.....was waiting for a sunny powder day. Today was one of those days..

Update June 3, 2009

"Hi Vicky,

How's this for showing what you can get back to? Taken yesterday near my house..It was an easy spin, but would show that you can bike with no problems. I FINALLY had someone who would take a picture of me. That's tough around here as everyone justs want to keep going and bike. LOL. Hope you're well. 

Shelly"


From Shelly: "My name is Shelly. I had a friend take this video mountain biking in Dolores Colorado on 6/2/09 I had my left hip resurfaced by Dr. Gross on 9/6/06. You will have no problem climbing up or going down trails. The hip works as a normal one would. If you are thinking about it. and you want to enjoy life again, GO FOR IT.."

Update on December 23, 2008

Hi Vicky,

This was a picture taken of me today at our mountain. We got over a foot last nite with more to come. Just letting you know the hip works perfectly...

Warmest regards,
Shelly Perlmutter

November 1, 2008

This is me mountain biking near Dolores, Colorado today near where I live. A great singletrack with some great hill climbing and downhills. Hip works as any normal hip should work. Don't even think about it. Getting in the last warm days before Old Man Winter starts covering the trails with the white stuff.

Life is good. Been doing a ton of exploring the canyons and mountains around here all summer and fall...We're getting ready for skiing to start as soon as the white stuff falls...Had my 2 year check up with Dr. G and all looked perfect. Will probably have to have the other one done in a few years. I had it scoped 4 years ago, and its been fine, but the xrays show the narrowing as basic bone on bone. But Dr. G said the head is good and send him an xray in a year. C'est la vie.

Just got back from a great 25 miles mountain bike ride...see picture attached. I'm doing ANYTHING I want to do...I even jog some trails but since I didn't do much of that before I started wearing out the hip, I just do it because I CAN...LOL.

Best,
Shelly Perlmutter

September 19, 2008

This picture was in Feb, 2008 skiing at Durango Mountain Resort.. I had my surgery Sept 06. Dr. G said I could ski in March of 07, but decided to wait until the following year...Started to ski in Dec. 07 and all is well...Skiing like before my hip ever hurt. I even hike the mountains for backcountry skiing. Side note...Been skiing for over 30 years, so skiing is like second nature to me...Again, feel free to give anyone my email or phone #. Keep advocating as you do...Its a blessing my friend...

Shelly Perlmutter

The Story
Felt a stabbing pain in my left groin skiing one day in November 1998. Went to a couple of different doctors over the next few years with diagnosis of AVN to muscle pulls...

Finally found a doctor in 2002 who saw the cartilage loss and scoped my hip...Found out I had a torn labrum (probably from 20 years of competitive water ski jumping) and that a small amount of cartilage had worn down to become bone on bone. I was bummed to say the least...Since I live in the mountains, I ski, hike, mountain bike and chop wood around the house.

I now realized that the phantom knee pain and back pain over the previous years was the result of my hip wearing out...What to do??? So I had the hip scoped as the doctor said it would give me a couple of years before I needed a Total Hip Replacement. I knew the restrictions on a THR and got a bit depressed that life for me at my age was going to change DRASTICALLY...But during the next couple of years, I found a few friends that had had this "experimental" procedure called hip resurfacing. They were skiers/mountain bikers in a nearby mountain town. They raved about it. So off I went and researched and the more I found the more I liked it...

I picked Dr. Gross because I had friends on the East Coast who could fly down and take care of me during my surgery and rehab. I also felt very comfortable with him in our conversation and consultation over the phone.

Unfortunately, I tore my rotator cuff mountain biking in February 2006 so had to postpone my hip surgery till September for the healing process of my shoulder surgery to heal. In the meantime, I couldn't make it through a supermarket or walk a few blocks without looking like Quasimodo, dragging my leg behind me.. The worst, was dropping people off at trailheads for hikes...or mountain biking and watching them enjoy the outdoors...I felt old..Really old. All of a sudden I was known as Shelly with the bad hip...

Lo and behold, surgery was done on September 6, 2006. I experienced minor discomfort but not pain when I woke after surgery...When I got out of bed to experience my first walk, I immediately knew that old hip pain was GONE. I worked hard at rehab and on my 9th week, I walked a 8 mile canyon trail in Moab, Utah near where I live.

Dr. Gross took off all restrictions at the 6 month mark and I have not looked back.. I'm mountain biking all trails, seeing wildflowers on the high mountain hikes, backpacking, skiing deep powder again, working legs in the gym with weights as before hip pain, and the biggest thing, is forgetting I even have a new hip...Life is good.. Dr. Gross, Lee Webb and staff are wonderful as they handled not just the surgery, but insurance issues as well. He's the best...OK, I'm biased...

At 55, I've been reborn...and as many years as this resurf gives me, I am truly blessed...

Be well,
Shelly Perlmutter