I have been struggling recently to come to terms with the fact that I definitely now need a hip replacement operation. So I decided that I would share my feelings and my hip replacement journey on my blog with everyone. I will still continue to talk about my story about my past, living with Sickle Cell Disease but will combine this with my present experiences.

I was diagnosed with early stages of Avascular Necrosis of the left hip at around the age of twenty one. The pain was nothing to complain about but I knew that there was something wrong with my left hip as I would experience slight twinges occasionally. Something else to deal with I told myself, something again caused by sickle Cell Disease. I pushed that diagnoses to the back of my mind and decided to deal with it when there was a need to deal with it. I had Sickle Cell Disease to deal with at that time and that was more than enough to deal with.

It has been extremely difficult coping with Avascular Necrosis of the left hip…….another form of pain but this time chronic pain that is always there. Getting on with trying to do things the way that everyone expects you to do things. There are definitely no allowances for you if you seem like you are coping, especially if you are good at handling pain. I believe my pain threshold to be really high and maybe this is due to all the painful crisis that I have had to endure.

As years have gone by and the pain has increased and at times I have been completely immobile and dosed up on pain killers where all I could really do was sleep. I heard stories about Sickle cell patients who had undergone hip replacement operations with a good outcome but I was also a hundred percent aware of the stories that had not turned out so well. 

I was so determined that I would fight on and battle with this Avascular Necrosis, it has been hard, it has been difficult but most of all it has been painful but I still fight on and will continue to fight on. The pain is at a stage where I know that I can no longer cope no matter how strong I try to be. Everything now seems to be controlled by this pain, my mobility, my sleep, my mood, my activity level. However I still continue to fight with the help of my art and my faith and belief in God.

I needed to put a request in for my hospital appointment to be brought forward and as I wait for my appointment to come through from my orthopedic Consultant I continue to work on my first Children’s Alphabet book that I aim to complete and put on sale before the Christmas season. I will not be defeated, I am a winner not a loser and I will continue to fight on my journey. I strive to be as positive as I can be no matter how much pain I have to endure. Every evening I do a little bit of work on my book after a long day at my regular job and count my blessings one by one. I know that my blessings are many and I believe there is still lots of blessings ahead of me.

You can follow Laurel’s work on her Instagram.