Melanie's Double Hip Surgery

For those who don’t know me, I’m Melanie Walker and I’m 24 years old. I am an active individual who loves to spend most of my time outdoors, whether that be hiking, snowboarding, rock climbing or camping. I have been suffering with chronic lower back and hip pain since I was 16 years old. In the last few years my pain has become extremely difficult to live with. There are times when a normal day at work will leave me bedridden for days. I have tried multiple less invasive approaches to ease my pain such as chiropractic, acupuncture, massage and physical therapy.  Unfortunately, none of these efforts relieved my pain long term and I started to come to terms that I would be living with this pain for the rest of my life.


I’ve recently learned that I have bulging and degenerating discs in my lumbar spine.  However, spine specialists didn’t think that was the root of my pain so after an MRIs of my hips the doctors discovered that both of my labrums are torn.  Your labrum is the cartilage that cushion where the ball of your leg meets your hip socket.  Mine are torn on the right and left side because I have minor hip dysplasia and the ball of my leg is too large for my hip socket (which is something I was born with). This causes my bone to tear down the cartilage on my hip.  I was relieved and anxious to find out that I could undergo surgery to help relieve my pain by reconstructing my cartilage. I have decided to undergo surgery to prevent my labrums from tearing any further. It is going to be intensive and will entail shaving down the ball of my leg and reconstructing my labrum from a cadaver. I will have each hip repaired three months apart because the hip is the hardest joint in the body to heal. My first surgery is scheduled for January 22nd and the second for April 17th. I’m going to be on crutches for up to 8 long weeks and out of work for at LEAST 6 months.


That being said, I’ve always been scared for the day I had any medical issues considering the health care system in America. All in all this surgery is going to cost me at least $10,000 out of pocket.  I am hopeful to raise a little less than half of the fees for this surgery so that I can live the life of an active 24 year old. This has been difficult for me to write because this has been such a personal battle for so long and I know everyone has their own struggles. I am ready to share my story though and ask for a little love along the way.  Any money raised will go towards my MRIs, surgeries and the 24 weeks of physical therapy that I’m going to need after each surgery.  Any contribution, whether it be $5 is greatly appreciated and I am incredibly thankful for your time.