Orthopaedics

Ted's Story

Ted D.

Name: Ted D.
Occupation: Senior Vice President, Insurance Industry
Age: 55
Procedure: Total hip replacement

The uphill battle with pain

Back in the fall of 2006 I was training for a mountaineering trip and I noticed I was having some stiffness in my left hip. It felt like a groin pull.

The pain got worse and I'd have discomfort when I would take my two dogs for a walk. So by the time February rolled around I had no doubt that I wanted to go ahead and have the surgery.

Making the decision: replacement vs. resurfacing

I had to decide between total hip replacement and hip resurfacing and it was one of the reasons I came to this hospital, because I knew Dr. Kantor could give me either one. So really the decision for me was easy. I talked to Dr. Kantor. He looked at my case; we talked about the different technology and I really left it up to Dr. Kantor after understanding the positives and negatives of both procedures. We decided together to go ahead with a complete hip replacement.

Trying out the new hip

A couple of hours after surgery Dr. Kantor stopped by, said, "Hey, would you like to stand up and take a few steps?" So he got me to sit up on the bed and I took a few steps with the aid of a walker. It was really pretty amazing to be three hours after my surgery I'm standing on my new hip.

The road to recovery

You know, the education I received prior to surgery was right on. I went into the hospital feeling pretty good, but it's a pretty serious operation and they really set my expectations as far as I knew what type of road to recovery I would have.

The first five to seven days that I was home I was really challenged. It takes some work. It takes some effort. Your hip isn't feeling as good as it was prior to the surgery at that point. It definitely takes some effort, some will power, but the thing that I found was every day, almost every hour, you start to feel better. You start to feel the strength coming back in your hip and the thing that's really key is the physical therapy. You start it prior to leaving the hospital and then it's something that you have to continue. I guess my advice to someone would be to follow their instructions - take the medication and do the physical therapy. I think maybe two days after I was home the physical therapist arrived and I'd been doing the exercises. When she came she really pushed me more than I thought I needed to go—or maybe wanted to go—and after my first session I got up and walked with a walker and before she left that day I said, "Wait, let me just see how it feels with the crutch." I really learned something very valuable: physical therapy is what would help get me back on my feet much quicker.

Setting goals is key

What people should consider is, "What's your lifestyle?" My goal is to get back to a lifestyle that I like and I think what the surgery allows anybody—depending on what their lifestyle is—to get back to what they like to do. For instance, I like to do road biking. I'm four months out from my surgery and on Saturday I did a sixty mile bike ride.

My biggest surprise

I would like to say the most surprising thing about having a complete hip replacement was….it really wasn't a big deal. I was ready to have surgery but I was a little apprehensive and I've got to tell you, I was worried about the pain: Am I going to feel a lot worse? How will I feel after recovery? What's going to happen? Will the drugs help me cope with the pain? And I can remember sitting up in bed the next day saying, "This is a lot better than I'd expected." I'd say all through the journey, from surgery to recovery, you've got to remember it takes some effort. There is some discomfort, but it was well worth it and I won't hesitate again to have my right one done.