Question
Sharon,
I am a 23 year old female, who broke her right hip 11 years ago, and I have had 11 surgeries trying to fix my hip.  I first had my hip pinned, which resulted in AVN. After several resurfacing and bone graphs, they decided to fuse my hip. It took 3 differnt surgeries and 6 months in a body cast to get a solid arthrodesis. Its been 7 years since the 1st fusion.  I started developing horrible low back pain.  I had 2 ruptured discs, and surgery this year:a charite L4-L5 disc replacement, and a L5-S1 fusion.  I also have pain in my Sacroiliac joints as well as Facets disease.  Due to the increased back pain I found a doctor willing to do a THR. Since the surgery this August My pain level has skyrocketed. I still walk with a cane, I cant drive, and I cannot lift my right leg.  I am very concerned as to why I have pain still. If you have any suggestions or ideas as to why I cant lift my leg, or why the pain is increased.  I am a young woman who wants to get on with her life, any help would be wonderful.  I know you understand as you have had similar unfortunate circumstances.  They have denied me from recieving disability and I dont know where to turn.
                               God Bless\ Karri

Answer
Karri

First of all, being on a cane for several months after a THR is not unusual depending on how tough the surgery was, so don't be too concerned about the cane.

You have had a lot of surgery, and you have a lot of different things going on. I am not familiar with Facets disease but from what I do know see if your doctor can knows about this..... Laser Facet Thermal Ablation. It's a way to deaden the pain you are having and works the same way a root canal would work.

Find out if your legs are the same length.  Sometimes pain the sacroliliac can be due to you having one leg longer than the other and normally a small lift in the shoe can help with that.  

I would also strongly suggest that you go to a teaching hospital and see a doctor who has a vast amount of experience with your illnesses.  There are two good hospitals I know of.  One is the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York City, and you need to see Dr. Doug Padgett.

The second one is in Arlington VA, it's called the Anderson Clinic and it's run by Dr. Charles Engh.  Either one of these places is the best in bone diseases.

As far as disability, I can't address that since I am not sure how that works.

I wish you all the best, and hang in there, you just need to find the right doctor.

Sharon