ABC News(NEW YORK) — Good Morning America co-anchor Lara Spencer was starting to feel the aches and pains that are common after decades of active living.
“I love sports, I love being active, I love challenging myself,” said Spencer, 47. “I was a jock growing up from the time I could walk.”
Spencer’s nagging pain in her right hip, however, led to a surprising diagnosis. Spencer, who was a competitive diver at Penn State and now plays tennis, was told by her doctor she needs a hip replacement.
“It was so upsetting,” Spencer said of the diagnosis. “I waited for a long time before I did anything about it or told anyone because it sounds like it’s an old person’s problem and I just couldn’t believe it.”
Spencer’s physician, Dr. Peter Moley, told ABC News that around 10 percent of all hip replacements are done on patients in Spencer’s age group, under 50 years old. Spencer also has hip dysplasia in the soon-to-be-replaced hip, which made her cartilage more likely to wear down earlier in life.
“So that’s a huge amount of patients in that age group we don’t really hear about as much,” said Moley, a physiatrist at the hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Spencer said she has accepted that the wear and tear to her hip came from being a “great athlete.” She said she is now focusing on getting in the best shape she can so she can have the best recovery possible.
“I was like, okay, I’m going to approach this like any other sport in my life,” she said. “I’m going to kill it.”
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