I had my right hip resurfaced with Dr. Kennon
about 6 weeks ago. This site has been very helpful through the
recovery process and wanted to share my experiences to this point.

I’m 30 years old and started seeing Dr. Kennon about 3 years ago
after a late diagnosis of hip dysplasia. I specifically chose Dr.
Keggi and Kennon due to their excellent reputation throughout New
England (traveling for the operation was not a realistic
possibility) as well as their experience with the direct anterior
approach and resurfacing in patients with dysplasia. I’m normally
extremely active and live for golf, skiing and all outdoor
activities so I put the procedure off as long as possible but when I
was no longer able to walk around the block without significant pain
despite PT, steroid injections and synvisc (all of which helped at
the start of my symptoms) I finally decided to do it. I did not have
a large amount of OA for my condition and my symptoms were mostly
caused by soft tissue damage and instability caused by the
dysplasia.

At the 6 week mark I can say that Dr. Kennon was an excellent
choice, he did not push me to do the procedure, was extremely
reassuring while also being honest and straightforward about the
potential complications due to my dysplasia ie. risk of a steep cup
angle and the resulting possibility of ion build up. The joint
replacement institute at St. Francis was equally impressive. The
facilities are brand new and are used exclusively for joint
replacement patients and procedures. I did not think this would make
a difference but was wrong, because the nursing staff and aides only
see joint replacement patients they were extremely knowledgeable
about all of the post-operative needs/complications and usually knew
what I needed or was going to need before I asked for it.

The procedure itself went well, Dr. Kennon was able to achieve a
good cup angle and was walking with a walker the same night of the
operation. My hospital stay was complicated slightly by excessive
blood loss which required a transfusion of 2 units of blood
requiring a slightly longer hospital stay of 3 days. For about a
week after the operation I did feel like crap, flu like symptoms,
nausea, total body aches which also didn’t allow me to sleep. This
was my first operation so I can’t say if this is a normal reaction
after such a procedure or a result of the blood loss/transfusion,
probably a mix.

Dr. Kennons protocol had me full weight bearing as tolerated
immediately and walking without assistance as soon as I had minimal
limping. I was walking by week 3 without crutches but the muscles
did fatigue easily and was still spending most of my time resting. I
have had no hip pain since the procedure, however as most experience
I have had a significant amount of muscle pain particularly in the
anterior thigh and groin. My symptoms/progress went as follows:

Week 1-2: Severe cramping pain in the front/side of the thigh which
I would rate 8/10 despite muscle relaxers and pain meds was only
able to sleep 1-2 hours per night. These subsided with at home PT
and strengthening exercises. I was able to walk and weight bear at
this point as the only pain I had was this muscle pain but was using
one crutch about 50% of the time.

Week 2-4: As I became more mobile (no crutches) and started out
patient PT the thigh pain turned into groin pain which felt like a
very badly pulled groin and was much worse with extension of my
thigh. During this time I also developed a snapping feeling in my
groin and buttock (nothing in the area of the IT band) when I walked
or moved in a certain. This felt as if a tight rubber band were
being pulled over a pencil. This concerned me but was non-painful
and my surgeon was not concerned. At week 3 I was also cleared to
golf which was a much needed morale boost. I was able to to 18 with
a cart, no full swing but it was nice nonetheless, although I paid
for it the next day.

Week 5-6: Groin pain has turned into more of a tightness unless I
over do it then the severe groin pain comes back and depending on
how I move it is enough to take your breath away. I was able to get
in the pool at week 5 (no crusting on the incision) and have been
doing my stretching and PT in a heated pool which I believe has made
a big difference. The snapping sensation is much less frequent and
usually only occurs if I am not stretched out or have been sitting
for a period of time.

I apologize if this was long winded but I know I was and still am
looking for all the information I can get during my recovery so
hopefully it helps.