By Karen Abernathy
WLOX
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) – Many patients will tell you that having a joint replaced is life-changing, and that’s exactly what a patient at Merit Health Biloxi is saying about his hip replacement.
Alan Fike from Ocean Springs is getting around pretty well since his left hip replacement surgery in May. A big difference from where the 64-year-old was before the surgery.
“I couldn’t walk. There were times I had to hold onto the wall and brace myself to walk. It got that bad,” said Fike.
Fike was worried that the pain would keep him from doing the things he loved; like camping and hiking.
“I’m a short time away from retirement and I started thinking, wow, I have all these plans; and I’m not going to be able to do the things I wanna do,” he said.
But a meeting with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joel Tucker, MD, changed all of that.