A day after undergoing hip replacement surgery, Al Roker is already back on his feet!
The TODAY co-host and meteorologist checked in from his room at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Thursday morning to say the surgery on his left hip went well, and he's looking forward to heading home.
"I'm in far less pain than I was 48 hours ago," Al told his fellow hosts during a live chat. "The best thing is to just get up and move and be able to walk."
Al has kept fans in the loop about his procedure, posting a video on Instagram late Wednesday showing him being led by a therapist through his first movements just a few hours after surgery.
"Thanks, everyone for the good wishes, prayers and positive thoughts for my #totalhipreplacement#surgery today at @hspecialsurgery I feel better than I have in weeks,'' Al wrote.
Al, 65, had the surgery done by Dr. David Mayman, an orthopedic surgeon who also performed knee replacement surgery on Al three years ago.
"Everything went great, it was exactly as expected,'' Mayman said on TODAY Thursday. "People (who undergo hip replacement surgery) get back to everything. It just feels like their normal hip.
"People can golf and play tennis and ski and hike and swim and bike, and can just get back to normal life."
Al said his surgery was "a success" in an Instagram video he posted shortly after the procedure.
The average healthy person has to walk with a cane for about two weeks after the procedure, according to Mayman.
He is expected to return to the show by the end of this month, barring any complications. Most people feel about 80% recovered six weeks after the surgery, Mayman said.
It takes three months for the bone to fully grow into the implants, so high-impact exercises like running or jumping are off-limits. Simple walking is considered the best therapy.
The need for Al's hip replacement surgery came from age-related osteoarthritis. Al also has some genetic factors, too; his younger sister has to have operations on both of her hips.
"Osteoarthritis is just wear and tear," Mayman said. "I tell people it's like the treads on the tires of the car, and you drive enough miles, eventually you wear the treads thin."
Arthritis is the most common cause of chronic hip pain, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Al had already been taking anti-inflammatory medications, undergoing physical therapy and receiving cortisone injections for his hip pain.
"Once those things don't work anymore, then hip replacement is the mechanical fix to the mechanical problem,'' Mayman said.
Mayman used the posterior approach in which he made a 4-inch incision and entered through the side to replace the hip joint without cutting any muscles. The surgery lasted just over an hour.
"Will I be able to wear a Speedo?" Al joked beforehand.
"You're gonna have a little scar, but you'll be able to wear a Speedo if you want,'' Mayman said, laughing.