Posted this on the Yahoo Groups and thought I would see if there are any takers over here:
Anyone else going to be in NYC for a Dr. Su BHR around June 11th? I have a LBHR
scheduled that Saturday and was wondering if any others in this group are going
to be in for surgery that week.
We are coming in from Southern California and, although I had to stop running
last year to prevent any more hip damage, my girlfriend would like to do a
couple of runs in Central Park while we are there and I don't want her running
by herself.
I figure if someone with an athletic significant other is going to be there at
about the same time, the "others" can go run and we can have walker / crutch /
cane races down the hospital corridors - we'll call it "hipathlon". I can see
the promos now: "Experience the thrills, spills, tears and laughter of this new
form of athletic competition!" NBC sports will be all over it!
We will be there from the evening of June 7th through the morning of June 19th,
so if you want to help create a commotion at HSS that won't be soon forgotten,
let me know.
Come be a part of the action and the birth of the latest and greatest spectator
sport!
Kirk
Sounds awesome but I've already done both hips and can only be a spectator. Good luck, though you've picked a very good surgeon - let us know how the races turn out (and the surgery).
Spectator? I think not! You can race the "veterans" class. ;D
Ok, I'll bring my crutches with racing stripes on. June 11 is my sister's birthday, so some extra good luck is heading your way.
The 11th day of the month is a great choice for surgery. Just ask lori.36.
I'm in SoCal, so can't be there, but I'll do a couple of laps around the house in your honor!!
As far as I am concerned, ANY day of the month is good to get this done! Not too much longer now!
Kirk,
Awesome attitude! It helps a lot to have a sense of humor and you have that covered. You picked an excellent surgeon. Best wishes and keep us posted. If I lived in NYC I would find someone to run with her since my hips aren't ready yet. I know some female runners who would love to help her out. Sounds like you have a great girl.
Steve
Yep, she is the best. I also have a triathlon buddy who is in the same boat with his hip and he is getting his done down here by Dr. Ball in San Diego just a week before mine. We really are going to get together after I get back for some hipathlon racing at the beach while the girls do their runs. Dr. Ball seems to really be a rising star with BHR and my buddy really liked him when they met for his consultation. For me, he just didn't have enough of them under his belt compared to Dr. Su and when it came down to Dr. Su's experience and track record, plus HSS being in my insurance network and completely paid for, I had to opt for NYC.
Vicky Marlow is having a dinner the week after my surgery with Dr. Su so I will be able to spend an evening picking his brain in a fairly casual atmosphere instead of the rush of the hospital while he is working. I am looking forward to that. There is a conference taking place in NYC that week so she and a bunch of the top surgeons will be in town.
2 weeks from tomorrow starts a brand new day....
Hi Kirk,
I actually do live in NYC and have consulted with Dr. Su. But I've decided to put off surgery for a while so I won't be joining you in doing laps around the floor at HSS. As for your gf running in Central Park, I wouldn't worry about her being alone. On a June Saturday you can barely make your way across the path there are so many people out running. (Unless she's planning on running at 3 AM; then you've got problems).
Best of luck.
Steve
Thanks for the info, Steve. No 3 am runs for her, but I would still like her to be accompanied by someone, if for no other reason than her sense of direction is, well, shall we say, "challenged".
Don't put off the inevitable for too long. It will NOT heal itself, your "good" days do NOT mean you might be getting better on your own, etc. You don't want to get past being a good candidate for resurf and have to go straight to a THR.
Good luck with it. I can give you the full report if you want after I am through it.
Hi Kirk,
I would be very curious to hear about your experience with HSS, Dr. Su and the whole adventure. My guess is that most people on this site tune in to all that stuff too. I know that I've really benefitted from reading the many surgery and recovery accounts here.
And thanks also for the warning about waiting. I've given this a ton of thought and am pretty confident that I'm approaching this in a way that makes sense for me. When I spoke with Dr. Su, he sort of arched his brow a little, thinking I was diving into this a little early in the process. My x-rays don't look too bad yet. He was willing to operate if I was in a hurry but didn't see any emergency.
I've had to scale back some activities - I don't run much anymore and certain stretches are out (yoga, which I never like much to begin with, is OUT) but I'm managing to stay pretty active in the meantime. I have two little kids (3 and a half and 1 and a half; sorry all if this is TMI but if I can't navel-gaze about my joints here then where?) and my guess is that that, all other things being equal, it'll be less chaos to recover from a big surgery (two, actually, as I'm eventually going to have to have both) when they're a couple of years older.
So for now, daily life is really not too limited. I don't have bad days if I don't do certain things. For now I'm going to follow advice offered by someone else here and get annual x-rays to monitor the process and pull the trigger when it starts to hurt all the time. As a number of people have said on any number of threads ... "you'll know when it's time."
Sounds reasonable. I just feel bad when I see people who post that "it seems like it is getting better on its own" or "it really isn't that bad, I just can't walk or move very well" and they ARE that bad and are in danger of blowing their window of opportunity.
It sounds like you have your situation well thought out and are on top of where you are in the degeneration process. I was told about 6 years ago that I had OA in my left hip when I visited my ortho because of a stubborn pain there when I ran that I just couldn't get rid of. I remember him saying that I would have to get used to the fact that someday, my running days would be over. And the more I ran, the sooner that day would come. He was an elite runner himself and had to quit because of OA. He began cycling instead.
I was not hurting that bad and Ironman Triathlon was my lifestyle. I was doing at least 1 Ironman per year (with a few Half-Ironmans and a bunch of Olympic and sprints every season) up to 3 Ironmans per year. No way this was going to stop me. I had been bulletproof for 20 years of it.
For years, I put up with a very slow but very steady increase of the pain when I ran. Then, in late 2007, I did Ironman Coeur d'Alene and it all came crashing down. I got off the bike and ran the first 5 or 6 miles and my hip just went. I ended up hobbling / walking the entire run just to finish. The pain was excruciating. I knew I would have to face it now.
Not to say I gave up my denial, just toned it down to doing half-ironman and shorter races until I could "figure something out".
I did this for 2008 and 2009 but the pain kept growing. It really didn't limit me in normal day-to-day movement, but sleeping at night after a longish run would be tough because of the ache in my hip. And just getting up from a chair after a workout or race was getting pretty painful.
Finally, I had to stop racing in 2010 but could still do shorter runs maxing out at about 10 miles before it would really stop me. Then I read about a couple of guys who waited too long and were no longer candidates for BHR. That did it, I stopped running altogether and now just bike, swim and deep-water run while getting all the logistics straightened out for this surgery.
My current x-rays show bone-on-bone with spurs and a cyst in there. It scares me that they will get in there and decide it isn't good enough. I did send the xrays to Bose, DeSmet and McMinn as well as Dr. Su, and they all said I was still a good candidate. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and warning everyone not to wait too long. Besides, the longer I wait, the longer it is before I can get back to the racing and training I love.
Again, it sounds like you have your situation well thought out and are monitoring it closely. Best of luck and I will let everyone know how it goes.
Kirk
Quote from: KirkM on May 27, 2011, 07:58:48 PM
My current x-rays show bone-on-bone with spurs and a cyst in there. It scares me that they will get in there and decide it isn't good enough. I did send the xrays to Bose, DeSmet and McMinn as well as Dr. Su, and they all said I was still a good candidate. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and warning everyone not to wait too long. Besides, the longer I wait, the longer it is before I can get back to the racing and training I love.
Again, it sounds like you have your situation well thought out and are monitoring it closely. Best of luck and I will let everyone know how it goes.
From what I have read, Dr Su would know when the right time arrives as he is a notable expert in the field. For others thinking that 'it will be all right, it can wait', consider talking to an expert. I did wait too long for resurfacing. Thankfully in Australia, the BMHR (http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/birmingham-mid-head-resection.html (http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/birmingham-mid-head-resection.html)) is available as an option before resorting to a total hip replacement and is much more like a resurfacing than a total hip. I don't think that this bone conserving option is available in the US at the moment.
Like Kirk, I did worry that they'd get in there and decide I couldn't have it and would need a total hip (there isn't a next step from a BMHR). Thankfully I have two shiny new BMHR's.
Just a quick update -
Sitting here at the Belaire after a day of testing, checkups and the class. Got
to see a lot of HSS going from appointment to appointment so I am already
planning my route of crutch-borne chaos. I noted where all the security guards
are posted. :)
We had a great meal at a health food restaurant called Good Health Cafe tonight.
It was very good. Had classic and equally good NY Pizza last night after we
flew in to the city.
So far, everything is a go for Saturday. Funny thing is that my hip hasn't been
bothering me significantly since I stopped running about 6 months ago but now it
must know what is coming and is getting its last jabs in. It is unusually sore
just walking around a bit. Hope it is enjoying its last jab at me, cause it
will be over in three days. Hey hip, jab THIS!
We stumbled upon Petaluma Restaurant today walking around Manhattan (where the
Hippy Dinner with Dr. Su will be on the 18th) and it looks very nice without
being pretentious or unreasonably expensive. I checked the distance from the
Belaire at HSS and it is .3 miles. I am wondering if I can actually walk there
and back a week out from my surgery. I hope so and now have that as a goal.
Now, it is just a couple of days of checking out the city and mentally preparing
for the big day.
Kirk
LBHR Dr. Su -3 days
You can, just will need to do it with crutches, and take your time. Good luck in 3 days, looking forward to your post.
I hope your surgery goes well. And recovery goes even better.
I loved your comment about scouting the security guards. :)
Dan
Good Luck! Just think...in 6 months you will be back running again! 8)
Welcome to my neighborhood! I live right up the street @89th & York :) I am also an HSS alum, although I'm a David Mayman grad rather than an Edwin Su. Petaluma IS a great place. Vince, the manager is married to one of my GF's buddies. As to the distance between Belaire and HSS, Isn't there a back door which is directly across 71st Street from the HSS driveway? I'm leaving for the weekend tonight or I'd meet you for a slice! HSS is top notch. You're in great hands. Good luck on Saturday!
Kyle
Hi Kyle -
Please try to join us at Petaluma on the 18th.
You misunderstood what I wrote about the distance. I was speaking of the distance between Belaire AT HSS to Petaluma not Belaire TO HSS. Sorry, that could have been composed a bit better. Yes, HSS is right out the door from the Belaire.
Although the weather is unusually hot today, we were thinking of heading down to Little Italy and Chinatown, maybe Wall Street. Is the subway good for this or should we just get a cab?
Hope to see you next week.
Hi Kirk,
You've probably already left but if you haven't, take my advice: take a cab. The east side is not great for trains and it's 100 out (and can be worse on the train platforms), so splurge.
And good luck.
Steve
Thanks for the info Steve. We grabbed lunch locally and it was so hot, we decided to can it and go back to our air conditioned room for the afternoon. We will go out somewhere tonight when it cools off a bit.
I do have one more question for you or Kyle -
Is is safe for my gf to run alone south or north along the trail next to the river and FDR Drive? She would really like to get a couple of runs in next week when it cools off but I won't let her go by herself unless I have some information from the "locals" that it is safe.
Thanks
Kirk
Kirk, Tomorrow is your day. Best wishes and hear you soon from the other side of surgery ;)
Hey Kirk - good luck. The 11th is a good day , its my bro's birthday. I am jealous and I bet a lot of folks are about the Hippy dinner. You do realize, a chance to hang out with a surgeon, like Su ,and Vicky and be able to get into the nitty gritty about all of this, is one helluva a great experience. I've seen a lot of really good posts about Su. Enjoy
Thanks guys. I am ready to be done with this so I can start the rehab work. Today is "bland" day. They don't want you to eat any fiber or other things that will push the digestive tract since constipation is a side effect of the anesthesia. Today, I can only eat the most bland things on a list they gave me. What really sucks is that we have some leftover pizza from a great place we went to yesterday and I CAN'T EAT ANY! The gf feels sorry for me and has vowed to help me out. She says she will sacrifice herself and eat it all. What a giver. ::)
Talk to you all on the other side....
Kirk,
You're doing alright! Look at this as an adventure. I enjoy reading your posts. You can't let good pizza go to waste. ;D
Hope this day of bland food is quickly forgotten in the bliss that comes with a painless hip. Your gf is a real saint. Keep her around.
Dan
Hey Kirk,
Hmm. I know that path and even when I lived over on that side never ran there because it always seemed so unpleasant by the FDR. So I can't really speak to the issue of safety. Just grossness.
I know it's a haul over to Central Park but I'd say that's a much nicer place for a run and, as I said, safe if you go during daylight.
And best of luck tomorrow.
Steve
Yes, it isn't the prettiest running path I have ever seen, but it is very convenient. If this were a different trip for a different reason and I were still running, we would just go together over to Central Park and do a run. We walked over there today and it wasn't that far (but my hip still complained a little). She could easily jog over there as a warm up and then do her run through and around the park then cool down jog back. I just worry about her doing this alone, no matter where we are. I sure wish some other hippy with a spouse or S.O. were here so they could accompany each other while we create havoc in the hospital ward. Maybe I will meet someone up in the patient floor.
Thanks for the info.
Kirk
Thinking about you Kirk! Good Luck! I am at a year, now, and I don't think I thought about my hip once today! You will love it! Lu
Good Luck Kirk.
Lookin forward to reading your posts after surgery.
Pat
Thanks all. Going to try to sleep now, but I'm not sure how much I will actually get. I'm not really nervous about it at all, but I am a notoriously bad sleeper anyway and especially when I have a task to accomplish. I will be going over my rehab and recovery in my head and want to just get up and go over to the hospital so we can get this done and start moving forward. I have to mentally put myself on the beach in Kona and pretend I am just dozing there in the sun so I can turn my brain off and sleep.
I hope to be on my laptop later tomorrow so I will update when I can.
Kirk
best wishes kirk ....
enjoy the down time and dont worry mate ....
Paul
Good luck Kirk - eager to hear what you post later.
Well, things could not have gone better. Dr. Su said the bone density was good and he just had to clean out a couple of small cysts. The whole process was incredibly efficient and literally pain free. There was only one glitch in the whole thing, they had way over-booked the rooms and I had to spend 8 hours in recovery. There were some people who had to stay there overnight. That was the only place they dropped the ball, but they dropped it big time. It was rather surprising they were so poorly organized there when every other step of this experience was probably the most efficient thing I have ever seen. However, they did bend over backward to compensate for it all, which also shows that they are willing to be accountable for the entire process.
Dr. Su is so real. No God complex, completely straightforward and just a really nice guy. He spent time with me pre-op and allowed me to ask all the questions I wanted. All of the HSS staff here are incredibly nice and attentive.
I really haven't had any pain, per se. The only discomfort is sitting in the bed on the wound. It doesn't hurt, it is just annoyingly sore, like if you spent hours and hours sitting on a cement bench or something. They cut me off of the epidural this morning and gave me oral Percoset. That stuff ROCKS! No pain at all, not even sitting on the wound.
PT starts today later on in the morning and I am anxious to get up and move around. I really feel amazingly good. I am just getting tired of laying on my back all the time.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. No matter where you are in the country, if you are considering resurfacing, I strongly urge you to put Dr. Su and HSS down for serious consideration.
That's it for now. Will update as things progress.
Kirk
Kirk,
It sounds like you are well on your way to recovery. As a heads up, I felt very little pain the first day and night; the second night was another story! But that one night was the worst of it. Ten weeks after my surgery I have my whole life back. The new hip feels great. Best wishes.
Thanks for the heads up. I will just keep my friend Percoset nearby. ;D
Quote from: Ernie on June 12, 2011, 09:12:49 AM
As a heads up, I felt very little pain the first day and night; the second night was another story!
Don't worry about the second night. I could not sleep and wanted to get out of the hospital, but I had no pain, and frequently got out of bed and went for short walks to the toilet or the foyer.
D.
Sorry to hear about the snafu with the room. Overbooking isn't reserved fro the airlines apparently.
Great to hear about the pain management. Keeping that pain under control will really help your recovery.
I am anxious to hear a report once you are up and moving. Good luck.
Dan
See, what did we tell you? It wasn't like you thought it would be. Glad you are on the "other side". Stay ahead of the pain and you'll be O.K. Recovery is somewhat challenging but the progress will be faster than you think. You're on your way!
Congratulations on getting it done. Keep everyone here posted. I'm eager to hear the rest of your HSS experience as I'm sure to spend some time there eventually.
Steve
Congrats and welcome to the club! Like Newdog said, you will get better really fast...just be patient. Keep up on the meds too! If you stick with them, as directed, you should have very little pain, if any. I was told if you try to "tough it out" and get off the pain meds too fast...and it does start to hurt, it's more difficult to knock the pain back.... I took all the meds they gave me...whether I really thoug I needed it or not...you won't be on the stuff that long anyway....
Glad to hear it all went so well! Except for the room thing.... Stuff happens. At least the one goof that was made was with booking your room... At least the mistake wasn't made in the OR! That's what counts!
I'm at about 3.5 months post op and feeling really good. Follow your drs instructions....take it easy and listen to your body. Don't try to prove anything, or push yourself... You have lots of time to get betterr. The one time I tried to walk too far...at about six weeks post op...I got sore and it took a week for it to recover...if you push too hard you will have setbacks...
Get the raised toilet seat too! I neglected to buy that right away, and got it a few days after surgery.. i wish I had it as soon as I got home! Walmart has cheap ones.... You won't need it long...but you will need it.
At what point did dr say you could return to sports?
I am definitely keeping up on the meds. I have taken a few walks today already and the nurses have completely disconnected me from everything. No catheter, no IV, no epidural and no nose oxygen.
Dr. Su called me in my room today from his home to check on how I was doing. He really is a great doctor. He remembered everything about our pre-op conversation and said he put the device in specifically to my build, lifestyle and goals. He didn't know the exact angle of the placement but said he would measure it on the post-op x-rays tomorrow and let me know. He said he is much more focused on the cup placement in relation to the overall mechanics of an individual's hip system as a whole rather than a selected number. He also said my acetabular cup is a size 60! I'm 6'4" so I guess that makes my hip socket pretty big. I forget what he said the femoral component size was, something like a 54 or 56.
Time for another PT session. I just couldn't be happier about how this is going. More updates soon....
Great news Kirk! Sounds like you're doing well, and are taking the right steps. PT is crucial right now, but so is rest - keep it up, sounds like you're on your way.
23109VC -
Sorry, I didn't answer your question. Dr. Su said I needed to be very careful the first 3 months and then SLOWLY build athletic activity back up during the period between 3 and 6 months. Barring any unforeseen complications, he said I can run at 6 months.
I have already decided to be on the conservative side and not even think about running until WELL AFTER the 6 month mark. My plan is to get past the 7 or 8 month mark and then, when I get out and walk, inject a minute or two of easy jog every so often. From then until the year mark, I will just do a little more running and a little less walking as time passes until I am back to running the whole workout.
I did a bunch of walking around my hospital floor today. It was really great to periodically get up and move. Learned climbing stairs with the forearm crutches too. I really like those type of crutches. For me, they are much more natural feeling. I should be released tomorrow and will spend another week at the Belaire. Truly, this has been much easier than i thought it would be. It's not exactly a party, but my shoulder arthroscopy was more difficult as far as recovery goes.
And the staff at HSS is really incredible. I really couldn't ask for more from them.
So, tomorrow they release me out into the wild. Can't wait for that! This place is great, but I really want to start flying on my own now....
Well batten down the hatches, Kirk is going to be on the loose :) Really glad to hear you're doing well and that you're being conservative, so was I. How's the pain?
Really there is no pain to speak of. Some stiffness and that annoying situation where you think you can just lift the leg up and swing out of bed and it simply says NO. It is weaker than you think is and keeps surprising me when I try to move it and it just refuses.
They have really kept up on the pain meds so I have had no periods where I felt pain of any significance. I keep telling the nurse, I am waiting for the other shoe to drop, but there is just no real pain. And, I slept very well last night. I was under the impression that the second night after surgery was the worst, but it was quite a good night's sleep. They woke me every 4 hours for the Percoset and I was cruzin'.
They removed the dressing / bandaging a little while ago and I am going to get to wash up in a few minutes now that I have had breakfast.
Still so far, so good. Dr. Su is going to come by in a little while also.
Will update you from outside the walls later....
Congrats Kirk ! You are now on the other side. Things will go better and better ;)
Better and better in leaps and bounds. Just had PT and they ran me though a bunch of things, including up and down stairs and I was exponentially better than even yesterday. I am cleared to be discharged and will be heading back over to the Belaire shortly. They said it is fine to walk as much as I like and just back off when it starts to get a little sore so I don't push past the zone of tolerance for where the hip is at any given time. I was fortunate that even though my hip was, in Dr. Su's words, "really messed up", I was still highly mobile all the way up to surgery and sort of trained into it.
I just want to repeat to all those out there sitting on the fence about whether to get it done or wait a while longer, GET IT DONE! You are burning days you can't get back. Get your hip fixed and get back to living those days instead of just tolerating them.
Quote from: KirkM on June 13, 2011, 12:00:45 PM
I just want to repeat to all those out there sitting on the fence about whether to get it done or wait a while longer, GET IT DONE! You are burning days you can't get back. Get your hip fixed and get back to living those days instead of just tolerating them.
Kirk,
Welcome to Surface Hippy land. Now you sound like us! Your PT and post op restrictions are very similar to Dr. Gross. That "log" feeling you have now with your operated leg will soon pass especially with the physical condition you are in. The hardest thing is time and patience.
Great news Kirk! It sounds like you are doing very well.
I am hoping because I have not waited too long and have been able to continue to bike and swim at high levels that recovery will go better. I really think that I am doing this at the right time.
I am concerned about pushing too much and too quickly on recovery. I think if I was 20 years younger it would be worse. Something about age giving us the experience and wisdom to know that patience is a virtue.
Enjoy your stay in NYC.
Dan
Yo Dawg! ;D
Thanks for the welcome. I am very happy to be here. I'd like to thank my agent, my publicist, my bookie, my bartender... all the "little people" who made this possible. But enough about them, this is my moment of narcissism, so I think I'll stand at the podium and tell you all these things about ME that nobody cares about...
Whoa, sorry, had a little stream of consciousness thing kick in there for a minute.
Hey Dan -
Glad to hear you are able to continue to maintain your fitness pre-surgery. That is exactly what I was doing. I was swimming, biking and deep-water running with an AquaJogger. Stay in as good a shape as you can. I always believed that recovery and even the surgery itself goes much better the more fit you are. Dr. Su confirmed this today. He caught me jamming down the hall on my forearm crutches this morning with my PT and walked with me a while. He discussed how key my fitness was in contributing to my highly accelerated recovery and also he said it makes it easier for the surgeon to achieve a more precise and accurate outcome. He had nothing as a downside of being highly fit for surgery. So, anyone who is mobile enough (or creative enough) to keep a fitness plan right up to surgery is doing himself or herself a big favor in the less pain, less (or no) swelling and shorter recovery departments, not to mention helping the surgeon to achieve the best possible outcome.
I just got back from walking to Walgreens Pharmacy and then the grocery store round trip from the Belaire after being discharged from the hospital. My phone gps shows it to be 1.3 miles and I feel great. And, I felt great all during the walk. Maybe I will pay for that later tonight, but it sure felt good to do. I felt like I could have gone a lot farther.
A note on the forearm crutches - I had to specifically ask for them and they were a little hesitant at first to give them to me instead of traditional underarm ones. This country is really old-school with that. They did relent fairly quickly when I basically asked them to explain how the underarm variety were going to be better for me than ones that allow you to walk more naturally. They are still sort of geared into the Total Hip Replacement mentality at HSS (NOT at Dr. Su's office, they are really progressive). They said that SOP was for underarm crutches because the majority of patients are still older, somewhat frail THR cases. Once they actually thought about it they said I certainly had the upper body strength to be able to use them correctly, so that is what I got. I HIGHLY recommend them. Right from the beginning, it is a much more natural experience and gait. You use them to take some of the load away from the operated leg when you walk instead of almost "replacing" your walk with a bunch of mini pole-vaults. At least, that is how I perceive it.
Well, time to eat some of my gf's excellent cooking after days of hospital food. In case you are wondering, yes, hospital food is just as bad as it has always been. I swear, the people preparing hospital food must have to take extensive training in flavor and texture mutilation. There is just no way you can make food that bad unless you are doing it on purpose.
Kirk,
I'm very happy that you are doing so well! Just watch the activity a little bit. I crutched all over our super Walmart the day after my surgery for probably an hour. I was still on the strong pain meds and felt super. Paid for it the day after. In regards to hospital food, I have to say that I was quite impressed with the food at my hospital ( Providence East in Columbia, SC). It was not only edible, it actually tasted good!
Good food at a hospital? You're messin' with me, right? That's, well, unAmerican. Can we depend on nothing in this world anymore? ;D
My last pain meds were at midday, it is now 7:30 pm and I have absolutely no hint of pain. The leg is a little stiff when I get up, but actually I am doing my PT stuff and I am more flexible than when I did them this morning. Showering was no problem, even though our room has a step-over tub.
As I said in the previous post, I am aware that I may be heading for a pain train wreck later tonight or tomorrow, but right now I feel quite good.
One last thing about HSS - The people working there are phenomenal. From doctors, nurses, assistants, PA's, housekeeping, et al. you could not find a more friendly, welcoming and efficient crew. They are just above and beyond.
Happy to hear that you are getting real food very soon! (Obviously happy to hear you are doing really well - but the good food is going to make you feel even more amazing than you already do :)!) There is one hospital that I have read a number of comments about (Maybe Euclid or something that kind of looks like that?) and everyone says the food is awesome. I think maybe that hospital is actually in a parallel universe ;D
I had the same crutches as you. They seemed to be pretty common in the rehab centre where I was (in Australia). They call them Canadian crutches here.... haven't figured out why yet...
Quote from: KirkM on June 13, 2011, 12:00:45 PM
I just want to repeat to all those out there sitting on the fence about whether to get it done or wait a while longer, GET IT DONE! You are burning days you can't get back. Get your hip fixed and get back to living those days instead of just tolerating them.
You are SO RIGHT! After I got my hip fixed, I wished I had done it a year or so sooner.... i spent a year or more just suffering with hip pain.... being unsure if I was ready for hip resurfacing and also being scared of the procedure.... after going through it, I wish I knew then what I know now.. I would have done it sooner!
I feel like I got my life back...and now you have yours back.... it's great!!!
Funny how the mind works. One tends to create baselines for things. Since yesterday was phenomenal, I half expected today to be the same. Today is only great, so I feel like I'm not doing as well. Well isn't that just plain stupid? I haven't had any pain meds since yesterday at noon (about 22 hours ago) and feel pretty good. I am just a bit stiff from all the walking around, but I figure once I start moving today I will loosen back up.
I really wanted to just stop the Percocet completely from yesterday going forward, but a few of the hospital nurses and assistants said I would regret it when I go to the "hard core" PT today, Thursday and Friday. They strongly suggested that I at least take it before each of those sessions so I would be able to get the most out of them and not have pain limitations to some of the things they are going to make me do. Sounds ominous, like I am going to a torture chamber or something.
So I am going to go on it for these sessions this week and see if I can stay off the rest of the time and then discontinue completely after this week is over.
Looking forward to PT and seeing if they try to bend me into a pretzel or something.
Again, each person is different. I had very little to no pain once I was off the pain meds, switched to tylenol and did fine. PT was not really painful for me either time, it felt more like that extreme soreness you get after you've really worked your muscles hard. I've been doing athletic activities since I was a kid, so that is something you're used to and I never really considered it pain.
My recommendation is to ice and ice again.
The stiffness is something that will stay with you for a while. It only bugged me for the first few steps initially, then went away as you loosened up. I still get it now, but only after long car rides or if I'm on the computer too long. One or two steps and it's gone.
Excellent way to put it. That is exactly how it is to me. Soreness is just soreness, I don't consider it pain and it certainly isn't limiting in any way.
PT today was great. I did some movements that I didn't think I could do. I think I will stay off of all painkillers from now on and just use ice on the hip a few times a day. I really don't feel like I need the drugs. And, they make me sleepy.
Hi Kirk, I did not take any pain killers after I was discharged from the hospital. I did use a bottle of OTC Tylenol, Max Strength as kind of a placebo pill. I did ice like a freak I would say for 30 minutes every hour that I was awake. I had very little swelling or bruising too. I am happy to hear that you are doing so wonderfully. At 4 1/2 weeks out, I am walking unassited and not missing my cane. All in good time, just listen to your body.
I know that I did swim alot, so I had excellent cardio, but the body was week because of the non weight bearing exercising. It takes time to build those muscles.
Kirk,
I didn't like those painkiller drugs either, and felt a lot better mentally once I stopped taking them, about 5 days after surgery. I did not need them for my PT sessions after those first few days.
I have the stiffness mentioned by Hernan when I first get up after sitting for a while, but it goes away pretty quickly. I was told at my 6 weeks post-op visit that I'd probably have that initial stiffness for another couple of months. I actually think the main culprit now is my other hip. I wish I didn't have to wait until October to get that one done. My new hip is already so much better!
Had my follow-up with Dr. Su today. Everything looks excellent. I used my phone to snap a picture of my x-ray they took in the recovery room right after the surgery and made a web-friendly version to attach here. It isn't a very good x-ray for illustrating the unit because I was laying down on a gurney and my leg was splayed out to the side. I would have preferred a very square, straight-on shot, but I will get that in a couple of weeks with the follow-up x-rays.
But I have proof that I am now bionic.
Kirk-
Now you can show the TSA agents at the airport what they are detecting.
It is strange to see this obvious foreign object on the x-rays. It seems that it should feel very weird. But everyone reports that they only way they know they have an HR is by the normal feeling they have once again.
Dan
Kirk, you have got a mobile phone that can take x-rays? I want one.
D.
It's a leaked new iPhone 5, but don't tell Steve Jobs or he will have me killed...