My Story - continued

By the time I got home from the 2011 AKC Nationals, I was determined to find a cause and cure for my hip "injuries" and the pain. I had tried steroids, acupuncture, massage, chiropratic adjustments, a Tens unit, and physical therapy. I was no closer to a "cure" or an answer. I finally asked for an MRI. Surprisingly, the MRI showed multiple tears in the acetabular labrum (the lining of the hip joint). The lining contains a huge number of nerves and a tear is very painful. In addition, the joint had very little cartilage left - basically bone on bone without the nice cushion that is normally found in the joint.  There was also narrowing in the spinal canal and some arthritis. The narrowing of the spinal column could also influence my pain and the doctors were reluctant to let go of my back as the source of the pain. I mention this because I have been told that the confusion between back and hip as the source of pain is fairly common. I had a fluoroscopy  guided injection of a long acting steroid into the joint in early April.   A fluoroscopy is a live xray. The radiologist xrays the hip and locates the joint. He numbs the skin.  He injects dye into the joint to make sure that he has found the joint. Then a short term numbing agent is injected and followed by a long acting steroid. The procedure acts as a diagnostic agent and then provides pain relief. The short acting numbing agent allows the doctors to make sure the pain is caused by the joint. No pain equals bad joint.  The long acting steroid reduces the pain for anywhere from a week to 9 months. For safety reasons, the injections cannot be repeated closer than 4 months. I managed to make it almost 6 months before my 2nd injection in the joint.  I still remember my first trial after the injection. I was front cross happy. I was gliding along and marveled at how easily I could front cross... and NO pain!!!  With proof that the pain was hip related, I was transferred to a new Orthopedic doctor - a surgeon who specialized in joint issues. I could not stand him!  He brusquely told me that I had a bad hip and that I would require hip replacement surgery. I asked about running my dogs in agility and he flat out said "You won't be running anymore." When I tried to explain that it was my livelihood and that I had to be able to run my dogs, he told me that running had *caused* my hip problem and running on the new hip would reduce its life to 10 years or less. I asked about resurfacing instead of joint replacement. He stated that he might consider me for resurfacing. Ha! I think it is *my* body and any procedure has to be approved by me.

I set out to find another surgeon. Thankfully, I had a friend who called in resources and helped me to locate another surgeon. How did I decide on him. The Physical Therapists in the area spoke highly of him and said his patients had less problems than most of the other surgical patients. I figured the PT foks were stuck dealing with the aftermath of the surgeries and they were in the best position to know if surgeons were talented or not.  This surgeon was also skilled in resurfacing. I really had my heart set on Resurfacing as opposed to THR. I was sold on faster recovery and no shortening of the femur. As young as I am, it is a given that I will end up having a revision to this THR in about 15 or 20 years. Cutting the head of the femur in the traditional THR would mean less bone to work with in 15 years.  On my first visit to see Dr. Morrison, I had 6 pages of questions. He laughed. I do like a person with a sense of humor. Once he stopped laughing, he answered each question patiently and thoroughly.  I liked him. Plus, he said I could run my dogs again. Those were the magic words.

In the end, I was not a great candidate for resurfacing. I think 90% of it had to do with his desire NOT to have a failure on his record. Post-menopausal women who are small-boned are not great candidates for hip resurfacing. Not to mention all of the negative press about metal ions in the body leaching from the implants. In my case, bone density and the narrowness of my femur were also strong negatives. I am sure that I could have traveled out of state and found a doctor willing to do the hip resurfacing. I simply felt that it was not that important to me. Maybe I will live 15 or 20 years more and maybe I won't. I will deal with the revision surgery if the need arises. I felt comfortable with my surgical choice. Every so often, I worry that I should have pursued resurfacing with one of the "specialists" but when I weigh everything,  THR is the right decision for me.

Great T-shirt by Menopaws.org 

Once I made a decision about the surgery, I shoved it on the back burner. I had a 2nd injection in my hip joint. I showed Rip and Stuff at the USDAA Nationals in Kentucky. I trialed nearly every weekend and taught my classes and students during the week. The surgery was abstract. I could *not* think about it most of the time. But the 2nd steroid injection did not provide much pain relief. I was less and less able to train my dogs or run them effectively in the ring. My gait changed to a swinging, wide limp. I could no longer support my weight on my bad hip. I found ways to get around that on the course primarily by eliminating front crosses. I became slow and ungainly. I stopped walking the course because walking was so painful that I did not want to walk the course. I stopped grocery shopping in one trip. I did an aisle a trip. Sometimes I road in the motorized cart just so I could get done shopping quicker. Walking was so slow.   Each day, I enjoyed less and less of the things that had always brought me joy. I no longer wanted to do anything beyond sitting on a heating pad.  Finally, surgery seemed like a better choice than the life I was currently leading. And that is where I am now.

In 2 weeks, I will have the surgery to remove the head of my femur and replace it and the joint with a titanium polyethylene/ceramic   implant.   I am scared shitless. I have never had any surgery - let alone one as serious as this. Heck, I've never even had a cavity filled. But this is real and it is happening... soon. I hurt so much now that it seems like the lesser of two evils. Surgery or the constant pain.

My Hip Story

If you have located this blog, you are in the sad position of requiring a joint replacement *and* you enjoy the sport of agility. I'll bet, like me, you are worried about running your dog again after surgery so you're looking for information. I'll bet you have found very little to soothe your worries or provide information. The lack of a titanium agility support group led me to start this blog. It also led me to start a discussion group for people who participate in the sport of dog agility and are facing or have had a joint replacement.The more information we share and the more we support one another, the easier our journey toward Titanium Agility will be.

The sport of agility began in the USA about 20 years ago. That means that the pioneers of the sport are reaching their 50's and 60's. Hip and knee replacement surgeries will become more common in the agility community as the participants age. So we are not alone and we will not be the last. Every story and every bit of information will benefit those who come behind us.

My story - Part 1:

I started agility 18 years ago. I have run Dobermans, Shetland Sheepdogs, and I have a young Border Collie.

Corey - My First Agility Dog

 I started agility as a typical couch potato - overweight and out of shape. Somewhere along the line, I became *serious* about agility and I lost weight and began to work out. I had 4 dogs in training and trialing. I wanted to be able to show them to their full potential. I worked on footwork and speed. I did weight training. I wanted to be athletic - at least as athletic as my body would allow.   I was successful. I did well with my dogs and achieved a measure of success.  As time passed, I was plagued with little injuries. A hip pull, a groin pull, a calf strain... it seemed there was always something sore in spite of trying to stay in shape. Eventually, the pain settled into my hip. I had steroid injections in the hip bursa. I iced and stretched and heated and took Ibuprofen by the handful.   No matter how much I babied and pampered it, my hip continued to hurt. At the time, I thought it was my back or the bursa or the hip flexor. I even saw orthopedic doctors who prescribed more injections and more pills and more physical therapy. Yet, I still could not run - or if I ran, the next 3 or 4 days would be spent hobbling around.  In January of 2011, I got to the point that I could not walk to the end of my driveway. I spent 90% of the day sitting or laying on ice. I could barely manage my agility clients.  I saw another Ortho who treated me again for back strain. By March, the AKC Nationals had arrived and I still could not run without pain. I was using a Tens unit to manage each day and seeing a chiropractor 3 times a week. Still I hurt. My dog had been in the Finals at AKC Nationals in previous years and had a chance in 2011.  I could barely run. Talk about despair!!!

To be continued...