Entries by city2south

My story starts out like many others: 38 yr old diagnosed with OA in left hip. 1st Ortho. did 2 cortisone shots, 1st one held up for almost 1 yr, 2nd one didn't last a day. Dr. told me only alternative was THR. I went home and cried. I didn't like his answer so I started searching the net and came across Surface Hippy and Dr. Gross. I Went to another local ortho. (just to get second opinion) with my information about HR and he said go for it. I made appt. with Dr. Gross ( 3 hrs driving distance) and had surgery 2 months later on 6/23/08. That morning I was of course nervous and as the nurses were setting me up for surgery I actually thought that maybe I shouldn't go through with this, maybe my pain is not that bad, maybe I can wait a few years. Shelby, my main nurse who treated me like gold reassured me all would be fine and I would only regret postponing surgery. PT came the next morning and I walked the hallway/stairwell with crutches. By Wednesday afternoon I was discharged. I was walking with 1 crutch less then a week post-op and then a cane before 2 weeks post-op. I am now 5 weeks post-op and feel great. <u>I have not had hip pain since I woke up from surgery.</u> The incision is 4 inches and healing nicely. I had no complications, just some insomnia (blood thinner side effect) that Lunesta cured immediately and feeling itchey from the morphine. A usual day consists of trying to keep up with my 3 yr old and walking a minimum of 1 mile with cane. I have routine exercises that I do daily and plan on trying my elliptical tomorrow. My cane is more for balance then support and I am hoping to retire it very soon. One of my new gadgets I took home was a Polar care 300. It is basically a small cooler that you fill with ice and water with a hose attached to a large pad. The pad gets wrapped around leg/hip area. After plugging it in (electric outlet) water shoots from the cooler into the hose up to the pad. It feels awesome and works wonders in drecreasing the swelling. The members on this site are amazing. I've never met such a supportive group of people in my life and I am truly greatful to Pat Walters for creating this communication portal. I'll be sure to update as I go and try to add videos and pictures. Lisa L/Uncemented/Biomet/Gross/6-23-08