March 26 - 4 weeks pre surgery

Exactly 4 weeks from today I hope I will be finished with surgery and on the road to recovery . . painful though it may be.

So . .. here's the history. I have slight hip dysplasia in both hips . . thanks mom and dad for the bogus hips. And, knock off the jokes about the pure bred dogs. Six years ago I finally met the most incredible hip dr who actually diagnosed that i had a torn labrum in my right hip and that was the source of the searing pain that kept me up at night contemplating suicide. He sent me to see Dr. Marc Philippon who was in Pittsburgh. On April 3, 2003 I had the labrum in my right hip repaired by Dr Philippon. Waking up from that surgery was surreal. It was supposed to be outpatient but my damage was extensive and the surgery took longer than anticipated so I ended up spending a night in the hospital. Two days in a hotel later, my cousin drove me back to Indianapolis where I started physical therapy.

At my six week check-up with Dr. P, he informed me that I had the same issue with my left hip. I argued vehemently that I did not but what did I know? :-) He was right and 5 years later while standing in my kitchen and twisting to grab something out of the refrigerator, I think the tear happened. I cried. I denied. I walked with a cane for weeks convincing myself that it would heal and I would be fine. This was in April, 2008. When, by July, 2008, I was still walking with a cane, I decided it was time to do the arthrogram and get results to Dr. Philippon.

Diagnosis of a torn labrum came back quickly from Dr. Philippon and the process started to find a surgery date in Vail. I settled on April . . .immediately after ski season . . to assist in my finding a place to stay and decided that I would stay for the entire 6 weeks to do all PT in Vail. April 23 was chosen as the date and I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that was a LONG time off and I would probably be fine by then.

So, here I am a month away, wishing I could be pain free and have this over. Anxiously awaiting April 18 when I pack up the car and half of my belongings to start the long drive to Vail. Focusing on getting my life back . . . walking, hiking, backpacking again!!

Welcome to my journey. It begins