Wednesday, October 21, 2009

No chip off the old block!



This is my lovely, talented granddaughter playing basketball. She got a scholarship to play for St Catherine's this year where she's in the pre-pharmacy program. I find it truly amazing that she is descended from short, chunky me.


I was never athletic but didn't find out why until I was 50. After suffering for ages with hip pain, I was finally diagnosed with hip dysplasia--a congenital deformity. The doctor said I'd need a hip replacement but I should try to wait until I was 60 because the replacements only last ten years. I hobbled around in pain until I was 56 when the orthopedic surgeon said it couldn't wait any longer. The surgery worked great and I had no more pain in that hip. However, after all the years of favoring the "bad" hip, I had worn out the "good" hip. So, two years later, I had the other hip replacement done (twice, but that's another story).

It has now been 13 years since the first hip was done and 11 years for the other. I trying to get as much milage out them as I can. I'm still not athletic after all these years, of course, but I stay on the go.

Anybody know of others with longer-lasting hip replacements?

1 comment:

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

Gracious, your granddaughter is so lovely! And talented!

My mother was barely five feet tall. I am quite tall. She used to look up at me and say, "Where did you come from?" I guess it was a hidden gene or something. My sisters are very short as well.

My neighbor is 86 now, and she has had hip replacements a long, long time. She got them at 62, but one did have to be replaced, due to the surgeon having used a part that was later recalled! It had "popped" out on her twice, anyway, and she was most anxious to have that stopped. But she's on the go, too...does water-walking each day at the pool...she travels a lot...