Larry: How did I get here? Glad you asked.

Discussion

October 2, 2009

Anonymous The Randolph Guide Fri Oct 02, 2009, 02:36 PM EDT

So how did an active man who runs regularly wind up with osteoarthritis in his hip?

More than likely by being active and running regularly.

“Told you so,” is what some if not many would say. Probably 95 percent of them are non-runners.

It’s commonly known by runners that sooner or later you’re going to have an injury. It’s just the nature of the activity. The same is true for football, basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc., etc., etc.

The thing is when you use your body in a strenuous way, you run the risk of injury. Does that mean you shouldn’t be active?

Someone once told me, just after he’d had open heart surgery, that if I kept on running I’d probably suffer joint problems. My unspoken response was, “Better my joints than my heart.”

No matter how knowledgeable you are about the body and the effect on it of physical activity, you can seldom predict serious injury. Unless you have regular X-rays, MRIs and bone scans, you can’t see what’s going on beneath the surface. Usually, the first indication is pain and by that time damage has already been done.

So, rather than giving up strenuous activity, many of us decide to take part in sports that we enjoy. When you realize that there are side benefits to exercise, then injury may be a risk worth taking.

In my case, running made me feel strong and flexible while providing me with much more endurance. If nothing else, I feel much better when I’m running regularly.

Diagnosing my problem, which started out as pain in my groin while running, took several months and three orthopedic surgeons. The first wanted me to have a bone scan to rule out a stress fracture. I did and it was negative.

Then he decided it must be related to my back and scheduled me with one of his therapists. Her evaluation led to my doing stretching exercises that helped my running but didn’t take care of the underlying problem.

After a few months of stretches, I went back for therapy and was working with another therapist. Her evaluation led to more aggressive exercises, which eventually made my pain much worse. The doctor then decided I had tendonosis and took me off therapy.

Not satisfied with that, I saw another surgeon, who immediately told me I had hip joints that weren’t made for running. Understand, will you, that I’d been running regularly for 29 years. He said I’d better quit running or I’d have to have hip replacement.

After the initial shock from that bombshell wore off, I learned from surfing the Net that there’s an alternative to hip replacement. Hip resurfacing is for active people who want to remain active.

Seems the third time was the charm. Dr. Jinnah at WFUBMC said I was the perfect candidate for resurfacing and gave me nothing but hope.

Did running cause my arthritis? Probably to some extent. But it also made me healthy enough to have the surgery to allow me to run again.

And that’s what I plan to do.

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Blogging with Larry

Speaking of running...
It's been a while since Larry Penkava could job. But last Saturday, during the human race, he rejoined the world of the running, completing one mile during The Human Race.

April 2, 2010
I can see the light! It’s been 16 weeks and three days since my hip surgery and I’m beginning to feel almost normal. I'm counting down to the end of March when I will (hopefully) go on The Run.
January 23, 2010
Larry: Brothers joined at the hip The Asheboro attorney and now city councilman-to-be had hip surgery just 10 days after I did. He had total hip replacement while I had hip resurfacing.
November 5, 2009
Larry Penkava - Not so bad being a shut in Since undergoing hip surgery on Sept. 29, I’ve found myself sitting at home at the mercy of others. Being waited on hand and foot isn’t all bad, but it goes against my proclivity to do things for myself.
October 28, 2009
Larry: Three weeks after surgery My recovery has entered the "doldrums" period. For the first couple of weeks after hip resurfacing surgery, I was pretty upbeat while becoming acclimated to life as a semi-invalid.
October 28, 2009
Larry: Whew. It's done. My surgery went really well. At least that’s what one of the team of doctors told me the day after I had hip resurfacing. He also said my arthritis had been pretty bad. No wonder I had hurt so much in my right hip.
October 28, 2009
Larry: On the mend I received good news today (Oct. 14) during a scheduled visit to the hospital – I can go back to work.
October 15, 2009
Larry: Free, if only for a while
October 9, 2009
Larry: Things are looking up
October 7, 2009
Larry: Schedule, Schmedule… Major surgery means a major shift in your everyday schedule of events. Forget setting the clock to get up for work. Now it’s set to correspond with taking medicines, checking wound dressings, having injections and removing or putting on surgical hose.
October 6, 2009
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