The first surgery was to repair an injury from a pretty nasty accident training my dogs.(basically Tommy-John surgery on my hip) The doc scraped my hip then, hoping to buy me some years from the arthritis....no dice. I'm too active these days annd got down to bone on bone in 2 years.

The replacement is a weird deal. I've had a dozen ortho surgeries, and this surgery is BRUTAL. I was deeply bruised from my armpit to my ankle on my left side. Yeah, just like they say, that pain in your groin like you got kicked in the nuts is gone as soon as you wake up.... now you just feel like someone cut your arse in half, bent your leg back until your hip popped out of the socket, so they cut it off with a saw, drilled a hole in your femur, and hammered a forking bolt in there. It's miserable.

But, amazingly, right at two weeks it's almost miraculous as the swelling leaves. There is nothing in there left to hurt once the muscles cut from the surgery are healed. Today is 23 days since the surgery. It's the 4th day in a row I have walked a mile. I am pain free for the first time in 3 years. I have some stiffness and mobility to work on yet, and it gets tired and starts to ache where the muscles were cut still...a mile is really all I can do....but I'm pretty hopeful this was a deal.