RETAIL merchandiser Della Panton, 56, from Wellington, has spoken about the pain she suffered in her hips for years – and the success of a hip replacement operation.

Della, who has now discovered her other hip also needs replacing, suffered with pain in her hips for ten years and decided to seek treatment after two women in their 80s, on separate occasions, asked her if she needed help getting up from a supermarket floor where she was working.

Della said: “Both times I was arranging stock and kneeling attending to the lower shelves. I was kindly offered help both times by lovely older ladies – and it was then I thought that enough was enough and I should get my hip sorted.”

Della had already received physiotherapy on her hip but it was getting worse and worse. Two years ago she went to her doctor who agreed she needed an x-ray. This was taken but nothing seemed to be wrong.

“I knew this wasn’t right, so I went to see my osteopath,” said Della. “Her assessment was that there was definitely something there and that I should have an MRI scan. She wrote to my GP and I ended up booked for a CT scan at Musgrove Park Hospital.”

The radiologist suggested an MRI scan would be more effective and suggested she went back to her doctor to request it. Her doctor referred her to a specialist physiotherapist at Dean Barton who took one look and confirmed she indeed needed an MRI.

Della said: “I had the MRI at the Bridgwater MRI scanner a week later and a few days after that I was back at Dean Barton to get the results. I had osteoarthritis and avascular necrosis, and was referred to Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre for a full replacement of my left hip.”

Della could have had her treatment the following week but with Christmas looming she chose to be treated in early January. She said: “Between Christmas and New Year a delivery arrived with all the equipment I would need – a frame, raised loo seat and other things – all free of charge and with instructions for use when I came home.

“By this point I was in real agony. Some days, I could barely walk and driving could be very awkward – in my job I can clock up hundreds of miles a week and over longer journeys my hip became extremely uncomfortable. I collapsed a few times at work and once on a trip to London – if I knew I had to walk any distance I would use my mother’s walking stick.”

Della is full of praise for the treatment she received at Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre. She said: “My operation was at noon on the Friday and I was on my way home after lunch on the Sunday. Mr Mujahid El-Deen, my surgeon, was wonderful and really good at explaining everything. I had a spinal block for the surgery, so was awake. My worry all along was that my condition didn’t warrant the surgery and I asked Mr El-Deen if I could see the bone that had been removed. He said I could and explained that the erosion was worse than they had expected, and when I saw the bone I could see that almost all the ball of the joint had been worn away.”

She added: “The clinical care was excellent and the food was amazing. The car park is free and close by, so if you are in pain you don’t have far to walk. I’m now completely pain free in my treated hip but the other one now needs replacing according to the x-ray taken at my annual review – in a funny sort of way I can’t wait to get it done at Shepton, because it was such a pleasure to be in hospital!”