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tessa bosworth

Tessa Bosworth, 52, is an Administrative Assistant at the School of Law at Coventry University. She enjoys Appalachian clog dancing, hill walking and the theatre. Tessa was suffering from excruciating knee pain and was unable to walk without crutches. Sadly the cause of my pain was mis-diagnosed as a cyst on my cartilage and I had an arthroscopy to remove it. However, no cyst was found, only a small tear in the cartilage, which was trimmed.

It soon became apparent that this was not the root of my problem, as the pain got worse, not better, and started progressing up my leg and eventually to my hip. Further X-rays identified severe arthritis of the hip and I was referred to my Orthopaedic Surgeon who performed a Hip Resurfacing procedure in November 2002.

I cannot begin to describe the intense pain I was in over those 9 months. I couldn't eat or sleep, and just cried and cried. My weight dropped from almost 10 stone to 7 stone 10, and my dress size from size 14 to size 8!! I turned from a bubbly, outgoing "nutcase" to a miserable and frightened recluse. After the operation the improvement was instant - my family visited me only hours after surgery and commented that the pain had gone out of my eyes!! Obviously I was still in pain from the operation itself, but it was a very different pain to the one I had previously, and I knew it was one I could cope with. But it was how I felt inside that had changed - the feeling of hopelessness had gone and been replaced with a determination to do everything in my power to get back to normal. The day after the procedure I could shuffle to the loo and back with the aid of a Zimmer frame, and within four days I could manage on crutches. Two to three 3 weeks after the operation I could manage on one crutch, and I abandoned them altogether on New Years Day (just over six weeks). I could walk up and down stairs (albeit with my crutch) less than a week after the operation, and drove for the first time on Christmas Eve (five weeks after). I returned to work after seven weeks, and life was pretty much back to normal by then. OK, I walked pretty slowly, and with a bit of a limp, but any pain was minimal. I'm now back "up to speed" with no limp and no pain, and am able to enjoy hill-walking again. I have not yet returned to the clog dancing, but have high hopes for the summer. I have been able to return to being "a nut case" by abseiling down the Britannia Hotel, Coventry with the surgeon who performed my Resurfacing procedure. I now have such a zest for life, it's unbelievable, and eat and sleep for England. I weigh 8 stone 7 and am a size 10, which suits me just fine!! Quite simply, this operation has given me my life back!!