This was during a time when news was coming out about another hip implant product being recalled due to troubles stemming from a relatively minor change to the manufacturing process. The process change resulted in some residual oil remaining on the device and a number of patients were having difficulty with the device properly seating, something that was not obvious until a number of patient complaints across many hospitals were compiled.

Also at the time I wrote my personal story and put it on the web along with some of the research on options that I had done. Shortly thereafter I converted that material into a web resource for hip and knee surgery, that I named ActiveJoints.com. In time, both the Surfacehippy forum and ActiveJoints became fairly well known sites for hip surgery and, particularly, hip resurfacing information.

A bit more about my history, I first experienced arthritis pain in my late teens. In my mid-20s a rheumatologist diagnosed it as akylosing spodylitits (AS), though I tested negative for HLA-B27, a common genetic marker for AS. I began a program of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) which seemed to keep the symptoms in check. Meanwhile, I kept a fairly active life, commuting by bicycle, downhill and some cross-country skiing, some volleyball in the winter months. Over time my symptoms progressed, but fortunately I never had the back fusion difficulties of the typical AS patient and stiffness was kept in check with the medication. In fact, doctors wondered if I had AS at all, or just a unique arthritis variation. I did have increasing pain in my hips, however. My physician mentioned to me at about age 35 that the end game for that would be a hip replacement but warned that hip replacement in young patients had a dicey track record, and I should hope to forestall that eventually as long as possible. I took that calmly as it seemed like something that was still a long way off – that is until the pain suddenly increased and I found I was having increasing difficultly walking pain-free for long distances and there were times I would have extreme pain on weight-bearing, especially after sitting for a long time, either in the office or in a vehicle on long trips. Soon, and frightingly quickly things went downhill – my x-rays showed I was bone-on-bone. I researched online and in the nearby med school library all I could about hip replacement and what might be the best alternative for me. Through this research period I met people online who had had hip resurfacing and found more information. I was also considering ceramic-on-ceramic hip and a new metal-on-metal hip, but I decided to try the hip resurfacing though it was quite new at the time in the US. My understanding was that a revision to a total hip might be necessary in the future, so it seemed that it was at least a “time buying” strategy.

How has it worked out? Well, great and not-so-great. About 3 years after my bi-lateral surgery I started to have pain on weight-bearing on my right hip. My surgeon, Dr. Amstutz, had previously noticed some blurring near the tip of the small stem in my x-ray, that might be associated with loosening, but had been asymptomatic. He said the bone at the time of the surgery had some cysts, none too individually very large, but there was a general sponginess to the femoral head on the right side. In April of 2003, I had the right side revised to a Conserve BFH Total Hip. Because the acetabular side was still in great shape and firmly fixed, he retained the acetabular cup and just put a non-cemented stem in my right femur. As of today, fall of 2008, both hips are doing great; I am over 8 years out with the hip resurfacing on the left and more than 5 with the metal-on-metal total hip on the right. I have no hip pain and only some stiffness in my gait due to stiffness in my other joints (sacre-ilaic and knees). I try to stay active, time permitting, with some recreational bicycle riding, hiking and golf using a pull-cart. We have an elliptical machine in our home which to get some aerobic exercise in the winter months.