1 Year Update March 6, 2020

Thursday (3/4/2020) was my 1 year mark on the 2nd side of bi-lateral !  Good stuff.  Just wish I did it sooner !

Steve’s Original Story

January 5, 2019

The day finally came and went. Probably a few years to long. All I can say is that’s a tight ship he runs there. Fantastic group of people all the way down the line. We did the outpatient route which I think is pretty common for Gross these days.

Walked in 6 am , did some prep work for 30 minutes and it was lights out till I opened my eyes in the recovery room! Ate a little lunch and got going with PT with Teri ( big NY Ranger fan ). Had the golden moment and everyone was relieved ( including me ) . Went over meds and some other good stuff and back to hotel we went. Ate some dinner watched some TV ( it watched me a little as well ). Got up a few times and didn’t get much sleep ( don’t sleep on my back is most of that problem ).

Using the ice machine and following the pain pill guide lines and it’s very manageable pain. Get the ice machine!
Got the ice going in the morning and some pain meds and did my exercises. Took a nice shower. Went down and ate breakfast and after that I was a little tired so we rested a bit and started the drive South ( 8 hrs )
This is a well oiled machine and we have the next side setup for March. Good stuff.

January 19, 2019

2 weeks post op , so far so good. Walked a little without any aids today for about 5 minutes. Seems my glute is awful weak and sore. Still going thru some swelling. Next side goes in on3/4/19 so I get to start all over again!

March 2019

Well both are finally IN! The second one we are 2 weeks post op ,walking with no aids.Some bumps and bruises but overall it was easier then the first one. Hats off to the whole Gross Family up there.Easy peasy going that direction.Top Notch group of people. Getting my exercises in,little walks and some icing. Much easier this way with a 2 month split then 2-3 days apart, missed 2.5 weeks of work time overall.Not sure if I would have been able to do that the back to back route. Funny all 5 of us that day were doing the second side!

March 24, 2019

I went through the same aches/pains and motions as everybody else stated in here. I was probably 2 years late going with the right hip ( 60%-80% bone on bone) and about a year early on the left one. Researched all alternatives to go with besides THR ( I have 2 friends and an uncle who went that route and they just seem a little off to me ) and then found this site and contemplated another 2 years! The last straw was getting stuck 25 miles out on my bicycle from the truck and the pain shooting down my leg. That made for a very fun day of pain.

Had lots of growth spurts when I was a kid (along with Osgood Schlatters disease) ,played a bunch of hockey , concrete finisher by trade for 32 years , I’ve been known to fall of perfectly good motorcycles a few times (road raced for 20+ years), rode tons of miles on my bicycles(average 200+ a week). Needless to say when Lee moved me around some on the table all she could say was , wow your tight! Turned the big 5-0 late last year and away we went. I’ll be 3 weeks po on the left one tomorrow which so far is coming along nicely. Had the right side checked out by Gross when I was up there for the second surgery and I have to say I haven’t had that ROM in the last 5-10 years. Definitely can’t wait to get on the bicycle again. I doubt I’ll ever turn a wheel in anger on a motorcycle again. Hockey i’ll just have to wait and see, kinda gun shy on that. Biggest side bonus is my Lower Back Pain is pretty much gone!

April 23, 2019

So I’m just about 8 months full recovery vs being down 6 months two times. I didn’t want to do the bilateral back to back and the 8 weeks in between worked out beautifully so far. I’m 7 weeks post op on the 2nd side and did my follow up with xrays and checkup. I also decided to do a little PT. I go once a week and just work on the exercises they give at home as well, along with walking and spinning on the trainer.

May 9, 2019

I’m the big 50 , can relate to the biking end and some running that I have done. I’m only a little more then 2 months post op on the 2nd side(left) , 4 months on the first one(right). My legs wanted to go out like urs as well. Alawyas walked cowboy style for a long time! It just eased a little pain that way I guess and on the bike my right knee was always out in the wind. FTP was around 235 , ran a 22.5 5k , 1:54 half marathon. Played lots of hockey both in the net and out.

After surgery I have been on the trainer but with very little ressitance and I haven’t thrown a new battery in the power meter yet to see anything. Doing 1 hour at easy pace. Dying to get out and pedal! Not sure if I plan on running much in the future but definitely wanna get on the bike.

My girlfriend tells me I walk way more normal now then before . I had lots of lower back pain which was an added bonus cause I would say 75% of that pain is gone! I contemplated for 3 years when to do this surgery( I own a concrete place finish company). I got stuck 35 miles out from the truck and had to sit on the side of the road for about an hour for the pain to ease off. I may have been 2 years late on the first side and about a year early on the 2nd one! I can add you will be in good hands with the Gross gang. My size was 50/56 , 50 cap.

May 11, 2019

At first I was just gonna do the right side and wait some for the second. Set the first surgery up and went to consultation and just seen the costs involved ( first one was pricey 2nd one was at around 1k ) then another 6 months recovery. So I decided to set the 2nd side up. Gross is about 3 months out which the 2nd date was in April then Nancy gave me a shout and said they had an opening so I jumped on that. Its pretty much 2 months to the day and to me doing both the same week would have been way tougher. Second side went way easier then the frst. I run a construction biz and really only missed a week each time.

On the bike there more ways to skin a cat! I waited 6 weeks each time before I started spinning so I didn’t mess with the 90 degree rule. I raised my seat 5 mm and run a cheap pair of flat bottom pedals. I put the left foot on the downstroke pedal and swing my right leg over to start. Feet aren’t always perfect but my knees haven’t touched the top tube in a long long long time unless I forced it. Now they are right there but have to consciously make em touch which isn’t hard to do. The right one isn’t out floating around in right field . im pretty much trying to keep the ball of my foot over the spindle for now and that would put my knee just in front of it which is the same being clipped in. I raised the bars up,flipped the stem and currently run 165 mm cranks.

For me before surgery I was better off spinning higher , I was always 90 or higher and if I tried to push big gear was when the pain started hitting. Towards the end I think the arthritis really started kicking in and when it did the pain shot down my leg to my knee. That pain is no fun. I was dealing with the hip joint pain which was there but not killing me to the point I had to stop riding or skating.

May 11, 2019

My surgery story was quick and easy both times , in and out in 6.5-7 hours start to finish. Back at the hotel. Took a nap then got up for a shower and ate a little food from the cracker barrel next door. You cant go wrong with this group and from what I’ve read on here it seems all the Surgeons listed are top notch. I wanted to go MOM , cementless , Columbia is a little town easy in and out and Gross has done his research and has his craft and numbers down to a T . I had a guy in mind down this way ( south florida )as option B for a THR in case I wasn’t a candidate for resurfacing but I have an uncle and 2 friends ( two bilateral , one single ) and to me they look off in the way they function.

June 11, 2019

I’m 4.5 Months post op on the 2nd side.(over 6 on the first !!) Been walking a bunch , doing some PT , exercises at home along with some spinning on a stationary bike form week 6. First couple weeks spinning taking it real easy , 30 minute spin at first and started gradually adding more. Usually about 2-3 times a week on an average. Started going longer and been up to 1.5 hours , very little resistance and just spinning.

On Sunday little more then an hour in my left hip , second side started to feel warm. No pain just got a little warmer after 10 minutes and I stopped . Walked for a few minutes and then iced it. Talked to Nancy and she thinks maybe just a reaction. Taking the next couple days off completely and maybe do some light exercises tomorrow and maybe a little easy easy easy spin later in the day.

February 8, 2019

I did both hips last year with Gross out patient. They were done 2 months apart. First was the right , I was driving second week but not a whole bunch . Just local trips to the store and what not. I would much rather be at the hotel in 6-8 hours then stay at the hospital. Nurse checked in that evening , Gross comes by the following morning and off we went. We drove from Fort Lauderdale area ( about 8.5 hours ) . I kicked back and hooked the ice machine up ( Ice machine is your friend ). Stopped about 3 – 4 times to get out and walk around some ( with crutches of course ). They give all the meds , take em as scheduled ( I got off them both times around day 4). I always say if I can do it anyone can , best thing I ever did just wish I did the first one about 2 -3 years earlier. Back on the bicycle , playing ice hockey ( I can sleep without my hips and legs aching after ), work ( construction) and actually been running about 6-8 miles a week on the treadmill !