It’s official. All the cartilage is gone from both hips. And it’s time to look for surgeon and decide what surgery I want to have. Less than two years after my diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis, and two years of trying to figure out WHY my case of OA was so severe in someone as young as I am, I finally have a few answers.

I saw an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in joint replacement last week. My biggest question to date was wondering what caused my hip osteoarthritis. He took one look at my x-rays when I asked him if my OA was simply from wear and tear, and he said, “I can tell you why you have OA….you have hip dysplasia.” Hip dysplasia is a condition where the hip joint is malformed. Typically the socket of the joint isn’t large enough, one side is shorter than it is supposed to be. Or the shape of the head of the femur is a little off. Either way, it’s a condition people are born with. And the wear and tear on the hip joints and cartilage is similar to how a tire tread wears out. If the alignment of the two front tires is off, if the tires are curved in slightly at the top, the tire treads will wear out faster. The hip dysplasia causes irregular movement of the joint, which causes the cartilage to wear out. It also causes the joint to try to grow new bone in an effort to correct the movement, which is why I have the bone spurs at the top and bottom of the hip socket that are causing the impingement and have limited my range of motion. And similar to a tire trying to run out of alignment for years, the tires will blow out eventually. So that’s me….the hip dysplasia has blown out my hip cartilage. Osteoarthritis is an inevitable outcome of hip dysplasia.

I had been doing some research on hip replacement and hip resurfacing, and my next question for the doctors was, “Am I a candidate for hip resurfacing?” Instead of removing the top of the femur and replacing with a metal rod and ball joint (either ceramic or metal), the resurfacing smooths down the head and neck of the femur and caps it with a metal alloy, and also lines the interior of the hip socket with metal. This smooths out all the bone spurs, preserves the bone for future hip replacement surgery, and is typically a better alternative to younger patients who are active. I found an NHL hockey player who returned to pro hockey after having hip resurfacing, so I was hoping I was a candidate. I am not. Hip resurfacing is for people with larger, thicker bones. I am not big enough. Shaving and smoothing the head and neck of my femur (making it thinner than it is now) would put me at-risk for future fractures.

So total hip replacement it is. Then I wondered about the typical recovery time from hip replacement surgery. I was advised by my orthopedist here in town to look for a surgeon that used a direct or modified anterior approach. That approach doesn’t cut through any muscle tissue, it moves the muscles apart to get at the bone and joint, so the joint remains stable and the recovery time is quicker (less time for muscle and nerve tissue to repair itself). The joint replacement specialist said 1 day in the hospital for the surgery, 2-3 day stay post-surgery, then a total of 6 weeks off work. THREE MONTHS TOTAL RECOVERY TIME!!! He said 3 months until I am back to my old self. I had thought it would be closer to 6 months total recovery time. I am also looking for a ceramic ball joint, preferably one that is a larger size so I can still be active. The doctor advised against running and jumping sports in order to preserve the life of the artificial joint, so I didn’t bother to ask him about shawl dancing. But I fully intend to return to shawl dancing. Running I’ve found I can live without, especially if the choice is between running and shawl dancing. Shawl dancing will win every time. I can run in water and I can do the elliptical. I will maintain my Olympic style weight training regimen. I’ve found other effective ways of training.

And speaking of training, after a few months of my emotions and my motivation moving in steep waves as I’ve had to wait on my consults, it’s time to put a stronger emphasis on my training and eating. I want to plan for this surgery and the recovery time. I want to be in very good condition whenever I schedule to help facilitate a good surgery and as easy a recovery time as I can. And it will help me deal with the wait time for my 2nd consult with a highly recommended surgeon that I can’t get in to see until March 31.

My goal before my recent consults was to preserve what hip cartilage I had left and to manage the pain. Now my goal is to get my weight down and get as strong as I can to help with the surgery and recovery. It helps in ways I can’t describe to finally know what caused my OA and why it was so bad in someone my age. Now that I know I can keep an eye on my daughters and get them checked for hip dysplasia when they are in their teens. Hopefully by then, if they do have it, technology will come up with a good treatment to correct it so that my girls won’t have to go through what I am going through. It feels good to have hope again, and to have very clear goals. My life won’t be the same, but that is just the nature of life. It changes. It helps us grow usually by putting us through things we wouldn’t wish on others. My life won’t be the same but it will be better in so many different ways….no pain, range of motion back, and more experiences to share that may help others. I truly feel that I have been blessed far more than I deserve. 🙂