FINALLY

[Damfino_imp]

Damfino I'm scheduled for hip replacement. Any tips, tricks, recommendations? I'm encouraged by my Dr. stats, 8000 replacements....says in a year some people can't tell him which one he did. Did yours go that well? How long was your recovery? How long back to work? Most importantly, how's riding? Getting on and off the CB?

Well, in my case I had originally dislocated my hip back in 1977 or 8(?) playing football at the age of 13. They didn't have hip replacements at that time - I think - and my hip was 'pinned' back together using four surgical screws. This left me with a very bad limp and the inability to ride bicycles or motorcycles. (I owned a 1977 Honda XL75 at the time that I had received from my father as a 6th grade graduation gift) Over the course of the next 20 something years, I developed very painful arthritis in that hip as the ball and socket fused together in one painful mass. In 2001 I was working as a FedEx Ground contractor and could hardly stand it anymore. I'd come home from work and sit in my recliner for a 1/2 an hour and then have a hard as heck time trying to get out of it. My doctor at the time told me to go see Dr. Wayne Paprosky, an orthopedic surgeon here in the Chicagoland area. Turns out this guy helped write the book on hip replacements, even designed some of them himself. I was out of work for almost three months and have never looked back. I could walk better, my back didn't hurt as much, and I felt 1000% better! Best of all, I could ride again! I did have to go back in Dec. of 2008 for a revision due to a problem with the implant itself, but here it is seven years later and all is well. The good thing is, that since around 2001 (approx. 6 months after having mine done) they started using an improved implant that would allow them to go back in for revisions more than once. Previous to that, as I understand it, you could only have a hip replacement done once or twice before they wore out the femur and were no longer replaceable.
A cautionary word though, I know many people who have had replacements, including my mother-in-law, that aren't happy with them and complain of pain and being left with a limp. I honestly don't know if it's the quality of their Doctors or what, but to me, my hip replacement gave me a new lease on life. My doctor seemed to fix my limp to a great degree and I have no pain compared to what I was living with pre-op. Life is good!