29M - Bilateral AVN, stage 3 (no collapse), scheduled for core decompression with bone graft + stem cell injection. Looking for experiences.
Hi everyone,
I'm 29 years old and I've been diagnosed with avascular necrosis (AVN) in both hips.
This Friday I'm scheduled to undergo surgery on my left hip. My surgeon will perform core decompression with a bone graft taken from my pelvic bone (iliac crest). During the same operation, he will also perform a stem cell injection into my right hip to try to slow the progression there.
I'll be staying in the hospital for 2 days after surgery and, if everything goes well, I'll be discharged afterward to continue my recovery at home.
My surgeon strongly believes I'm still too young for a total hip replacement and doesn't think it's the right option yet because there is no significant collapse of the femoral head.
To be honest, I'm terrified. My biggest fear isn't the operation itself—it's the pain and the recovery afterward.
I've read so many different stories online. Some people say recovery was manageable, while others describe weeks or even months of severe pain and a long period of non-weight bearing. Reading those experiences has made my anxiety much worse.
Right now my pain is usually around 1–2/10 while resting, but increases to about 5–6/10 when walking. I'm also overweight (around 105 kg) and I used to drink alcohol heavily, but I've decided to quit completely because I want to give this surgery the best possible chance of success.
For anyone who has had core decompression, bone grafting, or stem cell treatment for AVN:
- How painful was the first week?
- How painful was the pelvic bone donor site?
- Was the stem cell injection side painful afterward?
- What helped you most during those first few weeks?
- When were you able to sit comfortably?
- When did the pain start improving?
- If you had stage 3 AVN without collapse, was the surgery successful?
- Looking back, would you do it again?
Any advice for preparing before Friday or for those first days after coming home would also be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading. I'm honestly very nervous, and hearing real experiences from people who've been through this would mean a lot.