Well, we’ve had in interesting couple of months on this hip
journey. Originally, I was supposed to have my surgery consult back in
mid-June. It was cancelled because Dr. S wanted to see me on a day when he had
no other patients. We then scheduled it for July 16th. So, this past
Monday, my hubby and I mentally prepared ourselves for the big meeting. We
gathered all of our questions, looked at dates on a calendar, and prepared
ourselves to learn all we needed to know about, and schedule my surgery in the
fall.
We arrived at the hospital only to find out that Dr. S had been
called to an emergency surgery and he would not be able to see us. What a huge
bummer. It took a lot of effort to not be selfish about it, and not be
aggravated that we weren’t even notified (turns out we were…which is a whole
other story in and of itself). I just tried to remember that if it were me that
needed emergency surgery, I’d want Dr. S to drop everything for me, too. I will
admit that I was more nervous and emotionally invested in this appointment than I
had thought. I was pretty deflated the rest of the day.
My biggest concern
leaving the hospital that day is that if we waited much longer to schedule than
we wouldn’t be able to get the time-frame that we wanted. I would be upset
knowing that I had been waiting for MONTHS to schedule the surgery and in the
end we couldn’t get the time I wanted. So, when I called Dr. S’s wonderful
assistant, I explained my worries. She completely understood and said that we
would schedule my date right then and there! Who knew it would be so easy. So,
the date of the PAO is officially set for October 26, 2012. I will have my
surgery consult on August 6th (hopefully).
So, we are just over three months away from surgery! That is just
mind-boggling. It’s a strangely wonderful feeling to have an actual date to
look forward to (or dread, however you want to put it), but it’s also very
scary to now know that it is, indeed, going to happen. All of a sudden, it’s
very finite. I actually AM going to have surgery and it WILL be before the end
of the year. Yikes. I keep waiting for someone to call up and say “Just
kidding! Your images look fine, it’s just a little something-something with an
easy fix.”
You see, before it was so fluid. I’m going to have surgery eventually. I’m going to have surgery to
fix my hip “down the road.” I
remember the original appointment with Dr. E from 10 years ago like it was
YESTERDAY. I distinctly remember him saying: “You’re going to need surgery by
25-30.” I remember thinking he was loon (among other things), I would never
need surgery. And here I am! Where the heck did that time go? And since when do
we age so quickly, both in years, and in condition? It’s been 10 years…and it
feels like it’s been the blink of an eye.
I refuse to get philosophical…so I will leave with this:
I have my consult on August 6th. I believe this will
be the first truly informative appointment, which will lead to the first truly
informative entry.
Questions for Dr. S include but are not limited to:
Am I given a list of things to do beforehand?
Should I get a temporary handicap plate?
I have heard of people donating blood to themselves beforehand
for this surgery, should I?
Who will be performing the surgery with him?
How long is the surgery?
How long should I stay out of work on TDI?
How long after surgery should we wait to have kids?
I’ll be sure to post as soon after the surgery consult as I can.
Hopefully it actually happens this time!
Thanks for listening/reading/following my journey,
D
