A BRAND NEW HIP
You would think that 31 years of yoga would safeguard a person against having a full hip replacement at the age of 49. I would have hoped so but for me it was not meant to be. I share many of the features of my mother, and arthritic hips, as well as a tendency towards hyper-mobility, seem to be one of the less glamorous genetic codes of hers I’ve inherited. I can find myself falling into the trap of actually blaming the 30 years of yoga, making me ask myself, have I pushed my joints to the extreme? Am I to blame for the pain I find myself in? Well, maybe but what would have become of me had I chosen a life of the sloth, or couch potato. Or equally, that of a marathon runner, or taken up golf or tennis? Yoga has been my sport, my health, my refuge and my life. And my left hip has needed to be replaced. I guess it just is as it is.
3 years I’ve fought with the notion of replacement. Stubborn denial, focused rehab, dedicated practice and present precise movement have kept me going as my hip slowly deteriorated right under my nose. It’s a blessing and a challenge to be so body aware. For years I’ve felt the embodiment of my bones, my muscles, and myofascial muscle trains. I’ve explored the internal world in depth, studied with some somatic experts, explored ideas and concepts at length to learn more about how and why we move in the way we do. It can be honestly quite exhausting to be so present to the very day, very real pain of a single joint. To know that symmetry and structure is what is required even when you what you would really like to do is slouch and slope out.
So when my consultant told me I would be very lucky not to need a replacement within one year I scoffed. No, I said, I’ll be fine. I’m working on it, I’ll yoga my way out of this one I decided. And work on it I did. With the help of a friend and local PT expert (Sarah Gorman – Blendfit ) I strengthened my glutes, worked on my core and lengthened my quads. With the help of my husband (Ben Parker -Osteopath ) I was straightened, stretched and massaged on a weekly basis. I have this I thought as I dipped into chair and lunged into Warrior I. Then I didn’t. The pain was too much, I started to struggle not to walk with a limp. I stopped walking. Stairs became a problem. I need to push down on the table to stand up. I felt older than my years as Warrior II became simply impossible. The time had come to face facts and a telephone call secured my next appointment, brought forward by 3 months.
He was not surprised, of course. I had lasted 6 months of his prediction, and I signed the consent form to go onto the waiting list for a full replacement. I was too young for this everyone kept telling me, along with all the many stories of older mothers doing oh so well. I braced myself for d-day and carried on doing daily squats, bridge and dancer pose. The degeneration seemed to speed up. Was it because I knew surgery was on the horizon or was it because it was a slippery slope to worn cartilage and loss of bone density? I waited, ever present to the long waiting lists and the echo of my GP telling me that due to a backlog caused by the covid crisis the wait could be as long as 3 years!
