I'm 48 years old and just had my hip resurfaced using the anterior approach on 11/3/08 by Dr. Stefan Kreuzer. I spent some time on the surfacehippy website to educate myself prior to my surgery which helped a lot. I do however feel very little is mentioned about the anterior approach which I believe is just as important technology as is the resurfacing.

My hospital stay was less than 24 hours and I was walking the day of the surgery. I went home on crutches which I used for about four days and then used a cane. My time with a cane was only for about a week. Two weeks after my resurfacing, I was walking completely unassisted and even resumed normal activities like shopping, etc. It's now been exactly one month to the day and I'm completely back to normal, except for a little skin numbness around where the incision is. In fact, today I'm out raking leaves.

I don't think a rapid recovery like this would be possible without the anterior approach. I asked Dr. Kreuzer why this approach isn't more popular and he said it will be in time, but more physicians and patients have to be educated on this procedure.

Take care,

John Drake
Magnolia, Texas