surgeon. A friend told me about hip resurfacing and I got very excited until I read the fine print about women.  By July 2018, I hadn’t run in 7 months and couldn't walk more than a few minutes before I had “to shake out my leg”. When I saw Prof. Migaud here in Lille, France, I got the standard answer : keep running if you can stand the pain, you’re too young for a hip replacement, and you’re too small for a resurfacing. I cried and went back to PT.
By the end of summer 2018, I couldn’t walk, sit, sleep, ride a bike, put on my shoes, or wash my foot. Whenever I stood from a sitting position, I had to do a series of painful stretches in order to put my hip back in place before I could put weight on it. I was also getting depressed.  I emailed Dr. De Smet one sleepless night. Within hours he wrote back : I can fix you and you cannot wait because it’s already bone on bone. I went back to Prof. Migaud and asked him flat out, “if my bones were bigger, is this the surgery you would perform?” His answer was an emphatic yes and that he trusted Dr. De Smet 100%.

When I woke up from surgery on November 21, 2018, I knew the pain was gone. I started my exercises and PT a week after surgery. At 2 weeks, I was out walking a couple miles. At 3 weeks, I started the stationary bike. At 6 weeks, I could touch my toes again!  At 2 months, I began getting my socks and shoes on again. And at 3 months, I started running a little using a modified C25K plan I found here. It feels like slow progress, but when I look back, I realize how quickly I’ve reclaimed my life. When I see pictures from last summer, the pain is visible all over my face. The pain is no longer weighing me down and I’m starting to feel like me again.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2019, 09:45:42 AM by rag33 »
Right Conserve+, November 21, 2018, Dr. De Smet

Pat Walter

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Hi Rebecca

I am so happy you found Dr. De Smet and are now on your way to healing and a pain free life.
I will add your story to the main website under the Dr. De Smet Stories. I will also add updates you add in the future.
Your story is important since you are a female.
I wish you the very best.
Pat
Webmaster/Owner of Surface Hippy
3/15/06 LBHR De Smet

catfriend

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Congratulations! It's amazing how much better you feel after surgery.

 

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