Cat Scratch Fever

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative join disease that runs in my family. I have suffered with it in both knees for years and have controlled the pain by taking various NSAIDS. The early part of this year, however, I began feeling arthritis like symptoms in my left hip. As the pain became worse and started affecting the quality of my life, I decided to talk with an orthopedic specialist.

Dr. Newell, an OS here where I live x-rayed the hip and told me the joint was practically bone-on-bone and that I would eventually need a total hip replacement. I decided to try to wait until the end of the school year to schedule the surgery. The recuperation period is 6-8 weeks, which would give me plenty of time to heal before the next school year starts. I had my reservations after seeing descriptions and pictures of the operation since it does involve partial amputation of the femur. THR has a life expectancy of 15-20 years and revision is hardly ever successful. Since I may live longer that 15-20 more years, I had some concerns about my quality of life should a revision fail. I have also heard horror stories about our local hospital and did not look forward to spending any time there. A nurse who works there even told me if I could have the surgery anywhere else but there, I was wise to do so. Despite my fears, I scheduled a total hip replacement for May 25 with Dr. Newell.

n the meantime, I had been reading on the Internet about a newer surgery called “hip resurfacing.” Rather than amputate the top of the femur, hip resurfacing spares the bone, places a metal cap on the femoral head, a metal cup in the pelvic cavity and viola! There is no definitive evidence of the life of a resurface, but if a revision becomes necessary, you would still have the femur intact to perform a total hip replacement later. Here is an x-ray of the different procedures: (hip resurfacing on the left, THR on the right)

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This entry was posted at 6:14 pm on 7/9/07 | tagged: Ponderings.
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