Sarah McHenry had never known life without hip pain. An infection at 18 months old prevented cartilage from developing in her hip joint, resulting in bone-on-bone contact from an early age.

By the time she was approaching 40, daily pain had stolen McHenry’s ability to walk to the park with her kids. Hip replacement surgery with orthopaedic surgeon Beau Kildow, MD, changed everything.

A childhood shaped by compensation

McHenry’s parents took her to multiple doctors throughout her childhood, but no surgeons were willing to operate on a young child.

“My hip pain would come and go when I was younger,” McHenry says. “I learned how to accommodate and deal with it.”

She found her limits in junior high when she attempted track. “I remember attending the first week of track practice and quickly learned that my hip did not like running and jumping,” she says. She finished the season anyway, then channeled her energy into speech, drama team and one-act plays.

Despite it all, she looks back on those years without regret. “I still feel like I had a normal childhood, teenage and young adult life,” she says. “I learned to compensate for a hip that didn’t move like my other one.”

When pain became daily life

A hip arthroscopy in 2010 bought McHenry a decade of relief. By fall 2020, though, McHenry had daily pain, a hip that locked up regularly and a growing list of things she could no longer do.

“I needed over-the-counter pain medication most days, could only walk a few blocks and couldn’t complete a lower-body workout without pain,” she says. She also had young children who loved stroller rides and neighborhood walks. “I could no longer do those things. It impacted my quality of life both mentally and physically.”

She knew it was time.

Finding the right surgeon

McHenry, a clinical program coordinator for Nebraska Medicine, came across a social media post featuring Dr. Kildow and his use of the anterior approach to hip replacement. She scheduled an appointment, and the path forward became clear quickly.

Based on her X-ray and symptoms, Dr. Kildow confirmed she was a strong candidate for anterior hip replacement.

“My initial reaction after seeing and evaluating McHenry is how she was able to get by for this long given the severity of her hip condition,” Dr. Kildow says. “She was not a typical hip arthritis patient, given her history of early hip infection and prior surgeries. She was also very young and active.”

Her age wasn’t a barrier; it was a reason surgery made sense. “We have data suggesting hip implants will last much longer – potentially lifelong – which has really changed the way we treat and educate younger patients with hip pathology,” Dr. Kildow says.

Surgery was scheduled for March 2021, five months before McHenry’s 40th birthday.

The surgery

“March 9, 2021, is the day my chronic pain ended, and I was able to do things I enjoyed again,” McHenry says.

A few hours after surgery, she was walking the hallway and navigating stairs. She was sent home within 12 hours. Dr. Kildow called her husband after the procedure, saying he hadn’t seen a hip that damaged in some time, but that McHenry had handled it remarkably.

The first 10 days of recovery were hard. When McHenry felt off one afternoon and messaged Dr. Kildow, he called to talk about her symptoms. It turned out to be nothing serious, but the gesture stayed with her.

“His empathy and willingness to call is a testament to his commitment to his patients,” she says. “It confirmed that I chose the right surgeon.”

Setting goals, hitting milestones

McHenry didn’t wait long to test herself. Three and a half weeks after surgery, she walked three miles around Zorinsky Lake for her husband’s birthday. “It was a slow walk, but we did it,” she says. “I was back to walking to the park, walking our dog and could keep up with my kids.”

That summer, the family took a road trip to Colorado and walked through Great Sand Dunes National Park together. Just a few months later, McHenry and her husband hiked 6.5 miles in Rocky Mountain National Park.

“Being able to do that filled me with pride, gratitude and a little disbelief at how far I had come,” she says.

Dr. Kildow wasn’t surprised by McHenry’s progress. “She was so determined to make her surgery and recovery a success,” he says.

A new relationship with movement

For someone who spent nearly four decades navigating around a troublesome hip joint, McHenry’s recovery has been profound.

“Being able to walk is something I will never take for granted,” she says. “I will forever be grateful for Dr. Kildow’s skills to give me life again.”