My Medical Nightmare

So here is the watered down version of my medical nightmare. For those of you who don't, since 10th grade (2 years ago) I've had four major surgeries to correct the alignment in my legs. My older posts go into detail about those ones, but basically the first two broke my ankles and put me in a cast that went from my toes to my hip. 


I couldn't walk for months. It had to be done to both legs. Then in 11th grade, last year, my legs were supposed to be fixed from the previous surgeries, but they weren't. 

So I had two more surgeries, one on each leg. They broke my femurs, and put rods and screws in them. Once again, I couldn't walk for a very long time, but I thought it was worth it because I would FINALLY be done. 

Nope! Not done. Still have crazy amounts of leg pain, and no one could figure out why. They thought maybe the rods were causing problems in my hips because I'm so thin. So that is what I am having surgery on in 2 days, taking out the rods and screws in both legs. 

I got an MRI in early November, and here is a big shocker. It showed I had hip dysplasia. 

....Hip dysplasia? Aren't I only 17? Aren't I supposed to be healthy now? I'm not a dog...dogs get hip dysplasia. Dogs and older people. I am neither of those things...so I should not have this. 

Also, it's not even just regular hip dysplasia. It's some weird form of it, which only like 4 out of 1000 people have.  My surgeon does not perform the type of surgery that I need in order to correct this. 

It's called a periacetabular osteotomy. 

What that means in English, is that they break my pelvis in multiple spots and basically reshape my hip socket so my femur fits correctly into it. This surgery is the most major and risky/painful one yet, with at least a 3 month recovery on each side. 

Since this is so rare, there are not many pediatric surgeons who do this. There is one in New York City who my doctor recommended...but he's not in out insurance. Just to walk into his office for a consultation would be around 500 dollars. And to get surgery? Its going to be an INSANE amount of money that we just don't even come close to having. 

I have to get this done and it's going to push into next year. If I get my first surgery in April, then I wouldn't get my next one until about August. That means I can't even go to college next year. This whole thing is a mess. Financially, medically, nothing is easy. Not even remotely. 

I don't know how this is all going to fall into place and I'm scared. We don't have the money or time. And this isn't something I can put off without doing significant damage to my legs. 

For now I guess I'll just get surgery on valentines day and go from there...

Gee...I wonder if this contributed to my depression at all?!