6 week follow-up & 7.5 week update - JHippy (repost)

[JHippy]

This was originally posted February 29, 2015....


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Been meaning to post since my 6-week follow-up and I'm a little behind. I'm at 7 1/2 weeks now and doing great. Very pleased with how my recovery has been so far.


6 week follow up


So at one day shy of six weeks I was back in South Carolina for my follow up. Dr. Gross, Lee Webb and Nancy are all fantastic. And the staff. They really care a lot and it shows.


Up until that point I had still been relying on a single crutch for longer walks even though I should have been off it by then (really glad I had it at the airport though). I didn't take it to the appointment, though a few times I almost wanted to run back to the hotel and grab it.


Had xrays taken. All was well presumably. They gave me the next round of exercises and stretching. The only meds I need to continue are the Fosamax once a week, and vitamin D + calcium. I'm cleared to bend past 90-degrees, just no deep squats or extreme bending. Still doesn't want me rotating the leg inwards or crossing the legs, even ankle over knee. No lifting over 50 pounds. And no impact activities. All this only applies until I hit 6 months.


Prior to the my appointment I was really paranoid about fracturing the femur. They set my mind at ease. First, the xrays were fine (I 'm assuming, I'm sure they would have said something if there was a concern). Second, he reminded me that they haven't had a fracture in the last 2000 cases now that they have the new protocol to prevent it. As long as I adhere to the restrictions I should be fine. The pains I had experienced up until that point were normal. Said I will have aches and pains of various types throughout recovery, and maybe even beyond (he can't create a perfectly normal hip -- it's close to normal, but not perfect). Though he did say to use the crutch if I had pain on weight bearing.


I asked about bone strength as I age. He said that my bone density is great now, and impact activities (obviously after 6 months) will keep my bones strong. Also said I should take vitamin D if my levels are ever low which makes sense.


No chiropractor until 6 months. No massages around the incision area until 6 months.
On exercises don't bring leg up past 90 degrees, though if it slips past 90 degrees during normal activities that's fine.
Don't internally rotate.
Don't cross legs. Not even ankle over knee. Use a small footstool for socks with knee out and ankle in (like half cross-legged position).
Said the leg lifts will get rid of my limp.


Incision looked great and I can swim, etc now if I want.


So that was the follow-up appt. Felt relieved afterwards and ready for the next phase.


Between 6-week and now (7 1/2 weeks)


Major improvement in just that amount of time. I've completely stopped using the crutch and flat out don't need it. With the restrictions loosened I'm getting around pretty much normally, at least as far as day to day stuff goes. I'm putting my socks on. :) I even trimmed my toenails, though that wasn't so easy. Feeling pretty normal. I'm still aware of my hip, though, and have little aches and pains here and there. Occasional slight limp. Lying on the incision can still be uncomfortable after 10-15 minutes or so. Feel it a little when getting up out of a low chair, but I can shake that off in a few steps. All of this is really minor, generally speaking this has been great.


Still get in and out of the car a little weird because when I try to do it normal I often slam the incision area into the door frame, ouch.


Also just starting to feel more confident with stairs where I can go foot over foot without a handrail. I'm still careful around stairs though.


One of the exercises is a psoas stretch where you stand on the good leg and pull the ankle of the operated leg behind you. That's no problem, but when I switch sides where my operated leg is the only one supporting my weight, nope, not ready for that yet.


Getting out of a low chair is fine but still feel that the operated side is not very strong in that way, so I kind of assist it with my arms.


What I am having a hard time with is doing all of the physical therapy -- just the amount time it takes. I really have to rearrange my life. But I am excited about working out regularly again. And I want to get back to the gym and do the stationary bike or the elliptical (both are great for the hips Lee Webb said). This will get me back in the habit of working out, which I used to love.


Got back to gigging (playing music) where I'm on my feet for the better part of 5-6 hours. No problems there either. I'm just careful.


There's still a lot of recovery to do to get my full strength and ROM back, but where I am now is so much better than pre-op. As I'm running around (not literally, haha) and doing stuff I often remember how difficult these things were prior to surgery, but now it's like a distant memory.

[JHippy]

Originally posted on February 09, 2015...

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That all looks like you're right on schedule.

The configuration of a road or tri-bike on a trainer (to make a stationary bike) will require a greater than 90 degree flexion of the hips. That's still not Ok at 6 weeks? Only up to 90 degrees? Still not more than 90 degrees? Is that still because of dislocation concerns? Or to protect the still-healing gluteal muscles that were split during surgery?

He did say to raise the seat of the bike up so I'm not flexing too much, and he did say not to go past 90 degrees when exercising. I'm pretty sure he's still worried about dislocation because he mentioned it in the context of showing me how to reach my feet -- said that I can't dislocate my hip in the position he was showing me, which was ankles in and knees out.