I started dancing relatively late in life (around age 21) and trained in many different dance forms, eventually focusing on the Martha Graham technique, which I studied intensively at the Graham school in NYC. In addition to performing in my own works, I have danced professionally for a number of dance companies and independent choreographers. I also participated in many different sports during high school and college including basketball, lacrosse, track and soccer, but I had never had any major injuries until I felt the sudden onset of pain and a quite limited mobility in my right hip in January of 2003.
I began having some groin pain in the summer of 2004. An avid gardener and horseback rider, aches or pains weren't uncommon and I didn't pay too much attention to it. In the fall, I went on a two week trip and thought it would be a good rest for whatever muscle was bothering me.
On the way home on the plane, it seemed that the groin pain/burning was actually worse. It bothered me more and more over the fall and into the holidays. In January I made an appointment with my PCP to discuss why the pulled groin muscle wasn't getting better.
I have always been extremely active (my wife calls it a sickness). I've played basketball pretty much weekly since I was 11 years old. I currently run a men's basketball group at a local gym where I went 7 years without missing a week until I started having too much hip pain in May of this year. I run competitively and have since 1985. In 2008 I ran 34 races from January through the first of November when the pain finally made me quit. I also play 35+ baseball, tennis, and lift weights twice a week. I just turned 47 years old on November 1.
RBiomet 3-8-06 LBiomet 10-25-06
Cincinnati, Ohio Age 58
I am about to celebrate my 3 year anniversary of my right resurfaced hip and 2.5 years for my left resurfaced hip. I can't believe it's been that long since I got my life back. With both resurf surgeries, I had no complications and easy recoveries. However, I will never forget how traumatic it was for me to find out that all that pain and stiffness I had been experiencing for years was actually osteoarthritis and I needed major hip replacement surgery. 3 years ago I was panic struck!!!.
My name is Michael, I 'm a 56 year old firefighter and a Captain on an Engine Company in Florida. I'm also a twenty sixth year veteran. I work at a station that averages fifteen to twenty runs a day. The station is also two story and has a pole.
My name is Bob Palmer, 45, years old, I had RHR on July 7, 2007. After over a year of limping, no running, and over 3 years of back pain, while all along believing I had a "back" injury, I am finally pain free. My diagnosis was found by accident in December of 2006, during an MRI of my lumber spine. The physician who read my MRI contacted me by telephone and told me that my MRI "wet reading" showed no signs of herniation of the spine, however I had a hip issue that he thought needed to be looked at by my orthopedic. After a follow-up and another MRI of my right hip, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis of my right hip. In January of '07 I joined surface hippy after being on another hip site to learn about hip replacement. I met a woman named Vicky Marlow who spent the next month educating me on the differences of Hip replacement and Hip resurfacing. I remember Vicky explaining to me that I needed to go see a specialist and that she gave me 3 or 4 physicians that understood resurfacing and had done enough surgeries to be considered qualified at what needed to be done. I remember Vicky saying to me, "Bob, once they amputate the femoral neck you do not get it back!" "You need to go to one of the experienced physicians to see if you are a candidate for resurfacing." Vicky Marlow laid it all the line to me!
In October of 2004, I was 41 years old, limping from left hip pain, and generally miserable due to my physical situation. A well-respected San Francisco orthopedist had already told me to quit playing basketball and taking my runs out to the Golden Gate Bridge. My hips were not properly aligned and I had developed osteoarthritis. Like a car with worn down brakes, my cartilage was shot. He offered me two choices: total hip replacement (THR) or Vioxx. Fortunately, I met Dr. Vincent Fowble at a wedding. He told me about his work with Dr. Amstutz in LA regarding resurfacing. Though at the time it did not have FDA approval – this procedure seemed promising.
I am a 43 year old male who had hip resurfacing surgery on June 11, 2008 (at age 42) with Dr. Thomas Gross and Lee Webb, RN in Columbia, South Carolina. Up front I have to say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made!
For most of my life I have been very active in sports and other activities; that is until my right hip became so painful I had to stop pretty much everything. I have been a runner completing a half-marathon and several 10K runs, involved in martial arts, basketball, softball, avid weight lifter, cyclist and anything to do with chasing my three little girls around.
I have been in pain since 2004 and the last 3 and a half years the pain has been seriously debilitating. When it started getting pretty bad in '06, I had excellent medical coverage through my work. I got tons of MRI's and the results were, my doctor said, "a little liquid in the hip, some slight degeneration that's completely normal. This is certainly not the cause of your pain." I took her word for it and tried to find the source of the pain by using any alternative I could. Acupuncture, Chiropractor, yoga, etc. I was under the impression it was my psoas muscle so one treatment even scraped my stomach so hard to smooth out the psoas that I was black and blue. The next treatment scraped right over the bruises. This was very painful but I would try anything to get out of the pain.
Around the age of 14 1/2 I was outside in our neighborhood playing some ball game and felt a "twinge" in my right thigh area. I didn't give it must notice since I was always doing some kind of muscle pull.
Dr. Gross performed my surgery (metal on metal hip resurfacing / replacement utilizing the Cormet 2000 by Corin) on Jan. 17, 2002.
I am a 49 year old male, employed as an airfreight expediter. Considerable amounts of physical activity are required. My social activities and hobbies all revolve around the outdoor life, construction and movement. I've spent 9 years building a cabin / retreat in the Superior National Forest on a 40 acre parcel we own. The restrictions imposed by a standard total hip replacement (THR), max weight and movement, could have made completion of this project impossible. All materials are transported along logging roads and then carried to site, over ridges and bogs. Our dream has been to retire to this retreat.
I started dancing relatively late in life (around age 21) and trained in many different dance forms, eventually focusing on the Martha Graham technique, which I studied intensively at the Graham school in NYC. In addition to performing in my own works, I have danced professionally for a number of dance companies and independent choreographers. I also participated in many different sports during high school and college including basketball, lacrosse, track and soccer, but I had never had any major injuries until I felt the sudden onset of pain and a quite limited mobility in my right hip in January of 2003. 
I began having some groin pain in the summer of 2004. An avid gardener and horseback rider, aches or pains weren't uncommon and I didn't pay too much attention to it. In the fall, I went on a two week trip and thought it would be a good rest for whatever muscle was bothering me.
I have always been extremely active (my wife calls it a sickness). I've played basketball pretty much weekly since I was 11 years old. I currently run a men's basketball group at a local gym where I went 7 years without missing a week until I started having too much hip pain in May of this year. I run competitively and have since 1985. In 2008 I ran 34 races from January through the first of November when the pain finally made me quit. I also play 35+ baseball, tennis, and lift weights twice a week. I just turned 47 years old on November 1.
RBiomet 3-8-06 LBiomet 10-25-06
My name is Bob Palmer, 45, years old, I had RHR on July 7, 2007. After over a year of limping, no running, and over 3 years of back pain, while all along believing I had a "back" injury, I am finally pain free. My diagnosis was found by accident in December of 2006, during an MRI of my lumber spine. The physician who read my MRI contacted me by telephone and told me that my MRI "wet reading" showed no signs of herniation of the spine, however I had a hip issue that he thought needed to be looked at by my orthopedic. After a follow-up and another MRI of my right hip, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis of my right hip. In January of '07 I joined surface hippy after being on another hip site to learn about hip replacement. I met a woman named Vicky Marlow who spent the next month educating me on the differences of Hip replacement and Hip resurfacing. I remember Vicky explaining to me that I needed to go see a specialist and that she gave me 3 or 4 physicians that understood resurfacing and had done enough surgeries to be considered qualified at what needed to be done. I remember Vicky saying to me, "Bob, once they amputate the femoral neck you do not get it back!" "You need to go to one of the experienced physicians to see if you are a candidate for resurfacing." Vicky Marlow laid it all the line to me! 
Full Circle
I am a 43 year old male who had hip resurfacing surgery on June 11, 2008 (at age 42) with Dr. Thomas Gross and Lee Webb, RN in Columbia, South Carolina. Up front I have to say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made!
I cannot believe this is really happening.
The Long Journey
