- Going Surfing

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In a message dated 10/12/02 12:21:46 AM Pacific Daylight Time, s

Subject: Researching still

" I am 34y male AVN r Hip. I just got back from my yearly ortho visit

again at UC in Sacramento, CA. Orhto says Xrays look bad but

I'm doing well and hip mobility looks good .... "

1) AVN can be disqualifying for resurfacing if you wait too long: See a Surf

Doc to get an opinion on your suitability and how long you can safely wait.

2) If you get it done now, while you are still mobile and active, you won't

have deep muscle weakness (atrophy) or twisted/tight muscles (pathological

muscle memory) that you will get once you hip really gets bad.

" I still lead a very active lifestyle. Weights, golf, dirtbike....all

the stuff I ever did, now I just do it with some occasional pain. "

I was were you are at at 34, the beginnings of trouble, tried rolfing, yoga,

mineral and nutritional supplimentation by 39 I could only walk 1-mile and

swim about twice a month due to very bad hips that made grinding noises.

Finally went to the doc: advanced osteo arth, need THR, put off as long as

possible... Went to Stanford, saw top guy (he was installing MIT " no wear "

poly in FDA trial), tells me the same thing and steers me away from resurf.

About 1-1/2 years later I finally started taking anti inflammatories to sleep

at night, which did not work. I was in constant pain and could not walk more

than 100-yards without passing out from the pain. I stumbled onto

www.activejoints.com and discovered what resurfing was really all about over

the globe and got both hips resurfed by Dr. S at JRI in LA on 7/01 (41 yo).

I have my life back and can walk/hike unlimited distances, do physical work

my job requires and all the other activities I gave up by waiting so long to

get my hips fixed. I am still limping slightly when I get tired and have a

fair ways to go before I'm 100%, but compared to before it's about 1-billion

times better.

Do what you want, I waited a long time and am paying for it with a hard

recovery. One guy who was recently revised from a failed resurf ball (C+)

reported he had a big cyst on his femur head which may be a reason for

fixation loss... if I had AVN, I would be running to a surf doc NOW. I was

lucky with OA, it was pure mechanical grinding while the bones remained

relatively healthy (luckily no cysts, perhaps due to my not taking NSAIDs

very much or long?). Your bone is dying and will eventually collapse into

itself and THR will be your only option.

" It seems that everyone on the board just jumps right in there and has

surgery done asap. I just can't bring myslef to do that! "

Look at people in wheelchairs: you will be looking at that or surgery as an

option. If you wait too long, the wheelchair may come into play down the

road. You need to do a cost/benefit analysis, I think most people who are

" jumping right in " have done the numbers, and for them, it's a no brainer.

" question: For those of you younger surfers who have had M/M resurfacing

and

recovered, can others tell that you have had a hip surgery without

you telling them? "

NO. The folks who knew me before resurfing are all amazed at my recovery.

At the end of the day, I really don't give a flying bugger what others think

about my hips, I only care that my surgeon is happy with his artwork (lol).

Good Luck,