BHR this upcoming August. My story

[Matt428]

Hi everyone. My names Matt and I'm brand new to this site. I'm a thirty year old police officer and I'm scheduled to get a BHR done by Dr Su at HSS this upcoming August and I'm super nervous.

 I've always been an active person. Surfing, snowboarding, hiking, and just being outdoors. I used to live in Colorado so it was pretty easy. In March 2011 I took a nasty spill snowboarding where I broke my right talus bone in my foot, my right patella and dislocated my right femoral head which fractured my acetabulum. So now I have screws and wiring in my knee, as well as a plate and screws in my right hip. My recovery time was around a year and I felt like I was back up to 80-90% of the person that I was prior to my accident (I don't think I will ever be 100% again). 

I then moved home to NY and became a PO. The academy kicked my ass and I honestly think that it was the demise of my hip. This was brutal training with running upwards of 11 miles at the end of it. 

Three years have gone by since the academy and I am really feeling it in my hip. It's always stiff. At times theres shooting pains and people tell me I'm limping a lot which has just become normal for me, to where I don't notice it anymore.  My aunt had bilateral THR and told me to go to her doctor and see what he said. I went to him and he told me I had severe osteoarthritis and could be a candidate for a THR, however my career would be over. He recommended that I go see Dr Su and get his opinion. Dr Su said I am a good candidate for BHR and that I could absolutely go back to being a police officer after full recovery.

I am just scared. I am reading all these stories about people that have gone through their career and opt to get this surgery at the latter end. I am just starting out and am scared that if I don't make a full recovery, I may need to choose a new career. Right now I am thinking my quality of life is more important than anything else.  I have to throw my sneaker at my foot and can barely tie my laces.  If anyone has any advice/words of wisdom/similar career path with a BHR, i would love to hear from you. Thanks so much.

[Quig]

Hey Matt. Welcome to the board...


First and foremost, I think we all have been scared about our hip issues. I'm having bilateral surgery in a month. I'm terrified. I'm also really looking forward to recovering and feeling tons better and having all kinds of fun with my new hips. I know it'll be tough during recovery but at least I'll be getting better not worse.


If you read up here you'll find many stories that represent something like what you're going through. There are a whole helluva lot of very, very happy hippies who are now leading very active (some EXTREMELY ACTIVE, ATHLETIC) lives with their new hips.


I happen to know two folks who have had bilateral resurfacing surgeries and one professional athlete who had a single surgery. The first is a very, very fit Triathlete and firefighter(who had his surgery done by Dr. Su) and the second did a half marathon recently. The last one is a professional MLB pitcher. In none of those cases would you have any clue they have aftermarket hips.


I won't tell you not to be scared but I will tell you that if you stick around here long you'll see that there is a helluva a good life waiting for you after hip replacement.

[gasyz]

Wow,this brings back memories.To say I was nervous is an understatement. I struggled with my decision about when to get my BHR for 2 years.There wasn't a night that went by without worrying,not about the operation but whether I would be able to get my normal active and slightly extreme pursuits.
I've just past my 6 months post op and couldn't be happier.I climbed Snowdon ( via crib coch) in snow and ice,done some red run mountainbiking days and just been messing about on my KTM 450,swinging my leg over and kick-starting it no problem.More importantly though I'm sleeping loads better without pain and can work longer hours.I restore classic vw campers for a living and am constantly crawling under them,climbing in them,carrying gearbox's and front beams etc all without issues.
It's natural to be anxious about having your hips done but please believe me your be so happy with your new pain free life.

[Ljpviper]

I am more nervous about the resurfacing than the scopes I had. I guess the metal components worry me. Also, I tried to watch the surgery on youtube, not for the faint of heart.
I am just looking forward to be pain free so trying to keep positive, 4 weeks away.
Nice kick starting a KTM 450 i traded my 4 wheelers for Polaris RZR, love off roading.
 
Larry

[blinky]

Hey, did you hear Tiago Splitter just went to Dr Su? Not clear what procedure he had done, but he does intend to return to pro ball, so take that as a reassuring data point.

[Saf57]

It appears that he had resurfacing, based on what I read. I played college basketball, and played regularly for at least ten years after my first resurfacing 13+ years ago, until my other hip prevented me from continuing. I'm now 6 months out of the resurfacing of that hip, and hope to resume playing basketball soon. If would be great if Splitter can come back to playing in the NBA.

[Matt428]

It appears that he had resurfacing, based on what I read. I played college basketball, and played regularly for at least ten years after my first resurfacing 13+ years ago, until my other hip prevented me from continuing. I'm now 6 months out of the resurfacing of that hip, and hope to resume playing basketball soon. If would be great if Splitter can come back to playing in the NBA.

13 years and it's holding up still?

[Matt428]

I am more nervous about the resurfacing than the scopes I had. I guess the metal components worry me. Also, I tried to watch the surgery on youtube, not for the faint of heart.
I am just looking forward to be pain free so trying to keep positive, 4 weeks away.
Nice kick starting a KTM 450 i traded my 4 wheelers for Polaris RZR, love off roading.
 
Larry

I watched the videos also and it freaked me out a bit.

[Matt428]

Hey Matt. Welcome to the board...


First and foremost, I think we all have been scared about our hip issues. I'm having bilateral surgery in a month. I'm terrified. I'm also really looking forward to recovering and feeling tons better and having all kinds of fun with my new hips. I know it'll be tough during recovery but at least I'll be getting better not worse.


If you read up here you'll find many stories that represent something like what you're going through. There are a whole helluva lot of very, very happy hippies who are now leading very active (some EXTREMELY ACTIVE, ATHLETIC) lives with their new hips.


I happen to know two folks who have had bilateral resurfacing surgeries and one professional athlete who had a single surgery. The first is a very, very fit Triathlete and firefighter(who had his surgery done by Dr. Su) and the second did a half marathon recently. The last one is a professional MLB pitcher. In none of those cases would you have any clue they have aftermarket hips.


I won't tell you not to be scared but I will tell you that if you stick around here long you'll see that there is a helluva a good life waiting for you after hip replacement.

Thanks. The positive outcomes of all these stories are great. Recovery will suck, but if done the extensive recovery before and I think I'm ready for that. Just wanna get the surgery done already

[Matt428]

Wow,this brings back memories.To say I was nervous is an understatement. I struggled with my decision about when to get my BHR for 2 years.There wasn't a night that went by without worrying,not about the operation but whether I would be able to get my normal active and slightly extreme pursuits.
I've just past my 6 months post op and couldn't be happier.I climbed Snowdon ( via crib coch) in snow and ice,done some red run mountainbiking days and just been messing about on my KTM 450,swinging my leg over and kick-starting it no problem.More importantly though I'm sleeping loads better without pain and can work longer hours.I restore classic vw campers for a living and am constantly crawling under them,climbing in them,carrying gearbox's and front beams etc all without issues.
It's natural to be anxious about having your hips done but please believe me your be so happy with your new pain free life.

Thanks. I'm excited to start hiking again with my dogs and not have to stop every 5 minutes in pain. Restoring VWs?  That's awesome. I wanted one so bad when I lived out west.

[gasyz]

 This will make you feel more positive about your future with new hips.I've just got home from 6 hours of hard and fast trail riding in north Wales,I've got aching shoulders and left hip but absolutely no pain whatsoever in my right BHR hip.I used to race at expert level in Moto x and enduro and was pushing fairly hard today and couldn't believe how my new hip felt or more to the point didn't feel.As soon as my left hip starts to get to painfull I'll have no worries getting it done.A big part of having a new hip is the mental game but let me assure you the only thing to worry about is having enough time to do all activities you want,when you've recovered.

[Saf57]

It appears that he had resurfacing, based on what I read. I played college basketball, and played regularly for at least ten years after my first resurfacing 13+ years ago, until my other hip prevented me from continuing. I'm now 6 months out of the resurfacing of that hip, and hope to resume playing basketball soon. If would be great if Splitter can come back to playing in the NBA.

13 years and it's holding up still?

Yes, still holding up quite well. I was part of the original clinical trials here in the US, and had my right hip resurfaced by Dr. Gross(using the Corin device) in January 2003.