Causja – Week 1 Report

About Me:

Hello to all fellow “hipsters” ! It seems that I have happened upon this page at just the right time.  I’ve been reading some great reports on here from other members. Its really quite inspiring. So here is my story :

My name is Causja ( Russian for Catherine ), I’m 28 years old and the proud owner of a fake and great left hip! I was born with congenital hip dysplasia, the doctors didn’t find it though until I was nine years old. I couldn’t sit down for long periods of time, I limped, couldn’t sit Indian Style, and generally my range of motion was just really poor on my left side. After enough complaining and whining and several X-rays later they found the problem. I was scheduled for surgery within the next few months. I went to a children’s hospital and had a double osteotomy; several plates and screws were placed. I came out with two wicked scars from the surgery only to find out that it had failed.

Fast forward twelve years later and I’m still living with the same pain, the same limited motion, and well, limited on most things since all activity became strained. I went to several surgeons and they wanted nothing to do with me and my messed up hip. They would say it was a bit too complicated as my femur had also now been affected and was bent. Also because I was so young, it just wasn’t worth it to them to take me on. However, I finally found an AMAZING dr at KU Med in Kansas City. He was very cutting edge and said if I wanted the hip replaced for the right reasons then he was game to try. In August of 2007 I went in for my total hip replacement. The surgery was definitely complicated and my Dr had to make some changes and its a good thing they had a variety of ” parts” available to them!  I was up and walking a few days later, but of coarse with very limiting restrictions. At my five year check up I was hoping to hear that I could start riding horses again or jogging or anything but I was just met with – stick to the eliptical- As much as I love my dr, I know I need more than just biking or the elipitcal. I now live in Northern Idaho and am riding horses again and loving it! I’m just starting to do some jogging as well. I feel great and my hip still feels just like new. I know that I cant or shouldn’t be signing up for any marathons because I will definitely be needing a new hip when I’m in my 50’s maybe I can stretch it to my 60’s… and my femur is what is concerning as they had to use more bone than they had anticipated needing which could in turn make my future hip replacement really challenging. But hey, maybe by then there will be something new I could try out:) Anyway, I’m just fairly excited to be out and about again with a faster pace! I look forward to getting to know people in this group! Have a great rest of the week.

Causja