Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Back to Baltimore

I haven't posted for several months... just to give you all the hip update, my hips are doing well! My left resurfaced hip is good--the muscles are sometimes sore, but it gets better and better. If I sit for a long time and then get up it can be stiff. All in all, I'd say I'm a whole lot better than before surgery and about 90-95% of normal. As for the right hip that had the core decompression, it seems pretty good too. I've been walking a lot lately and it only seems to hurt every once in a while, usually when rain is coming. The core decompression ideally stops the progression of the bone loss but there is still damage to the bone and cartilage, so it's not surprising that it aches a little sometimes.

I found out a couple of months ago that I also have ON of the shoulders. The doctors here in Atlanta didn't really have any suggestions and thought I should do nothing. Replacements and resurfacings for shoulders do not seem to be as common or successful as for hips, and I'm not a fan of the idea of doing nothing while my bone dies. Dr. Mont in Baltimore thinks that we can slow or stop the progression with CD's of both shoulders, so we are leaving tomorrow to go for more surgery. Thank goodness I don't walk on my hands, so the shoulders aren't weigh-bearing! That means the recovery, although it might be painful, shouldn't affect my life as much as with the hips (although I might not be able to drive for a little while).

I'll update and let y'all know about the shoulder surgery.