A bit of background...

A lot of people are probably wondering what a 24 year old is doing having reconstructive hip surgery... I often get asked what I did to my hip, and the short answer is simply "nothing". I was born with congenital hip dysplasia, a condition where your hip socket isn't properly shaped, and the head of your femur doesn't stay in place correctly. I'm fortunate, because my hip dysplasia was caught early, and I received treatment for it. I wore a special brace for a few months as an infant to correct the problem, and it was mostly successful. I didn't have any real hip problems until I was 16 or so, and at that point I started to get some pain when I walked really far or did any running.

In the past couple of years my hip has been getting progressively worse. It became hard to sit in one position for a long time, to walk long distances, and to get up from the floor. I had to be careful with the shoes I wear, because if they weren't grippy and the floor I was on was slippery my hips had to work a lot harder and ended up sore. Despite these problems I stayed fairly active and pain free, as long as I was careful. I went to the doctor a few times for x-rays and was told not to be concerned.

In September 2008 I moved to Vancouver, and became a lot more active - walking almost everywhere. My right hip started to give me much more trouble. Steve (my boyfriend) urged me to go to the doctor and get checked out, and for awhile I resisted. I finally realized it wasn't normal for a 23 year old to have trouble walking 5-6 blocks at a time.

I went to the Student Health Clinic at UBC and saw Dr. Legg (haha, I know). She had me do a bunch of range of movement and strength tests and she was concerned. A set of x-rays revealed that I've started to develop osteoarthritis in my right hip. My hip socket is fairly shallow, and it doesn't cover the head of my femur completely. The head of my femur rubs on a fairly small area of the socket, and it is causing osteoarthritis. She decided to refer me to an orthopedic surgeon.

About a month and a half after my initial appointment with Dr. Legg I saw Dr. Garbuz, an orthopedic surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital. Dr. Garbuz specializes in complex reconstructive surgery of the hip and knee, and is one of few surgeons who does pelvic osteotomies for treatment of hip dysplasia. At my appointment Dr. Garbuz informed me that I have 2 options: do nothing, or have reconstructive surgery.

If I do nothing, my hip will continue to deteriorate, and I will need a replacement at a fairly young age. Because replacements only last 10-15 years in younger patients, and you can only do 2-3 in your lifetime, it's not ideal to start young. I would have increasing pain and my osteoarthritis would continue to get worse. Considering I can hardly walk 5 blocks without significant pain right now, this didn't seem like a good option!

If I go ahead with the surgery, Dr. Garbuz and his team will do a procedure called a periacetabular osteotomy. Basically they will cut my pelvis in 3 places, and shift the cup part of my hip joint over to cover the head of my femur better. This should stop my osteoarthritis from developing further for a fairly long time.  It should also make my hip more stable (no more popping out!) and prevent me from needing a full replacement for a long time. Dr. Garbuz believes that this surgery has an 80% chance of making my hip much better, and very little chance of making it worse.

The main risks with this type of surgery are kind of scary, but extremely rare. There are of course the standard infection, blood loss, bone healing, and skin healing complications, but they are rare. Another rare complication involves nicking a nerve which controls your ability to raise your foot, but Dr. Garbuz assured me of its rarity. Overall it seems like a relatively safe procedure with good outcomes.

I have (of course) decided to go ahead with the surgery, which is scheduled for November 4th. I'll spend about a week in the hospital, and then back home! I will be on crutches for about 3 months, putting more and more weight on my right leg. After that I'll spend about 3-4 weeks with a cane. Within 1 year I can be back to "impact sports"... if I did any in the first place!

Steve and my mom are coming out for my surgery. Steve will be staying for a week, and my mom is going to stay for at least 3 weeks. Mom is a pro with crutches, so I'm glad to have someone around to make sure I'm using them right! I'm just glad I don't have to brave a Saskatchewan winter on crutches!