My name is Kathleen & I wanted a chance to add my story to your site.

I am 39 years old & Dr. Mont performed left hip resurfacing on me on January 3rd 2008.

I had spent the last 25 years dealing with the progressively worsening effects of being hit by a car at the age of 14.

I had been told that a hip replacement would be necessary someday, but at age 39, was depressed to find myself in a large amount of daily pain after a day on my feet at work. My two children, ages 9 & 13 now had a Mom who could no longer play basketball, baseball, soccer or even take a long walk with them anymore. I was also having trouble climbing stairs & getting in & out of cars.

After a glowing recommendation from a former patient of Dr. Mont’s, I contacted his office & sent in my latest X-Rays for evaluation. Lo & behold, his WONDERFUL staff (Thank you Jill!) called soon with the news that Dr. Mont thought that joint resurfacing would significantly improve my quality of life.

Quite frankly I was terrified. Here was the moment I had been putting off for so long. Time to decide, suffer the pain & soldier on, or put myself in Dr. Mont’s hands & pray for the best outcome. Looking at my children, the decision was clear. They deserved a Mom who could play with them. They deserved a Mom who could continue to work & support them.

After truly excellent assistance in ensuring my insurance company’s cooperation, I scheduled an appointment, to be followed the next day by surgery if everything looked good. A friend drove me from Pennsylvania to Maryland to meet with Dr. Mont on Jan 2nd 2008. I had a left hip resurfacing done on Jan 3rd.

I cannot say enough good things about the professionalism & quality of care that I received pre-op, post-op & during my recovery. Absolutely first class all the way.

A word of advice, take all the pain meds they offer, there is no need to put yourself through unnecessary pain. I awoke with very little pain & the IV pain meds ensured that I was pain FREE during the next few days. In fact, the only problem that I had was that I took a LONG walk on my OWN (With a walker) on day 2 post-op and exhausted myself ! LOL!

On Jan 6th, I was headed home.

Dr. Mont’s staff had home health & physical therapy, in my town, all lined up & ready to check on me. I started PT the next day. It was frustrating at times, there were muscles that I had to rebuild & I had some weakness & atrophy on that side from not having used my left leg as much over the previous 25 years.
But I am a stubborn cuss and a working, divorced Mom, I wanted my independence back ASAP. I followed every instruction to a T and worked HARD at that therapy.

Left that walker in the dust in a few weeks & graduated to a cane. I was then able to drive a car again. Truly amazing. No pain in the hip. None. Zero!

My incision has healed beautifully. You have to look hard to even see it now.
(Massaged it with Vitamin E & Cocoa Butter twice daily after the staples were out)

I am back to work & in better shape than many of my colleges who complain about their knees, hips & feet often. No complaints here. I can schedule evening activities now. I don’t have to go directly to bed after work anymore!

Now here comes the best part – I played in the annual “parents vs. kids” soccer game in June & kicked some serious butt. And at my son’s Birthday party in July, I hit an in the park home run & FLEW around those bases. I am actually trying not to cry as I type this.

I thought those days were long gone for me. I was old before my time. Now I am literally dragging my fat old Labrador retriever home after a 3 mile walk each evening, after working a full day as a pediatric nurse. I have NO pain. I exercise daily to keep that leg strong. (Love my elliptical machine too, no impact on the joints, great workout!)

It’s a brand new life that you’ve given me Dr. Mont. Words are not adequate to express my profound gratitude. I hope that in some way, life rewards you for the miracles that you make happen.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Thrush