So I was and remain REALLY motivated to get to know my subject.
The Opportunity.The opportunity arose in 2019.
Our eldest son came along, our parental leave was coming to an end and my partner was due to start back at work in London.
Something had to give.
So after 10 years flat out as a hip + knee surgeon, my hospital allowed me to step back from my full-time role. And I'll be forever grateful.
I was able to look after our son (and now pre-school daughter), operate flexibly to fit in around family life and plug rota gaps at my hospital in Cornwall.
AND I could start writing about my passion: hips and knees. I finally got to share the key things that help us all to do more with less pain. There's a book in the works, my
Hip Pain Toolkit course and this very same free weekly
newsletter.And perhaps, as a result of all this I'll learn enough to be able to avoid my own hip replacement?
Who knows? So, 37 newsletters later, it seems about right to re-visit the stories of the people who inspired me to start writing. For me it's particularly prescient, as I find myself catching up with their respective ages.
I'm nearly 49 years young. And each of these men were under the age of 55 years.As with all the cases I write about, I've committed to changing names, and all identifying details. But the story is very much real. 'Real-life' as our kids say..
So, how is George getting on?George's was the X-ray film that brought a sharp intake of breath.
A
‘CRIKEY, look at that’ when I first saw it.
In my mind, there's a group of patients whose osteoarthritis has gone beyond.
Beyond the point of trying to put off joint replacement.
And George was firmly in this group..
'Just get on with it..’.
That is not to say that people with a really bad joint do NOT..
1. Benefit from moving towards their target weight, or
2. Benefit from being more active.
They do..Better pain and function AND
A lower chance of life changing complications await.
Just that they are unlikely to be able to put off joint replacement indefinitely.
If pain is getting in the way of everyday life.
In this group of patients at least...
Get on with it. George lost enough body mass to sneak under the upper limit of our operating table. He moved through our pre-operation assessment clinic.
And I replaced his hip.
As is often the case,
it was challenging operating through a thick layer of fat. BUT not unusually so. As sometimes happens, especially with a thick layer of fat, there was drainage onto the wound dressing for longer than I'd have liked.
But this had dried up before George went home.
And he was getting about okay.
Well, more than okay...
George was positively delighted.
Postively delighted to be free from his gnawing groin pain.
Postively delighted to be able to sleep a full night through.
A full night's sleep for the first time in months.
That switching off of groin pain is fairly typical.Typical of hip replacement.
So far, so good.
So, let's pause there..
