Origin and Questions

H minus 97

Pam and I finish the Bolder Boulder 10K!

"And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?"
 - Talking Heads

The hip has been bothering me for a few years now. Dull ache to sometimes a bit of sharp pain. An x-ray last January revealed significant loss of cartilage. I got a cortisone injection and all was good til May.

In May Pam and I ran the Bolder Boulder 10K together. Well, jog-walked, I set a timer on my watch and we did 1 minute jog, 2 minutes walking for the entire race. We finished it in 1:52, not bad for a couple of 60-somethings. I mean I take exercise classes from a coach who's a month younger than me and runs ultramarathons, so that'd be a terrible time for him, but for us it's a serious accomplishment.

The next day, my hip hurt.

Then It hurt worse. I mean get-in-the-way-of-walking kind of hurt.

I went to the doctor, and they tried PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) to plump up the remaining cartilage. That's the kind of treatment where it feels worse for a couple of days before getting better. It did the first part.

4 weeks later, having had no relief from the PRP injection, I went to another Dr. who did another cortisone injection. Here's what's curious: the injection in January gave me 5 months of relief. This one helped a little bit for about 5 days.

I finally went back to the medical group who replaced my shoulder in 2019. I hadn't been going to them because the orthopedists in my regular medical group seem pretty good, and they're 30 minutes closer to the house. But in the beginning of September I drove into Denver and went back to the Western Orthopaedics and saw Dr. Baran. He ordered a new x-ray. HEY, WHADDAYA KNOW? There was some change in the hip joint over 8 1/2 months. There is NO CARTILAGE LEFT! None. Not a fraction of a millimeter. It went from 80% loss to 100% loss. Now that's a little quick. Not sure why my body doesn't like its own cartilage. but it doesn't! And on top of that I've got osteophytes growing around the edge of the femoral head, making it look a bit like the skull cap of a pachycephalosaurus. Hey, I already feel like a dinosaur. I didn't need the reminder.

So what do I do? You know me by now, I tell stories.

And I've scheduled surgery for the January 26.

But I have some questions:

• As grumpy as this thing is making me, do I take the available surgery time in November instead? It would be two days before Thanksgiving.

• Will I be more of a pain to live with if I'm recovering from surgery through the holidays or if I'm putting off surgery through the holidays? Which will make me grumpier and more high maintenance? Anyone with a new hip have some opinions?

• Will I be able to travel right after new years if I get my hip replaced right before Thanksgiving? Pam has a major birthday milestone in the first week of January. We have time share points, and if we can get it, we want to go to Maui for that birthday. However, it's a bit difficult getting the reservation - we're on a waiting list. If we can secure the vacation dates, will I be OK flying from Denver to Maui just 5 1/2 weeks later?

• If I keep the January date, is it worth moving it to the 2nd Tuesday of February? The Sundance Film Festival is in Boulder Jan 21 through Jan 31. I really don't want to miss that!

Let me know what you think.

Not my hip