Update on the Hip

Sorry I have not written in a while.  As I mentioned earlier, I need to have my hip replaced.  After the cortisone shot I received a month ago, my hip has been deteriorating rapidly and the pain increasing significantly.

Earlier this month, Bear and I made the trek in to see a surgeon at Top Notch Surgery Hospital in the Big City.  This was a very different experience than with Dr. Douche.  The doc did say he does treat obese patients and he said I clearly need the surgery as I am bone-on-bone now.  He said he would do the surgery right now if he could but was hesitant due to my weight and the fact I'm on blood thinners.  I felt so lost at this point as I was in so much pain that I started crying.  The doc said "please don't cry.  I am going to help you."  

The told me that he was overweight himself and lost close to 100 pounds through a comprehensive weight loss program out of another Big Name Hospital.  He gave me the contact information and said that if I get on one of their programs and show that I am losing weight, he will do the surgery.  He said I do not have to lose much but just show the motivation to lose.  Thankfully the doctor he referred me to is in-network but that still means the long trek into the Big City.

So in the next six weeks, I will see the diet doc to see what she has to say and then I follow up with the surgeon.  If things go well, the doc said I could have the surgery as soon as September.

To sum it all up:

The good:

• I found a doctor that won't force me to lose 60 pounds to do the surgery.
• The surgery will be done by a top-notch surgeon at a top-notch hospital.

The bad:

• I have to wait at least three months to have the surgery.  As no doctor wants to prescribe decent pain meds to me (that will be another post), I will be suffering for that time period.  As I can barely walk now, I would hate to see how bad it will be by the time of the surgery.
• I will lose the fall semester's classes.  As the recover period is 4-6 weeks, there is no way I can teach face-to-face classes.  That is a significant amount of money lost.  I can get a small bit of disability but that will be only a tiny fraction of what my pay would be.  Plus, there is no guarantee I will get rehired for the spring.

The ugly:

• I am hearing more and more stories of hip replacements gone wrong.  A friend of a friend is undergoing his fifth surgery since February and he might lose his hip altogether due to a MRSA infection.  That is a very BAD thing.

Either way, this is going to be a long summer.