Matt came to see Dr. Dierckman because he had a bone spur that made it difficult for him to walk. Dr. Dierckman performed an anterior hip replacement on Matt’s right leg. Learn about Matt’s experience with Dr. Dierckman, physical therapy at Elite, and recovery.
Matt had mobility problems in his right leg for nearly eight years. His pain became so crippling that he couldn’t even stand up straight. When he had to stand straight or carry something, the pain was so intense that it would bring him to tears. As Matt described his pain he stated, “I had given up. I couldn’t take walks with my wife; I couldn’t do anything.”
Matt was very active before he started experiencing serious hip and leg pain. He was a skier, golfer, and tennis player.
Matt saw hip replacements as something you get when you are in your 60’s and 70’s. One day, he was walking through the grocery store in terrible pain, and a man noticed it. The two started talking and the gentleman mentioned that he got a hip replacement in his late 40’s. When telling this story, Matt stated, “I thought, you know- nobody does that.”
His pain was so severe that he decided he needed to take action. He came to see Dr. Brian Dierckman, one of our hip, knee, and shoulder specialists. When asked about his experience with Dr. Dierckman, Matt said, “I immediately was just like, I like this guy - he’s my guy. I’ll follow him into anything. I immediately just liked his confidence, but he wasn’t cocky. He answered my questions, and he obviously knew what he was talking about.”
Dr. Dierckman performed an anterior hip replacement on Matt’s right hip. Matt’s recovery was quick. He was able to walk out of the hospital the day he received his new hip all on his own. When asked about his recovery experience Matt said, “Standing up and feeling no pain in my back at all, brought me to tears. He was releasing me to go home that day and I was like ‘you know man, you changed my life- you literally changed a life today.’ And he did.”
Matt also talked about how shocked his friends and family were by his experience. “I was inspired to go to Dr. Dierckman by that man in the grocery store. But it’s so funny how many people that I talked to since, like my boss. She had the posterior hip replacement about two years ago. I was telling her about what I was getting and what was getting ready to happen, and she was like ‘Matt- I don’t want to rain on your parade, but I don’t think that’s going to be as easy as you think it’s going to be.’ I was talking to her two days after the surgery. I work remotely and she just couldn’t believe it. My mother was telling her cousins, ‘Yeah Matt’s getting his hip replaced and he’s walking. He's going to drive up and see me for Christmas.’ You know they’re telling my mom mom, ‘There’s no way, that’s not what he had done, you’re mistaken.’ No, he really did- he got up, stood up on his own two legs, and walked out of the hospital. No wheelchair, no nothing. If it hadn’t been for the anesthesia, I could’ve driven home.”
Physical therapy has been a huge part of recovery for Matt. He does PT a few days a week as well as at-home exercises. Matt’s physical therapist is Rachel. When asked about his physical therapy experience, Matt said, “Every time I go in there, I have new exercises to do. Somethings I repeat- but mostly I don’t do the same thing twice. So, I feel like I’m growing. I’m doing new things and getting new mobility every time.”
He is very committed to his goal to increase mobility and start actively lifting weights. Matt was a very avid tennis player, and he would like to get back into tennis.
“I can’t say enough about Dr. Dierckman. I can’t say enough good about TriStar; they were incredible. They treated me and my wife like gold. Yeah, and same with physical therapy and Rachel!
I have no negatives. I just don’t have any negative to say. I don’t know how many people are out there like me who are in there early 50’s that need this, and are thinking like I did. That you know, this is an old man surgery, and you should wait until you are in your late 60’s early 70’s because they will wear out.
I just want people to know that if you’re hurting for whatever reason, and this is what your surgeon recommends, do it man.”
