Introduction

I am a male 61 years of age and live on Long Island, New York. I am 6' 210 lbs. My main source of activity is cycling with my local bike club. For a little background I am a "B" rider who averages between 15-16 miles per hour on 50-60 mile rides. The roads of the North Shore of Long Island where we mostly ride are comprised of a lot of short but steep hills along with good stretches of flat roads.

For the past nine months to a year I have been developing a pain which I thought was some kind of groin pull or injury to my upper quad. Over time it got progressively worse, especially after riding where the next day I am pretty sore. When it also started to hurt along my backside and side I decided to go to an orthopedic doctor. At that point I figured it was some kind of hip inflammation and was hoping a cortisone shot would fix it. Much to my surprise when the surgeon saw the X-ray he immediately knew my hip was in the end stage of arthritis. The articular cartilage, which is similar to the shiny ends of a chicken bone was completely gone. Bone is rubbing on bone.

He told me I would at some point relatively soon need a total hip replacement. He said I could continue to ride as I wouldn't do any further damage. When I did not want to handle the discomfort any more I should have the surgery. This started me off on an extensive internet search for information which is typical of my compulsive nature.

The point of this blog is to document my hip replacement journey so anyone else in the future in a similar situation can have an idea what to expect. As everyone's experience is different, this will be my story.