Conditions + Treatments
Hip Replacement
Mako Technology
I was born and raised in Homewood, Alabama. I played a variety of sports growing up, but football was my favorite.
I was a pretty good wide receiver at Homewood High School in the mid-1970’s. I received an athletic scholarship to play football at Auburn University, and I had the privilege of playing for the Tigers from 1976 – 1979.
Like so many of today's college football players, I dreamed of a shot at playing in the NFL. While I was not drafted in the 1980 NFL Draft, the following day I signed a free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills.
My Auburn teammate, running back Joe Cribbs (who was the 1979 SEC Player of the Year) was drafted by the Bills in the 2nd round of the same draft. It was comforting going into Bills training camp with my Auburn teammate. However, my NFL career was short lived. Following training camp, I played in one pre-season game before being cut from the team. It was a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I still cherish the memories to this day.
Over the years, I have always joked that I took a flight to Buffalo and Joe drove his car. I think Joe had a feeling he would be sticking in Buffalo for a while I knew in my heart that I was a long shot to make the team. Joe had a great NFL rookie season with the Bills. He was named the AFC Rookie of the Year, made the Pro Bowl, and went on to have a successful 8-year NFL career.
As for me, I came home to Birmingham and started my career at South Central Bell. I spent 40+ years working in the telecommunications industry. After retirement, my wife and I moved to McCalla, Alabama where we currently reside.
During my working years, I tried to stay physically active. I was relatively healthy, but my old football injuries wore on my body over time. I had four shoulder surgeries, an ankle surgery and a lumbar fusion surgery. At one point, I was experiencing so much pain in my back and hip region that I couldn’t tell if my pain was originating from my back or hip. My spine surgeon felt like the lumbar fusion would take pressure off my hips, so I moved forward with the lumbar fusion surgery and it provided some relief.
Like many folks, as I got older I started experiencing daily hip pain from years of wear and tear. In the summer of 2023, my right hip started hurting more and more, and it was impacting my quality of life on a daily basis. I continued to try conservative measures, but nothing alleviated my pain. At that point, I made the decision that I was not going to let my pain and limitations keep me from living the same active lifestyle I'd lived my entire life.
I was referred to Dr. James Flanagan at Andrews Sports Medicine. Dr. Flanagan confirmed I needed my right hip replaced. He provided an extensive overview of the surgical process including the risks, benefits and alternatives to hip arthroplasty.
In July of 2023, I moved forward with my hip replacement surgery performed by Dr. Flanagan with an anterior approach. My pain relief was immediate. My recovery was great and for the first time in many years, I didn’t have any pain in my right hip. I felt great, continued to progress and everything checked out at my post-op appointments.
In October, I was ready to move forward with having my left hip replaced. However, I was notified that Dr. Flanagan was set to retire the end of December and that he was already booked out for the reminder of the year. However, Dr. Flanagan’s team made me aware of all of the other great surgeons at Andrews Sports Medicine who performed hip replacement surgery.
I did extensive, online research and I made the decision to move forward with a surgical consult with Dr. David Moore. Going into my consult with Dr. Moore I was aware that he did not utilize the anterior approach and that he used the Mako SmartRobotics technology in all his surgeries.
During my surgical consult with Dr. Moore, I pulled out all my questions and notes from my initial consult with Dr. Flanagan. Since I’d had my right hip replaced only 4 months earlier my notes and questions were clear and concise. Dr. Moore confidently answered all of my questions. I was especially curious about both the robotic-technology and the surgical approach he utilized.
Dr. Moore went to great detail about the robotic-technology he been utilizing since 2017. He explained that I would need to have a pre-op, CT scan and how that scan was used both prior to and during surgery. Just like my visit with Dr. Flanagan, Dr. Moore discussed the risks, benefits and alternatives to hip arthroplasty.
He also commented that Dr. Flanagan was a wonderful surgeon and that the anterior, surgical approach that Dr. Flanagan had utilized for many decades alleviated pain and provided tremendous outcomes for thousands of his patients.
Dr. Moore reiterated that his personal preference was the direct superior approach. He had been utilizing that approach for years and he was very confident in his skill and the successful outcomes of his patients.
To be honest, I was apprehensive about moving forward with Dr. Moore performing my hip replacement surgery. I knew he was a highly-respected surgeon; however, I struggled with the idea of him utilizing the direct superior approach. Again, my conversation with Dr. Moore was taking place only 4 months after Dr. Flanagan had replaced my right hip utilizing the anterior approach with a great outcome!
After discussing with my wife, and with a little bit of reluctancy, I made the decision to have Dr. Moore replace my left hip. Dr. Moore performed my surgery on December 6, 2023. The surgery could not have gone any better. I was walking the second day after my surgery and my recovery journey was flawless.
When I had my 6-week post-op appointment in mid-January, 2024 I shook Dr. Moore’s hand, looked him in the eye and told him I owed him a big apology. He chuckled and asked “why do you owe me an apology?” I shared that I had gone into the surgery with some doubt, but that recovery from this surgery was much easier than the surgery on my right hip.
I am eternally grateful to both Dr. James Flanagan and Dr. David Moore for replacing my hips within a 5-month period. While their surgical approaches varied – Drs. Flanagan and Moore’s professionalism, skill and surgical outcomes are unmatched.
