Cleared For Takeoff

Today was a day I’ve been anticipating for a long time: my final follow-up with Dr. Bruckner, the surgeon who replaced both of my hips in the last few months.

My new hips: the BIOMET Active Articulation Dual Mobility Hip System

After studying the x-rays and checking me out, I’m happy to report that he gave me a green light on all fronts:

  • My “hip restrictions” are gone, meaning I can cross my legs, sleep on either side, bend past 90 degrees at the waist, and so on.
  • I can (and should) stretch my legs in any direction, and my flexibility on both sides is better than usual for this point in the process.
  • I’m free to do any type of exercise, within reason. High-impact activities like football or rugby wouldn’t be smart, but that’s true for most kids my age.

My left glute still needs to rebuild some strength, but the only pain I’m feeling any longer is the strain in that muscle at times. The hips themselves are 100% pain-free, for the first time in several years. I can’t wait to get back to hiking this spring, and it will be great to not pay for a day of hiking with a night of tossing and turning due to hip pain, as I have many times in the past.

I had a bit of a fiasco with my right knee shortly after the second surgery, but that’s back to normal now. “Normal” doesn’t mean 100% pain-free — it hurts sometimes, as it often has throughout my entire adult life. But it’s manageable, and as long as I keep the quadriceps strong it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m very familiar with that issue: when my quads are strong, the knee barely bothers me at all, and when they’re weak it hurts.

Dr. Bruckner said that he’s often amazed at how well people can manage and live with knee issues, but hip issues tend to slow people down and interfere with their lives more, so eventually it gets to the point you just have to do something. Tell me about it!

Going Forward

I’ll have follow-ups with the surgeon after 1, 3, and 10 years, just to take x-rays and make sure all is well. I asked Dr. Bruckner whether I’m likely to need these hips replaced if I’m fortunate enough to still be using them hard in 20 or 30 years. He went through a bunch of statistics and details, and in the end said he’d give it 60–80% probability that these hips will last me 40 years, which is probably longer than I’ll need them, as long as I follow his standard 2-word guidance: DON’T FALL.

That’s the plan!

For additional details, here are the posts I wrote up after each of the two hip replacements: