Running Hiatus
Dear Tumblr friends, It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted on the running blog. Mostly because I've stopped running completely. In early August I was informed that I would need hip arthroscopy surgery to fix my now diagnosed hip labral tear. Although I had some races schedule for September and October, I was determined to finish out the season strong before going on an indefinite hiatus. For over a year I have been battling soft tissue injuries and although surgery isn't something to look forward to, I relish the opportunity to run at 100% of my abilities. However, one month before my surgery, my surgeon looked at my X-rays more carefully and discovered that I might have something more serious going on in my hip joint. I am now diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia, meaning that my hip socket does not cover my hip joint completely and causes over-stress and instability in the area. My new surgeon (apparently the old one doesn't do the one I need) is a Harvard Medical School professor and the founder of the young adult hip unit at the Children's Hospital in Boston. If this doctor says I need a surgery to prevent an early adulthood hip replacement, I'm going to believe him. Obviously, this surgery isn't a joke. While I don't have a set surgery date (this is very inconvenient because my mom was already traveling to Boston on the 13th to help me with the first surgery) the doctor is trying to make room before the end of the month. The procedure is called a PAO or periacetabular ostectomy. It involves cutting a piece of my pelvic bone and reattaching it ( with screws) over my hip socket to create a better home for my joint. The surgery is very invasive and requires 4 or 5 days in he hospital and 3 months on crutches. This definitely puts a damper on a lot of things I had planned for the next 6 months and honestly it's very frightening. I must say that this is not due to running! Developmental hip dysplasia is a result of childhood development issues and could have been fixed with about 6 months of leg braces at age two. (Maybe we should all X-ray our kids while they are young and check for this!) Why get the surgery now? Well the longer I go without the more time my hip has to develop arthritis and the higher the chance of me needing a hip replacement in the future. I will be updating you all on my surgery when I have more information and maybe I can answer some questions regarding hip pain and the like for people who worry something might be wrong. I warn you, this blog might not revolve around running for awhile but I promise I'll try to make my recovery as entertaining as possible :p. Hope you are all well, Michelle