I had my hip resurfaced Monday morning on June 16th by Dr. Schmitt in Commerce, Michigan. I had been diagnosed with hip dysplasia and had been in constant pain (5-6 on a standard pain scale of 1-10) for months before my surgery. I developed pain in my leg more than a year ago which slowly progressed to groin pain (never occured to me that it was my hip!). What started as a slight limp became more of a lurch as I was literally throwing my body forward to walk! Finally began using a 4-prong cane and then pain began radiating to both buttocks. Needless to say, I was miserable and frankly at this point became pretty much home bound. Surgery came none to soon.

My surgery was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and by 10:30 a.m. I was awake and in my room. Physical therapy pretty much began immediately. The first thing I noticed was how my pain had decreased. Other than pain in the surgical area and leg, I was no longer being tortured with pain throughout my buttocks. I was discharged to home on Wednesday morning (my 52nd birthday!). I was discharged with the standard Ted hose to reduce the chance of blood clots, 325 mg of aspirin a day, and Vicodin.

As of this date, I continue to be amazed how well I feel. Until my leg pain began I had always been a fairly active person, but not an athlete by any means. By the time I was diagnosed I had lost a great deal of muscle tone and strength.

Right now I am virtually pain free (maybe a 2 on the standard 1-10 pain scale. Having some trouble sleeping, but this is pretty normal. My right leg still feels stiff, however that seems to improve daily. I was fortunate to be able to have stitches instead of staples and my incision seems to be healing nicely.

All in all, I feel incredibly lucky and would high recommend to other future hippies to not delay the surgery. I also would highly recommend Dr. Phillip Schmidt. He is not only a great surgeon, but also personable with a great beside manner. He practices out of Huron Valley/Sinai Hospital which is part of the Detroit Medical Center.

I continue to do my physical therapy exercises and do as much walking (with the assist of a walker) as I can tolerate daily. I can tell if I am over doing it when my legs start feeling shaky!