Miscellaneous
On today’s episode, John speaks with April Box of Hip Help. April shares her story of living with developmental dysplasia of the hip and how her multiple surgeries for hip replacement led her to become a healthcare advocate for others going through the same experiences as she once did. April Box is a private healthcare advocate with Hip Help, in Spokane, WA. She offers her clients help with the mental, emotional, physical, environmental, social, and spiritual aspects of your diagnosis or surgery. She gives advice and comfort. She advocates for your needs, not the needs of the medical provider, hospital or insurance company. April was born with dislocated hips, but her family didn’t know until she tried to walk and kept falling down. She was a toddler when she got a diagnosis of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH), and she was successfully treated. She had a normal childhood, and her parents did a good job of helping her balance normal and restricted activities. She knew as a young child she was going to have surgeries when she was an adult. All went well until she had her children. The pregnancies went well, but she encountered some problems with her hips after the babies were born. After her first pregnancy, she experienced a lot of hip pain. She was limping and couldn’t do regular activities. It was a long process with her doctor to rule out any other causes for her hip pain. After she had her second baby, she had hip reconstruction surgery in both hips. Later, she had total hip replacements on both hips. A few years ago, she had one of those hips revised. She has had 5 hip surgeries over 30 years. All her surgeries have healed well, and she has recovered completely. Her life is back to normal and she can do almost anything. She has learned that she has to take good care of herself. She gets plenty of rest, exercise, drinks lots of water, keeps in contact with friends, eats well and has a network of health providers that keep her body in good shape. For more about April and Hip Help, visit: http://www.hip-help.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices