Lineman’s Life gets Re-energized
James M. loved working as a lineman for the county electric company. The job required hopping out of helicopters, running up and down hills, and climbing poles – many times in the wind and the rain. “It was an exciting thing to do. I was up on adrenaline at work.”
According to his coworkers, he wasn’t looking very well toward the end of his career, but James didn’t notice anything. He credits the endorphins and adrenaline rush that came with the job for masking the osteoarthritis problem in his hips. Within four weeks of retiring, however, he couldn’t even function. “I couldn’t get out of the car. I had to hold on to the rail to get up the stairs one step at a time.” Within a couple months, he was actually looking for a motorized wheelchair. “I can’t explain to you how miserable it was not to take steps without pain.”
Apparently, John had osteoarthritis for a couple years, but hadn’t fully realized it. Once the pain became unbearable, he knew a hip replacement was an option, but says, “I couldn’t have worked with a replacement because you’ve got to change your behavior. I like to climb and run around with the grandkids and be a kid myself. I knew I couldn’t change.”
He heard about resurfacing on TV, did some internet research, and learned about the BIRMINGHAM HIP™ Resurfacing procedure. James was actually prepared to fly to England for the procedure, but was pleased to discover there was a qualified surgeon near his home in California, who was also part of his insurance network.
James had both of his hips resurfaced in April and August 2007, when he was 62 and 63. About a month after the first hip, he was working in the yard and re-roofing his garage. After the second hip, he remembers, “At six weeks I could have done anything I wanted to do.”
Now James walks 4-5 miles a day, pain-free. He can climb ladders and run up and down stairs. “There’s nothing I can think of physically that I can’t do. I play basketball. I can run around with my grandkids and push the babies around in a stroller. It’s a whole new life.”
He hasn’t gone back to climbing poles, because he’s retired. “But one of these days I’m going to put the tools on and do it, just to see if I can!” Admittedly, John says with a laugh, “I’m just a little bit wild. I enjoy working at the envelope’s edge.”
Ballet Teacher Ready to Dance Again
Marcy T’s parents enrolled her in ballet at the age of six in hopes that she would develop a graceful gait.
Marcy was born with dislocated hips and wore a metal brace as a child. Not only did she learn to walk elegantly, she fell in love with ballet and made a career of it.
“It’s been my life. I taught dance for 20 years,” she said.
Through the years, Marcy was always aware of the weakness in her hips. “I eventually developed a limp, and limped for 12 years.” As a result, Marcy had to bring in other teachers to fill in at her dance studio.
She tried to work around the pain and manage it but eventually she had to close the school. “It was terribly hard to give it all up.”
Marcy’s doctor told her she needed a hip replacement, but she was only 51 and she worried about how long the implant would last. Then she read about the BIRMINGHAM HIP™ Resurfacing System in the newspaper.
She made an appointment with the surgeon mentioned in the article and he felt Marcy was the perfect candidate.
“Two weeks after the surgery, a nurse called to check in and I was vacuuming,” she laughed. That was five months ago. Now she’s already thinking about starting up dance classes.
“I really thought it was the end of the road for dancing. But now I think I’m just not quite done yet.”
Marcy’s husband is happy about the surgery, too. The couple has clubhouse seats at the Del Mar Track. It’s almost racing season again and this year they’re looking forward to enjoying it with Marcy walking gracefully and pain-free.
Gymnastic Coach Tumbles in Good Way
Quin S. spends his days tumbling and bouncing off trampolines, running a large gymnastics center for the Ecke YMCA in Carlsbad, California. He’s coached gymnastics for 30 years. The job requires demonstrating techniques, spotting gymnasts and running around after kids. He also surfs, runs, bikes and rock-climbs.
Quin has always been active and fit, but about ten years ago, Quin’s hip started to hurt. Doctors told him the problem was arthritis. He took medicine for the arthritis but it got progressively worse and limited his mobility, which was extremely frustrating to him because he was accustomed to being so active.
Eventually it was bad enough that it affected his quality of life – his ability to coach, walk his dogs or even just stand for any period of time. “I finally relented and scheduled a total hip replacement surgery.”
But Quin never made it to that surgery. Luckily, he spoke with one of his former gymnastic students, Eco-Challenge Champion Robin Benicasa, about his plans. She told him about a new procedure called Hip Resurfacing, which recently had been approved in the US.
Quin researched the procedure and says, “the more I read and the more I talked to people, the more I realized that’s what I wanted.”
His surgeon didn’t offer the procedure, so Quin found a surgeon who did. He had his hip resurfaced in June 2008 when he was 50. “It has just been fantastic,” he says. “I went back to work after seven weeks, but I really wanted to go back even before that!”
Now a year out from the surgery, Quin runs several times a week, surfs everyday and rides his bike whenever he can. Quin feels his surgery bought him back another five years of coaching.
“I really didn’t want to stop,” he says. “My activity is not as limited as it would have been with a traditional replacement. It was a quantum leap in recovery. I’m so glad I did it.”