RIAO Hip Surgery Improves Man's 'Pirate Walk'

This is a guest blog written by Hillary A. Strilko, web content writer and social media coordinator for the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics.

Cliff Long leads Heavy Seas Beer's pirate-themed brewery tour in costume as the fictitious Captain Thomas Flint. After a recent tour of the Halethorpe brewery, Cliff described how "this very nice fellow" approached him about his very unique pirate walk.

"He comes up to me and he says, "˜Excuse me, Captain Flint?' And I say, "˜Aye!' Then the fellow asks, "˜The pirate walk, is that real?' And I say, "˜It is.' And he says, "˜It looks like it hurts.' And I said, "˜Yes, it does.' And then he introduced himself, and that's where I first met who I call "˜Dr. Bob,' Dr. Peroutka. He said, "˜If you are interested, I could help you with that.' So we sat down and the conversation went on for some length."

Ten months later, Cliff got X-rays and went for a consultation with Dr. Robert Peroutka at the Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics. The X-rays confirmed that Cliff had a severely degenerated hip joint. A month later, Cliff had hip replacement surgery. "They did the work. It was absolutely top flight from start to finish," he says. "I could not have asked for better treatment."

Cliff calls Dr. Peroutka the "best on the planet."

"I would recommend him to anyone. Highest marks. Highest recommendation. The new hip has made things light years better," he says.

When asked how the surgery has changed his life, Cliff said, "It is really nice to be out of extreme, excruciating pain. You don't have to plan things out like, "˜Gee, do I do my laundry or take the trash out today? And do I really need to eat twice, because it's too painful to go to the kitchen.'"

Cliff adds: "How did it change my life? One, getting my life back. Number two, beginning to remove myself from probably one of the most horrible mental states one could be in. You are living a nightmare, but it's not just a nightmare. It's happening. You are incapacitated. You are in pain. So, how did it change me? It brought me back, gave me back a great percentage of my life, and there is no way to put a monetary value on that."

The surgery also made it possible for Cliff to continue his pirate-themed tours at Heavy Seas Beer as well as his running walking tours and haunted pub crawls for the Baltimore Ghost Tours company. Cliff has been a costumed interpreter and entertainer at a number of historical sites across the country, and he also was a professional clown in the now defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He jokes that he may have damaged his hip in the 1980s when he crammed into a tiny car with his fellow clowns for the famous clown car gag. Now much of Cliff's energy is devoted to his work as the founder and puppet playwright of the Crescent Moon Karagoz Shadow Puppet Theatre, which has helped revive the traditional Turkish art form.

When asked what he would tell someone experiencing hip pain as severe as his was (he rated the pain a 12 on a 1 to 10 scale prior to surgery), Cliff says, "Make [an appointment at RIAO] happen. There is support here for you. There is financial support if you need it. Don't put it off another day. I did for years, and my pain continued to get worse. Do not get in the way of your own recovery. You are the only person stopping you "¦ Do it. Make it happen, and you will not be disappointed."

The Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics is home to some of the world's most renowned orthopedic surgeons who provide state-of-the-art orthopedic services for children and adults. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 410-601-8500. You can also call 410-601-WELL to learn more about LifeBridge Health services or make an appointment with a physician.