Orlando, Basketball Player, Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Pritchett 2010
March 11, 2010 I am two days post op and feeling great. The progress has been fantastic and I already feel better, some swelling in the quad, but that is to be expected. Been walking since first day post op and moved to crutches right away. Headed home and I am excited to be on the road to recovery and getting back on the court. Dr. Pritchett was really great, I am definately trying to take it easy and cautiously optimistic. I am prayerful that early indications are a sign of things to come. I am going to definitely take my time getting back on the court, (I’m in no hurry) but the summer is certainly an exciting proposition at this point if only to simply go on a pain free walk with my children. After eight years of pain and limited range of motion the prospect of moving fluently again is exciting.
March 12, 2010
Hello Athletes,
Since Pat was kind enough to create a new area, I felt it might be a good idea to get it started off and share a bit more of my story. Maybe others will share as well! Hopefully! The support on this site is absolutely amazing! I am three days post op and feeling great so far. The first thing I would like to share is that it took me nearly two years to decide on this surgery. I did a tremendous amount of research during that 2yr time frame, including researching doctors (ultimately decided on Dr. Pritchett, Seattle) I read studies, on failure rates, Metal Ions, FDA approvals and much more. At some point you just have to pull the trigger right! I only wish at this point that I had concluded sooner. I guess when you get to the point where you don’t want to go to work because of the walk from the car to your chair, it’s time to do something different.
My early days were spent playing college and professional basketball for a variety of professional teams, both domestic and international. I am a lefty so I am not surprised that my right hip was the one to go, as I would primarily jump off my right leg. Quite a bit of my leaping was also done off of two feet so it will be interesting to see how that goes after recovery. (Anyone with this type of experience?) As I lost my range of motion I couldn’t get my hips through (If you are an athlete you know what I mean) so my jumping was reduced significantly, virtually non existent. Ahhhh, what will the future hold??? Possibly throwing one down? LOL! Ok, so that may be a little aggressive, at this point I would be pleased with jogging/running down the court.
So now the not so good, last night was a tough night sleeping, didn’t get very much at all. No pain, I just couldn’t get comfortable enough to relax, i should have stayed in my recliner.
March 15, 2010 I did a very stupid thing the other day, i took a walk around my block (with crutches) and it felt great. The next day I was sore beyond belief. This was just after Pat told me to take it easy, I had originally planned to walk to the corner and back, but the sun was shining and birds were chirping and I took off. Well, I only have to learn that lesson once!
March 19, 2010 Feeling great again, I am really amazed at the progress that can be made from this surgery. Navigating stairs fairly easily. I think the walk I took the other day and the resulting soreness was very normal from the other posts that I read, also my doctor says that it’s quite normal. My PT at the hospital told me I could put as much weight on my leg as i could handle, I keep thinking I don’t want to do anything stupid. I feel like i am babying my leg right now, but just don’t want to push it too much. My first post op appointment isn’t for a few days so I guess i will know more then regarding how far to push. Right now I simply feel blessed to be up and around so much.
March 24, 2010 I am now two weeks post op and feeling great, most of the swelling is gone, my muschles are firing nicely and no real issues to speak of. However, I am reading stories of people that have walked unassisted quite a bit anywhere from 8-16 days post op! After so many years of collegiate and professional basketball, I am a bit conservative when it comes to pushing things to soon. Right now I am walking very easily but still using two crutches. Sure I could push it and use one, but I don’t want a limp (or very much of one) when I transition, as I know the risk of progressive injuries, you know the ones…they happen because you are nursing another injury and the limping causes your knee to hurt because it is now compensating for your hip etc.
I feel strong enough for one crutch (I tried a few steps) but felt like I was really favoring the new hip, more mental at this point it seems, I really don’t want any issues related to me pushing to hard. I am willing to take my time for the first year because I plan on pushing hard thereafter. I am 38yrs old.
March 29, 210 I recently have moved slowly to one crutch, I am feeling stronger, something about me wants to move seamlessly to work without the crutches. I have a feeling that my PT will move me off of them all together once they see me. It’s like I am using them as a crutch more figuratively than literally, my legs feel strong I can’t yet tell just how much strength I lost. My quads feel strong, but the weekness really feels in the flex at the hip. Raising the knee in front and things surrounding that are my largest challenge, however even that is improving significantly.
April 3, 2010 I have officially started physical therapy and wow what an experience. I am a late starter from what I have read, my first therapy session was at three weeks so I had some pretty good healing time prior to someone pulling and pushing on my new parts. I think this is a good thing because my therapist is also a sports therapy specialist and has been an athletic trainer. He has been stretching me and really wants to make sure my scar tissue does not get stiff. I agree wiht that theory, i would hate to have gone through such a major surgery only to have the tissue not allow me to regain my ROM.
So far have have used a resistance cord to help stimulate the bone growth around the new parts, I am officially now only using one crutch and moving smoothly (could probably go without but really don’t want a limp when I transition fully), next week the crutch will likely go away altogether and I don’t think a cane is in my future at this point. I have also done some body weight leg press exercises, which have been great and my quads and glutes are firing nicely, I know this because i can see and feel them trembling as I bend my knee. The deepest bend I have had is about 74 degrees which for me is great (I am naturally tight). Today I did 10 minutes, on the eliptical machine,…something I have never done before, even prior to surgery. It was great to sweat and have no impact. I feel like I am getting stronger and more confident everyday. Still not in a hurry, taking my time, but as things progress I will slowly be more assertive. I would recommend to all to listen to Pat’s advice regarding taking it slow.
August 28, 2010 I haven’t posted a new post since a month following surgery, so I thought it was time. Ok, so I am not even sure how many will read this but I think the encouragement that I have received on this site has been critical to my confidence and recovery so if only one person reads this post and it helps them then it’s worth it!
Ok, so I had surgery March 9, 2010 and I am about a week and a half from my six month anniversary. Below is a list of things that i have experienced.
1. ROM has dramatically improved: I still have a long way to go, as I was the most inflexible guy in the world before surgery. My nickname when I played professionally was the “Tin Man” You know the metal man from the Wizard of Oz that needed Oil…anyway I can put on my own socks by either crossing my Op leg over my knee or bending over keeping my Op leg straight putting my sock on and then crossing my leg to finish the job. I can also tie my shoes, but can’t do it as easily as my non Op leg just yet. Everything else is great.
2. In the Gym: currently doing light squats, eliptical, stair step, and cycling. The workouts have been awesome and I can’t wait to push even further.
3. On the court: I am feeling great playing hoops. I am only working out by myself right now byt I can jump pretty high, impact isn’t a problem as long as you have great shoes. Cutting, jab steps, Cross over dribbles, spin moves it’s all great. I am only waiting for competition because i hve been pretty conservative. I could play today but i think i will wait for the winter leagues to begin before I lace them up competitively. (Oh, the padded compression shorts are a great idea if you are going to play competitively)
Hiking & Family: Kids on my shoulders, walks to the zoo and park chasing them around, running on the beach, WOW! I could do none of this prior to surgery, praise God for the wisdom of this medical wonder.
October 11, 2010 I am 7.5 months post op right hip. I am continually amazed at the miracle this surgery provides. I am 38 and a very competitive hooper. I spent much of the first half of my life playing college and pro ball. I lost just about every advantage I had as my hip was progressively becoming useless due to the arthritis. I returned to the court this past Saturday, the group I play with are all former college standouts and former NBA guys. I can’t tell you how concerned I was about getting back on the court with these guys. Several of them joked about me staying out of their way as they make no concessions for me due to my surgery. Mind you I was one of the top athletes of this group, so there was a little humor and a whole lot of payback in their statements. What they did not know is that I had been doing intense work outs with an NBA buddy of mine and he worked my but off and pushed me to places I had not yet thought possible. Jumping, sprinting, changing speeds, lateral slides, “close outs” and a lot more. This stuff kicked my butt! and I still have about six more of these work outs to go. I will probably stick with them as long as he will make time to train me. I feel like Rocky and Apollo Creed in the gym with him. Anyway, as a result of the additional training, i was faster, could jump higher and generally move better than anyone expected. I even got by a few people off the dribble! This surgery is a MIRACLE!!! It took everything within me to not try to take on everything first time back. I am going to still take my time, I am looking forward to that 100% status so I can repay a few hoop debts! Right now, I am VERY happy to be a serious competitor again. Do the surgery if you are thinking about it, if you have already done it and wondering how it will be after all of the belly shots and crutches, know that it will be better than you could ever imagine.
December 15, 2010 Ok, so first of all this new hip has been amazing. I am still navigating through what I can or should I say am willing to do with it. I learned a lot about myself during my recovery, mostly that I am very conservative. I have been back on the court for about a month and a half now and I started very slow, Very Very slow…I have picked up the pace recently but still I have a hard time accepting that I can jump and run and shoot with great comfort. No pain, other than my hamstring being tight and a little glute fatigue, other than that the hip has been great. The other night I had a pretty strong all-star performance in my rec league. My biggest issue is driving by defense, I am trying to recall all the moves I had prior to my hip deteriorating and they are slowly coming back. I noticed that bending my knees when making a move is the problem, when I get low I am good, right now I am still so tight that my body fights me and I don’t even notice until my defender cuts me off. When I think about it I can get by them with relative ease, so that is awesome. I was always known as a shooter in my day, but I can put it on the floor fairly well and I really want that back so I am working hard at it.
Completed my first season or partial season recently. Played my first game on 11/7 and it was incredible, I played decent, not nearly where I would like to be though. I have played in three games since then and have improved with each contest. I am still working on loosing up my groin and hamstring on my op leg. I was very tight to begin with and all the years of compensating for my poor hip did not help my case at all. Now I am rebuilding my body to work in the way that it was originally supposed to. I can jump fairly well, having pushed to hard, just grabbing rebounds over guys is pretty impressive for me at this point. I can drive to the basket, but it is a slow move, not explosive just yet, mostly due to my tight hamstring and being a bit cautious at this point. i don’t know why my hip responds just great, i guess it is just in me to take it easy. It’s almost like i am waiting for that 12 month mark to really let loose, it’s a mental game right now. Maybe I just need someone to make me angry on the court and get the competitive juices going. Anyway, I am still amazed at what i have been able to accomplish, I had an incredible game in my last outing and look forward to getting explosive as I compete more. I just signed up for a Pilates course to help with my fluidity and flexibility and it seems to be working we’ll see how it goes this weekend.
May 23, 2011 I must say that since my resurfacing in March of 2010, that the progress has been so good that I have been a little slack. I feel so good when I walk around and play hoops that I have taken a week off from working out here and there. I don’t recommend that as you get stiff and tight when you sit all day at work and don’t get any exercise in. Right now it’s the NBA playoff’s and I have been hooping at a very high level. In fact I am competing against players ten years and more my younger and giving them all they can handle and more . I will put it this way, I am back to getting a double team in pick up ball with former NBA and College Players. I think that speaks volumes about the long term benefits of resurfacing. Ok, so it does cross my mind from time to time that I am pushing way too hard. My pick up is a very organized game and usually lasts for a minimum of two hours. I then follow that up with weight training, including, lunges for the hamstring, squats for the glutes focus and seated leg press. WOW! This really is amazing and I still feel like there is progress to be had. I am still gaurded with some moves, as I played shooting gaurd in college and point professionally and I am more concerned about my defender making a wrong move than me doing something. In fact I am great in one-on-one which tells me there are still a few mental hurdles to overcome. I just don’t see any harm in being somewhat cautious until i reach two years. I tie my shoes, run, jump of one and two legs operated and non. It has been wonderful! I guess I will just pray that I don’t wear this thing out. My doc told me that it will outlast me.
August 10, 2011 Just to add a bit of motivation, while I had just one of my hips (R) done in March 2010, the recovery for me was a bit slow. Largely due to my conservative approach to the recovery process, didn’t want to lose this incredible medical miracle with a silly act of impatience. With that said, I have also returned to a very competitive level of play, however, much like mjs424 the 20 some things were pushing my buttons a bit. I am 39 turning 40 this month and really didn’t have the speed or leaping ability I once had and it bothers me. So I decided to take the training gloves off and take my training to the next level with lunges, leg press and a lot of running. That helped and I saw a noticeable difference, at 6’2 I played point and 2 during my collegiate and pro career so it was really tough to see these young guys take advantage of my slower speed. Well I have to tell you I added P90x to my routine and WOW! I am getting by the defense and finishing at the rim. I haven’t attempted anything above the rim at this point, but really don’t even care as long as I can keep a young PG with decent skill in front and contest the shot I am happy. Guarding me is a whole different story for the young guys, it’s fun causing problems for them, they don’t know that I have metal parts, but the gray hair gives away my age and makes me a target, at least initially. The other day my rec team beat a small college team and they were calling me Derrick Fisher by the time the game ended. I chuckled a bit inside and realized that my 40 year old game is not all that bad and getting better. Along with the plug for P90x if you haven’t already tried it, it’s great for our type of recovery and beyond.
it has been over a year now and I am enjoying the success of my surgery. It’s interesting how things begin to smooth out over time. My competitive abilities have improved dramatically and I am now competing at a pretty high level. It is a lot of fun, and it makes everyday activities much easier to accomplish. So, while I was realizing significant gains, i still had some weakness in my glutes so I searched for something challenging to help me really excel. What I found was P90x and it has been amazing, it’s challenging for sure and there are plenty of excercises that challenge someone that has had any type of hip surgery. The positive is I can go at my own pace, which is pretty intense, and I can skip certain excercises that I currently struggle with as a result of my poor flexibility. (which existed well before my hip went bad) So, I wanted to write an update for those that may be new to the site or thinking of surgery. It’s often a good thing when a person doesn’t return to the site, you can guess that they have moved on with life and enjoying the fruit of their surgery. That would be me, but I thought of writing a post since I started this topic for those who may wonder what the future of their resurfacing may be like after a year. Finally I have been playing hoops for about eight months and I am still experiencing gains, my surgeon Dr. Pritchett of Seattle told me he has clients that have realized gains for up to two years.
August 23, 2011 I am a former hooper from UO. Back in 1990-95, had a lot of fun there, made it back to the NCAA tourney after a long absence! I played a lot of basketball following college, was very hard on my body, which i believe led to my need for the surgery to begin with. GO DUCKS!!!!
I do all of my P90X at my home. All you need is a living room, so move the couch, coffee table etc. and get busy! It’s worth it. I started P90x 5wks ago at 240lbs. now i am at 216lbs. Starting what is called phase II, so I am very excited about the transformation that is taking place. Although weight is not the best indicator of fitness it’s nice to see such a large reduction. However, the best part of the progress is seeing my college physique returning! Go ahead and give it a try, if you want to test it out. check out a few of the work outs on youtube. Although you won’t get the full exposure of the manuals etc. you will see just how intense the work outs are. It certainly has my vote for best home workout, for that matter best workout home or gym!!!