*that's Total Hip Replacement, kids!
I'm not into the blogging thing. But I found so little on THR online - from a bellydancer's perspective - that I'm making myself blog this. You're welcome!
Backstory:
March 2010
On March 5 this year I fell (or actually, slid) off a horse while trying to dismount, and wrenched my right leg pretty good. The next day I decided to get xrays because it really, really hurt - I couldn't put any weight on the leg, and any movement at all was excruciating. Of course it was the weekend, so I went to Urgent Care and got xrays done there (talk about pain! Wow – lying on that table had me in tears). But then they gave me a nice shot that mellowed me out, and scrips for more meds & crutches. I was really blessed that my daughter-in-law & her hubby were in town so they could drive me around to do all this stuff. What a fun day for them!
Thank goodness, nothing was broken but both my knee & hip continued to be very very sore. The next week I went to my regular Doctor and when she saw the xrays she sent me to an Orthopedic specialist a few days later.
So by then it's been almost two weeks & I'm still on crutches. More xrays... then the Dr. comes in to ask me did I want them to bring my husband in from the waiting room? I said no, thanks. Dr. says, usually we do, I said that's OK, I'm fine, what is it? He puts a titanium hip joint in my hand and says, “You need a total hip replacement.”
I'm speechless, nothing new for me really, but I was totally shocked. Almost immediately I felt a sense of loss for my hip, as I appreciate my body greatly and all it's done for me over the years. Maybe that's a dancer thing? But I honestly have been very aware, and very thankful, of my body, its abilities, and what it's been able to do onstage. So to hear part of it needed replaced with a piece of metal was a bit much.
I can't really remember the exact order of the rest of the doctor visit, but at some point the nurse tried to schedule me for surgery the next week! Okay, let's slow down a bit. How about next month instead? Good grief!
So I signed on for the surgery to be done April 14; time enough to get the two shows done that my performing group already had scheduled. The nurse loaded me up with pamphlets and brochures etc. etc. The Dr. asks if I had any questions, I couldn't really think of what to ask at that point except, well how do you go to the bathroom? LOL! To his credit Dr. O'brien answered me like that's the most usual thing to wonder about. Score points for Dr. O'brien. One thing I do remember is when he's looking at the xrays and says, “Your right hip looks like you're 80 years old.” Yeah, that's something I won't forget.
APRIL 1 2010
Getting surgery is quite the participatory experience these days. Last week my husband & I went to the mandatory class at the hospital to learn more about how to deal with it, what's gonna happen then and afterwards, etc.. The nurse showed us all the gadgets, contraptions, and gear we'll be using while I recuperate and begin to walk with the new hip.
My good and long-time friend Donna and her husband Dave (who's had both hips replaced) even offered to have me come and stay with them after surgery. They also offered use of the special gear they have left over from Dave's surgeries. What awesome friends! I really was glad to talk to Dave and find out what his experience was like, because all the Dr. & nurses would say is, “it's different for everyone” - not really so helpful.
Finding anything on THR from a dancer's perspective was even harder. This particular site, http://www.dancerhips.com was a great find, with a lot of personal stories by athletes and dancers (mostly ballet and modern); I corresponded with the website owner/author and one of the dancers who'd written about her experience; they were both very supportive and encouraging.
The website owner said I should write about my experiences when I told her how little I'd found about THR from a bellydancer's perspective - so that's why I'm writing this.
I know there must be many bellydancers using metal hips! I'd really like to hear from them. It would be encouraging to others who must go through this as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment