Not Just an Ordinary Archeological Dig

Here I am. It is 2 a.m. and another long night.

I lay here recovering from hip replacement surgery. I am grateful for my new hardware and the medicine to help me get my life back. I can already tell the choice to have my hip replaced was a good one and I look forward to full mobility and no pain soon.

Beginning week two, my days move just as slow as my nights right now. I lay around, take short walks to the kitchen and bathroom, exercise in bed and ice all day long. I am fortunate to be recovering quickly and without too many medications. I take aspirin to avoid blood clots, anti-inflammatory for swelling and Tylenol for pain. I tried the narcotics, but they left me depressed and foggy-headed, so I let them go immediately. I can’t wait for the day to dance again, hike again and bend over to tie my shoe again! 

You may be asking, “how did this happen to me when I have been so involved in yoga, healthy food, and healthy lifestyle”? I have asked myself the same question for the past four years. All I know is one day I was fine and the next day I was not. At least that is what I thought.

It all started in 2016. Dad got sick in September and quickly declined after his fateful fall in October. He shattered his right hip and shortly after died. Simultaneously, I awoke the next morning with a bone spur and hip dysplasia. For four years it continuously got worse.

I felt like half of my identity died when my father died. Half of me cast into the underworld traversing a maze of ancestral genes, stored in my body. Not being the type to lay idle I decided it would be a good time to excavate. My past became an archeological dig site. Skeletons of pain and betrayal began to emerge. I discovered that generations of resentment had left their mark on the landscape of my pelvis.

I implemented state-of-the-art technology. Lifestyle changes, energy work, water only fasts, vegan diet, bio feedback, ayahuasca, sound therapy, ozone, lights, stem cells, and more but it wasn’t until that moment when respected professionals told me it’s time for a full hip replacement that it hit me. “I had a problem that I couldn’t fix.”

To have part of my body removed was like taking a long-standing infection out of me. A hitch hiker hiding in the bones of the ancient past removed and replaced. I am so grateful for the amazing technology of Western Medicine and what they do best! Surgery. An implanted treasure of titanium, cobalt and glue restored the integrity of this body monument.

I am SO grateful to my husband Peter, and to my sons Cameron and Evan for their part in this archeological expedition, turning up treasures hidden from view. I could not have done it without a team.

With new eyes and new perspective my heart is now capable to hold more love, freedom and adventures to come. I feel like I have a new life in front of me and I am SO EXCITED TO LIVE IN TO THIS NEW FUTURE!
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by Karen Barbarick-Collins