I relished the opportunity to bounce my not insubstantial baby boy on my knee and take him for long walks in the park, savouring those precious first months.
Not long afterwards I developed a new, gnawing pain in my left hip — a constant ache from my left groin down to my knee. I assumed it emanated from the back problem I’d suffered from for the past ten years. When I became pregnant with Luc, the pain was somewhat quelled by my overwhelming joy and thus merged into the general discomfort of the pregnant state.
Back on her feet: Susan and Luc at home. Just five months after giving birth, Susan was told she had osteoarthritis and needed a hip replacement
You can imagine my dismay, then, when just five months after giving birth, I was told that the hip pain was due to severe osteoarthritis and I needed a hip replacement.
Hip replacements are not sexy. How many celebrities can you call to mind that have admitted to having had one?
As the former editor at large of Hello! Magazine, the only calendar girl that springs to my mind is the late Queen Mother, who only reinforces the image of this being a condition of the elderly.
If Angelina Jolie had had one — I can just see her now leaning elegantly on an ebony stick hand-carved by tribal women from Namibia — I might have been more forthcoming about my affliction.
Instead I shuffled around in agony, mumbling something vague about having to go into hospital to have something done to my hip. The specialist I saw said there was little cartilage remaining in my left hip joint and I would need a hip replacement with no delay.
Apparently, I had been born with a dysplastic hip — an abnormally shallow hip socket — which puts you at risk of early osteoarthritis. The condition is more common in women than in men and is often the cause in young women for premature arthritis.
Shocked and pretty demoralised by the news, I sought a second opinion and went to see surgeon Sarah Muirhead-Allwood at The London Hip Unit, who had in fact performed a hip replacement for my poster girl the Queen Mother.
Four months after my initial consultation, she confirmed my condition had deteriorated to the extent that there was now no cartilage left in my left hip.
The bare bones of my hip joint were rubbing against each other — and the hip joint was literally crumbling away. I was beyond alternative treatments, supplements or physiotherapy and she recommended surgery. I’ve since learned it’s not unusual for women with a dysplastic hip to encounter problems following pregnancy, usually a year afterwards.
'I existed on a diet of Nurofen and felt very sorry for myself'
‘There is a lot of hormonal change at this time and ligaments may loosen, which may cause increased problems to the hips,’ Miss Muirhead-Allwood confirms.
Even pregnant women without this condition are warned to be careful when exercising, since hormonal change softens the joints and may increase the risk of injury at this time.
I wondered whether being an older mum — and the hormonal changes this stage of life brings in its wake — had somehow compounded the problem.
‘I really know of no evidence that having children later in life has a big impact on hip arthritis,’ she told me.
‘My own feeling is that caring for a small child and all the lifting and carrying this entails probably puts more stress on the hip than the pregnancy or the hormonal changes.’
It didn’t help that my husband Nick, a foreign news journalist, disappeared for long periods to various conflict zones soon after Luc’s birth, leaving me to look after a newborn, a six-year-old and my 82-year-old mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s — as well as earning a living.
My condition began to significantly impact on my quality of life. And all my plans of getting back in shape walking my eldest son Jack to and from school were ditched. I couldn’t stand the pain.
I existed on a diet of Nurofen and felt very sorry for myself, especially as there appears to be no history of early-onset arthritis in my family. My mother and her sister, both in their 80s, have lower than average evidence of arthritis for their age.
Post pregnancy, mums are not expected to be at their most glamorous, but my Hello! days, teetering around in my high heels on Mr Armani’s yacht and the like, seemed a very distant memory as I trudged around with a rolling gait, wearing trainers with absolutely everything.
The constant pain compounded with the demands of looking after a new baby made me feel as if I was hurtling headlong into post-natal depression.
The deciding moment came when Jack told me I was boring because I didn’t run and never played football. I finally resigned myself to the fact that surgery was the only option.
I was stunned to discover that quite contrary to the belief that hip replacement is exclusively the domain of the elderly, around ten per cent of all operations are performed on patients under 50.
Forward thinking: Susan had a partial hip replacement, which is less invasive than a total replacement (x-ray shown)
In our gym-obsessed society, keep-fit fanatics have increasingly developed osteoarthritis due to excessive impact exercise. But the new techniques available are enabling these patients faster recovery and greater mobility so they can continue their active lives.
I had hoped I might be a candidate for so-called Birmingham hip resurfacing, which is recommended for younger patients who are likely to outlive their replacement joints and require revision surgery.
Unlike the old-style full hip replacement, which involves a large part of the femur, or thigh bone, being removed, as well as the ball and socket of the hip joint, this operation simply involves putting a new, smooth covering on the damaged areas — and is expected to last at least 20 years.
If and when the replacement does wear out, revision surgery is much easier because the femur hasn’t been involved.
Sadly, my fragile hip, worn down by the constant rubbing of bone on bone, was so badly damaged that I was not a candidate for hip resurfacing.
Instead I was given a Birmingham Mid-Head Resection — which is often described as partial hip replacement.
Although slightly less dramatic than the full surgery, it is a major operation and involves the replacing of the ball and socket joint with a 2lb titanium prosthesis. This implant fixes into the base of the femur and has a short stem rather than the longer stem that goes down into the femoral shaft in a total hip replacement.
It is suitable for younger patients because when it does wear out (usually after about 20 years), a hip replacement can be done at this time.
I was on crutches for a month. It was a challenging time, especially with a seven-month-old baby. I needed 24-hour support for the first six weeks because I couldn’t pick up my baby when he cried. My husband had to take four weeks off work — he couldn’t wait to get back to the war zone, I can tell you.
I almost certainly will have to have revision surgery when I am in my 60s — and there is a chance that I may have to have my other hip done at some point since there is significant evidence of osteoarthritis in my right hip joint, too.
Now, more than a year-and-a-half on from the operation, the 12in scar down the side of my left hip has faded significantly and I have regained most of my mobility — although I doubt I will ever be able to manage a full lotus position again.
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