The Active Surface Hippy

I had my left hip resurfaced by Dr. Gross on 9/6/06. You will have no problem climbing up or going down trails. The hip works as a normal one would. If you are thinking about it. and you want to enjoy life again, GO FOR IT..

February 16, 2008

This was taken the other day skiing at Durango Mountain Resort…We had gotten over 22″ inches of snow. The skiing this year has been nothing short of “epic.” I am able to ski all the runs I used to ski before my hip began to really hurt about 6 years ago. I had my hip resurfaced by Dr. Gross on 9/6/06. I waited the full year before skiing again. It was my decision to do that. I now ski at least 3 times a week and everything feels as normal as before my hip ever started hurting. I just don’t pound the bumps anymore. Not because of the hip, but because after 30 years of skiing I want to save my knees! Life is good with the new hip…Thanx for creating this site Pat…..Shelly Perlmutter

The Story

Felt a stabbing pain in my left groin skiing one day in November 1998. Went to a couple of different doctors over the next few years with diagnosis of AVN to muscle pulls…

Finally found a doctor in 2002 who saw the cartilage loss and scoped my hip…Found out I had a torn labrum (probably from 20 years of competitive water ski jumping) and that a small amount of cartilage had worn down to become bone on bone. I was bummed to say the least…Since I live in the mountains, I ski, hike, mountain bike and chop wood around the house.

I now realized that the phantom knee pain and back pain over the previous years was the result of my hip wearing out….What to do???  So I had the hip scoped as the doctor said it would give me a couple of years before I needed a Total Hip Replacement.  I knew the restrictions on a THR and got a bit depressed that life for me at my age was going to change DRASTICALLY…But during the next couple of years, I found a few friends that had had this “experimental” procedure called hip resurfing. They were skiers/mountain bikers in a nearby mountain town. They raved about it. So off I went and researched and the more I found the more I liked it…

I picked Dr. Gross because I had friends on the East Coast who could fly down and take care of me during my surgery and rehab. I also felt very comfortable with him in our conversation and consultation over the phone.

Unfortunately, I tore my rotator cuff mountain biking in February 2006 so had to postpone my hip surgery till September for the healing process of my shoulder surgery to heal. In the meantime, I couldn’t make it through a supermarket or walk a few blocks without looking like Quasimodo, dragging my leg behind me.. The worst, was dropping people off at trailheads for hikes…or mountain biking and watching them enjoy the outdoors…I felt old..Really old. All of a sudden I was known as Shelly with the bad hip…

Lo and behold, surgery was done on September 6, 2006. I experienced minor discomfort but not pain when I woke after surgery…When I got out of bed to experience my first walk, I immediately knew that old hip pain was GONE. I worked hard at rehab and on my 9th week, I walked a  8 mile canyon trail in Moab, Utah near where I live,

Dr. Gross took off all restrictions at the 6 month mark and I have not looked back.. I’m mountain biking all trails, seeing wildflowers on the high mountain hikes, backpacking, skiing deep powder again, working legs in the gym with weights as before hip pain, and the biggest thing, is forgetting I even have a new hip…Life is good.. Dr. Gross, Lee Webb and staff are wonderful as they handled not just the surgery, but insurance issues as well.  He’s the best…OK, I’m biased…

At 55, I’ve been reborn…and as many years as this resurf gives me, I am truly blessed…….