For about 30 years now, Jeremy Vollmin has had no idea what it's like to live without hip pain.“I've always had pain so I don't know what it's like even on a good warm day to fully live without some kind of pain or discomfort. Never had it,” Vollmin said. “The way I describe it, it's like taking a hammer or even a sledgehammer and hitting your hip continuously. On an average day it's like taking pins and poking it.”Since the age of seven, he has lived with the effects of Perthes disease, a disorder where his hip's blood supply is lost. Without blood, the socket dies.Vollmin is 37 and he's had enough. Unable to get a hip replacement in Canada, he's going to Mexico for the procedure on March 25, an operation he said will cost him almost $17,000.He's looking for help. On March 14, Vollmin will be hosting a fundraiser at the Word of Life Church at 4410 – 47 Ave at 6:30 p.m., with proceeds going to his surgery. There will be dinner, a silent auction and performances by two local musical acts.With time and treatment, Perthes disease is supposed to go away in children. But in Vollmin's case, his bones grew back but became disjointed, he said. He has also developed nerve issues and takes painkillers to take the edge off, he continued.“Every time I sat down I could feel my bones rubbing together,” he said. “Standing or laying down are the two activities that give me the (least) pressure or pain of anything else.”Vollmin owns All About U Massage in Olds. But since July, he said he hasn't been able to work, spending the past summer bedridden. Unable to sit for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time, his wife takes on a job meant for two, he said.In 2006, he went under the knife, believing he'd be getting a full hip replacement. But he said he got a different procedure done instead.“When I got out they didn't tell me, I was still groggy,” Vollmin said. “They told my wife that instead, they decided to clean me up and get rid of all the things that caused me harm and put two pins in instead. That would buy them up to 10 more years before having to talk about hip surgery again.”He said the pain was initially reduced post-surgery. However, the pain returned, he said.Vollmin is frustrated that he cannot get a full hip replacement. The reason he gets from doctors about why the replacement procedure won't be done is that he's under 40 years old, he said.At that point, he'd still have to be placed on a waiting list, he said.After three decades, he's not waiting any longer.“Isn't my quality of life worth more to the community, worth more to our province … to have me functioning than have me be a couch potato?”Donations to Vollmin's cause can also be made at: Re/Max ACA Realty and Stang's Health [email protected]
