Lara Spencer to undergo hip replacement surgery at 47
Lara Spencer announced on Thursday morning that she’ll be undergoing hip replacement surgery this Saturday.
“I waited for a long time before I did anything about it or told anyone because it’s an old person’s problem and I just couldn’t believe it,” the “Good Morning America” co-anchor shared on the ABC show.
Spencer, 47, has led a very active lifestyle — having once been a competitive diver at Penn State. Today, she’s an avid tennis player. “I love sports, I love being active, I love challenging myself,” she said. “I was a jock growing up from the time I could walk.”
Dr. Peter Moley tells the show that 10 percent of all hip-replacement patients are under the age of 50.
Spencer said she has a genetic predisposition to hip dysplasia. “It was embarrassing to share and then I realized there is nothing to be embarrassed about,” she said.
“If you don’t talk about it, you can’t fix it, so I’m happy if I can save one person from not having to go through the pain,” Spencer explained.
As the mother of two painted, the pain had become too difficult to manage. “There is no ignoring it at this point,” Spencer said. “I just want to say anybody out there who suffers with chronic pain, I feel you. It takes over your life. It affects you emotionally, mentally, physically. You cannot sleep. It’s hard to think about. It’s gnawing at you all the time.”
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Although she’s a competitive athlete, she’s “terrified” to go under the knife. But as ABC News Chief Women’s Health Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explains, “Spencer will be walking on her new hip the same day as surgery. She can expect to undergo another three to six months of rehabilitation.”
“What I wish I would have done is just taken care of this sooner and spoken up,” Spencer noted.
Filed under: General Problems
Misdiagnosis leads to improper treatment. Damage to the load-bearing surface of a joint, is likely to get worse with repeated use…that’s a big argument for surgery.
When no damage is apparent, to a joint, it may be an infection or inflammation of a muscle. Operating on the joint, won’t help such a Myositis.
Despite this, many Americans get back surgery that causes additional damage. They started out with a myositis. The ended up with a myositis and additionally some damage to their bones and discs, because someone went exploring with a scalpel. A few end up with arachnoiditis, one of the two most painful known diseases, simply from exploratory surgery.
It’s absolutely imperative that one find out, for sure, what’s causing it to hurt, when one moves. Guesswork is unacceptable.
I had both hip replaced at 47 and 48. Most doctors didn’t want to do it. I finally found a top orthopedic doc in south florida who was ready willing and did a fantastic job on both hips. I was walking the same day. I got turned away from at least 3 doctors who said I was too young. Only one doctor saw it as a quality of life issue and was willing to do the surgery. I had almost instant better quality of life!