A scary letter

[Guest guest]

I got this e-mail just 3 days before my resurfacing. Talk about

freaking me out...I've pasted it below:

My hip stopped hurting the last six months before my resurfacing

surgery, and I almost bailed out. One week before the surgery I

expressed my reservations to the nurse, and she said, " You don't

have to do this. " But by then everything was arranged--even the

girls in my office had prepared and froze food so I'd have something

to eat during my recovery. Somehow I just couldn't tell everyone

that I had changed my mind. And so I went through with it. In

retrospect I can say that I wish I had listened to the inner voice

that said " Not yet! " because I could have made it a while longer on

my real hip. I had read that nothing works like the real thing, and

I chose to ignore that advice. Some of my activities had become

limited, but not all, and I was not really in excruciating pain yet.

Unfortunately, I didn't have rosy outcome most others experience.

As with any procedure, there is not a 100% success rate, and there

will always be people who experience problems. I was one of them,

but unfortunately, once you take the plunge, there is no turning

back. I don't know how bad off you are right now, and only you can

make that determination. For many people, there is no choice. For

those of us who have a choice, it can really be a difficult and

heart wrenching decision. Good luck with your decision.

You can read about my experience on the Hip Surface Replacement page

of www.BananaRepublican.info.

ph K. Waltenbaugh

Division of Corrective Action

jwaltenbau@...