to replace or not to replace?

CindyWithSpaniels

Hi all

i've just joined the community after being told i need a hip replacement by my consultant, im 57 and this is all a bit of a shock. I have a great physio who agrees i will need both hips replaced at some point however I only have pain and restriction in one. Im struggling to decide what constitutes enough pain/restriction to have the op, i appreciate this will be different for everyone and is completely personal to the individual. It doesn't stop me doing everything i want to do as long as i work round not being able to put a sock on, carrying one leg into the passenger seat of the car and floundering around trying to get up when i've been looking at the bottom row of items in Boots!

The cog in the works for me is that I have full medical cover, however next year my premiums will probably go so high now my issues have come to light that I wont be able to afford to keep the insurance! going private without insurance is probably prohibitively expensive, but NHS waiting lists are, i imagine, long to say the least and i don't know how my symptoms will progress (or not).

i suppose my concern is having the op just because financially i can at the moment v waiting and losing this option. If i had to pay privately I would stay out of an operating theatre until I could barely crawl as the thought terrifies me!! not least being under the knife, but the long recovery (I work, drive a lot, look after my grandkids, and my hubby works full time so wont be around to help me recuperate much) and, of course, the thought of any post op issues.

Is my judgement being swayed for the wrong reasons? I would be really interested in anyone else who found themselves in a similar situation and what they decided to do

Thanks all

Tom

Welcome to the forum, @CindyWithSpaniels hspaniels .

I understand that you are facing a dilemma – to replace a hip or not. Your consultant is really the best person to help you decide. You struggle to decide how much pain you are willing to accept and there are further financial concerns.

Here is a link to information on our website about hip replacement:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/hip-replacement-surgery/

here are some tips on manging your pain:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-your-pain/

Finally on the main Community page, you will find bottom right some popular tags to threads on hip replacement.

Good luck and do let us know how you get on.

Tom, Moderator.

CindyWithSpaniels

Thanks Tom, I will read up via the link

RogerBill

Hi @CindyWithSpaniels Have you seen the thread started by @SimonL "to operate or not"? I know from my own experience that deciding whether to have a hip operation is a difficult decision.

FYI: I had my left hip replaced in 2021 at a cost of £16,000 but I believe c£12,000 is rather more typical. I guess mine was more expensive because the operation was robot assisted and Cambridge is an expensive part of the country.

Ellen

Good Morning @CindyWithSpaniels

this is the thread @RogerBill is referring to:

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/59453/to-operate-or-not

Best wishes

Ellen.