hip resufacing 1 week

[midiowa]

well one week to go before the big day. hip has been feeling better but still aches,  trying to decide whether to go ahead or wait as long as possible before doing surgery, what if iam worse off than now.  trying not to back out but frankly iam nervous as hell!  iam 45years old, male, own my own refrigeration business, busy now, trying to squeeze in before spring so my busy season is not to impacted. does anyone have aches down to your knee from hip ache?  Brad.

[AlanN]

well one week to go before the big day. hip has been feeling better but still aches,  trying to decide whether to go ahead or wait as long as possible before doing surgery, what if iam worse off than now.  trying not to back out but frankly iam nervous as hell!  iam 45years old, male, own my own refrigeration business, busy now, trying to squeeze in before spring so my busy season is not to impacted. does anyone have aches down to your knee from hip ache?  Brad.

Go ahead and get it done mate, you won't look back.

I held off for 18 months for similar reasons, business etc.
Now, at a year post-op, I really wish I had gone for it immediately.

Good luck.

[maxx6789]

only YOU can decide when it is YOUR time but i can say ... it is normal to get nervous prior to your surgery date; i was so nervous the last few days prior to surgery. and many people report knee pain ... for me, my knee actually bothered me more than my hip. and, to my delight, my knee pain has gone 100% away immediately following my surgery (note: i did have xrays of the knee and all looked fine with the knee prior to surgery).

one question you might ask yourself ... if you could feel as you  do now for the next 2-3-4 years, would you be okay with that? for me, i had reached a point where my lack of ability to enjoy life was too much for me to take ... i had to start the healing. i had OA and one thing about OA ... once you start feeling bad, it just continues to get worse, not better.

good luck with your decision ... where/who are you scheduled to have surgery with?

[jjmclain]

Brad,

Prior to my surgery I had aches down to me knee and even my shin and foot, including numbness. It all went away with surgery. If you wait too long, you may be ineligible for resurfacing because the hip can deteriorate very fast.

June

[hernanu]

I'll go with June on that, Brad - it's your decision in the end, but the benefit you get from this (I had two) is amazing, even during the recuperation. The recuperation is not easy, but it does progress and you are free from the OA pain right from the start. I can't think of where I would be now without them.

[stephen1254]

I am still 7 weeks out from surgery, and I am experiencing similar pain - the aches go down the side of my leg and into the shin. It's been interfering with sleep.

I had given up on pain relievers but for the last 4 days I have been taking Aleve at 12 hour intervals and it has helped quite a bit with the pain. Doesn't affect my decision on surgery - March 27 can't come soon enough!

[Dan L]

Only you can assess your psychological readiness for this, it is no small thing.  Completely understand being nervous, I was too before my first one last fall.  The added concerns about being a business owner has to be adding to your fears, understandably.

If you are going to get this done by a well known surgeon with a great track record, who has done many of these (many hundreds at least) like many of those described in this web site, with a proven device (ie BHR and others) your chances for a positive outcome are very, very good, well over 95% after 5-7 years based on published studies.  The one reality is your failing hip wont get better without action, it will only get worse over time.  If you are going with someone less experienced, you should be very cautious and ask many, many questions (there is a list of questions on this site that will be helpful in that regard) and search for the name on this discussion forum to see what his/her patients have experienced.

Good luck as you consider this very difficult decision.

Dan

[Dan L]

Here is a great thread on selecting the right surgeon, that Pat started  http://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/index.php?topic=652.0

[Tin Soldier]

This question comes up quite a bit.  We all have our own factors that help us make the decision and then the fact that you've made it, now you're questioning whether you should go through it.  It's tough.  I was similar in that I had pain, but it was somewhat manageable.  I wasn't doing the things I wanted to do and I felt confident that it was only going to get worse and it was likely to be a speedy demise.  That's what sold me every time I questioned the decision.  It always come down to the fact that I knew it was never going to get better and I wanted to get back to the things I love doing. Good luck, I totally understand where you're coming from.

Also, keep in mind when you are so close to surgery, it's easy to get apprehensive and start questioning.  If you feel like you've done the research and put the time in to undersrtanding HR and your situation, I'd say you should just go through with it.  Once I scheduled with the hospital, I tried my best to shut down the thinking and just go forth.  I think that helped me continue on up to the day of surgery.  I put confidence in myself that I made the right decision.  A lot of that confidence was gained here on this forum.

BTW - yesterday, I played street hockey with my kids, in the sun, running around like a kid again.  Never would have done that without these new hips.   

[Mike D]

Brad-go for it.
I have pain like yours and always wanted it to be something other than what I knew it was.
It took me ages to get my brain around the fact that I need a new hip.
On the good days, it's too easy to convince yourself that you're okay and it's no problem to put it off, but when that pain kicks in again you know what you have to do.
Stay in touch on this forum, the support is incredible.
look forward to hearing about your progress, cheers, Mike.

[MattBrunner]

Brad,

Before Surgery we all had good and bad days and wondered if we should wait longer.

I had pain when sitting, aches down the leg, and couldn't sleep waking up every time I moved.  I know with your business you need to move along in and out of your vehicle.  I remember using the handle to get in and out of my truck.  Today I can do all that plus sleep with no pain.  I am 44 yr old and 6 months post op.

Do it! Don't put off being out of pain.

Matt

[hipnhop]

it a pain in the ass but thing you have to go through. I had surgery Friday night and came home Sunday.  I focus on small gains each day. I was able to move bowels today (that a big relief).  Start in home pt tomorrow and w0rking on these serious night sweats.  This is my second bhr and i know it gets better each day/ focus on the small gains and u will be amazed.

[WTW15]

Brad, I was in your position just a few weeks ago - thinking - hell, I can live with this a little longer......but then remembering I hadn't ridden my moto since Oct and just sitting at work was getting less and less comfortable and dreaded every day that I felt that damn dull ache in my hip.  I'm 46, never had surgery, and was really scared.  But I knew I needed it.....  as everyone has said, it definitely is a very personal decision, but after the surgery, and even after looking at the pre-op xrays before with my dr, she said I was much worse off than the xrays showed. 

I am 18 days post op.  I am still having trouble sleeping, but EVERYTHING ELSE IS GREAT!  I know that my healing process is in high gear and in what will seem like "no time at all" (when I look back) this will have been the best decision I ever made.  Hoping to be hiking and maybe even a late season back country ski run by July!! 

All the people on here have been AWESOME and all say if you are even considering it - then do it - it's time.  So many say they wished they'd done it sooner.  I, fortunately, am not saying that as it only took me a couple months to find this site, learn about HR and find my 'right' doctor - and Go For It! 

Good Luck to you. 

[midiowa]

  thanks for the great responses, i really needed to hear from some people that have been thru this .  my surgeon is DR Devon Goetz in Des Moines, Ia.    referred by doctor at the university of Iowa.  hope hes good!    after playing in snow with kids today no doubt about surgery, my hip is pounding this evening and i cant take anything for it. was to stop taking ibuprofen, 1 week before surgery. per doctors orders, looks like now sleep tonight. thanks again for all the wise comments from all you. brad

P.S   just sitting in my fat boy chair in some killer throbbing pain, why does it come and go?  cant wait to be sore to be better.

[imgetinold]

Brad,

I would go through good weeks and bad weeks all the time.  The week of Thanksgiving I could barely walk, stand, or sit without constant pain/ache.  Like you, mine would eminate down my leg, resulting in a pain in my knee on the outside, and down the shin.

Of course, other times I was fine.  I ran 4 miles the Monday before my Wednesday surgery....very little pain.

For me, it was starting to affect my lifestyle.  I had already given up playing tennis, and could only run/bike sporadically.  So, it was more a matter of when, and I figured that I didn't want to wait until my activity level was really shot before doing it.

I would, however, ask yourself if you will be able to take it easy for the prescribed amount of time.  During your busy season, do you ever have anything physically demanding?  Do you have to lift much weight?  The risk is that by 2-3 months, you'll feel great, and be tempted to go back to your normal routine, and this could be bad.  You really need to do low/no impact things and not lift much weight for about 6 months.  If you can do that through the busy season, then that might make the decision easier.

Andy

[kamoynsgi]

I have four months to go and am feeling just as you describe.  Late 40s, never had surgery, scared and yes, pain all the way down to my foot.  I've put it off for too long already and the good advice provided on this site confirms its the right way to go. All the best for next week.

[hernanu]

Hey - welcome Ka, four months will go by quickly, but just know that like Brad, all of us felt that way. It's a natural thing to feel.

Brad - not a doctor here, but I think that if you still have some cartilage, maybe being in one position is ok and a shift to another brings it on. All I know is that I can now sit with impunity. I just got back from a pretty good workout including running on the treadmill, weights (legs too), spin bike and some good stretching, and I'm just fine with the hips. The potential is good after this procedure.

[midiowa]

5 days to go.    THIS FORUM HAS HELPED SOME MUCH I CANT BELIEVE I FOUND IT! THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT INPUT. IT MADE DECISSIONS ALOT EASIER BY HEARING FROM OTHERS,  it helps when you cant sleep to read all the forums and try to block out all the negative thoughts. i feel like a wuss being young and freaking out. when you read all the post" its no big deal", how can that be? its just hard to fathom that its a walk in the park, but iam trying. I've really never been afraid of much but being cut on freaks this guy out. alright  enough endless yapping, Brad.

[Boomer]

Midiowa,

I don't know who told you hip resurfacing is a walk in the park. I haven't seen that post. It's not a walk in the park. But the thing is, you will be getting better after surgery, instead of continuing your downhills slide. The pain and exhaustion will be the result of you working to recover and get stronger, pretty much like the work outs we've been doing our entire lives.

Prepare yourself mentally and physically for a challenging two or three weeks. Fight through it and it starts getting better, slowly for me, faster for others. I don't remember seeing anyone posting on this website who regretted their decision to have the surgery except those who picked a bad surgeon.

I am the biggest medical coward you will ever meet. Thinking about this surgery sent me into a downhill spiral that drove me to the edge of insanity. However, I showed up for the surgery and am recovering. My mental state is much healthier. I'm trying to schedule surgery on my second hip because the new one feels so much better. My surgeon is stalling me, but I'll get the second one fixed before year end.

Listen to the real Hippys. None of them will tell you it's a walk in the park. All of them will tell you it is worth it and most will say they wish they had done it sooner. You can do this.

Live strong.

Boomer

[hernanu]

Couldn't have said it better, Boomer. No walk in the park at all, but worth every second of it.