Voted
I have been a sportsman probably my entire life. From athletics in school to twice being elected Sportsman of the year in the company I worked at for 26 years before retiring – Unilever. In 1999 I made my first overseas trip at age 40 and since then have now visited 41 different countries.
My life literally came to a standstill when I realised I had a hip problem.
When my mobility in the squash court was restricted. I had a reputation for my speed in the court and that was gone.
Whether I’d be able to play sports again.
In November 2016 I had a hip labral debridement done by another surgeon, which was unsuccessful. After a year of walking like “Robocop”, I sought help from one of my doctor buddies. He arranged an appointment for me with Dr Reddy the same week.
I think Dr Reddy immediately realised that I may be his most difficult patient. I wasn’t just interested in walking again, I made it clear I want to compete again!
With the first hip replacement, he was a tad ambivalent about what I may or may not be able to do, as with all medical professionals. He very professionally explained to me the anatomy of my hip and exactly what the procedure was all about.
Oh yeah! My first question to him was “can you do the hip replacement today?”
I may have been the first sportsman that Dr Reddy worked on, but I was bloody confident that as long as he can do his job properly, I can compete again! And he never let me down! Since then I have already referred 2 other sportsmen to Dr Reddy with knee issues and both of them are back in sports.
It’s probably due to the fact I am not only a sportsman, but also a squash coach and a strict disciplinarian who trains 7 days a week, rehab was just a road to achieving my goals. Dr Reddy guided me as to what I can do by when – in other words, I had a timeline to work on.
Like I said above, there were no tough moments! Dr Reddy ensured his job was done professionally, and the rest was in my hands.
I just followed my timelines and ensured I achieved each mini goal. As an example, I set my target to be able to do squats and lunges3 months after surgery. And when I achieved this, guys in the gym refused to believe I had hip replacements.
Zero! Except for in-hospital physio the days after surgery, I did my own rehab. When I did the first hip replacement, Dr Reddy realised I didn’t need any external assistance, and by the time I did the second hip replacement 6 years later, he just told me you know what to do!
Like I don’t have any prosthetics.
To be fair, since my first symptoms of realising I had a hip problem, I had roughly 2 years of literally walking or playing squash like I had a handicap, or not playing competitive squash at all for those 2 years! And achieving my previous victories in the squash court was a distant memory.
Consider the statement I made above, my first hip replacement was in January 2018, and exactly 6 months later in July 2018, I thought I’d give Dr Reddy a heart attack. I did not tell him a word prior to this, but in that July I sent him photos of me playing in the World Masters Squash tournament in Charlottsville, America. And I got to the plate final – after 2 years of zero competitive squash!!
I am now 66 years old. When they interviewed me in Taiwan in May this year (the link I sent you), one of the questions they asked was what my goals and targets are? I responded that I am at that age where travelling and meeting people and experiencing their cultures is my ultimate goal! And winning is a bonus! So when I won the bronze medal at the same World Masters Games in Taiwan, I sent a pic of that to the interviewer with the caption “Winning is a bonus!!”
My view about injuries is – fix it and move on!
Exactly what I said above. But obviously they would need to trust their surgeon, and the best referral is word of mouth from somebody who’s been down that road! And Dr Reddy has proven he is that surgeon!
Same answer as above!
I have lots on my phone since the last 20 years. Would be easier to whatsapp some of them to you since they not on my computer.
Trust your surgeon!
