October 8, 2015

I am 7 weeks out from surgery and it is just starting to hit me that my life is going to change soon – hopefully for the better. I read some of these stories how people got their lives back and are now doing things they have not done in years. I hope to be one of these people.

You only got one shot at a Hip Resurfacing. I could have got this done sooner and closer to where I live if I would have chose a different DR. I chose DR Gross because of his experience and passion for this procedure. I feel I made the best decision for a positive outcome and have no second thoughts. I would not choose a DR who has only done 200 procedures. This site has provided a list of DR’s from all over the country/world who have done over a 1000 of these procedures. I am not sure why you would choose DR with so little experience. I know that some people are limited based on insurance. I would not choose a DR to do this procedure out of convenience. We are talking about a life changing procedure. I would travel anywhere in the US to the DR I felt was the best and wait as long as needed to get an appointment. I want to run again. Everything I have read has told me to choose a DR with experience – If things don’t go the way I hoped I still have no regrets.

December 8, 2015

I had my surgery 11/25/15, and everything is going well. Tomorrow will be two weeks and I am off crutches. I walk for 10 minutes up and down the block twice a day. The focus in the early stages of recovery for me is just letting the bone heal. I do my exercises, take medications, and move around enough to make sure I do not get a blood clot and try not to break any of the restrictions.

After my surgery I made my 6 week follow up appointment with DR Gross in SC where he will do another XRAY. We discussed where I need to be at the 6 week point – I should be able to walk between a mile and a mile and half with only a slight limp, no swelling, with little or no pain. If everything goes well then we will map out what I should be doing for the next 20 weeks. The biggest challenge for me over the next 4 weeks is going to be restraining myself from doing more than what is being asked.

My surgery with DR Gross was the same as many have already detailed – nothing new to add. What I can say is that his process for hip resurfacing is a well oiled machine. I was his fourth hip resurfacing of the day. From the pharmacy, hotel, and hospital they all know DR Gross and have nothing but great things to say about him – definitely makes you feel that you made a good decision. The hospital is an Orthopedic hospital and I think there were only 24 beds. All the staff are familiar with this procedure and know exactly what needs to be done. The care was excellent.

My recovery has not required a lot of Ice. I had surgery on Wednesday and you wake up with the Ice pack on you already. I iced on Thursday and Friday before my drive home. When I got home I realized that I left the power supply for my ice machine at the hotel. I had developed a little swelling above my knee on Sunday so I just filled some bags with ice and iced it down on and off for a few hours and the swelling was pretty much gone the next day. Since the pain and swelling were minimum I did not see a reason to keep icing my hip. 

December 14, 2015

I am 2 1/2 weeks out from surgery with Dr Gross and I am feeling really good. I would recommend just taking it easy the first couple of weeks. Take the pills, do the exercises, and don’t break any of the restrictions. Move around enough where you are not at risk of getting a blood clot and get as much rest as you can.

I waited 3 days to drive the 8 hours home to Tampa. I was struggling at the end of the drive due to a headache. The only thing that helped was laying my seat all the way down – don’t know how safe that is. The first 10 days I was getting headaches but no real hip pain. If it was not for the headaches this would have been real easy.

December 23, 2015

I am 4 weeks post op with Dr. Gross and I am very pleased with my progress. I am in very little pain and I am now off all medications. I walk about 7/10 of a mile once in the morning with no cane or crutches.  I feel like my limp is barely noticeable but I have not seen myself walk so can’t say for certain. I do feel some pain in the first few steps when I get up in the morning or if I have been sitting for a while. 

I am very careful not to over do things. At this early stage I do not want any setbacks because I am trying to do to much. I do my walk in the morning and I try to pace myself the rest of the day. As the weeks pass and I feel better I am on my feet more and I want to make sure I don’t over due things with daily activity. Today I am going to skip my walk since I am going to do some shopping for xmas. I have gone to Home Depot and Lowes in the past and grabbed a cart and just walked the store. The cart acts as a walker and you can really focus on walking without a limp.

Like most people getting this procedure done I was once very active and would like to get back to that point again. The hardest part for me now is patience – I have to let the bone heal. The time will come for me to push my rehab but not now. I meet with Dr Gross in two weeks and will talk about what I should be doing until the 6 month mark.

January 18, 2016

I just got back from SC for my 6 week follow up and all is good. The first thing we did was take some X-Rays and this was one of the reasons I wanted to do the 7 1/2 hour drive. Trying to get this  done in my local area prior to my surgery was a real pain. It just took a few minutes at their office.

After the X-Rays I met with Lee Webb who talked with me about how I was doing and had me go through all the phase 2 exercises. I am now in Phase 2.  We went over what I could now do and what things I still cannot do until the 6 month mark. It was also stressed that my increase in activity should be gradual – she did say I was doing phenomenal. I do feel really good – more like my old self.

I met with DR Gross and we looked at the X-Rays and everything looks good. We discussed some of the same issues I went over with Lee as well as answering any questions I had. The last thing we did was go over the game plan for the next 4 1/2 months. I am glad I went back to SC – they got this down to a science. DR Gross and his staff are awesome – could not be happier with my decision.

February 2, 2016

It will be 10 weeks post op Wednesday. I walked 3.5 miles yesterday morning and another 2 miles at night. I feel good today and I am about to walk 3 miles and if I have time go to the gym and work a little upper body. I am beginning to feel like my old self.

It has been about 10 years since I have been able to walk or run 5.5 miles in a single day. My walking is doing really good – walking up a steep incline and up stairs is the only time you would be able to notice I had surgery. I live within a mile of a hospital with 7 flights of stairs. I will probably give it another two weeks then I will start going over there and work the stairs. Other than that I am just going to keep walking until I get in the pool in March.

March 3, 2016

I walked a lot in February – I was averaging over 30 miles in walks a week for the last 3 weeks. Kind of getting bored with it, takes quite a bit of time to do this. I switched it up over the weekend and started walking on the treadmill at a steep incline for 20 min – level 10. This forces me to pick my leg up and use those muscles more. The first two times I did it I was a little sore the next day, so I took the following day off from everything. This has been the only time I have had any real soreness. I was not worried because my non operated side was also a little sore. After a day of rest I felt good. I am getting ready to do it again today. I was going to work flights of stairs in February but I will hold off on that for another month.

I am hoping the temperature warms up so I can get in the pool. Both of the pools I swim in are outside and not heated. I live in Florida.

I also got a little ahead of myself and found a 5k race 11/1 that I am planning on running in. It is in Daytona and is on the beach – you run out half way and back all on the beach. I have my 1 year meeting with DR Gross in November. If all goes well I will give him the T-Shirt. He said he was not sure I would be able to run a 5k – I will run a 5k.

May 18, 2016

I am a week out before I start running. I have all my boxes checked and feel ready to go. Since the middle of March I went against what I would normally do and dialed things down. There was no particular reason other than I was walking over 30 miles a week and I thought it was over kill. I feel I got my legs where they need to be to start running. I developed a routine where the first thing I do (after a first cup of coffee) when I get up is some stretching, work on core and a few exercises like pushups or a little bit of weights (dumb bells). The main focus is on my core and stretching. I give myself a half hour before work and on weekends to do this. After work I walk or swim most days – some days I just relax. My walks are more like 10-15 miles a week now.

I changed my focus at this point to my weight. I feel the best way to get the most out of the surgery and all the work I have put in so far was to focus on my continued weight loss. I have been staying steady at 190Lbs for about 6 weeks. I have not been at this weight since the early to mid 90’s. I always thought 200Lbs was a good weight for me but with this return to running I am going to shed those extra pounds.

The 6 month wait is almost over and it was a good 6 months. I can now walk as far as I want pain free. I could not walk a half mile before the surgery without breaks and being in pain. I also can now swing a golf club pain free – I have not been golfing just went to the range a few times and hit some balls. Everyday things like going to the store, chores around the house etc… are now pain free. This also gives you a more positive outlook on life. I enjoyed these past 6 months and now I am looking forward to the next phase.

May 25, 2016

I ran on grass. I ran for 3 min and walked 2 min – I did this 3 times. It felt great to actually run without my hip hurting. My legs are in terrible shape though and I will need to take it slow and steady. I am in no pain today. I will run again tomorrow.

About time and discipline. My last pain free run was over 10 years ago. 10 years is a long #$%# time. My kids are grown and I am sure that makes a difference. Other than that I work 50 hours a week – outside of work  and family – I made my return to running my top priority.

July 17, 2016

I Just completed 7 one half mile runs and a couple of 100 yard wind sprints.  After each half mile I take about a 2 to 3 minute walk. I am really just focusing on my form and I feel it helps running a shorter distance so I can maintain a good pace. The wind sprints were not even at a full run yet but I do see some real improvement. All my running so far has been on grass. Feel great – can’t believe how far I have come since this time last year.

I am hoping to be able to do the 5k distance without stopping in about a month.