I am currently in the hospital one day after
having a BHR on my left hip. Three months ago I had the same
procedure on my right hip.
Hopefully I am now on my way to recovering some of the life I have
lost.

Less than five years ago I was playing professional basketball and
getting ready to make the transition to my new career as a fire
fighter. I was completely pain free, had no indications of any
pending health challenges and was excited to start another job
where
my physical conditioning was an asset. However, not long after
starting this new career I began to notice tightness in my hip
flexors and began to have a hard time squatting down. A trip to the
doctor confirmed pretty narrow joint spaces and some large
osteophytes forming. Surprisingly quickly I went from being able
to
go full out on the court and in the weight room six days a week, to
struggling to pick a paper up off the floor or tie up my shoe.

Not only was I forced to dramatically change my sporting and
health
habits, I found myself having a harder time to do my job properly.
Attacking the problem in the same way I did any deficiencies in
my
basketball game, I figured I just need to find the right treatment
or health practitioner to solve my problem. I was told that hip
resurfacing/replacement was a last resort and that I had to live
with
things as long as I could. I spent thousands of dollars going to
different physiotherapists, massage therapists, chiropractors,
acupuncture, active release technique, traditional Chinese
medicine, not to mention the yoga, stretching and specific
strength
training I tried. Although many of these things provided temporary
relief, none really changed the long-term course of hip degradation
I
was on. By the beginning of this year my X-rays indicated
moderately severe and severe arthritis on my two hips and any day
I
was off the pain killers did much to confirmed this.

Having access to the community of people who have gone through
similar issues on Surface Hippy really helped me make the decision
I
had been trying to avoid. Instead of constantly feeling “what is
wrong with me” or “it can’t be arthritis, I am too young”, I
started
to get connected with the idea that this just happens to some
people
and the solution is pretty good. There is light on the other side
of the tunnel. Mostly, the site gave me information based on first
hand accounts that I could use to evaluate what different doctors
were telling me.

I had more than one surgeon tell me that I should really go for a
hip replacement and it would irresponsible to have a hip
resurfacing. They told me the technology is still unproven, that
there are too many unknowns about metal on metal issues and that
there isn’t any proof that patients are able to be any more active
post resurfacing than they are post replacement.

Although this advice may turn out to be true if I am one of the
small percentage that has any reaction to the metal ions, I am
grateful to be able to hear real stories of people being very
active
after resurfacings. The chance I have to carry on an active
lifestyle at best, or just preserve more of my femur at least,
seemed to me to be worth any risks that these surgeons saw with
resurfacing.

I had my right hip resurfaced in January 2010 and am happy with
the
results so far. Now 3 1/2 months later I am just out of my second
operation and am optimistic about being fully on the road to
recovery.

Eric