One year post op!

My doctor is out of town next week, so I scheduled my 1 year post op appointment a week early. I had lots of questions, and made sure to write them all down so I wouldn't forget them. When he came into the room, I set aside my book with my post-it note list of questions stuck to it, and we started talking... he noticed my list, and picked up my book and handed it to me so I'd be sure to get all my questions asked. =]

One concern was a hard lump of some sort under my anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS). I didn't think it was there before, but it seems that it just became easier to feel once the scar tissue settled down. I worried it might be a screw working its way loose, but it's the corner of the rotated bone fragment.

I still have numbness on my outer thigh, down to the side of my knee. While it is much better than it was, I'm hoping to still regain more feeling. He said that nerves regenerate at a rate of 1mm / day, so it's likely I'll still have more feeling return.

My notes included: Hip flexor - sucks. That's basically how I feel about it. I know mine was detached/reattached during surgery. Dr. C reminded me how much better it is since my 6 month appointment, and said I should continue to see gradual improvements.

Scar - still occasionally itches like mad. Not a major concern, but since I was there, I figured I'd ask about it. He said a scar isn't considered 'done' until 2 years post op. It still has some changing and settling to do yet.

I asked if I should have any issues with pregnancy. I'd shown a printout of my xray to my OBGYN doc, who was a bit baffled by the whole thing, and asked why they did that to me. He said he'll want to talk to my surgeon about it, if the issue of pregnancy does arise... so anyway, Dr. C said that my op side shouldn't give me any trouble, he's more concerned that my currently asymptomatic right side will begin to act up. He said it could begin to act up during the weight
gain of pregnancy, during delivery, or even during whatever weight loss regimen after pregnancy. He definitely does not believe in surgery on an asymptomatic hip, although he agrees that xray-wise, it is bad. I believe (based on previous appointments) that it's about an 18 or 19 degree center edge angle measure.

I asked if the right hip will follow the same progression as the left - basically if it will give me signs of going bad long enough in advance so something can be done about it. He said not necessarily - arthritis can actually set in with no symptoms. But if arthritis sets in, and nothing hurts, then what does it matter? He has a good point there.