6 month update.

[pc]

I am now 6 months LBHR. The recovery seems to have gone by quickly and I am enjoying participating in all of my previous activities with no pain. The recovery has gone smoothly with steady progress and at this point I would guess that I am 95% of full strength on the left side and with better range of motion than prior to the surgery. My doctor gave me the thumbs up on restrictions at four months but,  told me to be cautious and listen to my body for over use symptoms. I was very persistent from the very beginning of post op by walking, cycling, and resistance training daily. Between the three I averaged 2 to 3 hours daily building strength and flexibility (generally I do to two 1 1/2 hour sessions a day). The past 3 weeks I have added running and am happy that I am able to run daily 3 to 4 miles. Typically, I warm up on a stationary bike for 30 minutes prior to running. My pace running average 10 minute miles, but I feel as though I could increase the pace at this point. I intend on keeping that pace for the remainder of the month and then will determine mileage length and pace for April. Keep in mind that I have always trained for 2 to 3 hours daily for the past 30 years so, I was physically and mentally prepared for intense rehabilitation. Everyone is different and need to follow what their body allows it to do.

I started back skiing the first part of January and am now skiing all terrain including moguls. The most stressful part of returning to the slopes was the fear of falling on the operated hip. This all came to an end this past weekend when a skier cut me off, which resulted in an epic fall directly on my left hip. When I came to rest, I stayed there for a few seconds before feeling my hip to see if all was in order. All was well, I got up and continued the day with new confidence.  I really am glad that I took the fall to prove to me mentally that all is sound.

As I have posted previously, prior to surgery do all that you can to be as fit as possible, choose a doctor that you can have confidence in, work your ass off after surgery by walking, cycling, and pushing through new daily goals and before you know it the operation seems like a distant friend. Good luck to all considering hip resurfacing. I guess that this will be my last report until my one year mark. Thanks all to have hippies who have gone before me and posted in order to provide as much information as possible. Your courage and information was my inspiration.

God bless,

One happy surface hippy. PC

[23109VC]

Thanks for the update, that is reallyencouraging for us "barely" post op hippies.  I'm a day from two weeks post op....and the idea that I could e running, even SKIING in six months is exciting........

Glad to hear things turned out well for you!

[newdog]

PC,

Like Sean said, that is a very encouraging post. What an inspiring read. Made my day!

[Tin Soldier]

Yeah, thanks.  For us newbs (I'm also one day away from 2 weeks post op), hearing how this can and will turn out is very encouraging.  Moving from crutches to a cane and then un-aided walking is all I'm really thinking about right now.