Me, My Hip Problems, The Date and Emma :)

Hullo :). My name is Catherine and I'm currently 16 years old and happily at college. I am a sporty young person who competitively swims with 1066 Swimmers at County standard and holds a joint World Record for 100,000m with 9 other U18 rowers from Bexhill College.
I was told I had Hip Displasia about 3 years ago, after experiencing joint 'clicks' and pain during and after exercise. I was referred to a number of consultants for various scans (MRI, CT and X-Ray) and was finally referred to Mr Hugh Apthorp. After previously been told that I didn't/wouldn't require surgery, Mr Apthorp dropped the sudden bombshell that I would require a PAO (periacetabular osteotomy). This would mean that the area around my hip joint (acetabulum) would be cut, then repositioned and pinned to create, effectively, a new and better hip joint, without replacing any of the exisiting bone, thus not introducing the risks of rejection.
Initially, the news of having an operation daunted me, as I was only 15 at the time, and I thought that my swimming career would be over. I shed a few tears that evening but after the support of my family and friends (who promised to bring me chocolate and the biggest card they could find in Clintons), I grew accustomed to the fact that it's something that has to be done for my own good.
After meeting a wonderful lady named Emma, who wrote a blog on here (paohipsurgery.blogspot.com), I had many of my fears calmed as she had had the surgery 4 1/2 months previously and was making a fantastic recovery. It was also Emma who inspired me to write this blog, as she had done. I wanted to write one for the younger people who were going to undergo this surgery, as my view as a older teenager was likely to be very different to that of a 34 year old mother of two :). I must thank her for spending her time talking to me, and for giving me the link to her blog, which has answered any unasked questions and given some handy hints to cure the boredom of the first fairly immobile weeks :P.
I now have a date set for my surgery, which is the 22nd July'09, 4 days after my 17th birthday and in the 2nd week of my summer holidays. I will keep this posted on anything interesting that happens between now and then, and will write more nearer the day.
Much Love

Catherine xxx