BACK IN BUSINESS – AND HEELS!

“Am I dreaming? Is this really happening?” Melinda thought. She could not believe she was up and walking down the hallway just a few hours after her bilateral hip replacement surgery.

Melinda is a self-proclaimed “office bug”: she enjoys her job. “It’s work; but I love it, so it’s really like a hobby!” she declares.

Her work requires her to travel frequently. She has logged miles maneuvering around airports. However, pain in her hips began to slow her down significantly, even causing her to wobble around. After gritting through the pain for over a year and a half, she knew it was time for a visit to the doctor.

Melinda told her primary care physician, “I’ve got a problem. I can’t wear my heels anymore!” That is another notable quality of Melinda’s. She is passionate about shoes, heels specifically. She has an entire closet dedicated to shoes and bags. At a certain point, her pain became so severe that she had to make the switch from heels to sneakers — much to her dismay.

However, this had become much more than a fashion issue. Melinda was in pain all the time. Simply getting in and out of bed and walking around had become chores. Her primary care physician suggested a hip replacement might be necessary and referred her to Dr. Anthony Carter.

“When I met Dr. Carter, I noticed right away he had the same passion for his work as I did. I could tell it was more than just a job to him,” Melinda says.

Melinda’s X-rays revealed that she had severe end-stage arthritis in both of her hips. “This makes it virtually impossible to do daily tasks,” explains Dr. Carter. By the end of their appointment, they had decided that she would have bilateral hip replacement surgery, using the direct anterior approach.

“This muscle-sparing technique is a huge advancement in hip replacement surgery and makes recovery easier and quicker for patients,” explains Dr. Carter.

Melinda’s experience could not have been better. “Everyone was so sweet and caring. They really put my mind at ease,” she observes regarding her nurses and care team.

“He is just the best doctor for hip replacements. He is truly so special, but he’s very humble.”

After her surgery, Melinda is grateful to be walking normally and living a life free of pain. She is even back to wearing her heels!
“I feel like I am back to my old self, and it’s a dream come true,” Melinda says of her new lease on life.

Melinda credits her amazing results to Dr. Carter’s expertise. “I was bragging about Dr. Carter so much the word spread, and someone from another state called me wondering if he takes out-of-state patients,” Melinda says with a laugh. “I told them to come on over to Virginia, and make an appointment with Dr. Carter!”