Back in 2011 at the age of 29, as I was training for the Indianapolis half-marathon, there was an onset of sharp, piercing pain in both of my hip joints. I had done many sprint-triathlons and had played soccer most of my life, but this pain felt new and very quickly increased. Almost immediately, the pain was so profound that I could not walk down the street and I was awakened several times a night to shooting pain in my hip joint.
After meeting with a few orthopedic doctors in Indianapolis, I finally got an accurate diagnosis of hip dysplasia and a torn labrum on my left hip. I remember looking at my scans for the first time and seeing a visual of the bone on bone pain I was experiencing After the initial shock of learning I had a congenital hip disorder, we learned about the PAO surgery and what it could offer to salvage my natural hips and avoid hip replacement surgery until later in life. I was quickly scheduled for a combination surgery in Indianapolis to address both my dysplasia and labral tear. I had a very difficult post-surgical experience and many months down the road learned that the PAO surgery on my left hip was unsuccessful. I was heartbroken and began my research for leading surgeons in the country who had the experience I needed to repair my left side and, eventually, repair my right hip as well.
