Conditions + Treatments
Hip Injury/Condition
Hip Replacement (Anterior)
I never imagined I’d be telling my story like this — not because I didn’t think it mattered, but because for a long time, I just assumed the pain was part of getting older.
I grew up in Gadsden, Alabama and sports were a big part of my life. I played football and soccer all through my childhood. By the time high school rolled around, I zeroed in on football at Gadsden High School, though I still played soccer and even joined the golf team for a season.
I continued my education at Jacksonville State University, and while there I gave college football a shot, but it didn’t pan out. I obtained my degree, while staying physically active.
After college, I started my career in the pharmaceuticals industry — and I’ve been there ever since, close to 35 years now.
In my early 30's I started running more, skiing in the winter and staying as active as possible. I loved being outdoors, staying in motion. But somewhere around my mid-40’s, my right hip started giving me trouble. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis. The pain was manageable at first, but slowly, year after year, things tightened up.
By the time I hit 56 years old, I could barely do the things I loved. Running was out. Even biking and golf — painful. Walking around our neighborhood with my wife? A constant limp made that unpleasant. And skiing? Forget it. I stopped even dreaming about the slopes.
I put the surgery off for a decade. Life, career, timing… you name it. But eventually, the pain outweighed the excuses. I was led to Dr. Benton Emblom and Andrews Sports Medicine through a mix of word-of-mouth, my daughter Kyla's internship and surgery there, and a little research — including reading a sports article that Coach Nick Saban chose Dr. Emblom to perform his hip replacement surgery in 2019. That sealed it for me.
From day one, Dr. Emblom displayed a high-level of confidence in his abilities. He made it simple: “This is what you need, and here’s how we’ll fix it.” He explained everything, and I trusted him. I took a couple of days off work for the surgical procedure. My recovery was much smoother than I expected. I followed physical therapy like a game plan — two months straight, every week, doing what they told me and then some.
Not long after, I was back out on the course. Pain-free. Golf felt like golf again.
But the real moment? Skiing in Colorado. I hadn’t done it in at least five or six years. I was cautious — no jumps, no black diamonds — but I skied. I fell a couple times, sure, but I got back up. That feeling of cruising down a mountain with nothing holding me back? I thought I’d lost it for good.
Now, I tell people all the time — I wish I’d had the surgery sooner. I let fear and bad timing delay something that gave me my life back. And sure, I’ve still got some arthritis in the other hip, so who knows? I may be back for round two someday.
But for now, I’m grateful — for the technology, the care, and the courage to get it done. I may not be jumping off buildings anytime soon (and that’s fine by me), but I’m moving, playing, living again. And that limp? It’s history.
