Dan Skoglund could handle putting his own life on hold, but his four-year-old daughter couldn't wait. "My situation is severe degenerative osteoarthritis and it's idiopathic. That's the medical term for they don't know. It started about 14 years ago. I was about 31 years old and I had very, very sharp pain walking around."
Over nine years of living with painful, bone-on-bone osteoarthritis in his hips, he had given up all the activities he loved - football, basketball, volleyball, running, bicycling, downhill and water skiing. "My life got progressively less active, less fun, and less participative."
He didn't want to miss his daughter's childhood too. When he went to the doctor's office; he knew his problem was a major one. "I'll never forget laying down in the X-ray room and hearing the radiologist who had taken the X-ray go, "Oh, my god."
Faced with so many things he couldn't do, Dan took charge to regain control of his life. He met with surgeons and conducted extensive Internet research. After pouring through FDA clinical trial data and research reports regarding Stryker Orthopaedics revolutionary new Trident® Ceramic Acetabular System, he tracked down a lead clinical trial surgeon and scheduled surgery.
Since then, he has been living his life in two's. Over two weeks, he had two hip surgeries. Two weeks later, he was walking without crutches. In another two months he was walking as a morning workout. And now, he can take his two-year-old daughter and her mom ice-skating, sledding and bike riding without painful repercussions.
"It's great to get my life back again," says Dan. "I keep reading all these stories of post-operation 'hippies,' as we call ourselves, and it seems to be a common thread - you get your life back. It's great to get my life back again," says Dan.
Each patient will experience a different post-operative activity level, depending on their own individual clinical factors. Your doctor will help counsel you about how to best maintain your activities in order to potentially prolong the lifetime of the device. Such strategies include not engaging in high-impact activities, such as running, as well as maintaining a healthy weight.