First performed in 1960, hip replacement surgery is one of the most successful operations in all of medicine. Since 1960, improvements in joint replacement surgical techniques and technology have greatly increased the effectiveness of total hip replacement. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than 285,000 total hip replacements are performed each year in the United States.
Well, it's now 18 months since my first hip replacement, and I am doing great. My thoughts turn less frequently to how lucky I am to have received those implants and less frequently to those who suffer and are unable to get the surgery, but I feel for those people nevertheless.
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My daily routine now starts at the JCC gym in Rockland County -- a superb facility with attentive trainers. Once a week I spend 60 minutes with Marilyn who makes sure that my heart gets pumping and I work up a sweat shortly after I start. And once a week I take a boxing lesson with Chris who pushes me through 3-minute speed drills that empty my arms' gas tanks of all energy until I am running on fumes.
I've become pretty good on the speed bag. Try it. It's a lot of fun. With wraps or small gloves I can hit the bag straight on and with the edge of my hand, go hand to hand, and even double up as I switch hands. It's a lot like drumming and because I am a drummer, I think that the speed bag has come relatively easily to me. I've noticed that the boxing lessons have done more to build up my shoulders and arms than anything else I've done in the past year.
The morning ends with a shower and a short stay in the steam room, and I leave clean and refreshed. A great way to start the day.
My hips, of course, are fine. Happily the pain I endured prior to my surgeries is, as promised, a thing of the past.
I think that regular exercise, however, is crucial. And I plan to continue my daily morning gym exercise forever.
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