Tim’s Hip resurfacing, Dr. Boettner, Spartan OCR

[tohandley]

Today, 10-11-18
I had my right hip resurfaced by Dr. Boettner.
I’m a 53 year old male 6’2” 195lbs. 
I hadn’t seen much posted by people who run Obstacle Course Races OCR so I thought I’d share my experience
I consider myself in pretty good shape for my age.   5ks (sub 23), Basketball, triathlons, and OCR’s.

My hip has been cranky for the last 4 years or so.  Basketball in particular caused the most difficulty.  3 years ago I also ran a Tough Mudder which lead to a series of Spartan races at distances ranging from 4 to 17 miles. 
To train for those I hike, slow jog with a weighted vest for 6-10 miles which is probably when my hip said ‘no mas’  :)
I had heard of hip resurfacing but wasn’t sure if that was the best option. Thankfully I found this site and Dr. Boettner.   My plan was to visit a surgeon who did THR, one who did mostly resurfacing, and one who did both.    I started with the one who did both, Dr. Boettner about a year ago and was so impressed I chose him right away.  So here I lie in bed at HSS.   

When I first met Dr. Boettner he asked what I had tried so far to alleviate the pain.  Advil, vitamins, glucosamine, yoga and stretches hadn't had a lasting effect.  After examining me and seeing my x-rays, he suggested an injection as the first step.   Unfortunately, that didn’t provide any relief for me. He then suggested I was a very good candidate for resurfacingbass on my size, age and desired activity level.
I put it off for a while but every time I really pushed myself I ended up limping around for a week or so.  Basketball also became harder and harder to play and I started just skipping workouts.  So I finally decided to get it done. 

My lingering question was whether I was doing this too early.    I’ve been able to stay pretty active right up until the surgery.  I actually competed in a triathlon 4 days ago and a boot camp class the next morning so many of my fiends think I was crazy going through this now! 
My feeling though was it is only going to get worse.  I wanted to get ahead of it while the most frequent pain level is 2 of 10 instead of 8orn9’of 10.
Heres to Hoping I made a wise choice!

My surgery was at noon. 
I was able to walk on crutches including up and down the stairs by 6pm today.   So I seem to be off to a good start. 
I am a bit sore now and plan to really hold back to the conservative plan provided by the therapists even though I know that part won’t be easy for me.   

Thanks to Pat for putting this site together and for everyone who posts.    There’s such a wealth of invaluable information here. 
I plan to use this to track my progress to hopefully help others in a similar situation to mine.
Cheers,
Tim