Jeffrey White stands in front of the hip replacement surgery candidates gathered at Towson Orthopaedic Associates and sees himself in the audience. It wasn't long ago when he too was unsure about having the procedure, especially at the young age of 51. In his mind, the surgery was a last resort - he could put it off. But with time, his hip pain only worsened. "I am one of those people who waited until the last possible second," said White. "I waited until I was in so much pain that every move was intolerable."

Jeffrey White provides a patients' perspective on hip replacement surgery as part of a special education program offered at Towson Otthopaedic Associates.



"A thousand times better
than I ever imagined."


  White's hip pain wasn't always severe. When he was 41 he noticed occasional soreness in his hip, so he made adjustments to ease the discomfort while walking. "As a result, I threw my back and neck out of line," said White. "I started to have things go wrong I never had before." In those early days, White went from doctor to doctor looking for answers. "I was having a lot of problems with my knees and ankles," reflected White. "Every time they would take an x-ray of my knee or ankle they would say there is nothing there." "They never went to the source. No one ever suspected the hip was causing the problem." said White.
  Finally, on a friend's recommendation, White sought Dr. David Dalury, an

 orthopaedic surgeon at Towson Orthopaedic Associates. Even in 1991, Dr. Dalury explained to White the condition of his hip was bad enough to warrant the surgery at some point in time and White was to let Dalury know when he was ready. "I told him no way," said White. "I'm not old enough for replacement surgery." "Dalury said it had nothing to do with age, but with deterioration of the joint. He assured me it would only get worse."
  It did and six years later it was intolerable. In August, White was finally ready to have the surgery. And how was it? "A thousand times better than I ever imagined," said White.
  Now, thanks to a special pre-surgery education program offered by Towson Orthopaedic Associates and St. Joseph Medical Center, White is able to reassure patients about the		 procedure and warn them about waiting too long - a mistake he doesn't want repeated. "The longer you wait you will experience much more pain than you are currently experiencing." said White. "My pain was getting far worse, far quicker and the fear of having the surgery became much less than the pain I experienced," said White. "The more pain you experience, the more that surgery starts to sound good."

Inside This Issue

Avoiding Injury at the Gym pg. 2

Hip Replacement News pg. 3

Baltimore Top Docs pg. 4


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