It has been 14 months since you performed my bilateral hip resurfacing and I am writing to inform you of how the newly resurfaced hips are performing. In one word; FANTASTIC! To describe my results more completely, I will relate one particularly noteworthy experience since the operations.

Apart from the expected discomforts in the first week following surgery and the agony of waiting the six months to be free of the limitations I agreed to follow, the recovery period was really very easy considering the fact that, well, both hips had just been replaced. It would be reasonable to expect much worse.

Once the recovery was over it was time to get back to life which in my case includes kitesurfing, skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling. I was in Hood River, Oregon when the six-month moratorium ended so kitesurfing came first. I expected to be tentative and nervous on my first day out, but that was not the case. As soon as I was on the board being pulled by the kite across the water, I knew I could trust my new hips. My first day back was a day of kiting that we kiters would describe as epic.

As good as that first day was, it was just the beginning. I have continued to kite as much as possible since then and have travelled specifically for kiting to Maui, Puerto Rico, Peru, Canada, South Africa and even the Marshall Islands. It was during the Peru trip where I really put my new hips to a test that I think demonstrates their durability. I was kiting in Cabo Blanco, Peru, the location where they filmed Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. I was ¾ of a mile from shore when I noticed that there were numerous humpback whales in the area.

After several sightings, I was thinking how incredible an experience it was when one VERY large whale suddenly surfaced about 6 feet in front of me. I was travelling about 20 mph and had no ability to avoid the whale and proceeded to fall directly onto its back. Unfortunately for me the whale had just initiated a dive and, as I was soon to learn, it also means that the tail flips up. Just as I hit the back of the whale, its tail did flip up and smacked my whole body knocking me about 15 feet through the air. I gave myself a shake to make sure I was not dreaming and that my legs were still attached, grabbed my board which was broken from the impact, and kited back to shore.

I am very glad that it is not necessary to list a failed implant with the cause as “Smacked by Whale”. I suppose that would come under, “Other Complications”. I am, however, thrilled to be able to report the durability of the hips in such an instance. I will turn 60 in a few days and I am relishing every day in a way that I would never have been able to do without your intervention.

Thank you very much; these hips are certified Whale Proof.

- D.M.
Bilateral Hip Resurfacing
May 1, 2014