My life has been centered on being a professional sports instructor for almost forty years; teaching high-level snow skiing eight hours a day, seven days a week, for going on forty winters; and teaching high-level windsurfing many hours a day in Hawaii for over 25 summers.

After hundreds of hours of research and a few orthopedic consultations, I discovered and visited Dr. Gross and Lee Webb in 2007. I was extremely impressed by their degree of caring, their striving for the highest level of perfection, and their unending patience and dedication to what is best for their patients. I decided that they were my team when the time was right. My research made me confident in the uncemented Biomet resurfacing procedure developed by Dr. Gross.

The experience in South Carolina was wonderful from start to finish; very sincere and caring people, and a relatively pleasant and painless surgical experience.

At exactly six months, I excitedly got back on skis and spent the first day skiing advanced runs in powder and mixed conditions. There were initially some sore and scary moments since I did not exactly start off nice and easy like Dr. Gross had suggested, but it was very wonderful and exciting to feel that the new hip was going to work. I immediately went back to my regular eight hours a day teaching schedule for the entire season, and the new hip performed very well in all conditions.

I celebrated the end of my “new hip” season with a week of helicopter skiing up in the Canadian Rockies. The first year has had lots of little twinges, aches, and sore times from the soft tissue healing; but already during this first season, the joint has less pain and much more range of motion than before. Other activities like walking, jogging, and biking are better than in many years. This summer, I am looking forward to lots of windsurfing, surfing, and maybe getting back into tennis for the first time in years.

I am filled with respect and gratitude for Dr. Gross, Lee Webb, and the rest of their team; and would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to get a second chance for a bad hip.

- John C.
Biomet Uncemented
April 2008