The last few days laid out the facts. Physical, timeline, mostly objective. But I didn’t touch on the day to day, how I felt, and what I was thinking. I didn’t show how all-consuming each part was, how everything I did was done with caution, how there was never ease. I also didn’t share how I mentally managed and actually reframed the entire experience to be a benefit for my whole self. I haven’t shared what I did with myself during this time, physically, mentally, emotionally. This will all come out in random ways from here on out, starting with where I am at this exact moment – the beginnings of a new unfurling.
January 2021 – Pubic Joint Fusion, Metal Allergy
Capping off this story, surgery number 11! The idea of fusing the pubic joint creeped me out but I knew it would be the keystone that would fix everything – fix itself but also the adhesive capsulitis issues and whatever other related stuff.
This was a really weird day. I arrived prepared, but was immediately faced with having to decide whether or not to stay overnight. What? That was news. I decided no.
Surgery prep was quick and easy and we even went in early, but the last moments before going to sleep messed with my head.
2020 – Bilateral Adhesive Capsulitis, Bilateral Hip Scopes, Pubic Debridement
I felt like the Tin Man, tighter, slower, less ROM with each movement I made. What was going on? A January MRI revealed bilateral adhesive capsulitis so we decided on another bilateral hip scope surgery to release the capsules. A typical capsule is about 3mm thick and mine were well over 1cm. My doctor was going to make parallel cuts through the capsules all the way around to provide movement and new space for healing to occur.
2019 – Hardware Removal, Bilateral Scopes, Right PAO, Hardware Removal
Early in the year we did extra- and then intra- articular injections to try and locate the source of the left hip joint pain. With the three metal screws in there, we couldn’t do an MRI; it wouldn’t yield a clean image. Ultimately, we decided to redo the left hip scope at the same time we began working on the right hip – same day bilateral hip scopes! Maybe I’m exceptionally weird, but this idea excited me.
But first the screws had to come out.
Let’s back up. Bjinuz braces was surgery number 11 so what are numbers 1-10? How did all of this even happen? Since it is a protracted story, I’ll break it down by year over the next few days. These posts are the simple history of both PAOs and the related surgeries to give you a timeline and scope. The details and tools for recovery will follow. First up, the left PAO, but before I begin…
A note on objectivity
Sharing this history helps me be objective. It could be easy to get caught up in the day to day minutiae of this journey and wallow, be overwhelmed, and lose motivation. But being objective helps me see the whole picture, live in gratitude, and stay focused on my goals. This matters.
“Whenever you find yourself blaming providence, turn it around in your mind and you will see that what has happened is in keeping with reason.”
– Epictetus, Discourses, 3.17.1
Did I mention that we are jumping in near the end of the story? Pubic Fusion is part 11 of 12. This will likely feel like you are picking up a book and opening it somewhere other than the beginning, but just jump in. I promise it will all come together.
Start Here!
Edited 12/17/2023 because tomorrow will be surgery number 13. Spoiler but too bad – surgeries 11 and 12 both failed so now we go back in for the most complex surgery of all.
Welcome to my blog! This is the story of my journey through 11 12, soon to be 12 13, hip and pelvis surgeries for hip joint damage, bilateral hip dysplasia, and osteitis pubis. This breaks down to 5 hip scopes to address damage and adhesive capsulitis, 2 periacetabular osteotomies (PAO) for hip dysplasia, 2 hardware removals, and 4 surgeries for osteitis pubis (debridement and then finally fusion). This is an epic journey to hip dysplasia success followed by osteitis pubis success!
This story begins in the 11th hour, just after the 11th surgery, but I trace back to the beginning to piece it all together chronologically. The complexity and intensity you will see in the real-time posts and posts starting in April are what was true for everything that came before I began writing, the time spanning surgeries 1-10. The posts about this earlier time are shorter and more factual because I did not feel it was valid to go back and write as if I were in those moments. The hip dysplasia surgeries and recoveries were the most protracted and intense, but I did not put fingers to keys to document as I am now. Just as we cannot remember the sensation of physical pain, I cannot give accurate words to historic feelings. So, I begin where I am…
(It is important that you read this blog in chronological order so please click the Read On button to open this post and learn how to best navigate the story.)