Introduction (long)

[Guest guest]

I've been " lurking " in this group for a few months, so I thought it was

probably about time for me to speak up and introduce myself. My name is

Steve Gombosi, I live in Boulder, Colorado, and I was diagnosed with

bilateral OA about a year and a half ago. I'm 48 years old, and have

trained karate for a little over 32 years. I used to be (before my hips

prevented it) a 30 mile/week runner and a reasonably competent skier.

I'm still doing karate, although I'm down to teaching only 3 times per

week. I'm doing about 30 minutes/day on the stationary bike to try to

maintain as much aerobic fitness as possible before going into surgery

(bilateral). I'm also seeing a physical therapist for a presurgery

program.

So far, I haven't seen any posts from martial artists who have had

simultaneous bilaterals. I know Des has had both hips done, but with a

pretty substantial interval between them. If there's anyone out there

in my situation, I'd like to know how long it took you to recover, any

training precautions you took, and what your capabilities are after the

surgery (like Des said in one of his early posts, I'd like to be able

to kick my students in the head again ;-) ).

Since I've also been known to lift, I'm also interested in any

post-bilateral weightlifting experiences. Anybody squat reasonably

heavy post-bilateral?

I've communicated with both Schmalzried and De Smet. Due to a medical

misfortune about three years ago, I have reduced kidney function (60%

of normal). Schmalzried feels that I'm at increased risk of metal ion

accumulation because of this and will not resurface me. I've asked JRI

if I could get a second opinion on this from Dr. Amstutz.

De Smet says that he has performed resurfacing in patients with much

more severe kidney damage (including some who were in dialysis), and

has seen no ill effects. He is willing to do the resurface.

Steve

(surfacehippy wanna-be)