Officially joined the bi-lat club!!

[mikebaker]

Hi all, well it is done, I had my right hip resurfaced on Tuesday and everything went really well. This surgery went so much better than the first. I was a bit worried about the spinal but I remembered that they needed a longer needle last time and the doctor was able to place it much quicker this time. Also they gave me a bit more of something during the surgery because I only remember a bit of hammering instead of hearing everything last time!! I was determined this time to not take the heavy narcotics and it worked much better. I stayed away from the oxycodone and instead they used some morphine the first night but other than that it was tylenol 3s the rest of the way. I was out of the hospital on Thursday afternoon and am now sitting at home and getting reacquainted with my Netfilx account. It has been just about 4 months since my first resurfacing and my left hip is doing well supporting my new bhr. I still have a bit of glute pain in my left side once in awhile and am a bit more tired on my crutches. My doctor is very conservative so I have 6 weeks of feather weight bearing and then back at the rehab again. It is going to be tough but I know that the end is in sight and I am going to feel so much better. I think the only thing I wish I would have done differently was working a bit harder after my first surgery. However I was so scared of potential femoral neck fracture I did not want to do anything to aggressive. Also, it was really hard to work once my left started to feel better because the arthritis in my right side came back with a vengeance. I was able to sleep on my side last night which was wonderful as I remember it took me about a week or more the last time. Thanks again everyone for all the support, I could not have done it as well without you all. Best wishes, Mike

[Boomer]

Congratulations on getting your life back. Easy does it. I'm a bit over a week from my first hip and enjoying the lack of pain. You did nothing wrong on your first hip. Don't look back, look forward.

Best wishes to you for a truly great 2012.

Boomer

[Pat Walter]

Congratulations Mike.  Take it easy and you will soon have 2 great hips to run around on.  Keep us posted when you can.

Good Luck.

Pat

[Tin Soldier]

Good job.  Sounds much like my second one, just a lot easier, and I recovered quicker too.  I think you'll be pretty stoked about having 2 good bearings once the initial recovery is over.  Congrats!

[mikebaker]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the kind words and I will try to look forward more!!

Tin - I am a bit worried about both of my legs being a bit weak at the 6 week point, however I am hoping that my left will continue to improve, do you ever have that feeling that you are a bit weaker in both legs but without pain??

[hernanu]

Good news, Mike. Welcome to the club. Don't worry about feeling some weakness: even though the first leg is farther along and strong enough to support you, its still recouping, so it'll be fine and so will you.

[ScubaDuck]

Mike-

Although I am not a bi-lat club member, I can certainly speak to the weakness in the operated leg.  And I am over four month from surgery.

I have been working from day one on strengthening the leg.  I have been diligent about my exercises and been working out at least 10 times per week.  Even with this I can measure the difference in strength on several exercises and weight lifting I do.  I know I had weakness on that side even before surgery.  In general I am close to matching that strength though there are exercises where I am still substantially weaker.

Take your time but be diligent.  You will be back and even better than before surgery.

Best wishes.

Dan

P.S.  And no, I don't wish to join your club.

[mikebaker]

Thanks Dan - speaking as a new member, there was no one around chasing me to be a part of this club!

I appreciate the advice and I will be diligent - slow and steady wins the race. I probably could have pushed the surgery out farther but my other hip was really bad and once I pulled the trigger on number one I did not want to slow down my return to a life without pain any longer. Plus it hampered by recovery for the first hip as it hurt quite a bit.

Other than a bit of weakness it was amazing how well I felt at four months so hopefully by spring it will be all good too!!

[Woodstock Hippy]

Hi Mike, welcome to the bilateral club.  Now you can relax and follow your doctor's orders.  Have fun watching all those movies.

[rbt2011]

Congrats Mike.  Really glad to hear that your recovery on your 2nd surgery is going so well. 

Best wishes!

[mikebaker]

Thanks everyone, well at 8 days post op now and doing really well. I had a bit of a set back as my quad was really sore after I went off the pain meds on the weekend, maybe too soon? Anyway this seemed to resolve itself and I was able to walk for 20 mins yesterday. I also had to go to the doctor today because my bandage which was supposed to last two weeks came open in the shower today and so I had to make sure the area was clean and the doctors office just said to leave it open and dry now. I looked at the scar and it looks a lot bigger than the first one but maybe it is the swelling that is contributing to that. Anyway all good and I hope everyone else is doing well.