Hip Check

Something I can't deny; I'm older.  I try to do some things from when I was in my 20's and I'm in pain for a week.  I try to eat like I did at 19 and I'm doubled over in pain.  It's normal, but as this new reality settles in, you do get a much better prospective of the elderly family and friends who went before you. 

Today I'm getting hip replacement surgery.  In 2018, I started noticing what I thought was a pulled muscle or ligament in my leg.  It gradually got worse and worse. I got it checked out in 2019.  I was shocked to find out I have arthritis in my hip, pretty bad too.  Eventually it would need to be replaced.

For a temporary measure, I opted for a steroid injection into my hip joint and it worked great!  For about five months into 2020 I felt fine.  I got another shot in June of last year and that seemed to hold out through the summer.  All this time I was very active, hiking like a fool 4-5 times a week through parks and trails in Minnesota.  I also got back into biking, something the insane amount of bike trails around the Twin Cities makes incredibly enjoyable.

But then came December.  The bike went into the garage and the walks were less frequent.  Finally, when we started getting really cold, I took a few weeks off.  It was then I noticed the pain in my hip and leg was getting pretty unbearable. I went back into the doctor and got a third steroid shot into my hip, but three weeks later I was starting to feel the pain again.

When the weather started to turn warmer, I was convinced I could just get back out onto the paths and the pain would start to fade away.  Not so much.  Two to three mile walks I did with ease last summer had become shockingly painful.  I got the bike back out and after some initial success, it too starting hurting far more than I was comfortable with.

It's time. I need to get this done, and so I'm off to have what is a pretty amazing procedure done, supposedly outpatient (there is a slight chance I might be in the hospital for a night. We'll see).

It does present an interesting psychological problem:  Has my hip been hurting really bad for awhile now and I just pushed it aside, but now with surgery coming I'm no longer having to be the 'brave soldier,' OR is the hip pain really not that bad but as I approach the surgery my mind is convincing myself it's much worse than it really is?  Interesting...

Everyone who has this procedure tells me the same thing; it's a life saver.  One listener, a teacher in St. Paul, wrote to tell me you won't realize how much you're compensating for the bad hip until it's fixed.  He added there is an undeniable dark cloud over the head of anyone who is dealing with long term pain, a cloud that manifests itself over time.  When that starts to clear, it's glorious.

I'll watch a lot of TV, and I'll get shuffling around as quickly as possible. I'm grateful to be in the position when I can have this surgery. 

One of the things I've thought about: what would my life would be like 100 years ago with this same problem?  My life as I know it would've been over.  I'd be in a wheelchair or hobbling for my remaining days, most of them in constant pain.  Modern medicine is truly amazing.  Now if we can only make sure everyone can get affordable access to it.  People in America shouldn't have to make due with 100 year old medicine.