I am a general contractor that has been in the trades for over 40 years, so between that and just having fun growing up, my body was bound to wear out. Snow skiing, motorcycle riding, and crashes, water skiing, tennis. The hip issues started suddenly, and progressed quickly.
“Here is a photo back on my motorcycle on a trip to Crater Lake last year. When my hip was bad no way I could climb on my bike.”
“I had no idea who to call, so a friend who is a nurse gave me the name of a health consultant who used to work at Stanford to have a consultation with. Once she examined me, she recommended Doctor Mast, saying he was one of the top guys in the field of anterior hip replacement. She actually called and got me in to see him.
I had also had a fairly recent back surgery, and it turned out my back surgeon had also used Doctor Mast as his physician of choice to do his hip replacement, so I felt pretty good about that.
Went in and met Doctor Mast, and was immediately impressed with his confidence and attention to detail, as my hip bone offered up some challenges that he had to deal with. He and his team were very thorough, and the experience at the hospital with his team was good.
Surgery? How about 45 minutes and it was done. My loving wife, who was in the waiting room, couldn’t believe it when Doctor Mast came out and told her it was done and I was in recovery.
Almost immediately after waking up, the physical therapist arrived to take me on my first walk, which included some stairs. After all, like they tell you, you aren’t sick, and now you are fixed. Just need to heal up. Also, no screws needed with the implant.
I have to say, the next few days were no fun. The pain is intense if you fall even a little behind on your meds. But after a few days I was able to get off the oxy and on some milder stuff. I hit the rehab stuff hard. Did all the stuff they gave me several times a day. And was climbing the stairs in my house after 4 days.
I have had 2 back surgeries and a partial knee replacement. The hip replacement was by far the easiest to recover from. I went to a family wedding 3 weeks after the surgery ( not dancing though) and was back to the jobsites after about 6 weeks. It took probably about 6 months to completely forget that I even had the surgery, and now it is just a distant memory about 6 years later.
There are no limitations caused by the hip. I’m only limited physically by my back issues, and the knee is still tender 6 months post op. Considering a hip replacement? Just do it. My left hip is starting to bark at me a bit. I won’t hesitate to contact Doctor Mast when my hip says it’s time. Which may be soon!
The stuff doctors can do now is nothing short of amazing. Yes, it takes a little longer to go through security at the airport, but that’s fine. I just tell them that hey I’m gonna set off the alarm! I still have my scar, which is the only thing that reminds me I had it done. Other than that, my hip is fine now.”
