Michele is an energetic, vivacious 59-year-old with a job that keeps her moving. “As a Realtor, I’m on the go all the time, so I’m constantly in and out of my car, up and down stairs, and in and out of my office,” she explained.
Chronic pain in her right hip was not something Michele had time for, but it crept into her life a few years ago and gradually began limiting her mobility. “At first, I thought the problem was with my knee, but my internist took an X-ray and told me that the pain was from osteoarthritis in my right hip,” she said.
The pain soon began keeping her from participating in some of her favorite activities. “I like to be out and about, but I got to the point where I was only able to stand for about one and a half hours at a time,” she said. Simple actions, such as walking up and down stairs, bending over to touch her toes and even getting dressed also became a problem for her, and she eventually needed to take prescription medication to sleep at night.
The pain also took a toll on Michele’s ability to do her job. Staying on her feet through an entire open house became almost impossible, and she said her clients often noticed her limping and wincing when she would meet them to show them a home.
A major turning point occurred when she and her family took a cruise to Alaska. “The rest of the family went on a walking tour of a town we stopped in, and I couldn’t go,” she said. “I felt like an old lady, and I was really upset that I wasn’t able to do a simple thing like walking around.”
Michele decided it was time to consider surgery and began seeking friends’ and family’s recommendations for doctors. A chance encounter with another Realtor who had undergone hip replacement surgery with the anterior approach technique convinced Michele to learn more about the procedure.
The anterior approach is an innovative alternative surgical technique to traditional hip replacement surgery that allows a surgeon to approach the hip joint from the front, as opposed to the side or back. With this approach, a surgeon can work between the muscles without detaching them from the hip or thigh bones. As a result, these important muscles are left relatively undisturbed and are typically spared from a lengthy recovery process.
After meeting with her surgeon, Joel Matta, MD, Michele decided to schedule an anterior approach hip replacement surgery with him. “I was completely confident that he should do the surgery,” she said.
A day after surgery, Michele was up and walking, and within two days, she was allowed to go home, albeit with some provisions. “I had someone stay with me for two days at home, but after that I was fine to be on my own,” she said.
Michele described her recovery period as “amazing.” She initially experienced swelling in her right leg, which disappeared in about a week.
Within a week, she was back at work, and in two weeks she was driving again. During this time, she began physical therapy to help regain some strength in her right leg, because she had been relying on her left leg for so long. “The physical therapist was pleased by my progress,” she said.
Today, Michele says she has great freedom to move. “I’m amazed every day–sometimes, I just giggle to myself. It truly is a miracle for me.”
She continued: “I struggled with the thought of surgery for so long, and after surgery and physical therapy–I was doing great. I was feeling old and cranky, and now I’m so happy I had the surgery.”
The performance of a hip replacement depends on your age, weight, activity level and other factors. There are potential risks, and recovery takes time. People with conditions limiting rehabilitation should not have this surgery. Only an orthopedic surgeon can tell if hip replacement is right for you.