Part 1
I had my left hip resurfaced on Dec 4th 2023 by Dr. Benjamin Domb at the American Hip Institute in Chicago and I wanted to share my experience and recovery so far.
A little background information to start. I am a 56 year old male, large frame (code for overweight), active (weight lifting, swimming, rugby & football coach). I first noticed the pain in my hip in March of 2020 when I decided to get back to jogging. Before that time I had a little ache in the hip but nothing that hindered my everyday life. Running totally changed that equation and I was soon at the point where I could barely walk. Through anti-inflammatories, non-running movement, and some supplements I was able to lead a limping but tolerable life. I met with 2 different surgeons in my area (South Bend, IN) and they both said that I needed a THR. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having the head of my femur (good bone) removed so I put off doing anything drastic and lived with the pain. Things changed for me when a friend a former rugby opponent from a different city posted on Facebook his anniversary of having his hip resurfaced in India (my understanding is that at the time the surgery was not FDA approved). I had never heard of Hip Resurfacing so I started digging around to learn more about the procedure. Thank you to this website (Yay Surface Hippy!!!) and numerous videos on Youtube I learned and concluded that Hip Resurfacing is a superior surgery to THR. I checked with surgeons in my area and none perform the operation and all of them spoke negatively about it. I moved on and knew that I was going to have to travel if I wanted this procedure. I found Dr. Domb on an advertisement on this website and made an appointment in June of 2023.
Part 2 to follow
Thank You for sharing your story. I know many people will want to read it.
I wish you the very best and look forward to your future posts.
Pat
Thank you Pat and I am just sitting down to work on Part 2. Also, thank you for this wonderful website full of information! It truly was a Godsend for me.
Larry
Part 2
I had my first appointment on June 16th with Dr. Domb at his office by O'Hare airport in Chicago. We did x-rays and then a consultation with one of Dr. Domb's Fellows at the clinic. When speaking with the Fellow I asked if hip resurfacing would be an option for me with his response being that it was up to Dr. Domb. When I met with Dr. Domb he said that I would be a candidate to have the surgery. I was thrilled to hear that news and knew that I had made the correct decision to travel for my surgery. My first opportunity to have the surgery would be the middle of August but I put it off until December due to my job is in a school and our middle child was just beginning his senior football season. I had already lived with the daily pain for 3 years so I could wait a few more months.
I want to speak now about Dr. Domb and all of his staff. My previous encounters with my local surgeons were very negative from the standpoint of the arrogance and them basically telling me that i was stupid for even talking about Hip Resurfacing. Dr. Domb could not have been more opposite of my local surgeons: he is friendly, engaging, patient, and willing to answer all of my questions. Dr. Domb attended Princeton and played basketball under the legendary coach Pete Carril (Dr. Domb is about 6'7" tall). He attended medical school at John Hopkins and has traveled to different parts of the world as part of his education. I asked him when he first became interested in Hip Resurfacing and it was when he was in Switzerland studying. In short, Dr. Domb is a super nice guy and from what a can tell, a super-star surgeon.
In regards to the rest of the staff with whom I interacted: everyone from the receptionist to the PAs and the Fellows were incredibly friendly and helpful. Happy employees tell me that they enjoy working at their job and that they are led by good people. This observation reinforced my notion that I was at the right place for me.
Part 3 to follow.
Part 3
Before I left the doctor's office in June I set my pre-surgery appointment, my surgery date, and my post surgery appointment. Dr. Domb follows a pre & post surgery protocol as follows: one month prior to the surgery you begin taking an Iron pill every day along with 2 protein shakes per day; no alcohol or tobacco one month prior & three months following the surgery; finally, you follow what I think is a pretty typical regimen for the days right before the surgery with coating the inside of your nasal cavity with anti-microbial ointment and washing the surgical spot the night before and morning of the surgery with hibiclens.
It was at the pre-surgery appointment that I learned that Dr. Domb uses the anterior approach for his resurfacings and I won't lie, I was pretty excited about that from a recovery and post-surgery restrictions standpoint. I failed to ask this question at the first appointment as I just assumed, at that time, that this surgery was always done via the side or posterior approach. No matter the approach I was excited either way to start my journey to regain my normal life.
Dr. Domb also uses the Mako Robot for both his THR and his resurfacings. Utilizing this tool gave me confidence that the placement and angles of my BHR would be precise and lead to a better outcome.
Part 4 to follow