Just wanted to thank the organizers of this discussion group and contribute my own success story. After 3 years of increasingly excruciating left-hip pain (after years of basketball, running and skiing, not to mention a family predilection of osteoarthritis), I finally got the diagnosis. I’m glad I waited as long as I did. I learned about hip resurfacing and actually found a surgeon who was a 25-year veteran of THR but who had jumped on the Birmingham hip bandwagon. He’s one of the few in the Portland, Oregon area doing the procedure, and in fact I was no. 15 for him.

I’m 53 years old, and in reasonably good physical shape. In other words, a good candidate. Had my surgery on Sept. 17, 2007. Despite some minor notching, and an ugly bout with a blood clot 4 weeks post-surgery, I’m now walking 3 miles a day (and have been since a week before New Year’s Day). Except for the embolic episode (and yeah, I’m on coumadin until March ’08), everything went according to plan. Surgery on a Monday, up and around a bit on Tuesday, home on Thursday. Used a walker for 3-4 weeks, then crutches, then one crutch. By Thanksgiving ’07, I was doing a lot of stuff unaided. At the 12-week point, I was cleared for 100-percent weight-bearing. Never used a cane, just went straight to walking (and a wee bit of soft jogging) and haven’t looked back.

I’m absolutely thrilled with the outcome. Skiing may yet come back into my life.

Thanks.

Don in Oregon