Houston marathoner honored for inspiring recovery after double hip replacements
HOUSTON - A marathon runner is ready to race again after undergoing hip replacement surgeries on not one, but both hips. She's sharing her remarkable recovery and wants to spread hope to other people suffering from arthritis. Carrie Bradshaw has run ten marathons from Houston to Boston and New York City. Plus, she has completed 60 half-marathons in multiple countries! When her hip pain spiraled out of control two years ago, she was concerned she may never run again.
"My left leg literally locked up. It was the weirdest feeling and I realized something is not normal. I limped home. I barely made it home. I freaked out a little bit in my head. Of course, I was in denial. I thought maybe it was just an off day, but it continued I would try to run again, and it would do the same locked-up feeling," explains Carrie.
Carrie sought medical opinions and was devastated with her diagnosis of congenital hip dysplasia.
"They told me my hips never formed correctly at birth. I never knew. The socket was too shallow for the hip, and I was always an athlete growing up. A lot of times with hip dysplasia, it goes undiagnosed until adulthood, kind of like what happened to me, and it's the number one cause of osteoarthritis in young adults," says Carrie.
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She kept looking until she found a doctor who assured her that she needed double hip replacements but that she would put her running shoes back on. The recovery was a tough process, using a walker and cane for six weeks with each hip. Now she's eight months out from the last surgery and already training for the Houston Half Marathon next month. "I've run two 10-mile runs and I've been slowly building up my endurance, so I'm very confident that I will finish the race," states a confident Carrie.
Her recovery is so impressive, the Arthritis Foundation in Houston honored her at their recent Bone Bash. Now she's working with the executive director, Kristen Stubbs, to help raise awareness about arthritis.
"1 in 4 people has some form of arthritis, and there's over 100 different forms of arthritis. A lot of people don't realize osteoarthritis being the most prevalent, but 60 million people in America have arthritis," describes Kristen.
The Arthritis Foundation has been around for 75 years and has funded millions of dollars in research, including drugs to treat problems like rheumatoid arthritis. There could possibly be a treatment on the horizon soon, and Kristen shares a glimpse of it.
"There hasn't been a lot of research with osteoarthritis. However, we are now funding the very first clinical trial in post-traumatic knee injury and how to stop and prevent osteoarthritis from forming. And so, we were starting clinical trials in the first part of the year and we're testing a drug that is already approved and you can get it for $5 at Walmart. It's a drug that was developed for diabetes, and they saw some indications that it could slow the progression of osteoarthritis. That's going to be huge and is going to affect over 32 million people in this country. I get chills, every time I think about it. It's so exciting because I had a knee replacement last year and so, as somebody who suffers from this disease, the pain, and the debilitation, that's really exciting to me," states an enthusiastic Kristen.
She also wants to make sure everyone knows they have many resources available.
"We have a 24/7 helpline that's also with Spanish speakers as well, that people can call and get information on drug therapies, doctor referrals, just all their questions, answered insurance, anything that they need. That number is: 1-800-283-7800.
Now Carrie's goal is to make it back to the Boston Marathon!
"Oh, it's so meaningful on so many different levels. This is the iconic holy grail of running. I ran Boston once in 2015 and actually qualified again after my first child was born. Then, I couldn't do it in 2018 because I was pregnant. I have always wanted to go back, it's such a special race, the running community is great, but the most important reason why I want to get back is two things: get my identity back, to get that part of the soul that makes me feel alive and to also show my children, because they're watching all of this - show them that even when they have setbacks in life and times are hard, they can power through them and get to the other side," says Carrie.
She's also thrilled to report that she is now feeling better than ever.
"I got myself a brand-new set of wheels and it feels awesome," she says of her legs.
She's in awe to be able to say that because she says surgeons had to saw off the end of her femurs and put in titanium joints.
Carrie really relied on her faith during this entire process. She says there were a lot of what her aunt calls
"God winks" along the way, sending her from the running path down the healing path.
Find her on Instagram: @bionicrunnerbabe
For more info about help for arthritis visit https://www.arthritis.org/local-offices/tx-houston