About eight weeks or ten weeks after my core decompression, I once again could put almost no weight on my left leg. My hip hurt that much. Back to the surgeon I went for a new set of x-rays. The x-rays showed that my osteoarthritis had advanced very quickly, to the point where my femur and hip socket were rubbing against one another. My doctor advised me I could try to continue to put off a replacement by getting cortisone injections, so that's what I did.
And so I had my third injection directly into my hip joint. This time it was cortisone (a long-lasting steroid that decreases inflammation and provides pain relief) and lidocaine (a short-lasting pain reliever that is absorbed and eliminated after about a day). The lidocaine relief was glorious. The cortisone helped -- I could put weight on my left leg -- but I was still limping and I wasn't pain free.
Which is why I decided that it was time for a total left hip replacement. I've scheduled the surgery for November 12 at 7:30 am and plan to be in the hospital for just one night. I've already had my pre-surgical clearance checkup (I'm fit for surgery) and will be speaking by phone with the nurses at the hospital tomorrow, and then going into the hospital for one last blood draw and a blood donation (in case I need a transfusion) a couple of days before the surgery.
I have my first inpatient physical therapy session scheduled for the afternoon of my surgery. They want me up and using the new joint as soon as possible. To help encourage this, I'll be given spinal anesthesia this time around rather than general. This is very similar to an epidural -- it's an injection into the base of the spine -- but it will totally paralyze me for a couple of hours from the waist down. I'll also be given some sedatives during the surgery so that I won't be aware of what's happening, but at no point will I be unconscious to the point of requiring a respirator, as I would be if I were to go under general anesthesia. My biggest fear with spinal anesthesia is that the doctors don't sedate me enough and that I'll have some awareness of sounds, smells, etc. of my hip replacement. I plan to tell the anesthesiologist to make sure I'm good and knocked out.
My doctor tells me I'll only need about 6 weeks of physical therapy. One of those weeks will include daily visits at my house for a week right after I get home from the hospital, and the rest I've already booked outpatient. All I need to do -- other than the phone interview and blood work -- is to buy a "hip kit" with a grabber, a shoe horn extender, and some other fun things that no 30-something-year-old should be without, as well as an elevated toilet seat.
Following surgery, I am not to bend my left hip more than 90 degrees for risk of dislocation. Toilets are generally low to the ground and involve a higher degree hip bend. Even if you don't dislocate your hip bending so much (and from what I've gathered, it is pretty rare), it's still evidently pretty hard to get yourself up from such a low position with a new hip. An elevated toilet seat helps on both counts.
I also already have my prescriptions for after surgery: painkillers, blood thinners, anti-nausea medication (to take with the painkillers), and iron supplements. I'll be given some compression socks when I'm discharged from the hospital to further combat blood clots in the my legs.
So that's where we are, and now you're fully caught up. Beginning with tomorrow's phone interview with nurses at the hospital, this blog should be fully real-time.
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