Easy & Difficult Recoveries

obxpelican · February 07, 2009, 03:45:56 PM

Jeanie,

Your recovery is a lot like Pat's, me, I was taking pain meds the whole Summer before my surgery in August, I also added 4 ibuprofen 3 times a day and celebrex. Some days if I pushed it, like if I took my daughter to a practice and hit some balls for her the next day I could hardly walk even with ibuprofen.

I will say, post-op my pain was not that bad and in the end I did not even finish up the 20 or so pain pills that Dr. Gross prescribed me, I still have them to remind me what life used to be for me. I still have some celebrex too.

I've read enough recoveries that I totally believe you did as well as you did. I enjoyed reading your recovery information.

Chuck

Quote from: JeanM on February 06, 2009, 09:09:12 PM
I've been a daily reader of the postings on this website for almost a year. I consider this website to be absolutely priceless for its wealth of reliable information and the support found among the members of this community of people who share their thoughts, experiences and research with each other.

In discussions regarding recoveries, I've seen the same, consistent theme over the past year. 'Everyone's recovery is different.' No one is ever promised a great recovery. One's recovery is unpredictable. It's an individual experience and it can be affected by many variables. I think it's great that we can share our good experiences and bad experiences in a safe community of people who care. I've always heard Pat encourage people to share their experiences, both good and bad, with candor. She doesn't advise people to 'tone down' or 'overplay' their experiences. So, why should she? Just tell it like it is. Good and bad.

Incidentally, I feel that I've had a great recovery. Believe it or not, I took nothing stronger than Tylenol for some minor muscular pain. I used two crutches for a couple of days, then one crutch for a few days, then was using a cane for several weeks. Weaning myself off the cane was hard for me. It took me awhile to realize that the only way off the cane was to get off the cane and work through the awkwardness. It worked itself out after about a week of some very awkward walking. My leg turned dramatically inward initially when I walked. This was very embarrassing to me. It has taken some time to rebuild strength in some very specific muscles again in order to correct the inward rotation. As far as I'm concerned, after 12 years of being in pain this has not been a big deal. Some people might have had a different perspective on this and may have considered this an unexpected complication or a significant setback. A lot dependds on perspective and expectations. I'm so happy that I no longer have to wake up every day wondering what my pain level is going to be and wondering how many painkillers I'm going to have to swallow in order to make it through the day.

My advice to everyone who is planning to have this surgery is to educate yourself as much as possible and make your own decision for what's right for you based on everything you learn. Unfortunately, other factors weigh in as well, such as location, ability to travel, insurance or lack therof, etc.. These are just the realities of life that may limit our alternatives. I happen to be in the camp with the opinion that you should go with the most experienced surgeon you can. In my case, my surgeon choice was influenced by surgeon experience, location (my sister lives 3 hours away from my surgeon and I re-habbed at her house), insurance coverage (in-network provider) and that I felt like he was the right choice for me. But, that was my choice that was based on my own preferences and my unique circumstances.

In any case, own your own decision and it's outcome. Release yourself from any pre-conceived expectations regarding your own recovery. Everyone is different. Instead, commit to being flexible and easy on yourself. Everyone recovers at a different rate. Give yourself permission to recover at the rate that your body chooses. After all, you really have no choice in the matter, so why beat yourself up over something you can't control? Enjoy the time off that you're going to give yourself. There were days during my recovery that I slept in my recliner chair during the better part of the day. I would NEVER do that normally. Honestly, I enjoyed the break that I gave myself. It was nice to nap whenever I felt like it and not feel guilty about it.

Good Luck To All
and
Thanks once again to Pat for providing this forum to us all!

Jeanie

mari · February 07, 2009, 05:28:53 PM

Bionic, when in February is your surgery scheduled? I am scheduled with Dr. Gross on Feb 18. I too, don't have a lot of pain and don't take anything more than occasional Advil for it. But like you said, I don't do much because walking any distance does hurt. I am looking forward to being able to walk distances again.

Mari

Bionic · February 07, 2009, 06:03:54 PM

Hi Mari,

I'm scheduled with Dr. Gross this Wednesday, 2/11. Sorry I won't be seeing you there. It would be good for both of us to have "a buddy."

Good luck with your surgery, and keep your eyes open for my posts. I will be online if I feel up to it.

All the best!

wayne-0 · February 07, 2009, 07:44:19 PM

Hey Mud,
I know you say you are skeptical about being off pain meds the first few days but in my case that is true. I had an epidural the first two days and when they took it out I actually felt much better without it. They gave me an oxycotin and I hated the way it made me feel. When they tried to give me another one 12 hours later I told them no more. From there I took tylenol only til post op day 8 then nothing. Still nothing and today is post op 3 months. I like Chuck never felt any more pain than I had pre surgery. I woke up from surgery completly pain free except for a charlie horse feeling in the top of the buttocks. I was and still am amazed at how good I feel now, it's just a brand new lease on life. While my ROM still is not where I want it to be I still have a hugh difference of ROM from pre surgery. But at 3 months I feel like every other aspect of my recovery has been swift. On day 22 post op I was walking without a cane with no limp ( and I had both hips done at the same time ) although I carried my cane with me for longer walks just in case I got tired, which I did. So for me I would say it been more on the easy side even though doing all the post op PT exercises is alot of work .

Wayne

Mudpro · February 07, 2009, 08:48:22 PM

Wayne-O you mentioned something that may be part of the explanation, you had an epidural...

Pat, were you put out or did they do a spinal block on you? I'm wondering if there is some residual effect from the procedure that is different from the effects of general anaesthesia that may soften the pain for a little longer?

To clarify a point, I believe my recovery has been about average as far as the ROM, walking unaided, and other measurements of recovery are concerned. It is primarily in the need for perscription level pain medication from day 3 - 10 or so where there seems to be a discrpency. That and I still have a hard time buying the guy jumping rope at week 2.

Pat Walter · February 07, 2009, 08:59:28 PM

Dr. De Smet only uses a general anasthesia. He feels that allows the muscles to relax the most. He also does his surgeries very fast - normally in about 45 mintues for one hip. He feels the quicker he does the surgery, the faster you can recover from the effects of surgery.

Pat

obxpelican · February 07, 2009, 09:51:24 PM

Mud,

Some doctors use a special cocktail of analgesics with the spinal, Dr. Gross does that and you wake up with no pain the day of surgery and sometimes the day after for a while. Bone pain can be really bad the day of the operation and into the day after but I was totally pain free the day of surgery and into the next day.

This kind of goes with everyone is different in their recoveries, every doctor has their own protocol for pain too. I would be willing to bet Dr. DeSmet uses some sort of analgesic when he operates, I once saw a Dr. Bose surgery where before he sewed the person up he injected his cocktail into the patients hip area.

Chuck

stevel · February 08, 2009, 05:42:01 PM

I received a spinal and an epidural. The spinal acts faster and since Dr. Su works fast, the anesthesiologist added the spinal. The epidural is useful for controlling post-op pain. I could apply the booster button to receive an additional dose(s) at a minimum of ten minutes intervals as needed for pain. This was disconnected the morning of day 2 post-op. I took oral pain pills as needed (hydrocodone/acetaminophen 5-500 mg tablets, 1-2 tablets, every 4 - 6 hours). I took occasional pain pills until ten days post-op. I continued taking 1 normal strength aspirin for blood thinning until 6 weeks post-op.