First orthopaedics appointment

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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!

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

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 🙂

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

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!

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