“I made the decision to have the surgery because the pain was affecting my daily life, my work life, my sleep and my general wellbeing to the point it was making me feel very down. I found the stairs on my commute increasingly difficult, and I would dread this part of my day.”
About 3 years ago I noticed a slight ache in my hip and a pain in my knee. I went to see my GP who wasn’t sure where the pain was originating from. He sent me to have X-rays of both my hip and my knee. The results were that my knee showed very early signs of wear and tear/arthritis, but my hip X-ray was clear, meaning my GP still could not ascertain whether it was my hip or my knee that was causing the pain.
At this point I hoped the pain might go away eventually, but unfortunately this didn’t happen, and it continued to get worse. My symptoms included severe stiffness of my hip joint which made standing up very painful, sometimes to the point I would have to stand for a minute or so and brace myself before taking a step. I also suffered with an acute pain in my knee when sitting. This was particularly painful when I travelled on the train/tube, to the point where I would often have tears in my eyes. I was also noticing limitations to movement – I couldn’t bend forward towards my right foot and had to do some strange awkward poses in order to tie my laces.
The symptoms had started to prevent me from doing everyday activities. One of my favourite things to do is walking…I would regularly clock up around 20,000 steps a day. My husband and I love hiking in the Welsh mountains, but this became impossible, it was just too painful. My steps dropped to about 4,000 a day.
I had physiotherapy after about a year of noticing the pain, and I continued with this intermittently over the following 18 months. The physiotherapy helped but only in the moment, and some of the exercises became too painful to continue with. My physiotherapist tried dry needling to relieve the resultant muscle tightness.
Mr Asopa referred me for a steroid injection towards the end of last year which made a huge difference and significantly eased the pain. Although the effects only lasted about 5 weeks for me, the timing was perfect as I had it before going on holiday, so this made the flight bearable and my holiday was essentially pain free.
I’m lucky enough that the company I work for provide private medical insurance with Bupa. I contacted them and they sent over a list of surgeons within the area I requested. I researched all of these and was so impressed with the testimonials for Mr Asopa, and with his experience dealing with osteoarthritis, that I made the decision to make my initial consultation appointment with him.
At my initial consultation, Mr Asopa was very easy to speak to, put me completely at ease and it was a relief to hear that my symptoms were something he could help me with. He referred me for an MRI scan which showed severe osteoarthritis in my right hip. I had a further consultation following the MRI where Mr Asopa laid out all my options including doing nothing, pain relief, activity modification, injections and surgery. At this point he reassured me that none of this was urgent and I had time to think through the various options.
I made the decision to have the surgery because the pain was affecting my daily life, my work life, my sleep and my general wellbeing to the point it was making me feel very down. I found the stairs on my commute increasingly difficult, and I would dread this part of my day.
Ultimately it had stopped me doing the things I love. Going to the theatre was a torment because of the pain in my knee. The constant pain was wearing me down.
Even though I found the thought of surgery daunting, the option to be pain free made this the right decision for me. I had to wait a few months after the injection to have the surgery, as Mr Asopa advised that this can increase the chance of infection. At the consultation before my surgery, Mr Asopa explained everything very clearly and, once again, put me completely at ease (and asked me to please not join any “hip replacement Facebook Groups” which I stuck to!).
I have to commend Mr Asopa’s assistant Mary, who was invaluable to me with advice on how to navigate the Bupa Insurance system and answering any questions I had, of which there were quite a few as I’ve previously been a healthy person and not had cause to use Bupa.
On the day of my hip replacement surgery I wasn’t really sure what to expect as this was the first surgery I’d ever had. I was booked in at London Bridge Hospital at 16:30. I was VERY nervous! Mr Asopa came to see me in my room and his explanation and reassurance meant that I felt so much better after that visit. The anaesthetist also came to see me, and he too was very reassuring and made me feel I was in safe hands.
I was walked down to theatre where I was given a spinal block with sedation. I was worried about this as I didn’t want to be aware of anything during the procedure. The anaesthetist assured me that I would wake up happy (I did!) and I definitely wasn’t aware of anything. I was amazed how well I felt after the surgery. Mr Asopa kindly called my husband to let him know how it had all gone, and I was even able to say hello and speak coherently to him myself – the family were amazed! With the help of the nurses (who were all fantastic) I was up on a walking frame after a couple of hours. I was so well looked after with painkillers, anti-sickness, ice on the wound and lovely meals. I would highly recommend London Bridge Hospital.
In the morning, I went for an X-Ray which Mr Asopa confirmed he was happy with. I was visited by the pharmacist and given all the medication I would need. I also saw the physio and occupational therapists who gave me practical advice on what to expect when I was home, as well as helping me to do a test run up and down the stairs on my new crutches. The nurses continued to keep an eye on me and, as all was well, I was discharged by 5pm that day.
I’m now 7 weeks post-surgery. I’ve been walking without crutches for a couple of weeks, tentatively around the house at first but I’m getting better all the time and no longer use them when I’m out and about. I was also lucky enough to be offered hydrotherapy which was fantastic, and I hope to have a few more sessions of this and then continue with the pool exercises myself.
The surgery has definitely helped with all my symptoms, I now have no pain in my knee at all and the only pain around my hip is at the site of the incision and the muscles around it. I know I have a little way to go with my recovery, but it is life changing to be relieved of the constant pain and stiffness and I am so grateful to Mr Asopa for everything he has done.
I would definitely recommend Mr Asopa to anyone who requires hip replacement surgery, I honestly can’t imagine that I could have received better treatment.
By NA, June 2024
Disclaimer: All case studies are based on the personal experience of the individual patient. It is important to be aware that each person’s treatment, surgery and recovery times may differ based on many variables. This patient has consented to the use of their case study and their medical imaging and/or their photo.