Triathlete After Surgery?

[b_claridge]

I am an Ironman triathlete diagnosed 2 years ago with osteoarthritis in my hip.  I am considering hip-resurfacing and would like to discuss this with other triathletes/marathoners.  Anyone out there?

Thanks,
Bill

[Pat Walter]

Hi Bill

I have a handful of stories from other Triathletes and marathon runners here
http://www.surfacehippy.info/athletes.php

Most of the really active ones have gone to Dr. Bose in India.  Cory Foulk is very active. He is very busy, but I can see if he will talk with you via email.  He is at a big Orthopedic conference right now. 

Vicky which is a friend of mine went to Dr. Bose also and knows Cory quite well. She is with him at the conference now too.  She would be willing to talk with you. She knows a whole lot about the athletes and what they have been able to do.

If you can be patient, I will have her talk with you next week when she gets back.

I don't think you will find too many Ironman posters on my discission group and there are not actually many on the Yahoo group either. They are so busy with their lives and their sport that they don't take much time to post.

Let me know if I can send any other info your way.  I will try to remember to tell Vicky to contact you.

Pat in Ohio

[b_claridge]

Hi Pat - thank-you so much for your reply.  As you can probably imagine, finding a possible fix to my hip is very encouraging   I hope that it can allow me to get back to what has become a passion.   I look forward to speaking to Vicky and Cory.  In the interim, I would be very interested to get any information that you can provide with regard to running on a resurfaced hip.

Thanks,
Bill

[Pat Walter]

Hi Bill

I am 63 and am not a runner.  I had my hip done when I was 61 and was on one crutch at 4 days and no crutches at 4 weeks.  I was walking about 1 mile a day 10 days post op on one crutch.  I use to be very active in sports, but the last 10 years with a bad hip kept me pretty much in a chair.

So I have no experience with running or even being very active for almost 10 years.  I can say that there are many that are very active and that is why I posted the athletes stories on my website.

Other than that, the only advice I can give is to be sure to talk to your doctor about what you want to do.. I will say that the US doctor are much more conservative in their approach to post op recovery and letting you be very active in sports.  You need to be very specific with the surgeon you choose and ask lots of questions. Here is a list to get you started  http://www.surfacehippy.info/questionsfordoctor.php

If you use a doctor that doesn't want you to run or won't answer your questions, move on to find a really expereinced doctor.  Experience is very important in hip resurfacing since it is a much more difficult surgery technically than a THR. Because a surgeon has done a lot of THRs, means nothing when it comes to placing the Hip Resurfacing device.  All angles, etc must be correct.  At this point this the limited instrumentation - it is almost as much an art as a skill.  Use an very experienced doctor if you want to be back to running.

Pat

[b_claridge]

Hi Pat - thanks again for the update and advice.  I appreciate your input and am glad that you are doing well.  I would also look forward to speaking to Vicky and Cory when they have some time.

Regards,
Bill

[Pat Walter]

Vicky just got back from the ortho conference and hopefully, she and Cory will have time in the next few days to talk with you.  Just give them a day or so.

Vicky meet all the greats in Hip Resurfacing like McMinn, Treacy, Bose - on and one at the conference.  I will have much info posted in a few weeks.  It will be a great help to people learning about hip resurfacing.

We will be back to you soon.

Pat

[b_claridge]

It's great to have such a good network of people and experiences to draw on.  I appreciate you putting this website together.  It's an excellent resource!

Thanks again,
Bill