One month ago, I lay in Sinai Hospital in Baltimore recovering from bilateral hip resurfacing a la Dr. Michael Mont. I’m a 49 year old active married professional woman 2 kids from Philadelphia with severe osteoarthritis. Your website helped lead me to Dr Mont after failing to find a surgeon I trusted in the Philly area, notwithstanding all our fine orthopedic hospitals/doctors. The three prior surgeons I interviewed were all anxious to replace my young 49 year old hips and recommended against resurfacing, citing amorphous risks of metal ion contamination and osteoporosis fracture risks. I sensed they just didn’t want to do the surgery and wondered aloud what I would do if I needed a revision in 20 years? The women in my family live well into their nineties, so this is a legitimate concern for me. I had suffered from the arthritis for about three years and acted only when it became unbearable because I don’t like to be out of the game. But when I couldn’t ride my horse or my bike, coach soccer, walk my dogs, garden or go skiing with my family, it was time to get radical.

My initial appointment with Dr Mont was in July 2009, and he didn’t rush me at all, spent all the time I needed with me and seemed to actually care about me. I questioned if he was actually a surgeon since he also had a personality. He laughed. I scheduled surgery for January 2010, the soonest I could do it, and was essentially handicapped on a cane with 6 vicoden a day for pain before I headed in for surgery. I had each hip done, one week apart, and spent three days in the hospital each time. Immediately after the hospital, I went to Genesis at Brightwood, a skilled nursing center in the Baltimore county area, for rehab for a week before heading home. Four weeks out now, I am on a cane, twice a week outpatient PT (pain and torture) having graduated from a walker. My arthritic pain is totally gone, no medication needed and my incisions are healing well. The only issue I am having now is that the muscles down the front of my thighs are so tight from stooping over during the arthritis period, it seems to be taking forever to stretch back out so I can stand up straight. So I continue to work on my gait, and I go back to work in two weeks. I have a 5 week follow up appointment with Dr Mont in ten days so I’m hoping for a green light to my prior active life. No regrets about anything and I am so blessed by your website resource. I will continue updates as I progress.

Maggie