3 Year Anniversary – Dan’s Bilateral Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Gross 2019
3 Year Update
January 4, 2022
I’m coming up on my 3-year anniversary of Bilat resurfacing with Dr. Gross.
Nothing short of amazing. Playing Hockey a couple times a week, skiing, hiking, kayaking CL5. Now it’s just other parts of the body that ache :-). Did the Presidential traverse in NH last summer.
Cat skiing planned for next month in BC.
Thanks to everyone here for inspiration! and Thanks to Dr. Gross and his amazing team.
Dan’s Original Story
Feb. 17, 2019
I am 3 weeks post op with Dr. Gross and doing well. I know exactly how you feel.
For my case, about 5 years ago i was running 20 miles a week, a marathon a year, playing hockey, skiing, hiking, etc. I had pain in my right hip and went to the ortho. They told me i would be a candidate for a hip replacement and i was pretty shocked and frankly did not believe it. 2-3 years ago it started getting worse and about 2 years ago I had to stop running and playing hockey. I could still play but it was not enjoyable and i was generally really sore for a few days. Over the past 18 months I have been able to be somewhat active but hips were definitely impacting things I liked to do. I could ski but i like to telemark ski and I could barely bend enough to snap into bindings. Got to the point where I would ask my ski partners to snap on my ski. Putting on snowshoes was another struggle. THis past summer doing simple stuff like mowing the lawn on a riding mower, It was painful to raise my leg to press brakes when sitting on the mower. After much research, I decided it was not worth waiting it out until I could not do much of anything. I went to see a few surgeons and they all were directing me to THR. I visited Dr. Gross and was pleased with his approach so decided to go the resurfacing route. I am still really early in recovery but i can already see improvement in hip kinematics. I have zero pain in the hip joint. In fact, I have very litttle pain overall – legs are just weak.
I have to say i had a lot of apprehension leading up to the surgery and even post-poned int once due to life conflicts. So far I am very optimistic about the outcome and motived by others on this forum who provide guidance and their experience. I know the next 5 months will take work and rehab but i am confident in the outcome.
March 11, 2019
I am 6 weeks post op with Dr. Gross. I have been following his phase 1 routine closely. Now I am moving onto his phase 2 exercises. Things appear to be going very well. I am walking more than 1.5 miles per day and swimming every other day. I don’t really have much pain, mostly just stiffness after I have been sitting for periods of time. Still a bit of a challenge getting up off the floor.
My question is about formal PT. know Dr. Gross does not advocate it, but I would like to do both formal PT and his plan. I feel there is more stretching/strengthening that could be done that does not compromise any of the restrictions. I think PT could be used to complement his guidelines. I have a follow up with him in 2 weeks and will be asking if he would endorse this.
At week 3 I walked about 1/4 mile without crutches. That was certainly tentative, slow and did not feel normal but felt good to be able to do it without crutches. At week 4 I was able to walk about a mile without crutches. At 4 weeks, I could also walk around the house and it felt pretty normal. I live in the northeast so this was all inside as we had a snowy winter and I could not walk outside. Between week 4-6 I would say walking started feeling more normal and I was able to walk a 1-2 mile at week 6 without crutches. This past week I have been walking about 3-4 miles per day. Walking has definitely felt pretty normal between for the past 2 weeks. I am still somewhat stiff if I have been sitting for a while. Once I get walking it feels normal.
September 6, 2019
I had BiLat Hip resurfacing with Dr. Gross in early Feb, 2019. Recovery has been a steady progression and improvement, with occasional setbacks. I am back in the gym almost everyday now. This past weekend I was on a challenging hike, mountain biked and whitewater kayaked. Today marked getting back into hockey! All of this has been through gradual progression through rehab. This group has been instrumental in my decision to go with HR and help through the process. At this point, I am very pleased with the results. I still see improvement week to week and hope that continues as it has for others through 12-18 months. I found a very good PT person and Dr. Gross approved PT as long as I adhered to his guidance around progression and restrictions. For me, I found the PT to be very important in the recovery. I am still rehabbing but at 6 months definitely feel like I’ve turned a corner. I was an active runner before surgery and still contemplating that. At this point, I feel so much better and I’ve found other activities and ways to stay fit that I don’t really miss running.
Dr. Gross and his team are amazing – I am so thankful for his skill and this community (Thanks Pat!) of people that believe in this approach. Thanks to several of you who helped me directly.
Jan 20, 2020
Greetings from NH. I am at my 1 year anniversary with Bilateral procedure with Dr. Gross. It’s hard to believe how fast a year went by. I am back to all pre-surgery activities (Hockey, Skiing, Whitewater kayaking, hiking, walking, biking, gym every day, etc). I have not done much running but I don’t really miss it much. Swimming has been great and I picked that up during the recovery process. I feel I am still improving in both strength and flexibility. There is still some discomfort in the hip flexor area with aggressive knee-hugs and crossing legs. Seem to be gradually improving. More of discomfort that pain. I am very happy with the progress and thankful for the expertise of Dr. Gross and the team. Next week I’m heading off to Revelstoke, Red MT, and Cat Skiing. I would have never been able to do that a year ago. Thanks to many on this site for encouragement and input. It was instrumental in my decision to go this path and also very helpful with recovery and rehab.