Hip Preservation Clinic
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“I have so much gratitude for Dr. Mei Dan and his team. I felt supported, heard, and respected throughout the entire process due to their guidance and expertise. I am now walking without pain and feel like myself again.”
– Sophia Feldman (PAO)
“It has been ~8 months since my 21 yo daughter underwent a PAO procedure with Dr. Mei-Dan. As a surgeon myself, I have a unique insight into my daughter’s surgery. It is with great relief and gratitude that I write this positive review regarding my daughter’s experience. I purposely waited this long to be able to give a true outcome testimonial. First, from a technical perspective, I applaud Dr. Mei-Dan’s drive and motivation to actually create a “better” way to achieve the goal of the PAO procedure. I can confirm that his technique and surgical skill not only achieves the ultimate outcome of correcting hip dysplasia, but enables it to be done through smaller incisions, with less tissue disruption and retraction, safer for the sciatic nerve, and a MUCH quicker recovery with potential for immediate weight bearing. My daughters pre surgery hip pain is gone, her post op x-rays show complete bone fusion in the new position, and her surgery pain is pretty much gone unless she “overdoes it” and this discomfort is purely muscular, is rare and infrequent, and continues to improve. She is back to walking to class, using the subway, and not limping.
From a logistical perspective, my daughter lives in NYC, I live in Florida, and Dr. Mei-Dan is in Colorado. I also, therefore, applaud and I am grateful for Dr. Mei-Dan’s staff as they made the challenge of making this surgery and recovery happen much easier than I would have predicted. In particular, a big thank you to Robyn and Amanda for truly going above and beyond to make all this happen. The office is an efficient machine and truly impressive. As a busy surgeon running a similar office, I realize that it really is a team effort and that also none of that works if the “boss” doesn’t set the tone of excellence and quality. So again, it is apparent that Dr. Mei-Dan expects the same quality of care both inside and outside of the operating room.
Another thank you and positive review for the hospital pre op, OR, recovery, and inpatient nursing, PT, and medical staff for taking excellent care of my daughter throughout her hospital stay. The recovery for this surgery is not easy and the staff at the hospital really understood what was needed to make my daughter comfortable but also “push” her when necessary. Post op outpatient physical therapy with Sue was crucial and I am also grateful for her expertise.
And last but not least, a final thank you to the UC Health for supporting Dr. Mei-Dan’s efforts to help patients like my daughter. I am very aware of what is involved in partnerships between physicians and medical institutions and administrators. I can assure these partners that their investment in Dr. Mei-Dan and his staff and equipment are well worth it and the results of his efforts are not frequently found in the medical community. Five Stars, A++++++++
“I have been a mountain biker my whole life and started racing when I was 12. I like to think of myself as a very committed and disciplined athlete. I have cross-country raced in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia and the USA and at age 20 I won the USA Short Track Series in the semi-pro category.
After the 2016 “Breck-Epic” race in Breckenridge my left hip started hurting. I went back to Guatemala and started searching for a doctor who could diagnose me and help take this pain away. I visited 5 different doctors, did 2 MRI’s and they all (mis-) diagnosed me with Chronic Tendonitis prescribing physical therapy and rest. This did not really work.
After comprehensive web search and visits with sports specialists in the USA I was referred to Dr Mei-Dan who diagnosed me with Hip Dysplasia and hip impingement, both causing chronic tears in my labrum and cartilage. I was offered a much bigger surgery than I originally thought I will need but reasoning and logic behind it was clear. There was a clear path, and hope. I decided to go ahead with it and had it done on June 2017. The surgery went perfect and I started the long journey of physical therapy and rehab. With the help of my family, physiotherapists and the surgical team guidance my hip recovered as Dr. Mei Dan expected.
Six months from the PAO, while back in training, my right hip, the side that did not have surgery, started hurting. This time Dr. Mei Dan diagnosed only FAI and prescribed Hip arthroscopy, to fix the impingement and labral tear, without a need for a PAO. I was able to resume easy training few weeks after surgery.
In November, 6 month after my second side hip surgery, I got into a 3-stage MTB Race, and to my surprise I won my age category. I really couldn’t believe it. That after all these surgeries I was going to be able to train hard and even win my first race!
I am very thankful to Dr. Omer Mei Dan and his team for an excellent job.
“ After years of hip pain, it became debilitating when I was 37 years old. I saw my general practitioner multiple times; I even had X-rays and was told that nothing was wrong with my hip. I knew that something was wrong.
The pain was too deep—especially when sitting and driving. I was referred to Dr. Mei Dan in January of 2018 and was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. I learned after much imaging that the damage in my hip was substantial and I had two options—hip replacement or a PAO. I chose the PAO for many reasons, but mainly because I felt that I was too young for a hip replacement and I didn’t want to have restrictions on what I could do with my body. I wanted to live a full, active life.
I scheduled my Arthroscopy to repair my torn labrum and my PAO for June of 2018. The months before my surgery I was very nervous. I knew that this was very major surgery and I was scared. I knew that I would be unable to work, have to depend on others for help, but mostly, I was afraid of the pain. I can now say that the pain that I experienced after surgery was far less than I was experiencing before surgery with my hip dysplasia.
The months after surgery took a lot of work on my part. The first was accepting that I needed to fully rest. The second was relying on others— I had to ask for a lot of help and people really showed up for me. The third was physical therapy, it was imperative for me to see my PT twice a week and do my exercises at home. I felt myself slowly gain my strength back—which was very satisfying.
I am now 11 months out of surgery. I am completely pain free. I have returned to doing pilates, yoga and being a more fun and active parent. I felt so safe and confident having Dr. Mei Dan as my surgeon. I have been thrilled with the outcome of my surgery and I owe it to him. His team was so helpful, informative and compassionate. I will be grateful to them for the rest of my life!”
“I am so grateful for Dr. Omer Mei- Dan and his team. He made it possible for me to come back climbing even stronger; he saved my professional climbing career.
Working with the CU hip preservation team and their physical therapists made the process of having my hips surgically repaired motivating and enjoyable.
The team was so responsive and caring, and I could not have returned without them.
2 months after having my Hardware removed (7 months after my second PAO) I did the First Female Ascent of the 3,000 foot climb, Logical Progression, in El Gigante, Mexico.”
“I was born with a slight hip dysplasia that had increasingly started to weigh on me over the years as I became more active. I always dreaded the idea of having to go through surgery. As a long distance trail runner, trad/mixed/ice cimber, recovery held a degree of uncertainty that I wasn’t sure I wanted to gamble with.
Professionally, I was active in emergency medicine, mountain search and rescue/technical rope rescue, climbing guiding. I got to a point where I couldn’t even put on a weighted pack, hold my twin daughters, bring in the groceries, or put my socks on in the morning. I had to leave all of my jobs. I got an appointment with Dr. Mei-Dan and he recommended surgery. On April 1st 2019, I had bilateral hip arthroscopy, CAM resection, capsular plication, and synovectomy.
The first phase of recovery is the hardest, especially as a single mom but I had the best six year old helpers you could dream of and the support of the fantastic CU Sports Medicine Physical Therapy team. I trained myself to find the parallels between long distance running and the surgery recovery, here they are:
Being able to start Pool therapy was immediately life changing for my physical ability. Four months after the surgery, I embarked on my longest run to date running 155 miles in three days around the Tour du Mont Blanc including all the extra summits and route variants. In September, I re-certified as a rope rescue technician, I took my twin daughters backpacking (with a weighted pack!), and cumulatively ran 300 miles, my shortest run at 27 miles and longest at 75 miles. I never thought any of this would have been possible a year ago and couldn’t help but feel disheartened thinking that an active lifestyle may no longer be feasible. I wish I had done this years prior. Dr. Mei-Dan and his entire team were wonderful and there to support the whole way. I am SO grateful to the entire team and am looking forward to a lifetime of alpine starts and long mountain miles!”
“I was a trail runner—not a particularly talented one, but a passionate one. When my right hip started hurting, I thought I had tendinitis, and the worst thing I could imagine was being told I couldn’t run for six to eight weeks. What I was actually told—that I had hip dysplasia and that I would need two major surgeries to restructure my hip socket and femur—was devastating.
Choosing to go through with the surgery was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, but choosing the right surgeon was a no-brainer. Dr. Mei-Dan took me seriously as an athlete and cared as much as I did about getting me back on the trails. And he’s clearly some kind of genius in the O.R. It’s amazing to have correct hip mechanics for the first time in my life!
My PT, Sue Torrence, is also a rockstar, and deserves all the credit for rebuilding me back into my old adventure-machine self. I’m now seven months post-op and I’m running Sanitas after work, climbing 14ers, mountain biking, and (the best part) plotting next year’s race calendar. I know my left hip will need the same surgeries in the future, and no way would I go anywhere else.”
“After several years of what I thought was growing pains, Dr. Mei-Dan and his team helped me find the issue and bring me back to who I was before pain. Now I am back to being a competitive Irish dancer and just competed at Nationals for the first time in four years thanks to this amazing team. I seriously couldn’t have done it without them, they were amazing the entire time.”
“After a total of nine surgeries related to the hips, Meghan competed in Nashville last month at the Irish dance national competition.
Three years ago she never thought she would be back on that stage. Thank you for everything!”
– Becky Tesch, Meghan’s mom