Australian Periacetabular Osteotomy (PAO) Journal

Saturday

By the way, here's some links to a couple of Facebook groups that you may find useful:

Periacetabular Osteotomy Group - http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/147992365259/

Adult Hip Dysplasia Group - http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/50910135532/

Have a great weekend!

TurtleGirl30!

Saturday

Hi!

I'd forgotten about this blog for awhile there. I guess I've been so caught up in my tiny baby that I honestly haven't had much time for anything else.

Anyway I just wanted to update and let you know that as far as my hip goes things have been really good since I had my baby last year. I did not have a natural birth, but ended up with an emergency ceaserian after many hours of pushing, but nothing to do with my hip as far as I know. Baby just wouldn't cooperate!

Since having my baby I have not had any issues whatsoever with my hip and my op is just a distant memory now.

I have not had a check up this year, which I thought I may have, so I'm not sure now when I'll have a check up again. For now, no news is good news I guess.

Once again I am still happy for you to contact me if you would like more info. My email is sjc1981@hotmail.com

TurtleGirl30!

Thursday

I am pleased to announce that we welcomed our baby girl into the world on 5th August 2011.

Throughout my pregnancy my hip held up well. I did have trouble with both hips towards the end, but nothing that was specific only to the left hip that has been operated on. I am anticipating going for another check up next year, so it will be interesting at that stage to see what changes, if any, have taken place with my hip.

Our baby girl is almost 5 weeks old and, apart from the sleepless nights, life is good.

TurtleGirl26

Saturday

I thought this blog was due for an update so here we go.

In January my partner and I got married. The day was really good and my hip didn't bother me once! So all the hassles to find out what was causing my pain through to the op to get it fixed and recovery was all worth it.

I am also pleased to announce that we are pregnant. I am 22 weeks along today and all is well with the bub so far. My hip and back have given me minor issues, but quite minor so far. Occasionally I can't sleep on the op hip side and for the first three months I was sleeping in a waterbed, which I found put my back out in that same place - the right side, sacroilliac joint, so we swapped to a regular bed and mattress, which has fixed that problem. Apart from that everything is going well.

I look forward to eventually being able to update you on how the remainder of the pregnancy goes and how my hip holds up under the strain. It will be interesting to see what, if any, changes my hip undergoes.

Hope you are keeping well and happy Easter!!

TurtleGirl26

Friday

How time just flies by! On the 13 November 2010 it is 3 years since my hip op.

I've taken some photos of my scar today, just in case anyone wants to see how it looks. To measure it I would say it is approx 15.5-16cm (6.3 inches) in length and at the widest spot it is approx 1cm wide. All up I would say my scar is very neat and tidy. Of course, I would have preferred to have no scar, but since I had to have one I would have to say it's not too bad looking really. :o)

I still suffer with the Bursitis I mentioned before, but that's mostly my own fault for not continuing with physio. No one to blame but myself there.

The thing I am most pleased to announce is that my partner of 6.5 years and I are getting married at the end of January. How is that relevant to this blog? Well because the big thing that prompted me to try and try again for an answer on the cause of my leg and groin pain was that I wanted to be able to walk down the aisle one day and do it without a limp! Yay!

My offer is still open to anyone who wants to contact me pre or post surgery. I am happy to help and lend support where I can. My email address is sjc1981@hotmail.com

I would also like to suggest a couple of support groups on Facebook and they are "Adult Hip Dysplaysia Group" (http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=50910135532) and "Periacetabular Osteotomy (PAO)" (http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=147992365259).

Finally - my name is Sarah... and I survived hip dyslaysia and a PAO!!! :o)

Sarah x



 

Below are some pics of my scar as it looks today... 2 years and 2.5 months post op.







Hopefully all of these pics help to provide more information to those who need it.

Thanks for reading my blog.

TurtleGirl26

Below are my post op xrays taken on 16/11/07...

THURSDAY

Hi there,

I just realised that just after my hip op I requested copies of my xrays from the surgeon, which I've never posted to this blog. Sorry that they aren't very good quality pics, but they are literally photocopies of the xrays.

Below pics are pre-op xrays...

Hello again!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things I couldn’t do without post-op and I’ve posted links to some earlier journal entries that outline things that I couldn’t have lived without.

18/11/07 - http://turtlegirl26.livejournal.com/6401.html

4/12/07 - http://turtlegirl26.livejournal.com/9806.html

 

I hope that you will find this useful.

TurtleGirl26

WEDNESDAY

Okay, so first of all apologies for the HUGE delay in getting around to posting the results from my 2 year checkup which was done on Friday Jan 15th 2010.

I didn't actually see my surgeon this time as he was on leave, but I was seen by his "fellow", a student studying under him. He was really nice actually.

They're very happy with my xrays which is great and I asked a few questions as well. One was about pregnancy and how my hip would cope. He said it should all be fine and all an obestetrician would care about is whether anything protrudes into the pelvic ring (which is the hole between your hips on an xray). Nothing does on mine, so that's fine.

I also asked about the ache I get from sitting all day and/or wearing tight clothing. He poked and prodded my hip and decided it was Trochanteric Bursitis, otherwise known as inflammation of the bursa. The bursa being a fluid filled sack that sits on the outer of the hip. He referred me to the physio, who in turn highlighted the lack of strength in the muscles around my hip and gloot muscles, as a cause for the pain. He has given me some simple enough exercises to do. Now I just have to remember to do them! He also recommended walking around in a swimming pool.

The surgeon also said that this surgery is designed to extend the life of the hip to what it should have been originally, meaning that a total hip replacement hopefully won't have to be done until later in life (50, 60, 70 years old). That's good news, because I'm sure I was originally told somewhere that it only last 15-20 years. Don't know where I got that from!!

The thing I find most frustrating about having to do exercises to strengthen the muscles surrounding the hip is that 2 years on I have to do anything at all for my hip. I just hoped it would settle on it's own and that would be enough, but I guess I have to do what I have to do or else be in pain.

A huge hello to a fellow young Australian who has recently contacted me about her upcoming hip surgery. With some planning you can get through this surgery without too many hassles at all and I will be here to help you along the way. It will be okay.

Once again if you want to contact me you can by emailing me at sjc1981@hotmail.com.

TurtleGirl26