After 5 years of pain and no real solutions, I finally found a doctor who knew how to help me.

After 5 years of pain and no real solutions, I finally found a doctor who knew how to help me. Dr. Hergan was the third doctor that I saw for this condition.  The first two had suggested cortisone injections, physical therapy, and anti-inflammatory drugs.  All of which I did with only temporary relief at best. I was even told by other doctors that there was nothing more that could be done for me and that I would need a hip replacement at some point in my lifetime.

By the time I found Dr. Hergan I was at a point where I could not get any physical exercise that involved moving from the hips down.  I was unable to even walk up a staircase without having to literally pull myself up each step.  I would go to sleep at night with throbbing pain in my hip from normal daily activity.  If I attempted to exercise at all, it was even worse.  I had been taking anti-inflammatories, DAILY, for 5 years with no degree of relief from the pain. The anti-inflammatories would take enough of the edge off to allow me to fall asleep, but I would wake up in pain a few hours later.  Just getting into bed was painful.  I would have to pull my right leg up onto the bed, because that movement caused stabbing pain that ran down my thigh.

After meeting with Dr. Hergan, he indicated I most likely had Femoroacetabular Impingement, or FAI.  He then told me that there is a minimally-invasive, arthroscopic surgical procedure that could help me. Nobody else had given me even a glimmer of hope for relief in 5 years….!!!

Immediately after surgery I had some pain, but really not that much.  I only took a couple of my pain meds and was able to find relief using the cold compression machine he prescribed for me.  I began my physical therapy right away.  Physical therapy was a lot of work, but was so helpful to my recovery.

The positive changes that this surgery has brought to my life are immeasurable.  The most significant change was realized only 3½ months post-op. My family and I went on a 5 day ski trip and I was up on skis taking on advanced expert slopes with them for the first time in 5 years.  And….PAIN FREE. 

I am able to exercise again and have lost 15 pounds.  I can walk for more than a block without having my hip start to catch, click and pop.  I can climb a staircase without having to grasp the handrail and pull myself up one stair at a time.  I can go to an amusement park with my husband and 11 year old son and actually walk around all day without pain.  I can go on bike rides with them.  I can walk on the beach.  I can play tennis again.  My family has me back.  I can sleep without waking in pain.  I feel healthier now than I have in quite some time.  NONE of this would have been possible without this surgery.

I am so thankful that I found Dr. Hergan.  I only wish I had found him 5 years earlier.