There's more than me out there; there's more than me out there; there's more than me out there!!!! LOL And we're both young - well youngish - you more so than me. Pls email me pfwalker@accesscomm.ca to chat more or find me on facebook. There is soooo much we can discuss - whoever told you one can walk "normal" without a hip is cuckcoo! It is almost physically impossible - one would still likely need a cane at least or they have a heck of a lot of scar tissue holding them up - and yes the leg length difference is also a huge factor - I have about a 2-3 inch difference - I've always had one leg shorter than the other and with the many replacements that difference has changed over time both for better and worse - worse though is definitely now - I have shoes with a raise on the one and we had to increase it this last time to about a 2 inch lift. Still there is uncomfortable difference so to ease it a bit indoors I wear my raised shoe on my hipless side and bare feet on the other - it looks ridicously stupid but it works! I have a warped sense of humor anyway so I just go with the flow with this. LOL So much more to share..................................