The condition: Mary began having trouble walking in her early 50’s. The difficulty continued to progress, and in time her hips began hurting too. A series of tests and doctors determined that she had a neuromuscular disease that was also complicated by severely arthritic hips. She felt she was too young for hip replacement surgery, but after she became wheelchair bound and was unable to care for herself or her family, she decided to reconsider.
The treatment: Mary met with Total Joint Specialist, Dr. Robert Deveney, who explained that hip replacement would ease her hip pain but he could not guarantee full mobility because of the neuromuscular disease. “When there are other underlying medical conditions, surgeons are often reluctant to operate,” Dr. Deveney explains. “However, given the advanced surgical techniques and implants we now use, we have broadened our ability to help patients with a wider range of issues, and I was confident that the surgery would improve Mary’s quality of life and reduce her level of pain.”
Although she was scared of having surgery, Mary decided to proceed with Dr. Deveney to replace one hip, since she felt things couldn’t possibly get any worse. Twenty-four hours after her first hip replacement surgery, she felt no pain in her hip for the first time in years. “It was like a miracle,” she exclaimed. After three months of home care and physical therapy, Mary gained some mobility, and decided to proceed with having the other hip replaced. Three months following her second hip replacement, Mary began to use a walker and had independence for the first time in three years. She was pain free for the first time in years.
The result: In the year since her second completed hip replacement, Mary feels like she has been given her life back. She can now drive and move around her house without assistance. She uses only a cane outside the house (due to symptoms of her neuromuscular disorder) but she cannot believe how far she has come. “I can go to church after two years,” she explained, adding, “ten years ago I wouldn’t have imagined I’d be so happy to do such simple things.” Her advice to others: Don’t wait so long. “I made a mistake by waiting and lived with so much pain. It is an easy surgery and an easy recovery and it changed my life.”
