Ten years ago at the age of 53, I had my left hip replaced. People were surprised I had my surgery at such a young age, but I was in severe pain and I’m grateful my doctor and surgeon were in agreement of the replacement.
Fast forward ten years. I had my right hip replaced in May. It took five months to have my first consultation with the surgeon and another six months before surgery. By then both knees, my back, and my other replaced hip, went through hell from compensating for the extreme pain I was experiencing. I stopped working, driving, and ended up on crutches for months which caused pain in my shoulders and hands. All activity (life) stopped.
After the surgery, I’m recuperating, once more pain free.
Had someone ten years ago decided I was too young for a hip replacement because it might need to be redone, how many years would I have spent in pain? I was a contributing, employed member of society, only to need to put my life on hold for how long? Unless you have experienced this grinding bone-on-bone pain, you have no idea how it affects your total life. So if the choice at age 53 is to have the replacement, live and work pain free for 20 years (or more) and need a revision down the road, or live in excruciating pain for 10 years so that the replacement might last for the remainder of my life, there really is no choice. I choose to enjoy a pain-free life now.
As more of us Baby Boomers are going to require hip and knee replacements, I hope the medical world will understand that Quality of Life is everything, and not hesitate to do the surgeries when they are most needed.
Sandy Baker Bruhn, Rimbey