I knew something significant needed to be addressed. Five years of chronic pain, and enough was enough. It was time to insist on an MRI and then another to get to the bottom of this. Overall, my claims were ignored. Chiropractors ignored my comments about my hip, doctors and others ignored my claims about pain and even that my right leg feels longer than the left. Unfortunately, I also ignored the fact that the severity of the pain must point to a greater problem, and I now know that I need a hip replacement. Bone is grinding on bone and the right hip hardly looks like it is supposed to.

From my friends and family, I hear the same positive outlook: after the surgery, I will feel great and be able to go on the grandest of fly fishing adventures. However, all I heard from the doctor was that I will need to quit surfing, avoid any other high impact activities, and up to three months of recovery will cost me several fly fishing ventures, including Florida, ICAST, mako sharks, stripers in the surf, leopard shark pursuits, and Alaska.

The loss of surfing is a big one. There will be a void there, and I am presently thinking of ways to fill the void. Take up Spey casting? Dive more into salmon and steelhead? Photography? (Crushed.)