Seeking advice

[Waterman1]

I am brand new to this board, with a THR on left hip performed on April 7, 2014. I am off the walker, healing nicely. Now that my left hip feels great, and I submitted to the fact that my left hip femoral head was too far gone for resurfacing, I am limping with right hip pain nearly as bad as the left hip before surgery. An xray last week reveals advanced arthritis in the right hip, and the surgeon says THR is needed and scheduled surgery for June 9.

I am an active 59 yr. old. Ex-pro baseball player. Jogged for years. Not overweight. Today I am a Coast Guard Captain and passionate free diver. I cannot imagine the limitations I may be facing with two THR. I am looking for advice and experience from those of you here today. If I have one hip THR, can you have the other hip resurfaced? Are there problems if both hips are not the same surgery? PLease advise...

[Dannywayoflife]

There's plenty of hybrid hippies out there mate. All depends on what's clinically appropriate in your case

[Tim Bratten]

I have the left side THR and the right hip HR and it works just fine. My only advice is if you're gonna try for HR make sure you go to a specialist in that kind of surgery.
Cheers
Tim

[Miguelito]

It's a good question you ask, and one that occurred to me before my second hip surgery, when I briefly considered a BHR to go along with the different HR device already installed. But no, from everything I have read, having one THR and one HR is not problematic.

Good luck,

Mike

[PaulC UK]

As a hybrid, lh BHR 07, RH THR Oct 13, I would say at this range it doesn't feel as if I have two very different hips, though implant wise I do. For me I would note that I felt it was much easier to recover from THR. But my surgeon did struggle to say the least to dislocate my hip for BHR, his finger prints were on my left knee bruises for weeks! In sum I don't think it matters, some will fight for keeping bone, but my results so far indicate little difference in performance etc.

[Waterman1]

Hello All and thanks so much for any input you have. Today, I received my second opinion on resurfacing my right hip. Please remember I just had THR on April 7 and my non surgical hip is killing me. The surgeon I have found in Florida seems to be highly recommended and I found his name on this board. He looked over the xray and finally said he could give me the HR and it will be done anterior - this he said would be less trauma than the posterior THR I just had in June.

Of course I value the experience found on this board before I believe every word of the surgeon. Please give me your opinion from any experience you have with both anterior surgery vs. posterior surgery, and any risks from having one hip resurfaced and one hip THR. It is great to have a resource like this. Thank you...

[Waterman1]

I might add the surgeon chosen is Dr. Raterman, Tampa. Anyone have experience with this surgeon, please?

[HowieF-16]

I had a right hip BHR with Dr Raterman in Jan 14. My diary is posted on this website. There are also comments about Dr Raterman on the hip talk blogs under Florida Doctors. My experience with Dr Raterman was very positive. Good luck and message me via the blog if you have any questions.1

[PaulC UK]

Hi waterman, now 7 months in with left HR (07) Rht THR, can see no risks, feel no risks! Walking 3 miles plus a day, plus played first game of cricket (look up on web weird limey game!) in 25 years last weekend, with no ill effects. Now able to motorcycle pain free too, first time in years! If happy with surgeons etc go for it, good luck. PC

[Waterman1]

Man, this is all feeding the positive I seek so badly. I have dislocation risks with the LTHR. IF I can receive the BHR, I understand there is little dislocation risk. With two hip implants, it would be a relief to have one BHR, it seems the smart thing to do. Right now, I have a modular, Cobalt metal implant and I have talked to several who would opt for solid stem, ceramic implant on my second hip. Any advice on this, please...

[Tim Bratten]

The system De Smet uses for THR is a modular ceramic on ceramic system with large heads (40 mm diameters or larger). He is very happy with the outcomes he is getting and there is little chance of dislocation. I can testify that it works quite well for my athletic needs (I am a very active rock climber) though maybe if you want to be a hard core triathlete or marathon runner, HR might be the better bet.

The HR I have is also working quite well so far (almost 4 months), but it's too early to say that it serves better than the THR. I think that the most important reason to consider HR is ease of revision if the need arises: in my case the revision of my botched HR was supposedly "complicated" yet I recovered as well or better than many people do from their first hip implant.

Cheers
Tim   

[Sandspinner]

I am an active 59 year old former competitive runner.  I no longer run but I cycle and kayak regularly. I had my right BHR in 2/08 and my left BHR 1/14.  They feel perfectly fine and normal.  I would not hesitate to do it again.  Good luck with your decision.  Tony