First orthopaedics appointment

[Glitterblue]

I have recently been diagnosed with advanced osteoarthritis in my hips and have been referred to orthopaedics. My first appointment is tomorrow and I'm really nervous because I don't know what to expect. It's in a hospital an hour and a half from home, I don't know how long to expect it to take, whether they'll want to do xrays (I recently had those plus blood tests) or anything. All the letter says is to take a list of what medication I'm on.

Can anyone share their experiences please? I'm such a wimp with anything medical and I'm so scared of hospitals!

[Akire]

Hey just wanted wish you luck. No
Idea what they will do but first appointments with any department is normally brief history and then order loads more tests.

I think most letters say bring all meds I’ve rarely had anyone ask think just a blank catch all as loads people have no
Idea what they take Or dosage or even what for! The worse thing I find for hospitals is shall I go to trouble Of a leg shave if you do they will not ask for exam if you don’t they will

[Glitterblue]

Oh god, I hadn't even thought of that, its so hard to bend just now! 😂 I still do it, just not as often as I used to and I was assuming I could keep my clothes on because the GP didn't need me to remove anything when he was checking my range of motion etc, and prodding at my hips! I think I'll make the effort to do it in the morning then I will definitely be allowed to keep my clothes on 😂

My letter did say to bring a list of all meds. I can get that on my phone from the website where I order my repeat prescriptions but I know all the main ones.

Thank you for the good luck wishes 🙂

[Akire]

Hope it went well today and something they can do to help.

[Glitterblue]

Thank you! It was less scary than I expected. Mostly just a chat and he showed me the xrays that I'd already had done and wanted to check my range of movement. I found out I have hip dysplasia and that has caused the arthritis. I was completely unaware that I had that - he said there are often signs in childhood.

He said I need a total hip replacement on the worst side sooner rather than later 😫 I might get a while longer out of the other side when the first side is done and can take some of the pressure off the other side. Thanks for asking!

[Akire]

Glad it went well. We have long running daily pain thread if you ever need support with it