Hate to ask...question re: hip replacement.

[Big_Jim59]

I spent some time in medical marketing and a number of my contacts were orthopedic clinics. I will reiterate the advice already given. 1) Shop around. Not all surgeons are the same. There are some advanced surgical techniques that really speed recovery. 2) Start your physical therapy before your surgery. It may hurt but it is better to learn the exercises and get those muscles working before you add surgery on top of things. Talk to your doctor about his/her PT (Physical Therapy) protocol and get in touch with your physical therapist as soon as you can.

[Ncdan]

My wife had a replacement at the age of 24, around 25 years ago. The issues with a replacement at her age was an issue with the first recommended surgeon. A friend recommended  a sports surgeon, who does the replacements for athletes. This ended the problems she was encountering doctors not willing to do the replacement at her age. After being examined and X-rays were taken the surgeon told  her she had a choice, either replace the bad hip, which was causing severe pain or live with the pain until she was old enough, according to the other surgeon, to have a replacement. That was 25 years ago and the hip is still doing fine.

[SIR REAL ED]

I spent some time in medical marketing and a number of my contacts were orthopedic clinics. I will reiterate the advice already given. 1) Shop around. Not all surgeons are the same. There are some advanced surgical techniques that really speed recovery. 2) Start your physical therapy before your surgery. It may hurt but it is better to learn the exercises and get those muscles working before you add surgery on top of things. Talk to your doctor about his/her PT (Physical Therapy) protocol and get in touch with your physical therapist as soon as you can.

Amen Jim.  Excellent advice.  Due to x-rays, the surgeon and I have known for a couple years now I needed a hip replacement, but the surgeon said he would rather wait until I was older.  He asked "What is your hip preventing you from doing?"  I answered "Running."  To which he replied "Not running is not necessarily a bad thing."

Since then my exercise/stretching regimen has been continually morphing with a goal of building both strength in my atrophied leg and increasing flexibility everywhere.  Done right there was often no pain, but the window between too much or too little of either was continually narrowing.  The doctor said I was super fit (relative to an obese 80 year old I' sure) so no doubt that helped with my recovery. 

Interestingly the last time I saw the surgeon prior to surgery, he asked "What has changed since the last time I saw you?"  I replied "I'm counting my steps."  He said "It's time."

[Bulldog9]

I spent some time in medical marketing and a number of my contacts were orthopedic clinics. I will reiterate the advice already given. 1) Shop around. Not all surgeons are the same. There are some advanced surgical techniques that really speed recovery. 2) Start your physical therapy before your surgery. It may hurt but it is better to learn the exercises and get those muscles working before you add surgery on top of things. Talk to your doctor about his/her PT (Physical Therapy) protocol and get in touch with your physical therapist as soon as you can.

Thanks, and agreed. My options are limited, but am grateful to be in the DC area, so I have the chief of orthopedic surgery and joint replacement team at Walter Reed.  Despite being cobbled, I'm still pretty fit, though the hip and knee have all but stopped my running. Gained 15 lbs the last year. My last marathon was 2016, and last 10 miler (Army 10 miler) was last year. I've been managing the last 8 years on the knee, and hip has been problematic, but old injuries (torn labrum and FAI with a severed hip flexor tendon from a deployment incident) crept up and the hip $hit the bed back in March. I've recovered from dozens of injuries and drove, on, but enough is enough. I'm doing both. I'm sure there are specific exercises they will want me to do,and will find out just after the new year.

We've talked procedures and such, and this surgeon is a fellow at Penn, Rush, and a few other leading ortho units. He also did a double hip replacement on the the COS of the Army a couple years ago, so I guess he will pass. The benifit of having the Surgery at Walter Reed is they are on the cutting edge of ortho medicine.... Or so I am telling myself.... lol

[john fish]

hey John, I'm not sure what the total cost was, but for me, after insurance it was about $4,000.
od leg lead up, bad leg lead down.  4 days after surgery, there is so little pain, I'm standing at the top of the stairs and thinking "Hmm.... which hip was operated on again?  Oh yeah, the right one."  Good sign.

Thanks.  Don't think I can afford the operations but I'm glad to hear that folks are doing so well!