Episode 23 – 3 Alternative Paths or Futures After a Hip Replacement
Welcome to The Hip Replacement Podcast, where recovery meets motivation and healing leads to a whole new lifestyle.
I'm Chris Bystriansky, your host. I'm an author, athlete, and double hip replacement patient. I've been through the surgeries, the setbacks, and the comebacks. And I'm here to help you do the same.
Each week, I'll bring you tips, tools, expert advice, and inspiring stories to help you take back your life one step at a time. Thanks for joining The Hip Replacement Podcast.
New hips, new you. Let's go.
________________________________________
Welcome back to The Hip Replacement Podcast. I'm Chris Bystriansky, your host. I'm also a double hip replacement patient, more than 12 years out from one and more than 10 years out from the other. And I'm here to share my experiences with you.
Today, I really want to boil things down for folks. I want to explain what the three paths are that people can be on after a hip replacement surgery. There are only three paths. You only have three roads you can take after coming out of hip replacement surgery. I'm talking about the days, months, and even the years after surgery.
I'm still on a path more than 12 years later, and I'll be on that path for the rest of my life. So let’s talk about the three different paths and see if you can identify which one you're on.
________________________________________
The first path is that you're not as good as you were before hip replacement surgery. This is a sinking path. Life may have been a six out of ten before surgery, and now it's a four out of ten. Your quality of life, outlook, and the things you want to do feel reduced.
I’m not a psychiatrist, but from a layman’s perspective, this can feel like depression after a life-impacting surgery. I consider this a negative trajectory.
Think about life trajectories. One can be flat, staying about the same over time. One can go down. One can go up. This first path is the sinker path, where life doesn’t feel as good or normal as before surgery.
________________________________________
The second path is a rebounding path, where life is about the same. If life was a six out of ten before surgery, it’s still a six out of ten afterward. Life is back to normal. The surgery didn’t really change the trajectory.
I call this the swimmer path. You’re treading water. The surgery happened, but life continued on the same path. The attitude is “whatever happens, happens.”
________________________________________
The third path is where someone excels. Life actually gets better after hip replacement surgery. If life was a six out of ten before surgery, months or years later it becomes an eight out of ten. Quality of life improves.
I call this the flyer path. This is a positive, accelerated trajectory. This is what happened to me.
The surgery was a wake-up call. I wanted to do more. I wanted to feel better. I wanted to do things I had no desire to do before. Endurance events. Leaving my corporate job. Helping other people. Doing different things.
Before surgery, I was on a swimmer path. After surgery, I moved to a flyer path because I wanted more out of life.
________________________________________
Those are the three paths: your life gets worse, stays the same, or gets better.
So how do people end up on these paths? I believe it’s a combination of five elements.
________________________________________
First: predisposition.
What’s your outlook on life? Do you interpret events as good or bad? Some people are negative no matter what happens. Some are positive no matter what.
My daughter plays on a school golf team. One girl on the team is the most positive person I’ve ever met. Rain, sun, wind, loss, win—she always finds something positive. It’s refreshing.
________________________________________
Second: resilience.
How do you handle adversity? Have you practiced dealing with challenges? One of the best ways to build resilience is to do hard things.
That’s one reason I did Ironman events. Doing hard things carries over into everything else in life.
At one Ironman, an athlete from the UK lost all his luggage the night before the race—bike, gear, wetsuit, everything. He had two options: quit or find a way.
People donated equipment. Vendors stepped in. None of it fit perfectly, but he raced and finished. That kind of resilience matters after hip replacement surgery.
________________________________________
Third: action taking.
This is critical. Action takers are success makers.
If you want an outcome, what are you doing to promote it? A friend says, “You can pray all you want, but while you’re praying, move your feet.”
Taking action creates momentum. Motivation comes after action, not before.
________________________________________
Fourth: support group.
Who are you surrounded by? Your social network has a massive impact on quality of life. Are the people around you healthy, active, positive?
Human connection matters. We want to be acknowledged. That fuels progress.
________________________________________
Fifth: pride.
Refusing help. Many people reject help to protect their independence. But refusing help robs others of the chance to help.
Helping people feels good. When people reject help, it hurts both sides.
After hip replacement, some people say they don’t need physical therapy or help at home. We all need help sometimes.
________________________________________
These five elements help determine which path you’re on: sinker, swimmer, or flyer.
And these paths don’t just apply to hip replacement. They apply to health, relationships,
finances, and life in general.
The key is realizing you have the power to move onto a different path. Just listening to this podcast is taking action.
We don’t want anyone on the sinker path. The swimmer path is okay, but there’s more available. The flyer path is where life improves.
Once you identify your path, you know where you’re starting. In the next episode, we’ll talk about how to move between paths.
You can have a better life after hip replacement surgery than you would have had without it.
________________________________________
I hope this was helpful. Thank you so much for tuning in to The Hip Replacement Podcast.
Until next time, I wish you the best recovery possible.
