The Journey Begins

At birth I was diagnosed with what the doctors called Congenital Hips, now commonly known as Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. The doctors diagnosed my condition at birth and I was rewarded with a shiny new brace to wear for the next 12-18 months. Rumor has it that the doctors felt I might never walk. They were wrong! I have been walking, running, jogging, cycling, hopping, skipping, dancing, frolicking and jumping through life for almost 36 years now!

About a year ago I began experiencing a great deal of pain in my groin and right leg. I pretended it didn't exist for a while and then took Advil to hide the pain when I couldn't ignore it. Eventually my mom noticed the limping and we were off to her orthopedist! Dr. Keith Berend with Joint Implant Surgeons in New Albany, Ohio reviewed my x-rays and diagnosed moderate dysplastic hips. This was obviously not news to me!

I then had an MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiography), an MRI with the added bonus of dye injected into the hip! The MRA revealed some arthritis and a tear to my labrum. The labrum is a “gasket” that surrounds the rim of the hip socket. Dysplastic hips are characterized by shallow sockets and labral tears occur due to the way the femoral head (ball) sits at the edge of the acetabulum (socket). Due to the findings, Dr. B referred me Dr. Thomas Ellis at The Ohio State University.

Dr. Ellis and his PA, Stephanie, reviewed my x-rays and MRA then talked to me at great length about my options. After careful consideration I opted to schedule an arthroscopy (scope) of my hip then, at a late date, the Periacetabular Osteotomy. The scope would allow Dr. E to repair the torn labrum, debried (clean out) any arthritis chunks in my hip and determine the level of damage already done to my hip. Too much damage in there and I wouldn’t be a candidate for PAO at all. Then the only option would be to wait until I was old and crippled enough for a Total Hip Arthroscopy (replacement).

On March 19, 2008 I went under the knife at OSU East! Dr. E decided NOT to repair or debried my hip during the scope, but to just wait and fix it all when he opened me up for PAO. I have since scheduled my PAO for June 11, 2008.

For those of you still with me, thank you for reading all of this boring stuff!

Tomorrow I will tell you more about the hip scope experience. It is sure to be a thrilling post for those of you who get excited over people falling down, eating (almost) all of their vegetables and peeing on the floor!