Aye Ian,
My apologies for making a mockery of your pain!
A lady on a genealogy group that I am part of has just had her hip replaced within 6 months of being diagnosed. Initially, she was going to wait for the NHS, but they suggested that it could anything between 18 months and 4 years before she might be operated upon!
She was relegated to a wheel chair and this prompted her to elect to go private, hence the toot sweet op. So far, she is very pleased with the result and is driving herself along, with the intensive physiotherapy and walking that she needs to do to to build the muscle strength and mobility.
I hope that you are able to get sorted one way or another, sooner rather than later.
My regards, Bill