Bilateral BHR - coming up June 21st

[twerdy]

Anxiously awaiting a bilateral hip resurfacing to be performed by Dr. Scott Marwin on June 21st.  Lots of questions getting answered here on this forum (thank you to all who have contributed).  I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get closer.

biggest questions right now ... what do the first days of recovery look like? What does in-house rehab look like?  What's the schedule? Is it painful?

how about the first days at home?  Nervous about how much help I'll need to do every little thing.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

Age 49
BHR - Dr. Marwin 6/11

[Lopsided]

Apart from terrible hospital food, as soon as I got out, I thoroughly enjoyed the recovery. I had no pain at all. It does help if you have a wife or loved one who can help you, but in general, you find ways of doing everything.

It is an experience you should look forward to.

D.

[hernanu]

Some answers from my perspective - I live alone, had two hips done, three months apart:

1. The first days were not bad for me. I expected pain and discomfort, but for me it wasn't as bad as I had braced myself for. First the old, draining pain from the hip was gone. It was awesome.  The replacement was soreness, exterme tiredness and some pain from the incision. The soreness felt like having seriously overworked muscles while exercising.

There were several things that were important the first couple of days. I wanted to go home quickly, so standing up, walking ASAP were important. Sitting and doing the exercises they give you. I didn't have much time since the physical therapist and the occupational therapist were tag teaming me with things to do. The rest of the time I slept or ate. It seemed to go by quickly, and the goals were well defined - walking the stairs with crutches, walking the hallways and practicing getting in and out of bed, the toilet or the tub. And keeping that @#$%^&# catheter away from me gave me great incentive to make trips to the bathroom. They used that as a standing threat.

I didn't have a lot of visitors, but the nurses were great, and kept my spirits up.

2. My parents came to take care of me for the first week. I had prepared certain things to make it easier to navigate the apartment on crutches; I put all chargers (cell phone, kindle, etc. ) on the kitchen counter so I wouldn't have to chase a dropped wire. I put as many CDs and Blurays in a box on a chair so I didn't need to bend too much to hunt for viewing material. I also organized the remotes for electronics and keys to be in secure bins while I had issues bending down.  I also made sure anything I wanted to reach frequently was at the front of the top shelf in the refrigerator.

My parents were great, mainly as moral support. You do need the companionship or at least some friends or relatives to call. There will be times you get discouraged or just a bit blue. I went through all of my CDs and Blurays during my time out. The important things were to exercise, rest, keep up with your pain meds (I only used Tylenol) and ICE, ICE, ICE... Helps with swelling, soreness, everything.

I released my parents from their bondage, since I was able to pretty much care for myself after one week. That included showers, cooking, walking, even bending down to get things from the floor. The tools that you can get to help you were provided by my occupational therapist - one to get things by hook and crook, and a sock putter - onner, these were invaluable.

The home nurse and the home physical therapist came twice per week for the first couple of weeks. My parents left after the first; my mother did me a great service by cooking and freezing about three weeks worth of individual meals.
The days were pretty full with exercising (six times dailly) and walking (3 times per day, about 1/4 mile each).

After the first couple of weeks, I was down to one crutch, after the second week I started driving for short stints, then I was pretty active. Still doing the exercises, but went to visit friends within reason, etc.

After the third week I graduated from home PT and the visitng nurse and was allowed to take off my Ben Franklin socks (the TED socks). Yay!!!. I was pretty active and started walking (limping) inside the house without support.

After the fourth week, I was walking outside without support for stretches, going to my usual places within reason (until tired, usually happened quickly), and resuming life.

Fifth week, started outpatient PT which is what really strengthens you (IMO), and went back to work.

It's a process and not too hard. What really got me positive was the progress I saw and the complete absence of that old grinding pain. It felt like all sorts of doors were opening up again. Don't be too nervous, you'll be able to manage it independently.

[moe]

Tom, welcome to the sight. I had bilateral BHR almost 2 years ago at age 56. I have to say it kicked the crap out of me for a few weeks. I went from the op hospital to a rehab facility for a few days. My blood pressure is very low from a lifetime of cycling and this took a while to stabilise. My wife was able to stay home and helped me a lot. Hernanu did a great job listing the tips, so I won't go over that. My job is challenging so I was out of work 3 months. I used a Lafuma recliner to sleep in. Everyone reacts differently and having both done at the same time is definitely a challenge, most docs won't do it, but I would do it all over again the same way. 

Hope this helps, moe

[twerdy]

Thank you: 'moe', 'hernanu', and 'lopsided' for your replies and advice.  Very very helpful indeed. As I have about 8 weeks before my surgery, I'm also wondering about any specific exercises that I should be concentrating on now.  I am working on strengthening my upper body and core and have heard it would also be useful to strengthen my quads and glutes. Any other thoughts?

Thanks again.  I plan to post my progress as things move along.  So looking forward to getting past the current exhausting pain that I'm in.

Best,

Tom

[Lopsided]

Tom,

Various people on this forum might suggest various muscle building exercises, but my feeling is that the muscles that need to gain strength the most only really respond to exercise after the operation and when you have range of motion again. The two things I recommend are as much walking as you can comfortably do and keeping your body weight down.

D.

[moe]

Tom, just try to get in as good overall condition as possible without beating yourself up in the process. It will help in your recovery and rehab.

moe

[phillwad]

Tom

Keep active, I focused on core work and some upper body stuff.

My Dr wanted me on crutches for 6 weeks (I hope to get off today during my check up  ;D ) and the arm strength helped me move, drag myself around and then later when I walked on crutches I never got any "in the arm pit" rubbing - I have done a number of 5+ mile walks with my clump clump clump crutches.

Positive attitude is by far the best "thing" you can bring "into" the procedure

Cheers - Phill

[twerdy]

Dear Phill -

I hope you got the crutches taken away at your check up.

Thanks for the advice!

Best,

Tom