For more than two years Dan, 43, had been living with severe pain caused by osteoarthritis — a condition where the cartilage in a joint breaks down, causing bones to rub together leading to stiffness, inflammation, and difficulty with movement.

His left hip had deteriorated severely, and the symptoms began to take over his daily life. Dan has a physically active career, and the constant pain, fatigue, and disturbed sleep were making it hard to manage even simple activities.

“For the last two years I have been living with a lot of pain particularly in my left hip,” he said. “Getting in and out of cars, sleeping at night, doing exercise — everything had become painful. I thought I was just getting old, but an X‑ray confirmed there was a problem that needed resolving.”

With the pain worsening, Dan was facing ill‑health retirement from a career he loves – this was before he found The Woodlands Suite – Private Care at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

Choosing Surgery

After an initial private consultation with Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mr Shakir Hussain, Dan finally felt he had a path forward. Mr Hussain talked him through the available options, and together they agreed that hip resurfacing was the right approach.

“Mr Hussain really understood not just the surgical and medical impact but the affect the pain was having on my life. That made a huge difference.”

Dan added: “The main factor that made me choose to go ahead with the surgery was the fact that it was available to me, and that Mr Hussain talked me through all the different options. I also really wanted my life back.”

Hospital Experience

From that first phone call through to post-operative care, Dan said his experience at The Woodlands Suite was “superb all the way”. On the day of surgery, the team worked to ensure everything ran smoothly, and he felt well supported throughout. His Consultant Surgeon was Mr. Shakir Hussain and his Consultant Anaesthetist was Dr Mani Chandran.

“The team has been fantastic,” he said. “Before surgery, I was settled into my room and made aware of what was happening, and after, I was looked after really well. It was very painful after the surgery, but the service was absolutely excellent.”

Despite the initial post‑surgery pain, Dan commented, “The difference in the underlying pain was clear. While I knew I still had to recover from surgery, I felt a million times better.”

Recovery and Progress

Recovery has been careful and steady. “The initial period is extremely painful — that’s surgical pain, not the underlying hip pain,” he said. “As you recover and the surgical pain goes away, the difference you feel is honestly life‑changing because you're not living with the underlying osteoarthritic pain.” By seven weeks post-surgery, he was already walking around the house without crutches and sleeping better at night.

Dan’s Consultant Surgeon Mr Hussain said, “Osteoarthritis can be truly life‑limiting, especially for someone as active as Dan. At The Woodlands Suite, we specialise in joint‑preserving techniques like hip resurfacing, and we wanted to give him a solution that would support both his mobility and his quality of life. It’s been wonderful to see how well he has responded to the surgery — his progress has been excellent, and the whole team is delighted for him.”

Looking Forward

Dan is excited to return to work and to be part of his church worship team again. “I am excited to be able to play guitar again at church and actually stand up and be a part of the worship team which I haven’t been able to do since early last year.”

To anyone facing similar challenges, Dan’s message is: “Don’t give up! Hip resurfacing is a major procedure, and it is going to be painful — but it is really worth doing because the payoff is so awesome compared to the pain you had before.”