This post is sponsored by HCA HealthONE.
For years, I lived with pain that I could not fully explain. I was a healthy, active mom living in Denver, but I had hip and leg pain long before I became pregnant. After having children, the pain only got worse.
At first, I was told that the pain might be connected to pregnancy or breastfeeding hormones. During and after pregnancy, the body releases hormones that loosen ligaments and tissues. But even after that stage of life ended, the pain stayed.
Finally, an X-ray showed the real problem: hip dysplasia.
Hip dysplasia is a condition where the hip socket does not fully cover or support the hip joint. Today, doctors often find it when babies are very young. But I was born in China in the 1980s, and doctors were not checking for it there at the time.
Over the years, the condition caused damage to my hip joint and led to ongoing pain.
As I searched for answers, I met several surgeons. Dr. Presley Swann with HCA HealthONE, suggested a two-step plan. First, his colleague Dr. Brian White would repair the labrum in my hip. Then Dr. Swann would perform a surgery called a periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) to properly reposition my hip socket.
At the time, I chose a different surgeon who said he could do everything in one surgery. I hoped that would make recovery easier.
Instead, things went terribly wrong.
A year later, my bone still had not healed correctly. My hip was left in a poor position, and I was limping every day. I was in severe pain and taking strong pain medicine much longer than I ever expected.
“I thought it was me,” I said. “The first surgical team made it sound like my body had failed somehow. I’m healthy and active, but I started believing I was the problem.”
When I went back to Dr. Swann for another opinion, he immediately saw the issue on my X-rays. My hip was badly aligned, and walking on it could continue causing damage.
Hearing that news was heartbreaking, but it also gave me hope. For the first time in a long time, I felt like someone truly understood what was wrong.
Dr. Swann focused on helping me move forward instead of focusing on the past.
Dr. Swann is one of the few surgeons in the country who specializes in hip preservation surgery and minimally invasive robotic hip and knee surgery. Dr. White is known around the world for his work in labral reconstruction, especially in difficult revision cases.
Together, they gave me something I had almost lost: confidence.
After one appointment, I left crying because I felt overwhelmed by the idea of starting over. As I walked to my car, Dr. Swann came outside and stopped me.
“He told me, ‘I can’t say this to every patient, but I believe I can fix you,’” I said. “That meant everything to me.”
That moment changed everything.
My revision treatment started with Dr. White, who performed a complex labral reconstruction surgery that lasted about seven hours. One week later, Dr. Swann performed the revision PAO surgery to finally put my hip in the correct position.
I was terrified going into surgery again because I already knew how hard recovery could be. During my first surgery, my children were only 2 and 3 years old. Trying to care for them while living with constant pain was one of the hardest times of my life.
“I felt like that year took so much from me as a mom,” I said.
But this recovery was completely different.
I needed much less pain medication, and even moving around early on felt easier. Within three to four months, my bone had healed properly. This time, my hip was finally in the right position.
Dr. Swann said my experience also shows why two separate surgeries can sometimes be better for patients with complex problems.
Today, about a year and a half after my surgeries, my hip feels much stronger. I still have some numbness from nerve damage, and healing is continuing. After spending so long limping, I also had to retrain my body through physical therapy, resistance training and careful movement.
But now, I finally feel capable again.
I may not run or do high-impact workouts, but I can do the things that matter most. I can play board games with my kids, kick a soccer ball, wrestle around the house, and pretend to be monsters on the playground.
My children, now 4 and 5 years old, know one thing about me: Mom does not run. But I am there with them, active and involved in all the ways that count.
Now I hope my story encourages others to slow down, ask questions, and carefully research their options, especially when dealing with complex medical problems.
My advice is simple: do not choose based only on comfort or convenience. Choose the team with the experience, judgment, and skill to truly understand the problem and treat it the right way.
For me, the right team did more than fix a failed surgery. They helped me rebuild trust, restore my confidence and return to the life waiting for me.
Lili M. is a mom of two and lives in Denver.
