3 Months - Doing Great HR from Dr. Evans

[Marilyn]

Hi,

I saw a posting from Rebecca regarding having surgery by Dr John Evans from San Antonio.  I replied to her and also meant to start a new thread....  Dr Evans performed my surgery on April 21, 2008.  I am VERY pleased with my results and also with his nurse Chris Madrid who has been wonderful.  I would not change a thing!!!  I was 48 years old at the time of my surgery. 

I had been in constant pain for about 1.5 years prior to surgery.  I have rheumatoid arthritis and was misdiagnosed with sciatic nerve pain for a while and went through PT prior to having x-rays performed which showed the severe damage to my right hip (most likely from a skateboarding injury from years ago).  I was basically bone on bone - something about hearing your bones scrape together is VERY disheartening!  I was told by many people to wait and have the surgery when I was older as I would have to repeat the surgery.  I just couldn't see myself sitting around waiting to get older, while I felt so old already and could not do many of the things that I enjoyed.  My hip would hardly hold me up and I was limping very severely, which really puts a lot of stress on your back.  I was having to take pain meds and did not want to live this way.   My right leg was shorter and smaller than the other (which is all better now). 

My rheumatologist referred me to Dr. Evans.  He told me about the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing.  If my bones were in good shape, I would be an excellent candidate, especially with my young age  ;) Now, that made me feel really good!

Everything went very well and I was in the hospital for 4 nights and received excellent care at the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Northwest Hospital in San Antonio!  I had much less pain after surgery than before (with the exception of surgical pain, which was very minimal).  I was the first patient at my Physical Therapy clinic to have this surgery, so I had to do some educating with them to make sure I received the proper care and rehab.  I have been very proud to share my story with anyone that is experiencing pain and want to make sure they are aware of all of their options. 

I am so happy and feel great at 3 months post-op (today in fact)!!!!  I look forward to a whole new lease on life with my new hip.  I love this website and I would be honored to call myself a "surface hippy".  Thanks Pat for the wonderful website!!!  You did a great job!  I just found you today and look forward to reviewing the postings and information on this site!

mcave

[bciam]

Mcave,

Quite a success story !  Happy to hear that your recovery is going so well and your excitement is awesome to hear (read)  :)

I am 35 yrs old and 4 weeks post-op, walking pretty well and sometimes I forget that I just had surgery.  The arthritic pain is gone and I am chomping at the bit to really test it, but I guess that will be another month or two.

Keep up the good healing !  and I agree that this website is a great value, Thanks Pat!

- Brian

[Marilyn]

Brian,

I think the hard part is waiting to heal before getting busy!  It is hard to hold me down these days.  I want to get back to normal again.  I was very active before the pain began and I'm looking forward to it again. 

I am so pleased with my results and hope you will ultimately be pleased too!  Just the arthritis pain being gone is a wonderful thing!  You are so young and will have plenty of time.  I have heard that the more time you give it in the beginning, the better your results will be for the long run.  I have tried to be careful, but I am not the most patient person in the world!

Hope things continue to go well for you.  Please keep me posted on your progress!

Take Care,
-Marilyn

[Pat Walter]

Hi Mcave

Glad to hear you are doing well.  Also always happy to hear about peoples surgeries with doctors we don't know about.  Sounds like Dr. Evans did a great job for you.

I hope your recovery contiues to go well and you will give us more updates as your life gets back to normal.

I will try to post your story on the main website when I get a chance.

Good Luck.

Pat