Bi-lateral, Dr. Kusuma, 1 year!

[Lizzie43]

My name is Liz and I am a healthy and active 43 year old. As I write this, I still can't believe I have had bi-lateral hip resurfacing!. I just had my one year check up and I feel like I got my life back!

I had a BHR on my left hip in October of 2011 and a BHR on my right hip 7 months later in May of 2012.

I started having hip pain in my early 30's after I had my daughters. I was a competitive swimmer in high school and college, but never had an injury. I tried several Doctors and treatments but the pain always came back with a vengeance.

When I was 39 I saw a new Doctor, an Orthopedic surgeon, who is also a friend of ours. I was diagnosed with a labrum tear and had surgery to repair it. I will never forget when my Doctor said that the surgery went great BUT....I had arthritis, bone on bone up in the joint and eventually I would need a hip replacement. He even showed me the pictures of my hip joint, but still I was shocked!

Almost exactly a year later I knew it was time. The pain was miserable, I was miserable, and my friends and family were teasing me about limping all the time.

My Doctor here in Springfield referred me to Dr. Kusuma because he thought I would be a candidate for resurfacing instead of a total hip replacement. I went to see Dr. Kusuma in Columbus and was immediately comfortable. He explained everything to me and scheduled the surgery at the Bone and Joint Center at Grant Hospital in Downtown Columbus. Everything about my surgery went exactly as it was supposed to. I can't say enough great things about Dr. Kusuma, the other Doctors and nurses and all of the staff at Grant.

As I was doing PT here in Springfield, I noticed new pain in my other hip. On my 6 month check up with Dr. Kusuma we discovered I had new significant cartilage loss in my right hip. The decision to fix this hip was an easy one and I was not about to waste any time suffering! A month later I had a BHR on my right hip. I had the same great results and experience as the first time.

When I say I got my life back, I'm totally serious! In the year since my last surgery I have been to Disney, the Bahamas and I even went skiing again! What I am most grateful for are the day to to day things like going to my kids track meets and swim meets and walking the dog! I have no restrictions and no pain so I can do whatever I want! Oh, do I have plans........

[kate71]

Hi Lizzie
Great to hear how well your HRs have gone - its very inspirational to hear your story and from someone around the same age as me.  My kids are 2 & 8 and I was really struggling to keep up with them! now nearly 3 weeks after HR on right hip and looking forward, hopefully, to being like you! No pain is almost imaginary to me I think after all this time! thanks for posting your story :-)

[Lizzie43]

Kate,
Good luck to you. It's amazing when the pain is gone! My kids are 13 and 15 now. I really felt like I was missing out on things with them and they (and my husband) were my biggest motivation to do something about it. I feel really lucky that the problem I had was able to be fixed. I only wish I had done it 5 years earlier!

[hernanu]

Great story liz!

Your doctor really did you a solid by referring you to Dr. Kusuma. Everything you describe is how I felt, I can only tell you that for me it got better with each passing month. I'm almost three years out and feeling excellent.

I agree that it's almost as great a relief to the ones you love.

Congrats on the anniversary!

[Pat Walter]

Hi Liz

Welcome to Hip Talk.  Great to hear how well your bilateral BHRs went with Dr. Kusuma.  It is so important for new perspective patients to read the personal recovery stories.

I have your story posted here with the other Dr. Kusuma stories

http://surfacehippy.info/hipresurfacing/stories/dr-kusuma

http://surfacehippy.info/hipresurfacing/stories/dr-kusuma/311-liz-bilateral-hip-resurfacing-dr-kusuma-2012

I try to post the stories from here on the discussion group to the main website categorized by Surgeon to help new people learn about patients from specific surgeons.  There are hundreds and hundreds of stories, but I work on them a few at a time to try to get them on the main website, too.

Good Luck.  If you remember, drop us another note on your next anniversary.

Pat