Christopher Grimsrud, MD

I’m on my 12^th day of recovery after total left hip replacement performed by Dr. Grimsrud at Kaiser Oakland/​San Leandro. The man is a miracle worker. I was wretched before I went into surgery. After doing my research I knew I wanted an «anterior» procedure largely because I had read that recovery can be quicker. I am 66 and may have to have this procedure done on my right hip as well in the not too distant future. I now have no hesitation at all because things went swimmingly this time.
Not sure if it is common now with other surgeons but, rather than administering general anaesthesia with its potential side effects, the surgery was done by epidural blockage and sedation. Post-​op recovery was fairly quick and I was in my (private) room at the San Leandro facility in no time. A physical therapist came by shortly after and got me out of bed and standing to check on stability. After that it was smooth sailing. I could make it to the bathroom and the next day the P.T. had me walking the halls and showed me how to get up and down stairs. Less than 24 hours after the surgery I was home and in my own bed.
My recovery has been without a hitch. I was able to cut down on pain meds a few days later and then discontinue them altogether a week after the procedure. There is no motion restriction with this approach and I am doing the P.T. exercises I was given as well as slowly adding back the daily exercises I used to do before my hip got so bad.
I also cannot say enough wonderful things about the staff on the 4^th floor of the Kaiser Hospital in San Leandro. Everyone was friendly, courteous, supportive and competent. I am a BIG FAN!

I needed a total joint replacement due to some funky arthritis in my right hip. I’m 50 and otherwise in good health. Kaiser referred me to a doctor who works with the traditional posterior approach but after reading up on the anterior approach I rescheduled my surgery with Dr. Grimsrud, one of only two or three surgeons at Kaiser in California who use the anterior approach.
Because there are a limited number of surgeons who work with the anterior approach I had to wait an extra three months to get it done. I was starting to think I’d made the wrong decision because my hip was killing me but I gutted it out and made it to my scheduled surgery date.
Checked in on Thursday at 1pm, surgery was at 3pm, lasted 2 hours. By 1pm the next day I’m in a wheelchair on my way out to my friends car, 24 hours total hospital time.
I was pretty stiff for the first three days but I can easily get around on my walker and I’m not really feeling much pain, nothing at all like what I’d braced myself for.
By day six I keep forgetting to use my walker so I just start walking around without it. No cane, no crutches.
On day nine I walk about a mile and a half with two bags of groceries in tow, no joke.
Now I’m not gonna say Dr. Grimsrud is the greatest orthopedic surgeon in the world. Maybe there’s another surgeon who could saw your hip out of your body and swap it out with an artificial one (I went with ceramic on ceramic for you hip replacement nerds) and have you up and walking a full mile with only mild soreness after a week. Maybe that’s just standard operating procedure now.
But lets face it, it’s not, it can’t be. Dr. Grimsrud is absolutely incredible. He’s the sweetest guy you could want to meet, and his skill as a surgeon leaves me totally speechless. I feel like he performed a magic trick on me. I can’t recommend him (or the anterior approach) highly enough.