Countdown Complete....On to Recovery

[patrick_d]

Hi All -

It is the end of day 6 and things seem to be progressing as expected.

Hernan - Thanks for the suggestion, I don't think I could have done that the first day.  I was way too tender to move my operated leg in that manner.  (Dan, I also had one of those leg lifters, but it didnt help much either for the same reason.) Basically I had to clasp  my leg above my knee to stabilize it and then I could move it okay.  I am certain that years of OA have done a number on several of the muscles surround my hip.  After I get it good and healed and Dr. Gross allows, I think i am going to need some additional PT to fix the muscle issues.

Latest observations:

1.  I seem to have the throne procedure all working. The straight leg process with the walker around the toilet was the ticket.  I know everyone is glad we won't have to chat about that anymore!

2.  Several of my buddies came over for lunch today and brought our weekly tradition of Bojangle's.  Nothing like good friends, sweet tea, and spicy Cajun chicken to lift your spirits.

3.  The kids came home from their grandparents on Sunday night.  It was nice to have several days at home without them, but it was great to have them home.  It adds a bunch more work for my wife, but it was a real boost to both of us.  The kids just wanted to sit in the room with me and sort of just watch over me.  It was really very sweet.  And of course getting to toss a ball with my son for awhile was great for morale!

4.  I have found that I cant sleep all the way through the night flat on my back....my lower back just begins to ache.  So what I have been doing is propping up a bunch of pillow in a ramp and leaning on it.  Sort of like being in a recliner.  That shifts the load point a bit and lets me go back to sleep.   And sometimes I find that putting a rolled up towel under the knee of my operated leg helps too.

5.  I would really like to try to lie on my side to sleep....but I am chicken to try it.  I have lots of pillows, including a big body pillow, that I could put between my legs so that they don't break the centerline rule.  Would welcome any advice on how any of you managed to sleep on your side the first time.

6.  I over did it some today.  Went up and down our stairs 3 times, had visitors, did all my exercises,  walked, and spent some time using my brain looking over maps for an adventure race.  I was toast by 5:30.  My wife saw it and gave me a pain pill (first of the day), had me rest, and feed me dinner.....recovered enough to write this message, but expect I will sleep good tonight!

Thanks for listening....Patrick
(Oh and I think/hope that Dan meant the hip!)

[hernanu]

It took me about a month to sleep on my side.

I used a pillow between my knees liberally when I slept on my side.  I always slipped a pillow under my knees when sleeping on my back.

Everyone overdoes it. Rest and start again when you're ready.

[Dan L]

Pillow under the knees when on my back was essential for the first month at least.  I was getting up peeing so much while the swelling subsided, I did not get through an entire night of sleep for some weeks (4-6 or something) after the first one.  Was not as bad after the second.

Was not able to sleep on my side until 4+ weeks both times, and I am a side sleeper.  Used a pillow then between the knees as well, and one under the top-most arm, to reduce the "twisting" of the upper body in that position as well.  (Have done that anyway for years following neck surgery 20+ years ago).

Sounds like you are really progressing nicely, you'll overdo it sometimes, but your outlook and family support will really make a difference.

Keep up the healing!

Dan

[patrick_d]

2 Week Updates:

- Resurfacing is amazing.  I sometimes get a bit focused on the healing from the surgery that I forget the OA pain is gone.
- It is amazing to be able to stand up straight
- Have a occasional very slight clicking, I think it is a muscle/tendon thing.  I generally have very loose tendons (can pop them in nearly all my joints) so it does not surprise me.  I suspect it will diminish as I heal more.
- Have been doing the Dr. Gross Phase 1 PT by the book and walking a bit more every day.  Trying to be slow and steady with very minor increases each day.
- Started using the cane only today.  That felt like a big step, but I think it was mostly mental.  Still felt good.
- On the ick side....my stomach did not tolerate the anti-inflammatory meds (Mobic with Protonics).  The Protonics was supposed to coat the stomach to help with GI issues.  Didn't work, rough several days until I fully figured out what was going on.   But fortunately the nurses at Dr. Gross's office let me switch to Celebrex which I have taken in the past with zero GI issues.
- I have been doing the most minimal amount of work from home.  Has felt good to be at least a tad productive, even if it is only for a few hours.
- My adventure racing buddies came over for a few hours to chat about an upcoming practice race that they had been training for.  They drank all my beer, but it was well worth it.
- Season 1 of The Andy Griffith Show on Netflix is awesome.  52 years later and those shows are still funny and meaningful.
- Am still a little surprised how tired I am at the end of the day.  You would think I would have figured that out by now!

Thanks for listening.

[blt01]

Great job keep it up. Funny about your buddies drinking all your beer. I had a friend come over that did the same and fell asleep on my couch. It's nice to have visitors when you're down.

Brad

[hernanu]

Good report, Patrick - keep it up, you're doing good things.

[patrick_d]

17 days out....

- Feeling really good today, it still amazes me that the OA pain is just gone.
- Walked about 1/4 of a mile yesterday and then today with our 65°F weather I went 3/4 of a mile, both walks with a cane and the kids.
- The 1/4 mile yesterday completely wiped me out, but after the 3/4 mile today I was just fine.  I made sure to ice for 45 minutes after both walks, so I had zero swelling.
- Went to church tonight and folks were floored when I told them it had only be 17 days since my surgery, they really didnt expect to see me walking fairly normally with only a cane to assist me.
- Slept on my non operated side (with big pillow between my legs) for hours last night....ahhhh, felt so nice.
- Only slightly stiff in the morning, just takes a few minutes of moving to feel pretty good.
- Still have that slight clicking that pops up occasionally.  It seems to happen when I slightly over extend on a step and/or have a slight inward rotation, which I know is one of the 3 things we are not supposed to do!  But sometimes that motion happens.  Not really worried, I still think it is likely a muscle/tendon thing that will heal/improve over time.

That all for now.

[hernanu]

You'll have clicking for a while, patrick - it goes away as your  smaller muscles get stronger. I still get a bit once in a (long) while, nothing out of the ordinary.

[Jagcanes]

Patrick, I am about 2 weeks ahead of you on the surgery (11/5) and we seem to be experiencing similar recoveries.   Did not take too long to go from the walker to the cane. It took longer to lose the cane. Hip felt "loose" and I was unsure of walking without the cane.  Much of it was in my head.  Went back to the office on the 4th week and managed fine without the cane.  Still have some popping and slipping in the hip but way less than a few weeks back.  Wife told me today that she can't hear me popping anymore.

Doing my own PT and have great strength in the hamstrings and quads.  Hip flexors are really weak. Struggle laying flat on my back and doing leg raises. It is coming back, but slowly.

Keep up the great recovery.  Something's will come back really fast.

[imgetinold]

Sounds like your recovery is going very well, Patrick. 

I had "clunking" for about 4 months.  I kept wondering if it would ever go away, and now I don't remember when it really stopped.  I think your "clicking" issue will be the same.  One day, you'll just realize it's not happening, and you won't remember when that happened.

Continued well wishes to you.

[Ross]

Congrats Patrick before you know it you will be doing adventuring racing again and all the other great stuff. Enjoy your kids and being a new dad.
Ross

[patrick_d]

Hey All â€"

Thank for all the nice comments, I really appreciate all of them.

So here are my thoughts at 4 weeks (well 4 weeks and 2 days)....

- Healing â€" Overall things seem to be going very well for me and maybe even a bit ahead of typical schedule.  Which is a little strange, I normally heal a bit on the slower side.  I am actually getting to the point where I sometimes completely forget about my hip.  This is good and bad....it is good that the hip is feeling that great, but bad b/c my body is not 100% ready to move like it is fully healed.
- Pain - The OA pain is of course "poof" gone.  I do have some minor muscle aches, a little soreness, and little stiffness but nothing really too bad.
- Walking â€" I moved to just the cane at around 2 weeks and for the past 5 days or so I don’t even use the cane in the house or at the office.  I keep it with me when I do my long walks outside or am around lots of people just so nobody bumps me.  I am able to do 1 to 1.25 mile walks with no issues.  Still like to ice afterwards, but dont have to.
- Sleep â€" Sleeping with no major problems.  I still use a pillow under my feet when I am on my back and between my legs when I am on my non-operated side.  I haven’t tried to lie on the operated side.  I do wake up when I roll over, mostly b/c I think I am tweaking some muscles a bit.  I am still sleeping about 9 hours a night, I guess there is still lots of healing going on.
- Medicine â€" Finished the blood thinner at week 2, no pain meds since day 5, just take a baby aspirin in the morning and a Celebrex at night. (Although I think I could drop the Celebrex, I don’t have much inflammation.)  Did take some Tylenol once or twice after a longer walk, but none in over a week.
- Clicking - It seems that lots of folks have some of this clicking, thanks for all your stories.  Mine is already reducing, again I think it is muscular so it makes sense that as my muscles get stronger the clicking goes away.  I do find it seems to happen more in the evening when I am tired.  And someone else mentioned that it seems to happen when they are standing a counter and shift their weight.  I get that too.  But I still get a little clicking in my shoulder around my repaired collarbone and that was fixed over 10 years ago!
- Fitness â€" So my overall fitness is not bad, but not good either.  I have lost about 8-9 pounds and while I would like to say it was all fat just melting away I know that some of it was muscle atrophy.  I will be glad to have my 6 week appointment (2 days after Christmas!) and be cleared to do some more activities and start getting stronger again. 
- Work â€" Went back to work after 3.5 weeks.  Am really glad I waited that long.  I could have pushed it and gone in earlier but it was nice to have one more week of resting.
- Tattoo â€" It took 4 weeks but I finally managed to wash off Lee’s smiley face and signature from my butt.  I was beginning to worry that maybe she used something stronger than a sharpie!

Well that is more than most of you will want to read, but thanks for listening.

-Patrick

[Ross]

Very excited for you Patrick.  I know how much it means to you moving towards normalcy and old ways of living.  I hear what your saying about the atrophy of the muscles.  The great thing about that though as you are well aware is muscle has memory.  Both my legs have atrophied significantly.  Now if it would move to my stomach I would not be so concerned.  Just kiddin.  Note for comparison though.  I had a hip scope awhile ago and the leg atrophied.  I use a good protein supplement and after starting PT that leg was stronger than the other.  Within a three week period that leg was pretty impressive.   Really, when you start to use that leg to rehab I would bet in a couple weeks you will even feel 50% better.  Good luck to you.
Cordially,
Ross

[hernanu]

Great report, Patrick - you're going well. You'll keep making good progress, just remember that your bone is still healing no matter how good youor muscles feel and you'll be fine.

[patrick_d]

6 week update:

Drove down to Columbia, SC yesterday to see Dr. Gross and Lee (I have tried to call her Ms. Webb and she insists on being called Lee :-) to have my x-rays and review with them.  I did the 4 hour drive down by myself with no issues.  I stopped 2 times and got out for a 10-15 minute walk.  I did find that sitting on a medium size bed pillow really made the trip more comfortable too.

So....overall my hip is doing awesome.  (They went so far as to say I was a poster-child patient, which is a bit embarrassing b/c my role in all of this was quite minimal, I just tried my best to do exactly what they told me to do.)

- Device position - The x-rays show that it is located right where Dr. Gross left it 6 week ago!  Right at 31°-32°.  That means I did not screw up any of his hard work in the past 6 weeks.
- Healing - I asked how much bone would have grown into the device at this point and he said really very little.  He said that the "press-fit" (his words) that he used to place the device are still what is holding it in place.  That is why no impact activities for 6 months.  My past broken bones seemed to take 6-12 months until they felt really strong, don't see why this would be any different.  I will be cautious and careful over the next year.
- Walking - I am up to 1.75-2 miles per day.  I take my cane with me but just for security, not really for walking assistance at this point.  And I am able to move at about a 3-4mph pace.
- Exercises - I am on to Phase 2 (http://www.grossortho.com/forms.htm) and this includes being cleared to ride a stationary bike, swim, and climb stair normally!  Additionally there are some new leg lifts that are supposed to be done every day, more on that at the end.
- Pain - I have some groin (more like anterior upper thigh) aches when I stand for too long, but I think that is normal since I still have a ton of healing to do.  Overall though, I have almost no pain.
- Clicking - It has diminished a fair bit, but still happens occasionally.  And now that I am free to try new movements (touch my toes, ties my shoes, etc.) and new exercises, I get a bit of that clicking as my body moves into positions that were not allowed before.  Again, this all feels very much like muscles and tendons, so not really worried.
- Medicine - Done with everything.  Just take a Celebrex if I have had lots of exercise in the day and feel like I have a bit of inflammation.
- Surprise moment - When Lee had me try out the new leg lifts exercises in the office I was a bit skeptical.  Those motions are just something that I could not have done (or at least not without a ton of pain) before the surgery.  When I did them the first time (while Lee coached me through them) I was so stunned I was speechless and then all of a sudden a bit teary.  Trying to find my words (and not start to blubber) I stumbled to explain to Lee that it had be many years since I moved like that.  Then Lee asked me to hold the lift while she countered by pushing my leg down to see how much I could resist...I could tell by her wide eyes (and then her "wow" comment) that I was not the only one that was shocked.

I am very glad to be doing so well, but I must admit I am beginning to feel a bit guilty and self-conscience b/c I know that many other folks are dealing with lot of troubles and pains.  Typically I am not especially lucky, but I sure feel like God was looking over me these last few weeks.  I do pray that other hippies dealing with problems find some peace and solutions.

-Patrick

[hernanu]

Sounds great, Patrick, so good to be recovering to this level, isn't it?

No need to feel guilty, each of us takes our own path and gets there in fits and starts, but progressing at a measured rate. The goal is to be recovered fully by two years, anything extra you get is gravy.

Great report.

[blt01]

Nice, way to Patrick!!  One day at a time. 

Brad

[Manofword]

Awesome news on the progress, Patrick! Interesting that they had you take Mobic or Ceebrex. Dr. Brooks did not have me take any Mobic at all and that is what I took daily for 2-3 yrs before surgery. I had mine done on 11-28 and I'm doing extremely well like you. I don't feel guilty, just blessed. Too blessed to be stressed! Enjoy!

[obxpelican]

Good job on the great recovery Patrick, this had a lot to do with a great surgeon but you also worked on those excercises too.


Chuck