8 days pre-op

I wanted to begin this blog before my hip resurfacing surgery on January 12 to share my experiences with fellow hip resurfacing patients as well as have a record of my feelings and experiences for my own benefit, and to share what I'm going through with friends and family.

With a week to go, there is a lot of preparation. I feel excited about the surgery and the prospect of being able to walk, dance and move again! I'm also a little nervous. I've been reading about other people's experiences, and have done a lot of research about hip resurfacing vs. total hip replacement, what to expect post-op, etc. 

I went to see my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Michael Mont, recently because I had come to the end of my rope with hip and back pain, and my pain management doctor (Dr. Abdul Soudan) finally admitted, after seeing me for over two years, that he thought my back pain was caused by my arthritic hip. Mont had discouraged me from doing hip resurfacing last spring. He instead suggested we do another core decompression surgery (with scope this time), as we had done in January 2005 to no avail. I almost went for it, but because of my teaching and performance schedules, I opted to wait until this winter and see if I was still in as much pain. 

I had a car accident in May 2008, and though not seriously hurt, what I did suffer from was all on my left side, which is the side of my body that suffers most from the avascular necrosis of my left hip. My ribs were jammed into my spine and I went through extensive physical therapy (until my PIP money ran out), though it never really helped. Ever since the spring of 2006, I have experienced severe back pain on the mid-left side of my back. I had all kinds of diagnostic tests, which showed no cause for the pain. The accident exacerbated the back pain terribly. I also had a huge resurgence of my fibromyalgia, something I seemed to develop after my core decompression surgery (2005).

By the time my teaching session at the Chesapeake Arts Center ended in December, I was in tremendous pain. I had a few more performances I had lined up, and then a break until February, when both teaching and performing had to start up again. If I was going to have surgery, this would have to be the time.

I went to Dr. Mont on Dec. 19, and had already requested a January surgery date. I knew we were going to end up doing something surgically, but I really didn't think Dr. Mont would allow me to have the hip resurfacing. After looking at my xrays, there was no question that my hip had deteriorated quite a bit compared to the last xray (Spring 2008) and was quite arthritic. He gave me the facts on hip resurfacing and total hip replacement and asked me to make the choice, though he clearly favored the resurfacing. I liked the idea that my femur would be kept intact, and just the head would be removed and replaced.

There's much to do in the next week -- get the kitten spayed, give voice lessons for students who want to have at least one more lesson before I'm "laid up", graphics work that needs to get finished up, blood tests to be done, hair washed (and colored? -- no showers for up to 2 weeks post-op!). And I want to spend as much time as possible with my kids, especially my youngest: 12 year old Dylan.