Aerial’s Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Gross 2011

August 16, 2011

I was diagnosed with severe arthritis in my right hip in July. I have had hip pain since 2008. I have been through all the conservative measures including hip arthroscopy due to a labral tear and bone spurs. That surgery was a year ago and my arthritis has advanced greatly in a year. It is now time to do something about it. I am 46 (female) and very active with cycling, yoga and swimming (well not quite as active as previously due to my hip). I still try to do what I can but for the first time in my life I have to psyche myself up to be active because it can be painful. I know if I did nothing, I would feel worse though. As I started researching hip resurfacing I really think it is for me. I was thrilled to find that one of the best surgeons in this area is right in my hometown of Columbia, SC with the hospital he operates at 4 miles from my house! I’ve read good things about his skill but would love some fresh comments on people’s experience with Dr. Gross. I have an appointment with him in early September. I feel like I need to reclaim my life and get this taken care of! It makes sense to me to preserve bone at my age and leave the option for a THR later in life if needed.

December 5, 2011

Out of recovery at 3:15 and walked the hall by 5:00! Amazing I’m still a little numb from the epidural. My foot points striaight ahead, something I have not seen in a couple years. A little out of it but doing well! It was a quick process. I woke up and was done. Funny thing is I did not personally see Dr. Gross. I’m assuming he did the surgery!

December 6, 2011

Surgery went smoothly on Monday. After the surgery Dr. Gross did confirm that I have dysplasia with an oval shaped femoral head and socket. According to the post op report, the severe arthritis I had was secondary to dysplasia. Interesting! My main question at this point is whether anyone experienced pretty bad nausea post surgery. I was feeling nauseous on and off all day today. I was discharged at around 4:00 and promptly threw up twice on the short ride home. I was prescribed Xarelto for nausea and took a dose earlier today but still had a problem.

December 9, 2011

I’m post op day four already. Last night was way better than the night before. In fact I only had to get up once. The anti nausea medicine has done the trick and allowed me to take the pain meds as prescribed. With enough pain meds in me I can control the pain. Lesson learned, stay ahead of the pain. I’m at the point now that I am sick of lying down and sitting but at the same time my body isn’t ready for much more. My swelling might have peaked. My rear end doesn’t look any bigger today than yesterday. I do however, have pain down the side of my thigh and calf all the way to my ankle. Again, I am amazed at those of you who do two hips over the course of a week! Maybe I’m just a whimp! My goal for the day is a slightly longer walk and my husband and I might make a quick drive to Starbucks just to get out of the house (he needs to make good on a football bet we had!). Thanks for all the support. I’m thinking by this time next week, I’ll be much better able to appreciate that the arthritic pain is gone!

December 10, 2011

I all the sudden feel like a problem child! I did a walk yesterday (which felt really good, see earlier post)but then had a horrible muscle spasm come on about 15 minutes after finishing. I literally could not sit or lay down comfortably. I also could not put weight onto operated side. I finally got into a face down position on the bed and put some frozen vegatable bags onto my back side. I called the doctor and spoke with the nurse. She phoned in some medicine for muscle spasms. Since I could not put weight on my leg she had me go in for an X-ray this morning to make sure that nothing had slipped or that I had something like a fracture. The X-ray showed that the implant looked fine so I guess it really was a spasm which totally locked up my leg. I was told that spasms aren’t that unusual because so many people have a altered gait before surgery. When you begin to walk, you often call into play muscles that haven’t been used. Needless to say, this was a scary experience.

December 11, 2011

I can say that 6 days post surgery my energy level is next to nothing. Take a nap, a little walking, a little icing, a little eating and more napping. I can tell I will go stir crazy as I start to feel better. My husband is going back to work tomorrow and I will miss him. I am going back to work just short of a month post surgery (after the holidays). Hopefully, I will be close to full speed but the posts above make me wonder.

December 12, 2011

I am one week post op today). I am home for the first time by myself. I think I can manage. I am a bit tired today so I think I will take a good nap. I woke up last night with a horrible night sweat that others have talked about. I am glad I read about that on this board or I would have been concerned. I was drentched to the point of changing my clothes! Minor progress to report. I am moving around the house pretty well on ONE crutch and might venture outside on ONE crutch today. My hip is feeling pretty good! I would like to get down to the cane this week. We have a family Christmas party I want to attend this Saturday and being on a cane would be wonderful. It is in-town with minimal travel and we can leave if I get too tired but I think I need to get out………and eat Christmas treats and meals! I am finally getting my appetite back too! I am starting to look forward to driving my new Z4 I got about month before surgery, although that will probably be awhile since it is a very low Roadster!

December 13, 2011

Truly the best day so far. I didn’t get up once during the night to use the bathroom and slept better. I was able to sleep briefly on the operated side last night which surprised me. It no longer hurts to roll onto either side. I can get to my side now but I am not able to fully sleep there (I am a side sleeper). I ventured out and did part of my walk with a cane and then came back and got a crutch to finish. I walked about 3/4 mile. I still have some swelling which tends to pick up toward the end of the day so I am still icing. I used to do a lot of yoga. I would do anything to bend over right now and give my back and hamstrings a little stretch. All in all, no complaints (at least today)!

December 18, 2011

13 days post op and was able to get into and drive my Z4. For those of you who recall my post back in October, I deliberated over buying the car before surgery. Since it is so low, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to drive it for some time after surgery. The car has 2 way memory seats. I set the first memory to a seat setting so the seat is high and back and then hit memory 2 which takes the seat lower and into the driving position. The car also has sport seats so there is a nice pull out ledge in the seat for good thigh support. I had to be careful getting in and out but it is doable (relying alot on my arms and my good leg). I don’t plan on any long drives for a while (since I have to brake with the left) but I think I can manage trips to the grocery or to finish up Christmas shopping in the car. As others have said, being able to drive is liberating.

December 19, 2011

Two weeks post-op today! I am thrilled with the results so far. I am able to walk just over a mile with probably 3/4 of the walk unassisted (use the cane on hills) . I would love to try to increase the distance but I guess that violates doctor’s protocol. Like everyone, I am struggling with patience I suppose. If you feel good, is it harmful to do a little more distance? After the first week, each day has brought some real progress. I was able to get out to a holiday party this weekend and was able to drive (I was expecting neither this early on). Also, am now able to get my sock and shoe on the operated side (turning knee out to side, not as easy as the good side but gets the job done). Mentally, I feel much better than a week ago (getting more mobile, getting out of the house and driving certainly contibute to this). I am grateful for my recovery so far and pray it continues. I feel like I could go back to work at least for half days. I took 2 weeks off work and now the university I work at has a two week break. I’ll officially go back to work in January, two days short of 1 month post-op. After three years of increasing hip pain, including arthroscopic surgery for a severe labral tear, it’s amazing that two weeks and HR can make such a difference. Wishing the best to all others out there in various stages of information gathering and/or recovery I am now an offical fan of Dr. Gross! I have hope now vs. just trying to hang on!

December 24, 2011

I am feeling really well. I’ll be three weeks out in two days. Although I have some lagging muscular soreness, my gait has improved as well as strength. I found I can go up 4 or 5 stairs foot over foot (much easier than before surgery when I could not do foot over foot due to ROM) and am walking better on some of the hills in my neighborhood. I am back to doing simple house tasks like vacuuming (my husband is thrilled). With all this said, my hip does get tired and I am still elevating and icing (trying to get in one good icing a day). I find soreness really seems to improve after a period off my feet. Dr. Gross does not prescribe any PT so nothing to report there until my six week check up. I’ve cheated a bit in doing some light stretching and I can can see that my flexibiilty has improved (pulling knee to chest); this makes it easier to put on pants, shoes, etc. I had lower back pain prior to surgery on the bad hip side. Back pain seems to have resolved with the surgery. All in all though, I’ll only update now if there are major changes. I am fully pleased at this point that I had the surgery. Hope this post op chronicle helps other patients, especially of Dr. Gross have an idea of the post op experience for me but please keep in mind that recovery is very individual. I feel very ready to go back to work come January 3

December 31, 2011

26 days post op today. I put the potty seat raiser away! Got back into the gym several times this week for upper body work and continue to feel stronger walking. I had a very tight groin and that seems to working itself well with simply all the walking and a little extra stretching (I did the hip abduction and adduction machine at the gym with very light weight and just going through the motion feels good on the muscles). I’m not sure if I am supposed to do that but it sure feels good. I also sat cross legged very briefly last night for the first time sort of testing my hip…..yoga calls but I will certainly have to wait a while yet. I’m hoping at my six week appointment I will be allowed to start back slowly. Undoubtably my hip has much bette ROM! Back to work starting January 3rd (feeling very ready).

January 3, 2012

I went back to work today and did fine. It was good to be back. My colleagues were excited (and amazed) to see no limp and no cane. They really saw my walking go downhill starting this past summer. I also got some extra walking in navigating campus too. Did a walk on the treadmill after work in the fitness center and did some upper body weights. I decided to stay indoors for the first time because for us warm blooded folks, it was windy and in the 40s here all day. Too bloody cold for me! Anyway, I feel blessed to be at this point one month after surgery. I was really wondering if 4 weeks off would be enough but it turned out to be good for me. I really think three weeks would not have been enough. I consider the fourth week of recovery to be the point that I was recovered enough to slide more into regular life again (not napping, getting out more, driving more and less icing/elevation, etc.). Feeling very positive to have no pain or increased soreness after a full day (still have a little bit of ongoing butt soreness but it is getting better with time, especially as my ROM returns).

January 12, 2012

I had my 6 week check up today with Lee Webb (I am actually 4 days short of 6 weeks but have a work commitment on my true six week day). I did not even see Dr. Gross around the office. Very quick process. Got X-rays done. My cup angle was verified at 33, same as the X-ray taken immediately post op so nothing has moved. My legs are of equal length (yeah). I already had the phase two exercise downloaded on my iPad and I was familiar with them. We went over those quickly and Lee checked my ROM, hip flexor and abduction/adduction strength. My flexibility is really good, hip flexor strength is good for this point (as measured by leg lifts) but abduction is a little weak. This doesn’t surprise me since I was weak in abduction especially prior to surgery. I was told I could use the abduction and adduction machines at the gym, which I prefer to some of the exercises. I can’t ease back into yoga but nothing extreme for six months (that is going to be tough). I can use my elliptical and ease back into spinning class. I am a little disappointed that Dr. Gross says no outdoor cycling for six months. That is another favorite activity of mine. All in all, I celebrated the good news with 20 minutes on my elliptical and freely bent over (legally, repetitively and comfortably breaking 90 degrees) washing the Z4 and giving the wheels a good cleaning. I also got a bonus "kudos" from my neighbor today who came over and told me how much better my walking looks…..he always sees me out doing my walking. Anyway, hang in there if you just had surgery, it’ll all work out! Life is good right now! Next appointment is at 10 months.

January 19, 2012

I saw a huge improvement in walking speed, stride length and overall strength from 4 weeks to 6 weeks. By 6 weeks I was able to walk up and down hills and really begin to feel like I could fitness walk vs. just walk. I was walking pretty much limp free by four weeks just not really strong. I also became able wear heeled shoes (at work….I’m female.) at just past 4 weeks. Just short of 6 weeks I was cleared to do the elliptical which I am now adding to my walking on alternate days (30 minutes of elliptical, alternate days with walking everyday). New hip feels so smooth when compared to my other hip, which is healthy, but has more miles on it! I feel like I could do more but as you read here, take it slow as everything is healing (I am just at about 6 1/2 weeks now).

January 25, 2012

I am actually very pleased with where I am at 7 1/2 weeks. I didn’t think I could enjoy the holidays and I was walking fine about 3.5 weeks after surgery. I thought I would have trouble with work at 4 weeks but that has been fine as well. I have been able to comfortably return to basic yoga (which feels great in terms of gentle poses to increase ROM in all hip angles), elliptical and weight training (light upper and lower body), walking up to five miles and swimming after clearance at the 6 week mark. I am not back to my "normal" but very ahead of where I thought I would be. I haven’t taken meds other than an occasional Alleve or Tylenol since about day 7. I wasn’t prescribed PT but feel like Dr. gross’s phase two exercises have been sufficient and I don’t mind not having to spend additional $ on PT since insurance has rolled into the new year. I suppose I am one of the lucky ones. My condition was very bone on bone before surgery but I did stay as active as possible prior to surgery which I think helped. My biggest points I am addressing is weakness with abduction and internal rotation. Where I want to be is still a ways off (tennis, possibly running, cycling outdoors and more advanced yoga) but life is much better now than before surgery. I am one whose downfall might be doing too much, which I really try to monitor. I am grateful for my recovery status. I think the important thing to remember is the individual nature of recovery.

February 8, 2012

I am now 8 1/2 weeks post-op (time flies)! ROM is returning and strength is getting there. I did a vinyasa flow yoga class today for the first time. This is the most challenging class I have done because the poses are sequenced together. There were a couple parts of the flow sequence that were tough (like half moon pose where all weight is on the operated leg dropping back into triangle pose). I have some weakness in the operated leg/quad however, it’s getting better. My IT band was tight for awhile but that seems to have improved. I was thrilled to see my "peeps" in class tonight again. I’m thankful everyday for my new hip and consciously relish in the ability to walk pain free.

February 19, 2012

At my six week appt. I was told yoga was OK as long as it isn’t extreme. Again, I think extreme really varies by person. There are definitely some more advanced hip opener poses I can not obtain yet. If you think about it, handstand and backbend are definitely not hip oriented. I definitely know when I hit my limit on some poses and use a prop if I can. It was only very recently that I tried pigeon (and it is a baby version now). You sort of feel your way a long, listen to your body. I would never cram my hip into a pose that hurts! As mentioned in a previous post in this thread, vinyasa is a whole other challenge. I am still regaining balance and moving smoothly from one pose to another is still coming back. I have done a vinyasa class the last two weeks, this week was better than the first week but still have work to really really work at it…..not a natural flow yet! As most know, Dr. Gross does not prescribe PT. For me yoga seems to be a great way to regain strength in the core and stabilizing muscles in the leg, hips, pelvis. However, as Herns alludes to, yoga is not something I think anyone should jump into this early post-op if they have never done it before!

March 3, 2012

For me it went like this:

Weeks one and two- rest and recovery, did a few outings for dinner, didn’t drive yet, zero mental capacity even for reading, watched a lot of Netflix, off pain meds at about six days, began walking with cane at about two weeks.

Week three- feeling much better, begain walking on my own, started to do errands, shop and get out more, started driving just a day or two prior to 3 weeks post-op.

Week four- mental capacity returned now that I was out of the real acute recovery stage (a lot of icing, elevating, etc.), felt very ready to return to work and get back on a schedule since I didn’t need any assistance with daily life or driving.

Returned to work right at one month post-op. I am a professor so I do have to negotiate walking to and from on campus but otherwise not a real strenuous occupation.

March 13, 2012

At 13 weeks surgery feels like a distant memory. Why did I wait so long? I did a 2 day yoga workshop this weekend. I had to be careful with deep hip openers but I am feeling really well. My core strength and balance have returned. My flexibility has improved so much. A simple figure four stretch is equal from operated to non operated side at this point. I didn’t think this would ever be possible. I am thrilled as things continue to progress. I have been doing a few (2 or 3) short 1 minute bursts of light running within my walks and things feel really, really solid. I want to do more running but I am resisting. I have a really good massage guy in town and scheduled a massage for this Thursday to move things around a bit in the hip area (IT band and glut especially).

March 14, 2012

I am just past 13 weeks already and feel very well, no complaints at all from a functional perspective. I have one annoying issue which is a very itchy scar. Is this normal at this point? I have tried vitamin e oil on the scar (massaging it in) thinking it might just be dry. I can’t seem to get rid of the itch. The area does not look infected at all. The scar does seem quite raised yet.

April 12, 2012

I’m within days of four months post-op and I want to give a shout out to sport massage. I’ve been fortunate to recover fairly easily but have had some nagging IT band tightness and a bit of glut tightness. I have had three deep sport massages focusing up and down the IT band and the once monkey fist area of the glut. I have noticed an improvement already in these areas. The massage therapist suggested scar tissue might be pulling on the IT band. He has worked that area and up into the quad. Feels so good it really get some deep massage. Truthfully I was skeptical if sport massage would help since I do so much yoga but he can get those tight areas in ways I can’t. Another benefit is he has done some concentrated massage on the scar itself, breaking down scar tissue very surface around the scar. My scar is flatter already and less itchy. Just though I would mention this in case it helps someone else out!

April 30, 2012

Right at 20 weeks or 5 months post-op. Feeling great. No really big changes except for strength. Feeling stronger in the operated leg be it walking up stairs, yoga poses (for the yogis can do bird of paradise on the operated leg now), road cycling or running on the treadmill. Yes, curse me….been running 15-20 minutes on the treadmill once a week. All is feeling good. I continue to be amazed at how much energy I have now that I don’t have to use up my energy reserves dealing with pain! No complaints at all. My husband and I have a beach vacation in Florida next week and looking forward to all the active things we will get ourselves into. Spring semester is over, bring on summer!

May 29, 2012

I am just a couple days shy of 6 months. Unbelievable. In general I feel great. My new hip side is getting stronger. I can really tell when cycling and on the short runs I’ve been doing. I do have something odd right now though, what I believe to be a touch of bursitis in the trochanter area of the good hip. Very, very odd as I have never had this before. I suspect it is from an adjusted gait and perhaps even an equaling out of my cycling stroke. It is not horrible but noticeable enough to ice and take it easy for a couple days. Stinks because the operated hip side feels great

June 8, 2012

My official 6 month comment on hip resurfacing….it is a game changer. I have my life back. Who would have thought running up and down a hill today (one I have done over and over in the past) could be done wiith such appreciation for no pain!
 

November 13, 2012

 I can not believe it has been nearly a year since my resurfacing on December 5, 2011 with Dr. Gross. I am 100% pleased with the outcome. I have steadily increased my activity and am back to running 3-5 miles several times a week in addition to yoga, cycling and occasionally my elliptical. I am still noticing gradual improvement in quad strength and psoas flexibility on my operated side. My psoas was so tight and my quad was weak from my limp post surgery. Gradually I have gotten strength and flexibility back. I am still caught off guard when I attempt something I haven’t done for awhile and I feel so much stronger. For example, my husband and I recently did some hiking in the mountains and hiking up and down various elevations was so much better than this summer. Overall, the pain I had a year ago to walk a block seems sooooo far away now. The resurfacing was the best thing I ever did and I hope for many more good years with my hip. For anyone looking into this surgery, it is totally worth it. People are amazed when they see me running again. I see Dr. Gross for a slightly early one year follow-up on Thursday of this week. My only slight worry is the ion issue which I understand he does not test for the first year. Since my cup angle was good I hope this is a non-issue. Looking forward to rocking the holidays pain free, not on crutches and in heels this year! Also, my new found love for pain free ambulation now being shared with two pups. The first dogs I have had in my 47 years. They love walking and I love walking with them. A year ago that would have not been the case!