Reaching out to spread the word.

Jessie found me on my Surface Hippy Myspace page

Here was the first message I received from Jessie on myspace on Apr 26, 2008 10:59 AM:

I am so glad to have come across your page. I am a 33 yr old female who had Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis and the damage in my hips left me without any cartilage in my right hip and very little in the left. I have been to many doctors hoping for a better alternative and solution than replacing the hip and I get the same answer over and over. I will need a THR. I put it off for years now and I am always looking on the internet for some answers but when I woke up today barely able to walk I got back on the net and searched myspace and found your page. I am going to take a look into this and hope that it is something that is possible for me. I am only 33 and I would like to have somewhat of a normal life and able to do normal everyday things without pain. I could never cross my legs that is something i just learned to accept as thing i can not do. Thank you. BTW 50 yrs old I would never believe it. You look my age for real.

Jessie

Hey Vicky I sent the following email to your personal email address I haven’t heard from you. No rush i understand that you may be busy I just wanted to make sure I had the correct email so i wanted to send it to you here on myspace. Thanks.

Hi Vicky,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I am happy to hear that i have hope at least for an alternative to THR. I would like to speak to you over the phone so I can explain about the RA. and I have so many questions to ask. I basically do nothing at work all day, so if you are available I rather you call me when you are able to talk so I am not bothering you. My work number is xxx-xxx-xxxx actually you can call toll free 1-866-XXX-XXXX I am here 8am - 4pm EST (5am - 1pm your time). After that you can call my cell phone.”

After that initial contact, Jessie and I spoke on the phone several times, I got her in touch with a local doctor which happened to be Dr. Su since Jesse lives in NYC. I just so happened to be headed to NYC in May to interview three doctors, so I arranged to meet Jessie in person. Paul Hamilton, my videographer and video editor joined me and he filmed Jessie while we were in NYC pre-op. The video clip shows her limping and the lack of ROM she had at the time. We hope to get some video tape of her in the future post op.

Jessie had her surgery with Dr. Su on August 19, 2007 and she is doing extremely well.

She went to about 8 doctors over the course of 10 years and they mostly told her that she would need a THR and to hold out as long as she could because of her age. She did not know about hip resurfacing until she found the myspace page I have that is dedicated to hip resurfacing.

Update on Thursday, October 2 from Jessie:

Hey Vick,

Well 6 weeks post op I am basically pain free... I was off the crutches basically after week 1. Still having trouble getting my socks and shoes on but it is better. But..... I am now walking, walking in heels, life is back to normal without any pain. I had to stop Physical therapy for about 2 weeks because I had no car but I just went back today. He says my strength is very good... We are working on ROM and walking without my limp . I really thought I wasn't but I guess I still am cause he asked me if I was in pain right now cause i was limping. But other than that I couldn't feel better.

Jessie