When Jodi learned that she needed hip replacement at the age of 52, she chose to create a vibrant web of support to help her through it.
Jodi's Story
"At first I felt a pain in my leg and I had no idea what it was."
It felt like a migraine that kept getting worse. The pain got so bad that I couldn't even walk up and down the steps. It completely changed my life. I became a shut in, and I am usually very active. I went to doctors and healers and psychics and anyone I could to fix it. Finally, I went to a really great orthopedic surgeon. He looked at the x-ray and said, "You're going to need a couple of hip replacements, and soon."
"The doctor's mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear a thing. It was surreal."
He told me I have hip dysplasia, which happens at birth. With what I know now, I'm really grateful my hips lasted 52 years with the all the activity that I did. For me, the issue was depleted cartilage. Cartilage acts as a shock absorber, so when it's depleted you're dealing with bone-on-bone contact. No one can understand that kind of pain unless they've gone through it.
I resisted the prospect of surgery for a while. I thought that I was too young to have this problem. I started researching everything having to do with hip replacements and hips. You name it, I researched it. It was important to me to find out what was happening to me without feeling too much like a victim. I finally got to a point where I had to choose whether I wanted to live with this pain or live a life that is pain-free.
"I sent out an e-mail to everyone I know telling them I was having hip replacement surgery."
It ended up being a really smart thing to do, because some of my friends told me of people they knew that had also had the surgery. I called a few of these people, both men and women, and they ended up giving me the most amazing support and advice. They told me what to expect, what to ask of the doctors and nurses, and what to have ready at home for my recovery.
"The surgery taught me to be patient with myself."
I thought I'd be up and running around within a week, with no pain. That wasn't the case. Everybody is different, we all have our own pace. You just have to give yourself time and not set yourself up for false expectations. Be patient with yourself, that's really important.
When you've gone through hip surgery, it's really important to get back in touch with your body because it's foreign now. Everything is different, and it's easy to do too much or too little. I decided to take a new baby step every day. I started exercising in the swimming pool because it's the easiest on your joints and strengthens all the muscles in your body. It was hard to go out to the public pool with my incision showing, but now I look at it as a souvenir. I drove for the first time two weeks ago. And last week, I had my first date since the surgery, and it was with someone who'd had a hip replacement. It was so cool. I loved the way he treated me, he opened the door for me and protected me. It was great. These baby steps have been so important in re-building my self-esteem post-surgery.
"Because of this experience, I've gotten really good at asking for help."
I've always been very independent and I can usually do things by myself, but I've learned that people love to help you if you need it. The problem is, they usually don't know exactly how. You have to tell them.
Even though it's still a challenge and I've gone through a range of emotions, I'm really proud of myself for having gone through this. I feel like if I can do it, anyone can, as long as you reach out for support, learn everything you can and most importantly, are patient with yourself.
