My symptoms, and my "so called" options

As you can tell, I'm having a very "reflective" kind of day ...

As friends have found out I'm having hip surgery, I've been floored at the number of people who have reached out and said "oh my gosh - I've been having hip pain too!!". Perhaps something along the lines of hip dysplasia or something of the like is more common than I realized.

I thought I might explain my own symptoms, and what I've been "told" were my options.

Symptoms:

• Started off as hip pain (located in the front, center of your leg in the hip joint area). After sitting for a long period of time (such as at my desk in front of the computer at work), I would stand up and limp for a little while, then the pain would "walk itself off".
• In recent weeks, the hip pain has become constant with any walking, going up stairs, carrying things (such as my youngest child) ... and then radiates to this strange pain down my femur and around my knee

Once I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, I was told I had a couple of options.

Options:

1. Do nothing - expect a total hip replacement in my 40's
2. Total Hip Replacement (THR) - option not on the table ... I'm too young. Hip replacements (from what I've been told) only last less than 10 years so I would end up having several in my lifetime.
3. With the PAO, prolong (if not eliminate) my need for a THR for 15-20 years if I'm lucky.

Of course, there are several risk factors I learned of the week just prior to the surgery.

Risks:

• If the hip bone doesn't heal (with this procedure they break your hip bone in about 3 places, re-shape the socket to provide total coverage of the femoral head, then screw it back together with a few large, gargantuan sized screws), then a THR will probably be needed.
• If there is degredation of the cartilage in the socket (which it looks like there is "some") and it continues to degenerate for x period of time, then a THR will probably be needed.
• The location of the procedure is dangerously close to the sciatic nerve. Surgeons have to be extremely careful that the nerve isn't damaged.
  

On the bright side, it looks like my left hip is in good shape! There are many folks out there who have issues on both sides, and eventually end up PAO'ing the other one. I'm also thankful that when I went in last week for all my pre-op sticks, pricks, scans, and such ... one of the nurses checking my vitals said "your blood pressure is beautiful". I didn't know that BP could be considered "beautiful" ... I think of "beautiful" as being used when talking about a lovely beach, sunset, or rainbow ... Nonetheless, I take this comment as a good thing.

Ok, enough blogging ... gotta get back to laundry.