MAY DAY MADNESS

Its May day...Two weeks to go until my surgery. I am feeling much better with it since my pre op assessment yesterday.

I am lucky that through the NHS choose and book system I was able to see the surgeon of my choice, Darren Fern. He operates out of a private hospital only, so guess what? I get to go private on the NHS. The only things I will have to pay for are any telephone calls made from my room and meals for guests!! Maybe we will all be able to meet up and have a big dinner!

I will have a private room and bathroom. This will be lovely for the first few days but I remember from last time that I got quite lonely once I had got past the sleepy stage. I am hoping that I will have plenty of visitors. hint,hint!

When I got to the hospital yesterday I was greeted by the occupational therapist. Between us we worked out all the things I would need post op at home. She put the order in and it will all be delivered to my home before the op. I am so lucky to be in the UK, this is all provided free. I see post so often from fellow "hippies" in the states who have to pay for everything. What happens to the people who live in poverty or cannot afford insurance? Do they just suffer in pain and get to a point where they cant walk?

After seeing the occupational therapist I then saw a nurse who took my blood and talked me through the procedure etc, whilst she continued doing paperwork another nurse came in and took an MRSA swab and did an ECG. All very thorough and reassuring.

We did have a bit of a giggle when I handed back my forms as amongst them was an application to join Truro tennis club...it had got muddled in my forms (it was for my step son) but without looking at it properly I had filled in my details :-)




Todays adventure is to sign up to be a Forever Living distributor. I believe in the product so I am hoping that I will be able to make a real go of this. I have hip dysplacia and Crohn's disease and have not been able to work for a long time. I am hoping that as I can do this from home that it will work for me. John works so hard as an optometrist to provide for us all, I hope that by bringing in an income that he will be able to work less hours so that we can spend more time together.
I am hoping that being housebound following the OP that this will be something I can do to take my mind off things.

https://www.foreverliving.com/retail/entry/Shop.do?store=GBR&language=en&distribID=440500018943

Lots of people have asked why a PAO (periacetabular osteotomy) rather than a hip replacement...well here goes

A Periacetabular osteotomy is a hip preserving procedure performed to correct a congenital deficiency of the acetabulum: acetabular dysplasia. The acetabulum is your hip socket and it is this that the femur sits in. The femur and acetabulum together make your hip joint.

Acetabular dysplacia is caused by poor development of the acetabulum. Instead of being "cup shaped" it is "bowl shaped" and the acetabulum slopes steeply instead of the desired horizontal position leaving the head of the femur incompletely covered causing damage.

A PAO preserves the patients hip joint rather than replacing it with artificial parts. The PAO relieves pain and restores function AND maximises the life of the natural hip.

A PAO cuts the bone around the acetabulum that joins it to the pelvis. Once the acetabulum is detatched from the rest of the pelvis by a series of controlled cuts, it is rotated to the best position. The dysplastic roof is brought over the head of the femur giving the head normal coverage.Once all is in the correct position screws are inserted into the bone to maintain the correct position during healing. These are sometimes, but not always removed a year or so post op.

SO....why not just have a hip replacement?

1. If you are young enough you will outlive the replaced hip. this results in further surgeries and hip revision surgery can present significant problems.

2. A PAO can last years before a replacement is needed, meaning less chance of multiple replacements.

3. A PAO corrects the positioning of the pelvis meaning that when a hip replacement is required it is correctly positioned and therefore likely to last longer as the pattern of wear and tear is more normal than the pattern of wear on a non PAO replaced hip.

A PAO surgery is tougher to recover from than a hip replacement but the instant relief from pain is worth it. I am dreading my 2nd PAO which is in 15days BUT I am only dreading the recovery, not the OP itself. I know that it will be worth it and the end result will be a correctly aligned pelvis which will although me a much more normal future :-)