Last November, local chef Asia Mei had hip replacement surgery with BMC orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Kain. Asia had lived with hip pain for several years before deciding to have it checked out. Because she had done a lot of gymnastics and martial arts in her life, she thought she had arthritis, which runs in her family.
But when Asia met with Dr. Kain, she learned she had severe hip dysplasia. “Dr. Kain told me it was definitely time to do something about it,” she says.
As the chef and owner of Moonshine 152, a busy restaurant in South Boston, Asia says the hardest part of surgery was finding time to schedule it. “I can’t just take off a bunch of time from work, and BMC understood that and really catered to my needs,” she says. “Dr. Kain was amazing, and everybody was so communicative and gave me really honest answers to all of my questions. So going into the surgery, I felt very confident and wasn’t worried at all.”
Her recovery included many hours of physical therapy and rehab. “I had incredible support from the staff at BMC’s Rehabilitation Clinic,” she says. “I was there a few times a week, and they were all very understanding of my situation in terms of getting back to work quickly. I followed their advice and did what they said, but pushed myself within those limits.”
Now, a year later, Asia is fully back into her busy lifestyle. “I’m working out at the gym, taking kung fu classes, and running the restaurant. I’ve gotten almost 100% of my full range of motion back, even splits, which I didn’t expect, to be honest.”
And she’s thrilled to be living without constant pain. “It’s incredible. I don’t really have any more hip pain,” she says. “Before the surgery, I was at a point where I was tripping and falling all the time, and that doesn’t happen anymore. It's really kind of amazing to be able to sleep without pain and not be limping around visibly. I only wish I had done it sooner.”