Sara
Davis is a 32-year-old American musical theatre Actress. Both her lifestyle and
career were put in jeopardy by severe osteoarthritis in her hip. She has
recently undergone Hip Resurfacing.
I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with my parents and my older sister, Carrie - my
father is a retired obstetrician/gynaecologist. I consider myself to be a
singer/actor, but I have always had to dance as it comes with the territory of
being a musical theatre actress. When I went to college, my training turned more
to the operatic. I received my Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University,
and also spent two summers training at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY.
Upon graduation in 1992, I decided to turn back towards theatre, and began
working in the Chicago theatre community. Starting around 1998, I began doing
some cabaret singing. While I still perform in musicals, I am now concentrating
most of my energy on my career as a cabaret artist.
I received the Joseph Jefferson Award for
Best Supporting Actress for my performance as Lily in ‘The
Secret Garden’ at Apple Tree Theatre in 1995 - the Jeff
Awards are the Chicago version of New York’s Tony Awards.
Several of my cabaret shows have been listed in year-end top
ten lists. Most recently, my solo show in September 2001,
part of the Leading Ladies of Chicago Theatre cabaret series
at Metropolis Performing Arts Center, was named one of
Chicago’s top ten of 2001 by both Gay Chicago Magazine and
Cabaret Scenes Magazine (a national cabaret magazine). I
also enjoy performing in new works, and have originated
roles in several world premieres.
“I didn’t want to be seen as disabled”
Back in the summer of 1987,
when I was 17, I developed a bacterial infection in my hip.
It happened very suddenly. One morning I woke up with a
little stiffness in the joint, and by that evening the pain
was excruciating. The next morning I was hospitalized and
some fluid was apspirated from the joint to culture. I
underwent surgery to place a drain in my hip, and began
receiving IV antibiotics. Although the doctors knew I had an
infection due to the bloodwork, they were never able to
identify it from the culture. Luckily, I responded to the
antibiotics and recovered relatively quickly. After about a
week in the hospital, I was released and ordered to walk
with crutches and remain non-weight bearing for two months.
To this day, we don't know why or how I got the infection.
As a result of the trauma to the joint, I developed
osteoarthritis, and the symptoms began appearing a few years
later.
Although the symptoms of arthritis in my hip
began around 1990, I was able to live with them for many
years before they got too severe to ignore. By 2001, pain
was an everyday occurrence. I found myself watching a lot,
instead of participating. I started to drive anywhere I
could instead of walk. I had always tried to hide the
arthritis, and never really talked about it. Occasionally
people would ask why I was limping, and I would just brush
it off. For a long time most of my friends didn’t even know
I was in pain. I am extremely independent and I don’t like
asking for help, and I didn’t want to be seen as disabled.
At the age of 31, when you tell someone you have arthritis
you always get the same response: “Oh, you’re too young to
have arthritis! How did you get it? You poor thing!” I grew
weary of explaining the whole history about the infection in
1987, etc, and I didn’t want my arthritis to be something
that defined me. I was also in denial about how serious it
was getting.
I started to avoid auditions where
dancing would be required, because I was out of shape and
never knew when the pain would hit. I didn’t want casting
directors to consider me a liability, so I never mentioned
the arthritis. As a result, I found myself in pain at the
theatre almost all the time. The things that aggravated the
pain were always required at work: wearing high heels,
running up and down the entrance ramps, getting up and down
off the floor - I was able to avoid these things in my daily
life but I didn’t have a choice at the theatre.
The
last straw came in the summer of 2001, when I was offered a
job for the Christmas season. It was a children’s show that
I had performed in the year before. I accepted the job, but
soon began to wonder if I would be able to do it. That’s
when I realised how much the pain had changed since the
previous year, and how fast it was progressing.
I
took a long hard look, and it finally sunk in how much my
arthritis was running my life. Whereas I used to just do any
activity without thinking about it and later notice that it
aggravated my hip, I realised I had got to the point where I
started to consider the pain before undertaking an activity.
I could only walk about ten minutes before the pain got bad,
my range of motion was severely limited, and the limp that
used to come and go was becoming a constant fixture. I had
been having back and knee pain for years, and I finally
realised it was all related to the hip.
“I had
been in denial long enough. It was time to get back in on
the action”
I hadn’t had X-rays in several years, and I decided it was
time. I had been in denial long enough. They didn’t look
good. I saw two Rheumatologists and two Orthopeadic
Surgeons, and everyone agreed that the next step for me
would be hip replacement.
I found it difficult that the responsibility of making the
decision to have hip replacement surgery lies primarily with
the patient. It was really up to me to decide when the pain
was too much, and that I was “ready”. Chronic pain is a
tricky thing. It had become such a regular part of my life
that I had a hard time accepting that it wasn’t “normal”.
All my doctors estimated that if I was lucky I might be able
to go another year before surgery, but they didn’t think I
would get much farther. I decided that I had watched enough
of my life pass me by, and that it was time to get back in
on the action.
Once I realised that hip replacement was the next step for
me, I started researching my options. I was dismayed to
learn the potential limitations of a traditional Total Hip
Replacement (THR), and that at the age of 31 I would most
likely need several revisions in my lifetime. I first
learned of Resurfacing on the Internet, through several hip
replacement discussion groups and bulletin boards, and
finally the Yahoo! Group, “surface hippy”. I found the Corin
website (a British company who developed the original Hip
Resurfacing device) and printed out the pages on Cormet Hip
Resurfacing. They sat on my coffee table for months. I was
surprised to find so many other people in my situation,
traditionally considered “too young” for total hip
replacement. Resurfacing excited me for many reasons. First,
the fact that it is so much more bone conserving than a
traditional THR was appealing. I loved the idea of no
restrictions (besides sky diving and bungee jumping!), and
the lowered risk of dislocation. I was also excited by the
idea of a metal-on-metal implant, and the hope that it may
not wear out as fast as a traditional THR.
I flew down to Atlanta to meet with the Orthopaedic Surgeon
who had treated me when I had the original infection in
1987. He was familiar with Resurfacing, and he gave me his
blessing to seek out one of the doctors implanting the Corin
device. My parents and I immediately called Dr Thomas Gross
and two days later we drove to Columbia, SC to meet him. By
this time I had my heart set on a Resurfacing, and I was
terribly nervous that he wouldn’t find me a suitable
candidate. Luckily, he agreed that Resurfacing was a
terrific option for me, and we scheduled the surgery for
December 3, 2001.
The month before the surgery was very emotional. As I
mentioned, I am extremely independent and I was very nervous
about not being able to take care of myself post-op.
Luckily, I have an amazing and supportive family and group
of friends who were with me every step of the way. I had
heard from so many of my Internet “surface hippy” friends
that recovery would be a breeze, but I was still petrified.
I went back and forth about my decision. I kept trying to
convince myself that I didn’t need this surgery. The week
before the surgery I took walks every evening to remind
myself how much it hurt. It sounds crazy to me now, but at
the time it made sense.
“I knew I had made the
right decision”
The moment I remember most clearly from the day of surgery
happened as they were finishing up in the Operating Theatre.
I was awake but very groggy. Lee Webb, Dr Gross’s nurse,
leaned over me and said, “It looked really bad in there.
This was definitely not unnecessary surgery.” I knew I had
made the right decision. I also remember Dr Gross coming to
see me while I was still in the recovery room, and telling
me that the surgery had gone well, and that my incision was
only five inches long, with no staples. He said it would
leave a very cosmetic scar. At that point I wouldn’t have
minded if he told me they used knitting needles and yarn. I
was just thrilled I had my Resurfacing and was excited to
begin the road to my new pain-free life.
My recovery was easier than I expected.
Although I woke up with sore muscles, the grinding hip pain
was completely gone. I was amazed at how fast the muscles
strengthened with my daily exercises. It was frustrating to
be on the crutches, and to maintain the hip precautions Dr
Gross suggested (the operated leg/hip should not be flexed
more than 90 degrees, rotated internally, or crossed past
the midline of your body) but that was outweighed by the
fact that the old pain was gone. I did my physical therapy
diligently, and didn’t have any real pain, which surprised
me.
Because I live alone in Chicago, I stayed with my
parents in Atlanta for two weeks after the surgery. I am so
thankful to have such a supportive family. I hadn’t spent
more than a week or two at a time with my parents since I
left for college, and it was an amazing opportunity to
really get to know them now that I am an adult, without the
child-parent dynamic. While we’ve always got along
wonderfully, our relationship is even stronger now. I
consider that to be a bonus that came with the surgery.
Because I couldn’t do theatre for many
months after the surgery, I started focusing on my cabaret
work. It was during this time that I wrote my latest show,
“I’m (Artificially) Hip!” I really put it together as a way
for me to work through the whole experience, and to help me
process what I was going through emotionally. To be honest,
I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in actually
seeing it. I was surprised at the positive response. Several
joint replacement patients came and they told me they were
delighted to have a way to laugh at the experience, and were
comforted to know that others had gone through the same
emotions. I think everyone has to deal with obstacles and
make difficult decisions in their lives, and I tried to make
the themes of the show fairly universal, underneath the talk
of physical therapy and X-rays of course.
“It really has been a turning point for me”
Performing that show has led to several other professional
opportunities for me, and I am currently beginning work on
my debut CD which will be released next year, if all goes as
planned. I don’t know if I would have ever taken the time to
focus this much on my cabaret career if I hadn’t been laid
up after the surgery. It has really been a turning point for
me. Just another bonus, I suppose.
Once I passed the six month mark, I was given the go ahead
to do whatever I wanted, with the exception of bungee
jumping and skydiving. Neither of these things was in my
plans. I’m no daredevil!
Once the hip precautions were lifted I could do a lot more
stretching, which felt terrific and improved my range of
motion. I’m still a little cautious about my movement, but I
know I will let go of that in time. For the most part I
really don’t think about my hip very much anymore. And
that’s a good thing.
I have already recommended Hip Resurfacing to many others.
If I hadn’t been eligible for a Resurfacing I probably would
have waited even longer before having a THR, although I
don’t know how much longer I could have put up with the pain
and disability. At my age, Resurfacing was the obvious
choice. No question about it.
I still continue to improve, but I can do just about
anything I want. Sometimes I go days without even thinking
about my hip. It’s quite a dramatic change from this time
last year, when my arthritis overwhelmed my life.
I certainly never imagined I would need to undergo joint
replacement surgery at age 31, but it has been an incredible
journey. It's as though someone has given me my life back. I
think I never realized what a large role in my life the
arthritis played until the pain was gone, and it has been a
revelation to me. It's such a treat to do things I couldn't
do before the surgery, things I took for granted before the
arthritis. Something as simple as taking a long walk with a
friend and never having to say, "I think I need to sit down
for a few minutes...you go ahead without me" can make me
smile all day. After years of sitting on the sidelines of my
life, I'm finally back in the game.
Visit Sara's
websiteand listen to her song
"I'm artificially hip"!
