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.