Another Day...Another Limp

First, I should say that I'm not sure how frequent this 'blogging' will be, but I do hope to keep a running diary of my trials and tribulations on the PAO adventure - if not for only for me, but for my family and friends who happen to live on the other side of the pond!

So... where to begin??

Well, at 12 months old I was diagnosed with a dislocated hip - the left one. Needless to say that mom thought there was something wrong with the bottom of my foot, because I never wanted to put it down or stand on the left side...so a quick trip to the doctors and voila...turns out I'd been BORN with the hip dislocated but was never diagnosed until 12 months of age. Anyhow, many plaster casts later (I think mom recalls having it replaced every 3 months) the hip was back in it's rightful place, and traction began - to pull my hip back in to alignment.

That was then.
This is now.

Fast forward 35 years (yes, I know..I've just given away my age), and on a great 3 day trip to New York (April 2007) I began to experience an awful, grinding, 'hot-poker' type pain in my groin (on the left side). For the other hip chicks reading this, you'll know the feeling all too well.

From that point on up until December of 2007 I'd been diagnosed with the following:

Transient Synovitis of the hip
Tendinitis of the Hip
Inflamed Bursa

Each of which came with either a course of anti-inflammatory or cortisone - not to mention the 8 weeks of physical therapy to treat the tendinitis - all the while of course, experiencing the same pain without any real relief.

One thing however was for sure. Walking did NOT make my hip a happy one.

Then something strange happened. Bizarre perhaps.

Denise (who happens to be Lauren's mom and who'm I work with) happened to stop me in the hallway and say with glee "You're the 'fixed' version of my daughter" - to which I replied "huh?" - she went on to tell the story about Lauren and the PAO surgery and the other women who are now starting to find out they have hip dysplasia.

Fast to follow in the conversation came my story of the New York pain and well, Denise's face turned from glee - to one of 'oh geez, NO!'

Oh geez, YES.

I scheduled an appointment to see Dr. Schrader who after seeing the xrays, proceeded to tell me that I am 'exactly the same as Lauren'. I have almost 0% coverage over my left femoral head, and would be a good candidate for PAO.

Which brings us to today.

I am awaiting final confirmation on surgery dates from the nurse, but it looks as if my surgery will be sometime during the 4th week of September.

I contemplated getting it over and done with, but I have my brother's wedding to attend in the UK in August, and wouldn't miss that for the world. Hip pain or no hip pain.

Phew...I didn't realise I had so much to say in my first post. I don't plan on being this verbose with the next posting. But there again, anybody that knows me knows I have a hard time shutting up :)