From an article by Leslie Mikell with
Dr. Chad Thurman & Physician Assistant Dean Huiet
McLeod Orthopaedics Florence    

“This surgery has given me a new lease on my family, my career and my life,” said Francis Marion University women’s basketball coach Jeri Porter of her new hip joint replacement. “I am so grateful and excited to  be pain free. If I could change anything about the process, I just would have done it sooner.”

Some 20 years after a terrible car accident, Coach Porter began noticing arthritic ache in her hip, but the pain was manageable with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories. However, after several years of managing the discomfort on her own, Porter’s pain finally escalated to the point that she was unable to walk at times. Simply standing up out of a chair would cause her hip to lock up.

“Coach, you have no cartilage left,” McLeod Orthopedic Physician Assistant Dean Huiet told Porter. “You are experiencing pain because your hip joint is bone-on-bone.”

To treat the degenerative arthritis pain, the first line of treatment for Porter was quarterly steroid injections in her hip. These injections helped, but they did not completely alleviate the pain. After five to seven weeks of relief, Porter regressed to where she started.

One year and four injections later,  Porter and Huiet decided the injections were no longer helping and needed a more permanent solution.

McLeod Orthopedic  Surgeon Dr. Chad Thurman performed a hip joint replacement using the “direct anterior approach.”

An anterior hip replacement is less invasive than a traditional hip replacement because it leaves the hip muscles undisturbed. By reaching the joint from the front of the hip as opposed to the side or back, the anterior approach is less invasive and requires a shorter incision. This leads to a shorter hospital stay, less pain and a faster recovery.

Porter went home the same-day as her surgery. In six weeks, she was walking and exercising regularly. After six months, she returned to her full coaching routine lost 20 pounds.

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