My So Called Dysplastic Life

Holy Crap - I'm Hyper Mobile! So, I have had increasing joint pain and joint stiffness in the last few years, as many of you hip folks know. What's been odd is that its not just in my hips anymore. Its my knees, my shoulders and elbows, even my fingers. Its also been coupled with fatigue, difficulty sleeping, headaches and muscle pain. So I was finally sent to a rheumotologist. She took one look at me and had me do a couple of my neat double jointed tricks (I can basically tie my fingers in knots, my knees practically bend backwards, as do my elbows, my feet can twist almost backwards, etc. etc.) and said that I was hypermobile. Hypermobility Syndrome to be specific. Now she didn't act like that could be the cause of any of my troubles and told me to avoid yoga at all costs (too late) and that she'd keep testing me for the real cause of my problems (like RA or Lupus, both of which I test negative for). But here's the deal....I started looking up Hypermobility

So its been a while since my last post. I thought I'd share what's been going on. I finished culinary school. I worked for about a year as a part time pastry cook (full time was too hard on the hips). After a year I realized that my hips were going to break and crumble into dust, or so it felt, if I continued with the pastry work. And after some swallowing of pride and bitter pills (figuratively, of course), I decided to do some searching and find another avenue, career, path, etc. In May I finished my first semester of grad school for my Masters of Library and Information Science. Library work has always been something that interested me and you can't walk in our house for books, so it seemed a natural fit. I love it. I even started volunteering at the local library 2 days a week. But the hips kept getting worse, especially in the last 6 months or so. Oh, and I've lost my health insurance again! I will be getting it back in the fall through school, but it will

So, my left hip....she's tricky. Doc said that while my right hip needed to be corrected by about 20 degrees, old lefty only needs, at best, a 10 degree correction. Doc said that he'd rather not do a 10 degree PAO unless it's absolutely necessary. But he did say I was welcome to have an Arthrogram/MRI - gee, really? Thanks! Basically, I am back to the beginning. Doc says I should wait it out until I can't take the pain in my left side anymore. Then we'll go for the PAO. I suppose it could be worse. The sick thing is that I was kind of looking forward to having another PAO. Not the surgery/recovery, but the finality of it. The knowing that this is it. All finished! Oh well, it's a waiting game for all of us, isn't it? This life thing....I guess it's what we do while we're waiting that counts. Me? I'm still going to insist on finishing culinary school and despite what anyone thinks, I will be a pastry chef. While I wait. I suggest you

Let's just say the other hip's gone sour and leave it at that. Seeing the OS on 6/5/07. I'll know more then. Looks like I might be doing this all over again. Argh!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading all along. I know what you're going through is hard, but hang in there! The surgery was totally worth it. I just had my official 6 month, post-op check up a few weeks ago and my surgeon said I could finally start my professional wrestling career! In other words, I am totally, rock solidly healed. The pesky soreness on the op side was a touch of bursitis, which has resolved itself with lots of stretching. Also, my "New Bad Hip" has stopped bothering me! We know that eventually, it will have to be PAO'd, but I hope to put that off for at least 5 years while I get on with my life. Stay strong everyone! I know it seems like recovery will never end, but eventually, it does!

Well, it's been 6 months since my RPAO. Here's the update: I can now walk MILES at a time. My right side is still sore and feels kind of bruised. I have partial numbness over the entire front and side of my right hip, but this is way better than immediately post-op when I had total numbness in a large percentage of the area. My left side is still giving me trouble, but only very sporadically. In the last few weeks, my right side has also given me a bit of trouble, but not very often and not for very long. I STILL can't sleep on my right side with making the bruised feeling more intense. BTW, I have 5 screws in the right hip and my surgeon gives me funny looks when I ask about screw removal. I feel fairly certain that I will have to do the left side as well, but hopefully its not for at least a few years. That's about it. There's really nothing else to say. I absolutely advocate the surgery. I have no regrets about it. you can e-mail me with