Wednesday 18 July 2012
Hospital Preparation!
Well it's the night before I head into hospital to have my scar opened up once again.... She's a battler the ol scar.... No matter how many times she gets sliced, she always bounces back and heals well.
So I'm packing now, and trying to keep the nerves settled. Going to head to my boyfriends place tonight and just chill out and try and not think about it too much.
Preparing for hospital is kinda like packing for a holiday, but instead of packing the bikini, you make sure you have your comfiest pyjamas and leave your makeup at home! My checklist is as follows:
- iPad
- phone
- pyjamas
- socks
- ugg boots
- books
- magazines
- stacks of moisturiser
- lip balm
- jewellery
- toiletries
- crutches
- hairdryer
- tissues
- tinted moisturiser, replaces your makeup
- Laptop
- snacks
- your own pillow
- scans and X-rays
The operation i am having is a Total Hip Replacement Revision. My entire old hip replacement (which I've had for 11 years) is coming out and I'm getting a shinny new upgrade (titanium and ceramic Synergy Hip from Smith and Nephew).
It feels very bizarre to be having a complete 2nd hip replacement at the age of 30! I guess it's a good thing to get this all done and out of the way whilst I'm young... At least I'll heal quicker....
And again, there a so many people out there worse off! At least I have my legs and all I'm undergoing is hip surgery... It's not heart surgery, it's not cancer, it's not life threatening.... It's just a pain in the backside - literally!!
So I'll be sure to update more as I'm in hospital over the coming weeks, I'll share my progress and hope it helps others who are going through a revision of their already existing hip replacement! It's rare enough at a young age to get a hip replaced, let alone 2! So if it helps others... I'll be stoked!
Wish me luck and I'll chat to you soon!
Wear your scar and look after her, she's been through a lot and will need just as much TLC as your body does whilst you recover... vitamin E.... It's her best friend
Bel x
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Recurrence of PVNS = my Total Hip Replacement
10 months after the first surgery I had in March 2000 to remove the PVNS, the same pinching pain returned.
Scans showed the same mass in and around the top of my femur. The next episode of the attack of the PVNS had started and plans were starting to be thrown around the room as to what should be done next!
It had completely re-eaten the artificial bone graft that was put in the first time, and now gone back into my pelvis with only 2mm of my pelvic bone left before it entered my reproductive area.
The last scan I had done of my left hip joint was 7 weeks prior to the operation date (proposed for Dec 2001). It was discussed that this benign tumour everyone was learning to be PVNS was that aggressive that it may have already broken through the 2mm of my pelvic floor and entered the soft tissue of where a woman holds hope of having a family one day. Even though i was only 19, I knew it was something I always hoped would happen.... that one day I would be a mother.
My surgeon organised for my case to be presented in front of a group of senior surgeons in the Sutherland Shire area of where I live. After my surgeon took my case with him around the world trying to figure out how to cure this bone eating monster, he was still at a loss of how he could destroy its existence within my left hip joint. So one Thursday morning, my mother, father and I attended the meeting which would ultimately provide the answer in how to cure my PVNS!
After seeing my scans splashed across the monstrous screen in front of 30 to 40 medical professionals and hearing alot of medical jargon hit back and forth like a tennis match, I was then asked to stand up on stage to show them.... the person behind the tumour! After walking back and forth a few times, the 3 of us were asked to leave the room. The last thing we wanted to do!!! It was like we were criminals and the jury had to discuss the sentence!! Was I going be guilty or innocent, banished or cured???
My luck was changing, all of those medical professionals were sitting in that room, listening to MY case and didn't realise they were about to change my life! One surgeon came up with the technique of using Cryotherapy within my joint.
The surgery was 7 weeks away and the planning of this 4 hour procedure was underway. It goes a little like this....
I checked into hospital the night before the big day!! Do you know how weird it is to sleep in a hospital bed when you aren't really "injured". Its weird and the noises are creepy! I didn't sleep a wink, I stared at the ceiling all night. Waiting, waiting for 6am to come around where the nurse come in and ask me to have my final shower before I put on my sexy gown!
I'm wheeled down to theatre and waiting in pre-op.... I'm the first one in, so its quiet and I'm the only bed waiting. Passing the minutes which seemed like hours by watching each and every shuffled step of the covered feet of nurses and doctors. Their funky head wear and colourful clothes... I guess it did make me feel a little better! I'm given a red wristband to denote that I am allergic to Morphine. I was given Morphine for pain relief at the last operation and my skin practically crawled off me, so noted not to have again.... Pethidine it is for me this time.
I remember speaking to the anaesthetist, and then counting down from 10 once I was lying on the cold skinny table in the theatre room.... next thing I know I am in pain, thirsty and in recovery!
My hip had been replaced, they dislocated the joint and placed a small frozen crystal that was -150 degrees Celsius in my socket cup. What this then did was freeze and kill the PVNS in the immediate joint, as well as reach a temperature of -40 degrees Celsius on the inside of the pelvic wall. This was in case the PVNS had broken through to my soft tissue on the inside of my pelvis and could be killed before doing any more damage. (by the way, it never broke through, so I was lucky to have the PVNS contained in my hip joint only)
The freezing meant I had to have a Total Hip Replacement (THR), my cartilage was now destroyed and mechanically they had to put me back together again. They had to work like angels to rebuild what my PVNS destroyed.... and they succeeded!
They cut of the top of my femur which was practically rotten with PVNS. Then they drilled a shaft down my femur (thigh bone). Here my stem was fitted and locked in. Attached to the top of my brand new stem, my new titanium neck was screwed in, this would then hold my ceramic ball which would match my ceramic lined titanium socket cup. Before they put in my socket cup however, my pelvis had to be "patched up" due to be destroyed by PVNS. After removing the spare bone from the back of my left hip (everyone has spare bone there), they donored my own bone to my pelvis, just like repairing a hole in a wall. Once set, the socket was fitted. 5 pieces of foreign material later and my hip was one again.
11 frozen sections were taken in and around my joint during theatre, all of which came back clear of PVNS. 80 dis solvable stitches locked out the PVNS to the outside world and my hip was now protected from this bone eating monster.
I was in hospital for a week, high on pethadine, hallucinating thinking Dawson from Dawson's Creek was being chased by a giant cockroach :) I only wish that iPhones were around 10 years ago, some funny shit would have been filmed. 2 days later my drain was removed and my drip came out, Digesics became my pain killer of choice.
Whilst in hospital, I was visited by the in house doctor to see if I was willing to participate in an anonymous trial. The trial was regarding a selection of patients receiving an injection. Some of the injections contained a drug which would assist bone density and some would receive saline. It was proven to have worked successfully on protecting a cancer patients bone density. Now they wanted to see if it would assist Hip Replacement patients bone density. The side effects were severe nausea but nothing dangerous. Mum and Dad then asked, Belinda will participate, but only if you make sure you give her the trial drug. They did and the nausea set in.
By this stage I was 5 days in and OVER IT! I was tired, fatigued, sore and bored.... mentally I was suffering, I wanted to go home.
On the 6th day, I demanded I go home, I'd had enough.... silly of me, because I had a turn of high fevers and restless sleep the first night I got home. In the end it was just the reaction to the trial drug, but really I should have stayed in hospital for one extra night.
I cant really remember, but my recovery was slow but not very painful. I was on crutches for about 6 weeks, bearing weight in hospital and hobbling around without my crutches 2 weeks post op (naughty).
The old pain was a thing of the past..... no wonder people rave on about how fantastic THR's are!!
Come February (3 months post op), I started my studies at TAFE (college) and was on the hunt for a job in the events industry... By March, I landed my first full time job in the events industry I am now successful in and my life at the age of 20 resumed.....
Having a Hip Replacement is not as scary as you think. It is life changing and in my case was absolutely necessary... I wonder how i am going to feel in another 20 years from now, I just had 3 bouts of revision surgery and everything seems to be ok at the moment.... gotta live for the now, not the later.... even though the doctors want to concentrate on your life in 40 years and not the issue now.
To be continued.... another post regarding my revision surgery over the last 9 months and how I have lived with a hip replacement for the last 10 years will be posted soon.
Wear your scar with a stride or a limp, the happiness knowing you can limp whilst you walk is what others will never understand.
P.S. the trial was successful, nuclear scans a few months later proved my bone density wasn't as low as it was expected for a THR.... more great news
Scans showed the same mass in and around the top of my femur. The next episode of the attack of the PVNS had started and plans were starting to be thrown around the room as to what should be done next!
It had completely re-eaten the artificial bone graft that was put in the first time, and now gone back into my pelvis with only 2mm of my pelvic bone left before it entered my reproductive area.
The last scan I had done of my left hip joint was 7 weeks prior to the operation date (proposed for Dec 2001). It was discussed that this benign tumour everyone was learning to be PVNS was that aggressive that it may have already broken through the 2mm of my pelvic floor and entered the soft tissue of where a woman holds hope of having a family one day. Even though i was only 19, I knew it was something I always hoped would happen.... that one day I would be a mother.
My surgeon organised for my case to be presented in front of a group of senior surgeons in the Sutherland Shire area of where I live. After my surgeon took my case with him around the world trying to figure out how to cure this bone eating monster, he was still at a loss of how he could destroy its existence within my left hip joint. So one Thursday morning, my mother, father and I attended the meeting which would ultimately provide the answer in how to cure my PVNS!
After seeing my scans splashed across the monstrous screen in front of 30 to 40 medical professionals and hearing alot of medical jargon hit back and forth like a tennis match, I was then asked to stand up on stage to show them.... the person behind the tumour! After walking back and forth a few times, the 3 of us were asked to leave the room. The last thing we wanted to do!!! It was like we were criminals and the jury had to discuss the sentence!! Was I going be guilty or innocent, banished or cured???
My luck was changing, all of those medical professionals were sitting in that room, listening to MY case and didn't realise they were about to change my life! One surgeon came up with the technique of using Cryotherapy within my joint.
The surgery was 7 weeks away and the planning of this 4 hour procedure was underway. It goes a little like this....
I checked into hospital the night before the big day!! Do you know how weird it is to sleep in a hospital bed when you aren't really "injured". Its weird and the noises are creepy! I didn't sleep a wink, I stared at the ceiling all night. Waiting, waiting for 6am to come around where the nurse come in and ask me to have my final shower before I put on my sexy gown!
I'm wheeled down to theatre and waiting in pre-op.... I'm the first one in, so its quiet and I'm the only bed waiting. Passing the minutes which seemed like hours by watching each and every shuffled step of the covered feet of nurses and doctors. Their funky head wear and colourful clothes... I guess it did make me feel a little better! I'm given a red wristband to denote that I am allergic to Morphine. I was given Morphine for pain relief at the last operation and my skin practically crawled off me, so noted not to have again.... Pethidine it is for me this time.
I remember speaking to the anaesthetist, and then counting down from 10 once I was lying on the cold skinny table in the theatre room.... next thing I know I am in pain, thirsty and in recovery!
My hip had been replaced, they dislocated the joint and placed a small frozen crystal that was -150 degrees Celsius in my socket cup. What this then did was freeze and kill the PVNS in the immediate joint, as well as reach a temperature of -40 degrees Celsius on the inside of the pelvic wall. This was in case the PVNS had broken through to my soft tissue on the inside of my pelvis and could be killed before doing any more damage. (by the way, it never broke through, so I was lucky to have the PVNS contained in my hip joint only)
The freezing meant I had to have a Total Hip Replacement (THR), my cartilage was now destroyed and mechanically they had to put me back together again. They had to work like angels to rebuild what my PVNS destroyed.... and they succeeded!
They cut of the top of my femur which was practically rotten with PVNS. Then they drilled a shaft down my femur (thigh bone). Here my stem was fitted and locked in. Attached to the top of my brand new stem, my new titanium neck was screwed in, this would then hold my ceramic ball which would match my ceramic lined titanium socket cup. Before they put in my socket cup however, my pelvis had to be "patched up" due to be destroyed by PVNS. After removing the spare bone from the back of my left hip (everyone has spare bone there), they donored my own bone to my pelvis, just like repairing a hole in a wall. Once set, the socket was fitted. 5 pieces of foreign material later and my hip was one again.
11 frozen sections were taken in and around my joint during theatre, all of which came back clear of PVNS. 80 dis solvable stitches locked out the PVNS to the outside world and my hip was now protected from this bone eating monster.
I was in hospital for a week, high on pethadine, hallucinating thinking Dawson from Dawson's Creek was being chased by a giant cockroach :) I only wish that iPhones were around 10 years ago, some funny shit would have been filmed. 2 days later my drain was removed and my drip came out, Digesics became my pain killer of choice.
Whilst in hospital, I was visited by the in house doctor to see if I was willing to participate in an anonymous trial. The trial was regarding a selection of patients receiving an injection. Some of the injections contained a drug which would assist bone density and some would receive saline. It was proven to have worked successfully on protecting a cancer patients bone density. Now they wanted to see if it would assist Hip Replacement patients bone density. The side effects were severe nausea but nothing dangerous. Mum and Dad then asked, Belinda will participate, but only if you make sure you give her the trial drug. They did and the nausea set in.
By this stage I was 5 days in and OVER IT! I was tired, fatigued, sore and bored.... mentally I was suffering, I wanted to go home.
On the 6th day, I demanded I go home, I'd had enough.... silly of me, because I had a turn of high fevers and restless sleep the first night I got home. In the end it was just the reaction to the trial drug, but really I should have stayed in hospital for one extra night.
I cant really remember, but my recovery was slow but not very painful. I was on crutches for about 6 weeks, bearing weight in hospital and hobbling around without my crutches 2 weeks post op (naughty).
The old pain was a thing of the past..... no wonder people rave on about how fantastic THR's are!!
Come February (3 months post op), I started my studies at TAFE (college) and was on the hunt for a job in the events industry... By March, I landed my first full time job in the events industry I am now successful in and my life at the age of 20 resumed.....
Having a Hip Replacement is not as scary as you think. It is life changing and in my case was absolutely necessary... I wonder how i am going to feel in another 20 years from now, I just had 3 bouts of revision surgery and everything seems to be ok at the moment.... gotta live for the now, not the later.... even though the doctors want to concentrate on your life in 40 years and not the issue now.
To be continued.... another post regarding my revision surgery over the last 9 months and how I have lived with a hip replacement for the last 10 years will be posted soon.
Wear your scar with a stride or a limp, the happiness knowing you can limp whilst you walk is what others will never understand.
P.S. the trial was successful, nuclear scans a few months later proved my bone density wasn't as low as it was expected for a THR.... more great news
Sunday 22 January 2012
A picture says a thousand words
Just a quick post showing what PVNS can do to bone and realising why I was in soooo much pain because of it.
The photos are quite graphic, so just a warning for those who have a weak stomach.
I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy, I am soooo lucky that my PVNS has NOT recurred.. these photos were taken exactly 10 years ago and surgery this year confirmed i was in the all clear.
My PVNS was eliminated by the use of cryotherapy (freezing) to a temperature of -150 degrees Celsius. This was done to ensure the PVNS hadn't gone through to the inside of my pelvic wall. Cryotherapy also destroyed my cartilage which then meant I required a total hip replacement.... give me a hip replacement any day, if it means the below never comes back.
The photos are quite graphic, so just a warning for those who have a weak stomach.
I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy, I am soooo lucky that my PVNS has NOT recurred.. these photos were taken exactly 10 years ago and surgery this year confirmed i was in the all clear.
My PVNS was eliminated by the use of cryotherapy (freezing) to a temperature of -150 degrees Celsius. This was done to ensure the PVNS hadn't gone through to the inside of my pelvic wall. Cryotherapy also destroyed my cartilage which then meant I required a total hip replacement.... give me a hip replacement any day, if it means the below never comes back.
My femoral head after it was removed from my leg in theatre before my Total Hip Replacement in 2001. The PVNS had eaten into each side.. The two cuts are where the surgeon made a cross section to see inside - see below.
This is a cross section of the femoral head.. The PVNS had taken a bite out of each side and pretty much destroyed my joint overall... It had also gone in and through my socket and left 2mm of my pelvic bone before it broke through to my "lady area". Imagine what it would have done to my soft tissue in there, if it does this to bone!!
Wear your scar with pride, the reason it is there may be more important to your well being than anyone could ever know.
Friday 20 January 2012
Infection!!
It does happen.... and its happened to me!! My poor scar is looking rather nasty, but its whats underneath that is worrying me!!
I am currently 6 and a half weeks post op of having a bone cyst removed from my pelvis. This is the 4th operation I have had on my hip in the last 12 years. Its the first time I am going through the experience of having an infection :(
BE AWARE OF INFECTION AND WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR AFTER AN OP!!
1. Hot Incision (could fry an egg)
2. Swelling/Hardening of the Incision (ewww it looks yuk)
3. Redness (with flames)
4. Drainage From the Incision (I didn't have this)
5. Pain (tell me about it)
I never thought it would happen to me! Its actually quite common, but come on really, I look after myself, it wont happen! Yeah well it has.
18 days post op, my scar became hot to touch, red and inflamed!! The key signs of infection!! (see pics above). This was also 2 days before xmas! My GP, surgeon and anyone with a brain in the medical profession was now on holidays! My gland in my groin was swollen and sore to touch, so I gave myself a phd in medicine and made it my task to find someone who could write a script!
I found the nearest medical centre and tell the doctor what is happening and what I need. He doesn't even look at my scar, writes me a script and at the chemist I fill a prescription for an antibiotic! I only get one of the two I was discharged with from hospital (I couldn't remember the other one, so for now I thought it was better to have something rather than nothing). Xmas was here and I'd get to a better doctor in a few days!
Xmas day was spent on the couch with ice on my leg, Boxing day was spent at the hospital in the after hours clinic... more antibiotics were ordered. This seemed to settle the redness and also calm down the raised scar tissue for the next week or so. It was still hot to touch and my hip was still quite painful, but it seemed to be sorting itself out. New years happened and I had a fantastic night sending off 2011!! She had been a tough year!!
2012 started with me sleeping away a lot of day 1 and 2! It was like I was abnormally fatigued so I decided to head off to my own GP a few days later, I just didn't feel right and the scar still didn't look 100%. She asked me to get my bloods taken, gave me my 3rd course of antibiotics and given the look of my scar, advised me to book an appointment with my surgeon.
He was still overseas on xmas holidays so I was to see his assistant. Actually the assistant who was involved with my operation, so that was promising! Boy was I wrong.
I was told it wasn't infected as my bloods came back normal, he said it was normal for an incision to look red, especially after bone graft surgery and to stop taking my antibiotics. You know I actually believed he was right. I think I was at my wits end with everything going wrong that I thought "you know what, he's the doctor, i trust him, my health is in good hands.... sweet!"
Back at work a few days later... I was on the mend!
4th day back at work, and my scar was raised again. That's it! I called my surgeons office, he was heading down to theatre in 40 mins, so i jumped in the car and got to him before he left. The look on his face was enough said... holly shit, I was now worried.
The day before I noticed the infection The day the scar became hot and inflamed
I am currently 6 and a half weeks post op of having a bone cyst removed from my pelvis. This is the 4th operation I have had on my hip in the last 12 years. Its the first time I am going through the experience of having an infection :(
BE AWARE OF INFECTION AND WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR AFTER AN OP!!
1. Hot Incision (could fry an egg)
2. Swelling/Hardening of the Incision (ewww it looks yuk)
3. Redness (with flames)
4. Drainage From the Incision (I didn't have this)
5. Pain (tell me about it)
I never thought it would happen to me! Its actually quite common, but come on really, I look after myself, it wont happen! Yeah well it has.
18 days post op, my scar became hot to touch, red and inflamed!! The key signs of infection!! (see pics above). This was also 2 days before xmas! My GP, surgeon and anyone with a brain in the medical profession was now on holidays! My gland in my groin was swollen and sore to touch, so I gave myself a phd in medicine and made it my task to find someone who could write a script!
I found the nearest medical centre and tell the doctor what is happening and what I need. He doesn't even look at my scar, writes me a script and at the chemist I fill a prescription for an antibiotic! I only get one of the two I was discharged with from hospital (I couldn't remember the other one, so for now I thought it was better to have something rather than nothing). Xmas was here and I'd get to a better doctor in a few days!
Xmas day was spent on the couch with ice on my leg, Boxing day was spent at the hospital in the after hours clinic... more antibiotics were ordered. This seemed to settle the redness and also calm down the raised scar tissue for the next week or so. It was still hot to touch and my hip was still quite painful, but it seemed to be sorting itself out. New years happened and I had a fantastic night sending off 2011!! She had been a tough year!!
2012 started with me sleeping away a lot of day 1 and 2! It was like I was abnormally fatigued so I decided to head off to my own GP a few days later, I just didn't feel right and the scar still didn't look 100%. She asked me to get my bloods taken, gave me my 3rd course of antibiotics and given the look of my scar, advised me to book an appointment with my surgeon.
He was still overseas on xmas holidays so I was to see his assistant. Actually the assistant who was involved with my operation, so that was promising! Boy was I wrong.
I was told it wasn't infected as my bloods came back normal, he said it was normal for an incision to look red, especially after bone graft surgery and to stop taking my antibiotics. You know I actually believed he was right. I think I was at my wits end with everything going wrong that I thought "you know what, he's the doctor, i trust him, my health is in good hands.... sweet!"
Back at work a few days later... I was on the mend!
4th day back at work, and my scar was raised again. That's it! I called my surgeons office, he was heading down to theatre in 40 mins, so i jumped in the car and got to him before he left. The look on his face was enough said... holly shit, I was now worried.
Bloods were taken again and an ultrasound ordered. $240 later but hey, infections can be nasty, whats $240 to look after your health. It was confirmed, I had a 2.5cm x 1.5cm mass of thickened tissue (not scar tissue) and 15cm x 2.5cm x 1.5cm of fluid underneath the entire scar.... faaaarrrkkkk!!! It looked superficial, but a deep wound infection still couldn't be ruled out.
This morning, I saw the doctor first thing. Bloods are clear, the ultrasound reviewed, more tests needed to be done. Local anaesthetic, biopsy and a cat scan of the scar and it shows what we all wanted to hear. It isn't a deep wound infection! My surgeon grabbed my hands, looked me in the eyes, smiled and danced up and down celebrating my 15cm of superficial fluid :) stoked!
After I was poked and prodded to find out exactly what was going on
So now it is just back on the antibiotics and wait and see what this thing really is once the biopsy results come back. I may still need to open up the wound and curette the infection out, but worst case is..... whats a couple of days back in hospital compared to weeks of cleaning out an open, deep, infected wound... I can count myself a very lucky girl.
My scar looking it's worst :( the black dots were markers to show where the red had spread too
Wear your scar no matter what the pattern is!! Its when it decides to be sexy red and smokin hot that you cover it up!
Wear your scar no matter what the pattern is!! Its when it decides to be sexy red and smokin hot that you cover it up!
Friday 6 January 2012
At least I have my legs!
Not only is this something I have always told myself since I had my first operation when I was 18.... 12 years ago!! I seem to have been saying this to complete strangers more than to myself in the past 4 weeks!
I guess strutting around in crutches to parties, weddings, the beach, the supermarket, the bank, in the lift of my unit block.... pretty much every where I go, ALWAYS attracts the question "So what have you done to yourself?" I find it quite comforting to see jaws drop when i reply "I had my hip replaced", and they say "oh wow for someone so young?" Then I smile "Well actually I had it replaced 10 years ago and just had some revision surgery done a few weeks ago"... The fact they are gobsmacked and would never have picked something as crazy as a hip replacement instead of a broken leg does more good to my self esteem than they know.
I'm happy to tell my story, its my way of self therapy with dealing what I have gone through and even though I am telling others that everything is OK, I really am telling myself too.
The thing is people listen and then instantly feel sympathetic, or sorry for me, of which I completely understand! Why wouldn't they, I am most probably worse off than they are. This is where adding the final comment "At least I have my legs" seems to floor people, and i see them thinking, shit I really am lucky! This chick was 19 when she lost her natural hip, and she still has the ability to recognise that there are others out there that worse off than her and she just walked away smiling or turned the conversation onto something else, like asking me how my kids are or what I did on the weekend! This is what gets me through, that people really care to listen and understand, and that I hopefully help people appreciate that what they have in their own lives is always better than someone elses.
So right now, I am still hopping around on 2 crutches, which is 4 weeks post op from having a bone cyst curetted out of my pelvis (above my socket cup) and my bone stock grafted into the hole remaining. Its like I have cement that is setting but it still isn't dry, another 2 weeks and Ill be good to go :)
Unfortunately though, 2 weeks ago I noticed my incision became really inflamed and I am now on my 3rd course of antibiotics to treat an infection :( of which I hope is not in my bone, but as always Ill get through it, just means i have been given a great excuse to be forced back onto my backside! DVD's and day time TV here I come!
It helps to have the most amazing friends and family supporting me through all of this, so for those of you reading this, thank you! You know who you are xxx
Wear your scar like a cute new dress, it will leave a lasting impression, more positive than you think :)
Love Bel....
P.S. photos below with my artificial pair of legs for now - they make great accessories :)
I guess strutting around in crutches to parties, weddings, the beach, the supermarket, the bank, in the lift of my unit block.... pretty much every where I go, ALWAYS attracts the question "So what have you done to yourself?" I find it quite comforting to see jaws drop when i reply "I had my hip replaced", and they say "oh wow for someone so young?" Then I smile "Well actually I had it replaced 10 years ago and just had some revision surgery done a few weeks ago"... The fact they are gobsmacked and would never have picked something as crazy as a hip replacement instead of a broken leg does more good to my self esteem than they know.
I'm happy to tell my story, its my way of self therapy with dealing what I have gone through and even though I am telling others that everything is OK, I really am telling myself too.
The thing is people listen and then instantly feel sympathetic, or sorry for me, of which I completely understand! Why wouldn't they, I am most probably worse off than they are. This is where adding the final comment "At least I have my legs" seems to floor people, and i see them thinking, shit I really am lucky! This chick was 19 when she lost her natural hip, and she still has the ability to recognise that there are others out there that worse off than her and she just walked away smiling or turned the conversation onto something else, like asking me how my kids are or what I did on the weekend! This is what gets me through, that people really care to listen and understand, and that I hopefully help people appreciate that what they have in their own lives is always better than someone elses.
So right now, I am still hopping around on 2 crutches, which is 4 weeks post op from having a bone cyst curetted out of my pelvis (above my socket cup) and my bone stock grafted into the hole remaining. Its like I have cement that is setting but it still isn't dry, another 2 weeks and Ill be good to go :)
Unfortunately though, 2 weeks ago I noticed my incision became really inflamed and I am now on my 3rd course of antibiotics to treat an infection :( of which I hope is not in my bone, but as always Ill get through it, just means i have been given a great excuse to be forced back onto my backside! DVD's and day time TV here I come!
It helps to have the most amazing friends and family supporting me through all of this, so for those of you reading this, thank you! You know who you are xxx
Wear your scar like a cute new dress, it will leave a lasting impression, more positive than you think :)
Love Bel....
P.S. photos below with my artificial pair of legs for now - they make great accessories :)
At a wedding at the Siebel Pier One in The Rocks, Sydney Harbour!
After midnight at a Hawaiian themed New Years Eve party. The crutches were used more than just for my leg, helping me with my intoxication worked wonders :)
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