1 year bilateral with Dr. Gross

[Anthony J]

What a difference a year makes! Just got off the ice playing pond hockey in the neighborhood with another Dr. Gross patient (10 years ago he had a hip resurfacing) , one of the many reasons I chose to go to SC to have a resurfacing done.  Tom told me about this website, and the rest is history.  Back to the pond hockey, most importantly I scored 5 goals today.  No one really cares, but it was bitter sweet to me.  Last year Tom visited me after my surgery at my home in Freeport after playing pond hockey.  I had just returned home from SC after the 2 surgeries and could not envision that I would be playing pond hockey with him in a year.  I went down once when i hit a rough spot on the ice, landing on my right hip. Tom went down as well,  no problems with the falls, we both got right back up and played on.

Earlier in the week, I skied 3 days in a row at Sugarloaf, Thursday I swam 2000 yards, and played tennis. Before the pond hockey I ran 3 miles on the treadmill.  Friday was a rest day.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but it will be another activity probably more hockey. 

Before the hip surgeries, my activities were down to swimming.  Then I had to stop that for a while because I developed swimmers elbow. 
The only issues that I have now are other parts of my body. I started running again after the required 6 months of waiting. The running was going great until I pulled a calf muscle.  I was working my way back up on the milage and over did it a bit. I'm happy to say that the hips are no longer a limiting factor.  Today the calf muscle seems to be better after working on strengthening. I continue to get stronger every day, even after a year.  I feel so fortunate that I was able to get these hips done before COVID. 

I will say that this whole experience has been great, a few rough days the first week but so worth it.  For my rehab I used an interactive treadmill and studio bike.  I've developed an affection for a couple of Ifit trainers Tommy Rivers, and Gideon Akande. For any runners out there Tommy Rivers is the nicest person that you would ever meet.  He is currently battling a nasty cancer that would have killed anyone else.  Just google Run with Rivs if you are interested.  Just saying that with all of us being stuck at home this has been a great outlet for me, and perhaps others would benefit as well.  It is so hard to get to a gym these days.  Lots of great online trainers out there.

I could go on and on, but just wanted to share some of the highlights of my experience so far with HR.  I have no regrets at all, very pleased that i was able to get this done and behind me.  The hardest part of the whole process was waiting for the surgeries to happen.

All the best to everyone, this site provided so much guidance and motivation to get this done.

[MarvinB]

Congrats, Anthony J!  You’re an inspiration!!  I hope to get back to skiing, hopefully in some deep powder in Colorado.  Only been twice in my life in North Carolina, but had a blast!  Looking forward to ice skating again, too, but here in South Carolina, it will be on synthetic ice.  Still fun!   

[dannythebeerman]

Nice write up on your participation in full contact winter sport activities, one reason to pursue hip resurfacing.  Good to hear your hip is working great!

[Pat Walter]

Tony. Congratulations on your one year anniversary. Thanks for coming back and sharing your great story. I wish you the very best and look forward to more anniversary updates!
Pat

[Anthony J]

It certainly has been a game changer for me, happy to share my experience with it.  I'm glad that I didn't put it off for too long, my thinking was that the longer you put if off it's just harder to get back to where you want to be. My left hip bothered me the most, and I almost put off doing the right one.  The X-rays showed that both hips looked almost identical, so might as well get both done and move on.  At the time is seemed like 2 at once would be challenging, but the folks here helped me through that decision.  I'm glad that I did both, it condensed the recovery into one time period.