Gone Symmetrical: 2nd BHR Feeling Good

[Mi Corazon]

Got the LBHR in Madison with Dr. Rogerson in March.  I posted a fairly thorough thread (herehttp://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/index.php?topic=2364.msg16350#msg16350) about the recovery on this site, tracking milestones and the physical journey to what ended up being a very good recovery.  It was however, complicated by deterioration of the right hip which made any workout or sustained activity unpredictable:  one hip on the way up, one on the way down =  ships passing in the night.  One day biking feels good, the next, not so much.  The main dysfunction was fairly sharp discomfort in the right upper inside thigh, pain, but also a notable lack of strength.   

Anyway, I didn't want to ruin my summer by rushing back into surgery, so I limped along and friends wondered if any progress had really been made.  Not to say I wasn't active:  I played volleyball for a couple of months, laid up a 20 ton stone wall, and kept busy around the farm.  But, there was this nagging feeling of incompleteness and dissatisfaction knowing that after all the pain, the trials and tribulations in getting the original hip fixed, I was still heading downhill overall.

So, in July I scheduled the RBHR with Rogerson for October 31st.  My rationale:  November is a cruel month anyway, and if I were lucky, there would be just enough warmish weather in Wisconsin that I could get my walks in before the slippery curtain of winter fell and left me indoors. 

And, I am extremely happy with the way things worked out.  Instead of putting up with a miserable winter of pain and declining mobility, this time I scheduled ahead and got the right hip resurfaced just as it was causing me major discomfort.  And, luckily, the weather has allowed for plenty of outside walking.  Last winter, I couldn't do hardly anything with the snow on the ground, and the left hip pain--this was years and years in the making--was really miserable:  pillow between legs at night, groaning at every step, unable to get forward over my plate at the table, pain in the ass to get dressed, impossible to tie shoes.

So, highlights of the RBHR on October 31st: 

-- The first 24-36 hours are really unpleasant.  It's not so much the pain as the lack of mobility, peeing into a plastic urinal laying on your side, drifting in and out of consciousness, nurses constantly checking vitals, blood draws at 5:00 a.m.,  the nausea of trying to stand up for the first time, the terrible food (I did not eat at the hospital).   For the uninitiated this is the "dark night of the soul". 

-- Dr. Rogerson has the week-long recovery process in Madison, where he and staff monitor patients closely and, importantly, the PT people keep you moving, including in the warm water pool.  I have to say that as much as taking a full week seems like a pain in the ass, it sure pays off down the line in terms of overall mobility and getting blood flow into the operated area.  I have nothing but great things to say about this whole protocol.  It works!

-- It's hard not to compare recovery times and overall leg health even though Dr. Rogerson advised against it.  My feeling is that the RBHR is going even better than the first.  Of course, it was my stronger leg to begin with, and importantly, I now have a better leg to pair it with.  Still, the muscles just feel more in tact, more explosive, and I don't have the surface nerve insensitivity that still lingers out at the skin on my left leg.

-- Tomorrow is 20 days post-surgery.  I've thrown away the crutches, I'm doing stairs, sleeping is back to normal, my energy levels have returned.  I never did take any pain killers.  Even though the incision is still hard in spots the surface soreness is gone.  I've got a tiny limp favoring the right side, more muscle tenderness and weakness than pain or dysfunction, but I'm thinking in a few days, even that will be gone.

-- Taking the full seven months between procedures felt about right.  Sooner than that, I wouldn't have a strong second leg to depend upon and frankly, it was a little depressing to even consider going back into the operating room.  Also, using the tough months of winter to be down works for me better than the bright and happy days of summer.

Overall, and especially after reading all the ways in which a HR can go bad on this site, I feel extremely blessed.  Then again, picking the very best surgeon, making sure you have a proven device, doing all the prep work they recommend, coming in ready to be part of the team -- it is a process that I helped determine and steer.  Believe me, when I started researching options last fall, I felt helpless, depressed and forlorn, especially after going to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and hearing a retired doc crap all over my hopes for a resurfacing procedure. 

So, here I am one year later, feeling lighter on my feet than I have in a decade, confident that the future will get even better and that this whole episode of pain and dysfunction will recede magically into the distant past.  It's hard not to see a miracle in this.   But, I guess, it's best to hold off and make certain that the femoral heads stay healthy, that I don't get metalosis, that there isn't any kind of slippage or other weird functioning of the device.  I do, after all, have some major metal parts sealed up inside my body, and, as good as they feel and perform, it's not like they are without risk.  It's just that.... I would be in a wheelchair right now without the HRs, and that makes this about the best thing that's ever happened to me....

Cheers out there and all the best on everyone's process and recovery.

[rbt2011]

Great story, thanks for sharing with the rest of us.  May God bless you in your continued recovery and new life with well functioning hips.