Don't wait.  I had my surgery last April.  The pain was only present when I ran.  (I know, "don't run", right?).  Like you, I had no pain from walking or other daily activities.  But I knew it would not get better on its own and I didnt want to wait until it hurt to walk.  Besides running is very important to me.  I am so glad I had it done when I did.  Why? Recovery.  The better shape you are in before surgery, the better your recovery will go.  I actually trained for my surgery, as best I could, doing a lot of core work (situps, pushups, pullups, etc), upper body work, and as much cardio as my hip would let me do.

This helped me to regain full ROM at 3 months or so.  Today, 10 months out, I am running 20 miles a week, doing advanced Yoga (pidgeon, half moon), skiing, and doing P90X.

I have read anecdotally of people who have struggled with recovery and one theme (assuming the surgery was actually a success from an implant standpoint) is that many had hips that were in pretty bad shape just prior to surgery and so they were not as fit as they might have wanted to be before surgery. Recovery is not easy; this is major surgery.

Okay.  Tons of people have answered you in great detail.  Here's one more.

I was 44 when mine was done, and I am at one year now.

The day prior to surgery, I ran 4 miles.  However, two weeks prior to surgery I limped for a week and had trouble sleeping.  1.5 months prior to surgery, I couldn't make it through the grocery store I was in so much pain.  Suffice to say, it came and it went.

Like you, I had started to adopt a sedentary lifestyle.  I hated it.  I met Dr. Gross and Lee and was blown away by what they do, how they do it, and their confidence.

What I ended up doing is making an assumption that the device will last 20 years.  I'm hoping that it will be more, but let's just say it's 20 years.  Do I want to be sedentary at 45 or 65?  If I have to choose, I'll take 65, and have 20 more years of activity.  Who knows what ELSE will go wrong with the body in 20 years?  That perspective made it easy for me. 

I have ZERO regrets.  I can do just about anything now and NEVER think about the hip.  Just my back, knee, shoulder, etc.....

Good luck.  You can't do better that Dr. Gross.

Andy

Hello all,
Well as I write this post I am sitting in a hotel room in Houston after a full day of flying. The hip doesn't often bother me during days that I fly. I'm so busy and focused on other things that I just don't think about it. It sometimes bothers me after sitting on the cockpit for a couple hours, but mostly it is in the evening when I'm lying down trying to relax and get some sleep that it starts to  hurt. As I write this I am lying here feeling a 6 or 7 on the pain scale and I will probably lose a little sleep because of it. This has been the absolute toughest part of the decision for me. Bar none!!!

I am absolutely confident that HSR is the right way to go for me and Dr. Gross is the man for the job. It is tough to pull the trigger when I'm not limping around and using a crutch. I obviously can't wait until it gets that bad. Who would want to fly on an airplane when their pilot is limping on board with a crutch? But none the less it is tough to pull the trigger. I suspect I am still in a bit of denial over this whole thing. I've been blessed with good health most of my life and I never thought I'd be facing major surgery like this at such a young age. So no doubt I'm simply in denial about it finally being time to get it done.

I appreciate hearing from those of you that did not have a horrible hip before your surgery. I'm that way. I recently went on a hike with my family and had to carry my 2 year old for the second half (about two miles) along with an 20 lb pack. My hip hurt a but during the hike but not too bad. However, that night I was in pretty severe pain. I had to take extra ibuprofen to control it. I recently have started working out again to try and prepare for the surgery. The hip is complaining but the rest of my body needs the workout. I need to lose at least 20lbs and gain some strength. I am penciled in for the beginning of April and I want to be ready. I'll be honest, I am NOT looking forward to it. I don't fear surgical pain or recovery. It's the never being able to turn back form this move. I am hoping to be able to get to a place where I am actually looking forward to having the surgery and starting a new chapter in my life. I really want to find a way to use this as a jumping off point for better overall health for me.
I hope and pray that I can be at that place mentally when the time comes.

Bosox,

I, and many who've commented, understand completely.

What helped me most was the perspective that it will never get better on it's own.  Fixing it is inevitable.  The sooner it's fixed, the sooner you enjoy life.

I'm 1 year out, and back to everything.  I never think about the hip, and am back in as good of shape as I've been in the last 5 years. 

I'll cross my fingers for you....that you stay the course and don't delay.

By the way, there was a pilot for a major airline that had his surgery the same day as I did.  I know he was thrilled with his results, as am I.  Good luck!

Hello all,

Thanks again for all the great feedback.

So I have to admit that the when question is driving me absolutely NUTS!!! For the record, I'm scheduled for early April surgery. However, I've recently been working out a bit more in an effort to prepare for the recovery and the crazy thing is that my hip is feeling a bit better. I recently stopped taking my Celebrex because of some side effects I was having. I decided I didn't want to be taking that stuff anymore and I wanted to really see where my pain level was without any medication masking it. So far I can't say that I've noticed a big difference. So if you will, let me please indulge you with more questions.

How many of you out there had the surgery when your pain levels were not that bad? I know pain levels are very subjective and hard to measure from person to person but I would say that on average my pain levels are about a 4 out of 10. Occasionally it will be worse or better but lately it's been acting pretty good.

I actually went hiking with my family today. I had some pain but not that bad and as I sit here I expected to be in pain tonight and I'm not. It hurts in certain positions but not in all positions.

I recently started working out again to try to lose a few pounds and gain more strength in preparation for my surgery. Ironically the added working out has made my hip feel a bit better. (Although now my atrophied muscles are sore)

I'm not in denial about my condition. I am fully aware that the OA is there and it will only get worse with time. If I don't have the surgery now, I most certainly will need it in the future. The tough thing is that I keep hearing people describe how horrible their OA was before the surgery. I have to be honest, I'm just not that bad yet. To be honest, I wish it would either just miraculously heal or get so bad that I had no more doubts about getting it done. Maybe this seems silly to fret so much over the "when" question but this is not a zero risk procedure and it has a limited life span.

At what point is a pain free artificial hip better that an arthritic natural hip? I've talked with some folks that were quite cavalier with their decision to move ahead with surgery. I guess I'm just not that way. I'm very thankful that there is an option like HSR available to me but I also know its not a panacea. It's not a surgery of convenience, but necessity.

Scott,

You sound like I feel I did prior to making the commitment.

I don't know what to tell you beyond what I already have, except to say that you'll hit a point in pain when you decide you NEVER want that again.

For me, it was in the grocery store, shopping for Thanksgiving.  It hurt so bad, I had to sit down on a display endcap of - I think - canned peaches until the pain subsided.  Even though it felt better, on-and-off afterwards (including the four mile run the day before surgery), I knew what I never wanted to feel like again.

It sounds like you're not there just yet.  Your hip, and a great surgeon, will be there when you are.  At some point, you'll experience pain that will decide it for you, and then the decisionwill be easier.

With that said, I'm a year out and couldn't be happier.

Good luck.