Patient Stories

Brooke


Hello my name is Brooke. Im from Potter county PA. To start my story I was never diagnosed with DDH as a child nor did I have any signs or symptoms as a child. I will be 31 March 2017. I was diagnosed two years ago with DDH. I went through much pain over a 10 year period.

When the pain began I was at work just walking normally and I stepped down and my right hip made a load pop sound and then it hurt awful bad. I eventually maybe a couple years later went to my family doctor as the pain was intermittent, like when I changed from flip flops to sneakers. My doctor did NOT to any sort of x-ray. He referred me to PT. They diagnosed my pain as a pinched nerve, still no xray. About 5-6 appointments went and as I had to pay out of pocket I could not afford to go any longer and my hip hurt worse then when I started. approx. 8-9 years later, after a pregnancy and being very large, it had put a lot of strain on my hips. My daughter was delivered via C section because my hips did not open up like then should have. Still at this time I was NOT diagnosed with DDH.
After the birth of my child my right hip hurt with NO relief. It was then I went to see a new family doctor about my pain and my story. Finally I found a doctor who listened. She immediately sent me for an x-ray to make sure there wasn’t damage done in the hip. Well a few days later I receive an urgent message that I needed to see an orthopedic surgeon IMMEDIATLY!!! It was only then that I saw my x-rays, and I about fell off the table. I seen a chipped off piece of bone in my hip and it looked as though my joint was ready to dislocate. It was then I was diagnosed with DDH. I cried my mother cried. Thankfully I have an absolutely AMAZING doctor who basically held my had through this whole process. He even went as far as showing my xrays to his professors from school over in the UK and speaking with a his doctor friend at Duke University. They all said wait as long as possible before a total replacement. It was def too far gone and the hip needed to be replaced. So April 11 2016 I had my total right hip replacement.
Also I went to see a doctor at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital to see if he could preform the Hip Preservation Surgery for my left side. He advised me to get my replacement first so that I would have a strong hip to recover on. Im ready now to go back down to Philly and discuss surgery.
So in all this has been a very scary ride for me and my family. I have had my daughter x rayed and she is clear of any dysplasia as now. Thank you for reading about my story. If you have any questions about the journey please feel free to comment!

-Brooke