Total Hip Replacement - Best thing ever!

Today I was at the gym for my Tuesday personal training session, and after, I walked the treadmill for 55 minutes and a bit over 3 miles. I was feeling really strong and felt like I could have walked all day.

It made me think about how fortunate I am to have had a surgeon completely change my hip - and my life. I have always been a walker, or at least since 2008 when Obama declared that he exercised every day in the White House. Teaching and raising kids was a lot, but if he could make the time, so could I. (That’s a real president for you.) So I know I’ve been an almost-daily walker since at least then. 

Then one day almost 4 years ago, I was having a lot of trouble walking. It came on rather suddenly. I would walk one way on the boardwalk in Long Beach and then struggle to walk back the other way. Then I would walk a few blocks from my house and getting back was difficult. I would watch people walking effortlessly and marvel that such a thing was possible. The MRI at that point did not conclusively show that a hip replacement was needed. I would go to the local orthopedist’s office, complain and explain that I struggled in basic walking, but that doctor said he wouldn’t recommend the surgery. That night I couldn’t walk up the stairs in my house.

                                            View from the Long Beach boardwalk

A few months later it was clear that something had to be done. I went to HSS in Manhattan and saw a new orthopedic surgeon and booked a date for the total hip replacement. 

I’m happy to report that it wasn’t such a big deal operation (not like a total knee replacement which sounds awful according to my friend who just had one). It has been over three years since I had it, and my walking has been wonderful. My old walking life with this new hip has been restored. I am truly grateful.