Tom Glass’ Total Hip Replacement and Race to Recovery

Tom Glass is a professional horseman.  He’s been around horses most of his life.  He’s made a living coaxing four of them, running at breakneck speed, around a dirt track.  And he is as humble in his assessment of his accomplishments as he is when describing the physical toll it took on his body.  His partial resume includes more than forty major awards and victories in over 35 years of racing. He was the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby Champion in 1983, 1987, 1992, and 1994, the Stampede Aggregate Winner in 1987 and 1998 and the World Champion Chuckwagon Driver in 1980, 1981, and 1988.

For those who aren’t familiar with Chuckwagon racing, it’s like a demolition derby except that instead of sitting behind the wheel of an aging muscle car, these athletes sit atop a wooden bench and muscle four of the world’s most powerful animals through a maze of turns against three other wagons.  “It’s a controlled runaway”, as Tom likes to describe it, and all the driver has to manage it with are a fistful of reigns and the power in his legs, arms and back.

First the Ankle and Then the Hip

Tom’s career was a success but it came at a price.  First it was an ankle that took almost three years to fix.  When the hip started to “chirp” he thought he was in for a similar journey.  After waiting in Canada for what seemed like forever he came to Dr. Kassman.  The MRI revealed that he needed a full hip replacement and he anticipated that he’d be laid up for months.  He wasn’t – in fact he was up and was moving around within hours.  This is his story.  And while as a champion chuckwagon driver and professional athlete you would think he would be used to injuries and recovery; it is something he has lived with most of his life.  But even he couldn’t believe how quickly and completely his surgery and recovery took.  It’s a great story and more importantly, it’s not that unusual. These results are fairly typical of Dr. Kassman’s patients.  Listen to Tom Glass describe his experience.