Becoming bilateral for Christmas

[Beth]

Goodluck on everyone's recovery!
I would love to have both my hips done in the same week but I don't think Dr Brooks at the Cleveland Clinic does that.
Would like to hear from any of the "bilaterals" who have had their HR done same day/same week- why did you do it so close and if you had to do it over again would you want to have a few months between the surgeries.
My right hip will be first, but as time goes on, they are both beginning to hurt equally. I called today and literally begged to be seen sooner. I was able to change my appointment from 1/10 to 1/6! I was happy- 4 days is 4 days when your hurting.

[Munch]

Hi Beth,  as I posted, I just did bilateral just 2 days apart. I'm glad I had one day to try walking with one operated hip, and yesterday was really tough mobility wise.  It was fine when I was in bed or sitting in a chair.  Tuesday with one. "Good" leg I did pretty well on crutches but Thursday I was slow with a walker and by far the toughest thing was getting up and down. I'll try to share my progress report for how the next few days and weeks go. As hard as this is, the positive trade off is to get the really hard part over with in one go round. When I hit the 6 week mark it Will be for BOTH hips so I can hopefully progress to stationary biking and swimming and at 3 months golf and by summer be cleared for all activities. I could have waited for the 2ND operation but would have had another 6 months of slowly progressing through the rehab stages. 

Being at the bottom right now, I can see the benefit of spacing things by 6 weeks.  Then you've got a much stronger post operative leg to stand on when you do your second, and only slow thinks down by 6 weeks. Anyway I'm just rambling now but I'll try to post after a week or so when I can give a lot more perspective on bilateral recovery curve. 

One cool thing I can already feel is that the one that was done Monday is stronger than the Wednesday, so just 2 days make for marked improvement.   :)

[hernanu]

Juno, sorry to hear about that. Like you mentioned, several of us have had episodes of different types, the outcome is hopefully good.

Munch - congrats on the two. I spaced mine out, hope your recovery is great.

[Juno]

I can now say I am officially "on the other side"! Was able to be discharged this morning (although Dr. Gross gave me the option of one more day). I didn't feel that I needed it. My BP stayed around 95/50 all night and I slept as well as could expected. I managed a shower and a walk down the hallway this morning.

We got home about an hour ago and I'm sitting in my recliner sipping hot tea. Dr. Gross did put me on 5 days of Flexeril for muscle spasms. You many recall I had terrible spasms at about day 5 with my right hip. We are hoping to avoid that scenario again.

Otherwise, all went well despite the low BP / passing out episode. Once again, I had excellent care at Providence Hospital. They have Dr. Gross' surgical protocol down to a science.  Everything from pre op to discharge was good.

So, the goal now is to rest over these next few weeks, do the few PT exercises prescribed and walk. Lee reminded that less is more when it comes to rehabbing from a HR. since I've been through it once before, I have to agree with her. I'm going to try very hard to not get frustrated! Lol!

Thank you all for being so supportive!

Hey Munch! I hope you were able to be discharged this morning as well. I know you have a plane ride to get home. You're going to do great! We can commiserate together.

Juno

[bestbob]

Hi Juno, Glad to hear you are home and all is now going well. I can remember when you had the 1st one done, which was 4 weeks after mine. Being that I don't check in as much as I should, I didn't realize you needed another until a few days ago. Anyway, glad to hear from you.

God Bless,

Bob

[Reno]

Hi Juno-

All is well that ends well, although it sounds like a scary experience, waking up with nurses and doctors all looking down at you. YIKES! It sounds like you are on your way now and I wish you a speedy and uneventful recovery for your second hip.

[Juno]

Well, second time around is going ok. Day 5 post op. I am trying to learn from my previous experience and do a few things a little differently this time.

1. Staying on the pain meds! Last time I took myself off all pain meds (except tylenol) by day 4. This time I plan to take whatever I need and stay as comfortable as possible....especially at night so I sleep better.
2. Take the muscle relaxers as needed. No spasms so far, thus I think the Flexeril is helping. Thanks goodness.
3. Sleep more.
4. Do the prescribed exercises as tolerated and don't push it. Who cares if right now I only do 12 glute squeezes and not 20? Slow and steady. I've got lots of time to rehab.

So that is where my mind is right now. Forgot how darn swollen by thigh and butt would get! Yikes.

Thanks for all your encouragement.

[keepmovin]

Hi Juno and welcome home.  Glad to hear you finally made it out of the hospital and now home relaxing.  I, too, had a similar experience with my blood pressure - seems I had a resting pressure of 87/70 - they didn't know what to do about it as I seemed just fine!  By the time I left, it climbed to 90/70 and they said good enough!

Take it slow with recovery - I had my first set back, maybe because I was feeling too comfortable and pushed further than I should have.

Since you are a bitateral for Christmas, why not put two big red bows on those new hips and take a picture!  Perfect gift for yourself! :D

[keepmovin]

Munch - Congrats on your new hips and welcome to the world of bilaterals!

I'm always amazed how this could be done on the same day, a few days apart or a few weeks apart!  Good luck with your recovery and keep us posted!

[Lauren Lee]

Juno, Mend strong! Sounds like you have a good plan there!
Enjoy the holidays and just take it easy.  Lauren

[Munch]

Hi keepmovin, thanks for the positive thoughts!  And Juno, glad to hear you're in a good place now.

Quick update:
I am now 8 days  post left hip and 6 days past right. Today was a bit of a breakthrough on pain.  Only one 50 mg nucynta ER for all day and that's also helped my stomach feel better than it has in a while. It still hurts a lot getting up and changing positions....I am quite an invalid with not much progress on that front (slow but there is progress). 

I do plan to post a timeline of my bilateral recovery once I get to a decent level of normalcy (6 weeks?). Right now just taking it one day at a time.  And hoping I can enjoy Christmas Day with the family.  Happy holidays everyone!

[Juno]

Good to hear from you Munch! You will be amazed at how much better you will feel by Christmas Day -- two weeks is a turning point.

I will admit that yesterday was my day to have a little pity party of my own. One week post op and all I kept thinking about was that I was right back where I started back in July with hip #1. Looking on the bright side though --- I am ahead of the game a bit since last time. I am almost ready to drop one crutch and feel relatively steady on my feet. The pain is minimal and I am off narcotics during the day. I am taking one long acting pain med to help with sleep. Tomorrow one of my RN friends is coming over to remove the adherent dressing --- I know that will make me feel better too.

Quick question though -- my right hip is suddenly clunking quite a bit. Any thoughts? I'm wondering if it is because I'm not walking or using those muscle very much right now?


One day at time.

[Munch]

Hey Juno, glad you're down to one crutch...way ahead of me!  Good idea to take pain med at night. I tried to go the night without one and had a nightmare directly related to the hip pain and a terrible night of sleep. The day has gone ok with just a couple of Tylenol ES so hopefully a better night tonight. Also thanks for the positive thought on that 2 week mark. I hope that's right and that I can also enjoy New Years with family. 

Of course I am total novice on clunking...hope that goes away soon for you, which it sounds like it will from what I've read here.

[Juno]

Munch -- I imagine you'll be on two crutches for a bit longer  :)....but you're a bad-ass having both hips done at the same time, so we will give you a break! Lol! Sounds like you're right on schedule.

[Juno]

Minor set back #1

So much for really planning to take it easy.... Yesterday felt so good. A friend came over with lunch, I walked around all day with one crutch and felt really good. Only took Tylenol despite knowing tha I pushed just a little bit too hard (one my feet longer than normal, up/down the stairs about 8x, did a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher) --- you know, all stuff that requires twisting movements, slight bending. So, let's just say... Stupid! There I got it out of my system!

At about 11:30, while trying to fall asleep, I could feel the muscles slightly twitch in the glute and was antsy--- just couldn't settle. I tried the bed, the recliner and walking. It wasn't terrible, more annoying than anything else. My husband (aka. The best guy ever), stayed with me while I barked and complained about how frustrated I was until 2:30am when I finally broke down and took a muscle relaxer and a Vicodin. At 3:00, I finally settled and slept.

I'm fine and all is good. I write this to help me remember the feeling, but to also hopefully let others know that even though you feel good at day 10 (and you want to be superman/woman) you need to continue to let others help you and to just take the darn meds so you can sleep!!!

Thanks for listening. I've scolded myself publicly! Lol!

[Reno]

LOL...

Hopefully, today you don't have any residual effects from your Superwoman stunt yesterday.  :-)
It does sound you are doing quite well. You just have to remember to follow your plan.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season, Juno.

Take care!

[Anna]

Congratulations bilateral Juno!!!!  8)

I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your feet up. Take it steady, Anna

[Munch]

Juno,  hope after all that you got a good night sleep and feel better on this new day.

I've been feeling a lot better every day as well ( for those that haven't followed this thread, my second op was same day as Juno's recent surgery...December 11). I'm down to just Tylenol.  Yesterday for the first time I walked to the end of my block and back, which I guesstimate is about a third of a mile for the round trip.  I have heard so much about not overdoing it, so I left it at that and happy to say no adverse effects.  It's been raining this morning but I hope to walk at least a half mile when it stops raining.  FYI, this is still slow with 2 crutches.

The first week post op on my bilateral felt long and tough but week 2, so far, every day is a lot stronger and I feel good about the decision to deal with both at once.

Happy Christmas to all hippies out there!  Juno, I hope you feel great by Wednesday. I feel good about my chances of enjoying the day, which will be exactly 2 weeks post op.

[Anna]

Congratulations to you too Munch! Sounds like you are doing great. Merry Christmas!  ;D

[oldsoccerplayer]

Juno, that sounds so familiar! Typical of the 'rollercoaster' recovery experience. I think it's a 6-step program (or programme)

1. You feel so much better
2. You overdo it
3. You regret it
4. Your recovery is set back a few day days until you catch up
5. You tell yourself "I've learned my lesson, won't do that again."
6. Within a week or two you do it again, go back to step 1, rinse and repeat  ;D

But you're not stuck in the same cycle; over time you can do more and more, "overdoing" it is relative to where you are. This time around it's the mundane household tasks that are pushing your limits. Soon you'll be doing those things easily and pushing yourself will involve activities you can't even think of doing today.