We had PLANNED to have my RPAO this past Friday. In fact, we did not.
Many of you have kindly sent messages of hope and encouragement, thinking I am now a week into my surgery.
Here's a little snippet from an email we wrote to our dear friends and family as we made the decision to postpone last Friday's surgery:
The RPAO surgery we had scheduled for this Friday (Feb. 25th) would ultimately and hopefully correct my congenital hip dysplasia and the labral tear I have on my right side. This is the same exact surgery I had back in August on my left side. We have been gearing up for yet another major life change, almost two months away from work for me, and a long recovery. We have everything in place (caretakers, meals, and all!) to make this the best experience it can be given the major trauma it is sure to be. The pain has been so worrisome, we had several friends join us at our house to pray last Thursday.
HOWEVER, these past few weeks I have been feeling new levels of pain on my left side (the side I had surgery on in August). Aside from bursitis on my hip, I had thought I was healing correctly. These past few weeks, I've had new and extreme groin pains and even some new pain on my back hamstring. After some x-raying, Dr. Maiers saw a slight impingement and thinks this could be the cause of some of my pain. The other fear is that I might have re-torn my left labrum, by which I need another arthrogram MRI to confirm yes or no on this. The news of the impingement was both relieving (to provide an answer as to why the pain) but then also crushing as I've been reading all about impingements (clinically called "Femoracetabular Impingement" or FAI) and I am overwhelmed by the fact that FAI's can be the precursor to osteoarthritis---the very thing the PAO was supposed to avoid back in August.
Dr. Maiers had mentioned that when he and Dr. Scheid went in for my August surgery, they saw "slight impingement" but opted not to revise it as they had so many other things to do in that surgery---they say they would rather be more conservative with the bone then take too much off. It is becoming more common than previously thought to have a mixed phenomenon type hip (dysplasia and FAI together) and surgeons are recognizing this more and more.
So, the point is, there are more surgeries to do on my left side and yet my right side severely needs surgery as well to take care of the dysplasia, the labral tear, and potentially FAI as well on my RIGHT side. And then there's the question as to why my left side MIGHT have torn again and whether this surgery worked back in August. We feel we have a very long road ahead and this completely overwhelms us.
So, as of today, March 4, 2011, we have plans to travel to St. Louis for a March 18th appointment with Dr. Clohisy, an attempt at a second opinion.
More updates to come as we learn them.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI have been reading your blog today (found it through hipchicks) and I want you to know what an inspiration you are, and what a lift your words have given me. I had my LPAO here in Boston in January (about to hit 8 weeks post-op tomorrow- yee-haw!) and was not diagnosed with dysplasia until three months before the surgery. I will likely have my RPAO in the summer. Your experience in the hospital and post-op so resonate with my own journey. Please know the impact your faith, thoughtfulness and eloquence is having on people you don't even know.
Someone shared this quote with me recently from Robert Bailey's book, "The Wilderness Experience," and it so very summed up a lot of what I was feeling in the darker days. Maybe it does for you, too?: "The wilderness is an experience of contrasts. Ity is an unsettled, barren, perilous area, but it is also a place where God is! It is a difficult, lonely, unnerving site, but it is also a place where God dwells! It is a draining, exhausting, discouraging situation, but it is also a place where God heals and strengthens! It is a removed, desolate, debilitating condition, but it is also a place where God moves and loves!"
Take good care. I am praying for you through whatever "wilderness" days you may have in the coming weeks. You will get through it renewed and strengthened!
-Megan (also a Megan hipster!)
Megan,
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I'm so glad you are on the road to recovery, Megan. Thank you for your encouragement, your spirit, your hope.
We just heard some very difficult news that we may have to do-over the PAO on the left side as it might have been over-corrected. It has most certainly been a "wildnerness" season and I so appreciate the Bailey quote to remind us of such days. God has been present in the barren, in the tensions and lack of answers. He is moving and loving and on better days, we can speak these words and believe them.
I pray that at now 9 weeks you are hopeful for pain-free days ahead. I do some times believe God knew I needed to have this surgery, to draw near to Him, to know Him in the wilderness and exhaustion. I don't know what your experience has been, but I wonder if you've experienced this similarly.
Press on, sister. May our Healer be near to you.
Megan
Megan, amen re "on the better days we can speak these words and believe them." I feel ashamed at how I am pulled into a self-pity spin so quickly and easily on the hard days. Some days I can't decide whether I'm being too hard on myself ("a pity party is okay every now and then") or not hard enough ("get over it and push on through!")
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes! It is a beautiful thing to see how God is using this experience to draw you closer- I feel the same. In the early days I found myself crying out for mercy on a constant basis. I feel like now I am stronger, and though I'm still in the woods (so to speak) I'm beginning to appreciate what a blessing it has been to have the dysplasia. It's hard to explain? But yes, there is beauty going on even in the pain, and all of this is utterly formative.
Oh my dear- I'm sorry to hear of the rough road you have traveled with your LPAO... please feel free to shoot me an email (I'm at megan.lantz@gmail.com). What did Dr. Clohisy say? I am a patient of Dr. Michael Millis here in Boston. He is absolutely fantastic. I have heard nothing but good things about Clohisy as well.
Healing to you, and please keep me informed of your progress and plans as you have the time and energy to do so. I will be thinking of you!!
Keeping you in my prayers,
Megan