This story

My hip replacement was a new technology. Instead of cutting off the femur and drilling down into it to cement the tongue of stainless steel to hold the ball joint, then ripping out most of a hip, I had only two pieces of titanium. Titanium has a unique quality of growing into a bone. One covered the end of the femur; the other just set into the hip bone. It's called a Birmingham hip resurfacing.

It's been over a year since my surgery, and only for the last 2-3 months have I not had to wrench my hip back into place when I sat. I was beginning to think I'd always have to do that little leg waggle when I stood up.

In that time, the Injured Persons' Support Group has disappeared. J moved from the area with his girlfriend. There had been a power struggle that ultimately involved the administrators of the facility where they met. When the responsibility for solving their own problems was taken from them, the members lost all interest in the group.

This will be the story of my experience with that group. The remnants of my efforts are still in a Yahoo group, "Mahogany Injured Support Group." I designed the pamphlet for the group.