Dr. Gross performed surgery on me on January 30th, 2008. 345 days later I finished the Disney half marathon in under two hours. In fact, my time was within five seconds of the time I ran just three short years ago.

The hip feels great and I'm negotiating with my wife Sally about the upcoming Pittsburgh Marathon. She wants me to be cautious and I want to be 21 years old again.

I'm back to playing hockey twice a week again. I'm still building back my strength and speed, but I play without pain or even a thought of my hip. Really the only time I think about it is when I pass through airport security.

I'm looking forward to better things to come. But I wanted you to know that I thought a lot about each of you during my training for the race. In fact, my iPod playlist for the race included, at least, one selection from the Eagles just for Lee.

Truly I can't express in words how grateful I am for your care and skill. My active lifestyle is back and like many of your patients, I still have more mountains to climb and dragons to slay. I couldn't have done it without you.

- Mike T.
Feb 2009