I finished Ironman 6 months after getting my BHR
At 32 I got the crushing news that my left hip had advanced AVN. I had wrestled
from the age of 13 until I was 28 including coaching a high school team. I moved
to triathlon to find something new, did several Half Iron distances as well as
Ironman Arizona in April 2006 with hip pain. After my last Ironman I ran a stand
alone 1:50 half marathon with severe pain and with in two months was not able to
finish a 5K A month later I was told I had AVN, a very sad day.
I had heard about Floyd Landis and his hip and checked out the Birmingham Hip
Resurface based on his website. I selected my Dr based on location and the Smith
Nephew website. I selected Dr. Jay Mabry, chief of orthopedics at Baylor
University Medical Center.
I decide to have my surgery on the exact 1 year anniversary of Ironman Arizona
(April 6 2007), which seemed to me like an equal task to undertake. I had
already signed up for Ironman Florida which was scheduled for November 2007 and
made it a point to tell the entire surgical team pre-opt to ‘get this one right
so I can be iron again’
My post-op was uncomfortable, I was out of bed the next day and it hurt like
crazy. Though I was going to be sick it hurt so badly. I have dealt with pain in
my past but this was just not the same. I stayed in the hospital for 4 days and
was moving pretty slow when I opted to head home and was only able to make it
with the assistance my girlfriend, what a god-send she was. Walker and then
crutches were to be my prison for the next two months… I don’t think so.
4/6 was the surgery, 4/19 I got my staples out of the wound and was begging to
bike and swim… starting slowly at first. I got a limited ok from my Doctor and I
was on the stationary biking 3 days later, but only for 15 min and I was
gyrating all over the seat trying to keep to my 90 degree no bend rule. Swimming
was a trick also because I was not able to bear any weight on my leg and had to
crutch to the pool side, I used towels on the ground to keep from slipping on
the deck and required help getting out.
5/17 I was cleared to walk with no assistance putting weight on my repaired leg
so naturally on 5/18 I did my first outside ride of 15 miles! How wonderful! I
adjusted my road bike with the help of my local bike shop to as comfortable
position, being as upright as possible. The next day I rallied the troops (my
riding buddies) and they took pity on me, lots of drafting and a slow pace but
50 miles later I was wonderfully hurting.
8/5 Sprint Triathlon – Preparing with lots of walking got me to 8/5, which was
my first opportunity to really try out the new hip at River Cities Triathlon in
Shreveport. Again with clearance to swim, bike and run I garnered 1:45 100’s,
21.2 mph bike for 18 miles and the slowest 5k run ever of 36:40 but I was the
happiest finisher in the event, not a walk but a run. I was racing again.
9/22 Half Ironman – Fast progress over the next few months with lots of
run/walking and long bikes, 6 rides over 100 miles and I was ready for a Half
Ironman – 1.2 mile swim – 46:32 56 mile bike – 2hours :50min (19.8 average)
13.1 mile run – 3:22 run (15 min mile) – not a bad–and the new hip feels great. – we are a go for Ironman FL
11/3 – Ironman Florida –2.4 swim 1:07– 112 mile bike 5:45 (19.5 average) 7:44
marathon (17:45 min miles) – no hip issues at all and I am a happy guy. Must
have had over 1000 people, participants and spectators walk beside me and quiz
me about my shirt and hip.
11/18 – 9:57 min miles on a 15K that’s a new hip PR – every day is faster than
yesterday.
Below is my Pos-Op Training log for Ironman Florida – Good luck
Michael Montgomery
Hip resurfacing helped triathlete compete again
The patient before: Michael Montgomery, 33 years old, of Trophy Club was a
31-year-old Ironman triathlete.
For more than three years, triathlons offered him some semblance of normalcy.
Most of his life revolved around a stressful job in which he traveled the
country as a business-applications consultant.
That is, until he began having intolerable hip pain after the 2006 Ironman
Arizona. In four months, he went from finishing a marathon to being unable to
run a 5K.
An old hip injury from his college wrestling days probably caused avascular
necrosis, a condition following the loss of blood supply that resulted in his
hip tissue dying and the bone collapsing.
Initially, Mr. Montgomery thought total hip replacement was his only choice and
that he would never run again. Through research, he learned that cyclist Floyd
Landis of Tour de France fame had a similar diagnosis and had undergone a newly
approved option using the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System.
Dr. Jay Mabrey, chief of orthopedics at Baylor University Medical Center at
Dallas, had just become certified to use the device. He had chaired the Food and
Drug Administration Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Devices Panel, which approved
the implant in May 2006.
It’s riskier than total replacement and appropriate only for young, active
patients.
The patient now: Six months after the procedure, he completed the April 2007 Ironman Arizona.
What is it? The Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System preserves more bone than total
hip replacement. It’s similar to a tooth cap. Doctors shave and cap a few
centimeters of the bone within the joint with a metal implant rather than
replacing the entire joint.
Why he chose it: Mr. Montgomery wanted to resume running. A total hip
replacement device can’t withstand the impact of running.
What you need to know: The Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System has a higher
failure rate than total hip replacement. Total hip replacement makes sense for
most people who are content to do low-impact activities.
Collapsing bone threatened to sideline triathlete Michael
Montgomery (left),
but a hip resurfacing procedure returned him to competition.
He and
Dr. Jay Mabrey examine his X-rays.
December 2008 Update
What’s been up with me lately:
July 2009 Update
Latest update on my amazing new hip:
Finished Ironman Coeur d’Alene just a few weeks ago, hip did great. That’s 2
ironman finishes on the new hip,
So far this year
· Ironman Coeur D’Alene in 14:50 with 44 deg temps and rain with no hip issues
· 4 half marathons
· hiked/ran Grand Canyon Rim to Rim in a day
· Crossed the outer rim (58 miles) in the Sierra De Carmen with a 55lbs pack in
4 days
· Summated Emory Peak and Reiner
· Biked across El Salvador – crossing the Sierra Madre which boarders
Honduras with peaks at 8800ft & crossing the Izalco and Santa Ana ranges
along the Guatemala cost with peaks at both at about 7700
· Still riding with Colavita Sutter Home cycling team
· Signed up for Ironman Lake Placid in 2010 my toughest course yet…
July 2010 Update
I have been seeing a physical therapist and have done some intensive range of
motion and strength training PT work in the last 3 months with great results.
Once my range of motion/flexibility was back into the normal range, I am now
running totally pain free with my Birmingham Hip. I am having REAL fun racing
again.
I can’t stress enough that the added PT has been the key to me getting back into
condition to really push the hip with what seems to be no limits in effort or
what I ask of it.
FYI – after March, April and May of 3 days per week PT, I was able to PR my half
marathon by 6 min (post hip time) and cut over an hour off my half ironman PR
time (the hip was bad when I started racing triathlon).
12/16/2011 Update
BHR is still going strong, I am now up to 3 post op Ironman finishes, 6 half
Ironman’s, Leadville MTB this past summer and with a metal hip RAN a 42 min 10k
(which is about a 6:30 mile pace) and a 1:41 half marathon!!
And as I continue my Physical Therapy I get faster and faster. I will say that
if I go too hard I get a burning sensation but its hit or miss… so it’s not
perfect but find the moment where your clipping off 7 min miles with no pain and
you will find a grin on my face.
Hip and I are well.
Michael
