David Butschy
I had one hip decompression in March, 1999 (left) and one on September, 1999 (right.) While neither hip will ever be quite the same as before, I feel much better than I did before the surgery. I am a Multiple Sclerosis patient, and steriod IVs (Solumedrol) had killed out the top part of my hips. I was in excrutiating pain. As the first hip was healing, and during following visits to the surgeon, I asked whether the same thing could happen to my right hip. My doctor said it was possible. Six months later the right hip also went bad. Luckily I was under the Orthopedic surgeon's care already and the diagnostic process went much more quickly than the first time. I hadn't even been on steroids in several years. Drilling a 9mm hole in your hip is a one time process. The bone is growing in quite well in the latest x-rays. If anything happens again, it would definitely be a hip replacement. I'm glad this procedure worked on me. Hopefully, my name and e-mail will go to you along with this message. If not, please keep me posted at tripodd@earthlink.net (I walk with a cane and have a strange sense of humor- it keeps me going...)