Getting ready to begin my hip resurfacing journey

[dmather]

Hi all,

Thought I would drop in an leave an update of my progress.

Slept very soundly last night, I found I sleep better by keeping the head of the bed raised in a semi-seated position. When I woke up this morning I was quite stiff and thus pretty sore, so the first thing I did was the laying down execises that the PT had given me. In about 15 minutes the stiffness and the pain was quite a bit less.

After breakfast and cleaning up the occupational therapist came back finished showing me how to use all the little aids they recommended I buy. Then it was off to PT, that lasted about 20 minutes then walked backed to the room (with a walker). I rested about 15 minutes then went for another walk around the floor for about 10 minutes.

All in all I find that we I first get up to move their is stiffness and discomfort but after getting moving I can pretty much put full weight on my new hip. Still have to take it slowly and think about it but I am pretty much walking with just the walker there as a precaution.

Looks like I'm headed home tomorrow if I can continue this progress the rest of the day, and I am feeling pretty good (just continuing to move slowly).

Dale RBHR Dr. Clarke 3/17/2009

[dmather]

WooooHooooo!!!!

Just got done with afternoon physical therapy, saw Dr. Clarke and I can go home this afternoon!!!

To celerate, after I walked back to my room from PT I did a lap and a half around the whole floor!

Now I just have to go home and be just as diligent doing the exercises they have given me!!!

Dale RBHR Dr. Clarke 3/17/2010

[Pat Walter]

That's Great Dale.

Remember that you will get really, really tired.  Take it easy in the begining.  YOu think you can take on the world, but you will quickly run out of energy.  Naps are great!

Don't worry about being too agressive with the exercises.  You body will heal with or without you pushing.  You will be very active in a few months.  For now, you best friend is patience and rest.  You will be amazed how tired you will be by the time you get home.

Have fun and keep in touch.

Pat

[dmather]

Hi all,

3rd day post-op, came home last night, I slept in the recliner as the bed is not ready to deal with the new hip (needs to be a little higher and firmer). I woke up this morning a little sorer, stiffer and with more swelling than yesterday but I immediantly started on my simple exercises and within 15 minutes was looser and had less pain. I got up and made coffee so that got me moving around the kitchen a little bit, and before noon I went out for about a quarter mile walk.

After my walk I came in elevated and iced, had lunch, then did another walk at about 3. All-in-all, I am stiff, the muscles and incision are sore but I am able to put 100% weight on my new hip. I am finding that the rest, elevation and ice are pretty beneficial!

Thanks for all the positive, beneficial input and the encouragement!

Dale RBHR Dr. Clarke 3/17/2010

[obxpelican]

Yes, ice, ice and more ice and relax a bit too, don't push it too much, if you are getting real sore afterwards back of just a bit.

You sound like you're doing wonderful though.


Chuck

[The Kid]

Dale...Glad to hear you are bouncing back.  I didn't need blood after surgery but they did keep in the recovery room for 4 hours (I guess 2 is the norm) for low blood pressure and dizziness.  I also had trouble the next day with dizziness when they got me up to walk and I didn't get up to walking until much later in the day.  I wasn't very hungry after surgery so didn't eat much and I think that didn't help.  My wife, bless her heart, made me eat and I felt so much better afterwards.  It has been all good since then with every day getting better and better.  I'm sure it will be the same for you.  Take care of yourself and keep posting I really am enjoying your posts.  Tom  :)

[dmather]

Update:

I’ve been out-of-pocket for a week now (no Internet access), but I am 11 day post-op and thought I would provide a brief update because of a post I saw on swelling.

The new hip feels great! No pain in the hip joint what-so-ever! I have found that after being up on it for 10 to 15 minutes I do start to experience rapid swelling, after the first 5 days my whole leg was pretty constantly swollen all the way down to my calf. I got a lot of bruising and it hurt quite a bit so as much as I didn’t want to I curtailed my walking activity quite a bit and spent much more time with my leg elevated and iced. After about a day and a half of that most the swelling went down so I have picked up the walking just a bit but still have decided to be conservative for the time being because I still get quite a bit of swelling, high in the hip, after being up for 15 minutes or so and I am getting what feels like a pinched nerve pain behind my knee. I think that maybe from the significant swelling still going on in the hip and buttock area.

Even though I am slightly disappointed in having to back off a bit I am still very happy with how things have gone post-op and my range of motion seems to improve every day.

Dale RBHR Dr. Clarke 3/17/2010

[The Kid]

Hi Dale...I hope that the swelling is getting better and that you are back to walking.  Are you down to one crutch/cane now?  I was on two for the first week maybe two, I can't remember anymore.  Then down to one crutch then finally the cane and this past Tuesday I got the go ahead from my doctor to loose the cane and only use it if I felt I really needed it.  I know that you will be back in action before long with no swelling some things just take a bit of time.  Best of luck to you.  Take care...Tom

[Margie]

I must have passed you in the halls of Community General Hospital! I also had my hip resurfaced by Dr. Clarke and also on March 17th. I have also been very pleased with the surgery and so far the recovery has gone better than I could have imagined.
Good luck to you with your other hip. I'll be thinking of you.
Margie

[dmather]

Hi all,

Back with another quick update.

First;

Tom: yes the swelling has pretty much gone away, I never really did stop walking I just curtailed my activities greatly. I would walk until the swelling started to increase then I would elevate and ice. I did that for about three days and finally the swelling stayed at a manageable level. I went to one crutch on day 5, still am using one crutch even though I have been putting all my weight on the new hip since the day after surgery. Thanks for the interest and I wish you all the best as well.

Margie: I think it is entirely possible we passed in the halls, you must have had in hospital PT at a different time than I did because the two women in my PT sessions were not recovering very rapidly from their surgeries. I am gald to hear your recovery is going so well, my recovery sounds very similiar to yours. I too have back issues, 5 collapsed discs in my lower back, but I feel like I can manage my back issues to some degree if I can do things to keep my core strong. Getting my hips fixed is the first phase of working on the back issues, one hip down and one to go! Good luck to you as well, I hope your recovery continues to well!

Back to the update;

This is pretty incredible, everyday it seems I am getting more ROM and stronger! For the most part nothing seems to be at issue, I had my post-op appointment last Tuesday, all x-rays looked good, the PA didn't like that the incision "weeped" a little so he put me on anitbiotics for 14 days, but no toher indications of any problems. I haven't started PT yet due to some scheduling issues but I will begin this coming Tues, I am actually looking forward to it!

Only issue I have had was a re-occurance of the "pop" and movement I felt in the hip the day after surgery. I was sitting, shifted my weight slightly and felt the movement with a fairly loud "pop". Hurt like the devil for the next ten minutes then settled down to just aching for the rest of the day. The next morning the pain was gone and the hip was feeling great aside from feeling a lot tighter in the very front of the hip. Everything feels better except for that extremem tightness that I can't seem to worked out.

That seems pretty minor to me in the whole scheme of things so all-in-all I am extremely excited about how well the recovery has been and seems to be going! Thanks once again for all the support and advice from everyone, can't begin to express how helpful it has been!

On April 13 I go in for a follow-up on the incision combined with my pre-op for my left hip, so I guess on and after that date I will start a new thread in the Bi-Lat section  ;)

[Margie]

Hi Tom,
You are right I wasn't in a PT class. They kind of forgot me on Friday AM before I was to leave. ??? So as they were telling my husband to get the car I asked if I should learn how to do steps. So quickly they realized I was missed and I was brought down for a quick lesson before going home. All was well, so I was glad to break out!!
I tend to swell up a bit too if I am out more than a couple hours without my leg up. I am sorry to hear that you did not get in home PT. I do believe that it has helped me a lot, but I have heard that some people do without and do great anyway. Glad to hear that you are starting this week. Let us know how you do and if you think it helps.
Margie