I just got the call. I have to be there at 6 am for surgery at 7:30.
I can't wait. I was in Manhattan today to see the shoulder doc and I don't know which was worse; walking or standing on the subway . My hips are killing me, but I'll have some new ones tomorrow!
I hope I can sleep tonight, I sure didn't sleep at all last night.
Best wishes Woody! My thoughts will be with you...at least once I wake up on the Left Coast.
Dan
Good luck ... you are in good hands with Dr. Marwin .....
Good luck Woodstock, let us know how it goes....
Best of luck and a speedy recovery! Curt
Woodstock,
I've never seen anyone better prepared for surgery than you are. You're going to do great. Best wishes for an uneventful trip to the other side where you will be greeted by all the smiling Hippys who made the journey before you did.
God's speed Woodstock!
Lots of folks have you in their thoughts tonight.
Boomer
Thanks guys, I'm here and I'm ready. I'll get back to you when I wake up.
as always, Jim
Sweet dreams about new hips when in there! Recover well and let us know how it goes!
My wife brought my Ipad today so now I can tell you; this is amazing, I walked yesterday and today and today was about 75 feet and I even got myself into the bathroom. No success yet but I won't need a bedpan. I'm on Percaset and it works like a charm but I have no bruising or swelling. If I feel as much better tomorrow as I do today, I'll be dancing down the hallway. I'm just being honest but the rehab doctor told me to take it easy or they will have to send me home early. I want to be here all next week for the three hours of PT at Rusk
Th quote the movie Porkies "this is going to be great!"
Fabulous news Woodstock. I think they might want to dial down on the Percocet. Nobody should be so happy just yet. You want to leave something to look forward to.
Good for you. Keep posting. Take it easy. You have a lifetime to enjoy your new hinges.
Boomer
LOL, Jim, you've got a great positive attitude.
I can remember when I woke up from my first (LBHR) in the recovery room, the first thing I said to the doc was "let's do the other one." Really, though, even though you feel great just take things nice and slow. You have plenty of time to heal.
Mike
Just sitting here in the bed, it's like nothing happened. Walking is very stiff, but I have plenty of time to get myself loosened up.
Quote from: Woodstock hippy on November 17, 2011, 12:46:03 PM
Th quote the movie Porkies "this is going to be great!"
Animal House!?!?!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmlnltVzksg
-Bernie
Excellent news, Woodstock - really glad you're doing well, tone the recovery down a bit, so you can enjoy more of the great hospital food. Really cool.
That's right but it's true.
Great news! Congratulations on making the commitment to live again.
Best wishes on your recovery and then on to rehab.
Dan
Walking on two new hips so fast? Good job. It just gets better from here.
Take care with showing the increased progress until you get approved by insurance for Acute Rehab.
I almost walked my way out of approval.
Hey congrats Jim! We'll have to schedule a bike or walk/hike out by my house when you are ready...
Godspeed on your recovery...
David
Congratulations! Sounds like you're doing extremely well. Just be careful not to overdo - that can be too easy when you're feeling great and then you pay for it afterwards.
Very happy that everything went so well!
DT, when I say that it's all stiffness, it is painful when I push beyond the limit and it's painful getting into or out of bed but it's really good most of the time. I have already been approved but the rehab doctor did tell me to take it easy or they could have to kick me out early
David, I'll be way behind your schedule but it will be great to go for an easy ride once I'm able to.
Sounds awesome! Keep up the attitude and great recovery. The surgery is so nice it should illegal. Enjoy. Curt
Curt, it's amazing, if I'M sitting still like right now, and if Dr Marwin came in and told me that he didn't do the surgeries, I'd have to check to see if he did
It' amazing!
Jim
Quote from: Woodstock hippy on November 17, 2011, 06:25:23 PM
Curt, it's amazing, if I'M sitting still like right now, and if Dr Marwin came in and told me that he didn't do the surgeries, I'd have to check to see if he did
Its a pretty cool feeling to have that pain gone, isnt it? I had a really good chuckle watching the "Oh boy is this great!" clip because that's exactly what its going to be... :) great!
9 months out and every night now as I go to sleep, I am amazed at the lack of pain and am able to just let my mind wander as I drift off to sleep rather than grumbling about my achy hip that cant get comfortable.
-Bernie
It's great to hear everything went well. I'm sure you will do fine in rehab and be home before you know it.
You had a very experienced and fine surgeon. Dr. Marwin is one of the best!!
PS: How's the food?
Alright, the food isn't gourmet, but we're getting breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and in the evening the snack cart comes around one more time. We've got the Jets vs Tebow game tonight, no wonder i'm in such a great mood!
Sounds like everything went very well. I wish you a very smooth recovery! :)
This morning I walked about 25 ft further with the walker. This time the focus on on being smooth and steady without the stops to move the walker. It really worked nicely, just like walking with a shipping cart. Also cut out the long term pain medication. Now I only have the on demand which I'm goIng to limit to right before PT
I'm very happy with all of this so far!
Today's the day; I'll have a PT meeting in the morning. Then a PT session and a occupation therapy session to learn how to get back to normal. On. Monday we go to 3 sessions a day. Then I'll be on my way.
Woodstock, good luck with PT. Don't push to far it's not the old "no pain no gain" situation , listen to your body its amazing how every day feels sooo much better. I pushed the first PT session and inflamed my IT band. Been icing and and massaging as best as I can. It feels better but I know it's there.
What a day,two hours of PT and one of occupational therapy. I walked up the stairs four times, the second two were normal, not 1,1,2,2.........., I got myself into the bath tub and out, no shower yet, did too much excercise and too much walking. Now I' worn out in the bed and my legs are swelling. I only have one hour PT for tomorrow. I'll tae it easy and let this all setle down.
Right now I'm just happy that I'm here working on this and getting better.
Sounds great Woodstock - you're right where you want to be.
Two great PT seasons today, lots of walking trying to exaggerate knee lift, then at the bars alternating hands like we do walking normally, did the building stairs with one hand crutch
I talked the PT about skipping the in-home PT and going directly to out-patient. I'm pretty sure I'm going that way.
I had two in-home PT sessions. They really didn't do much for me. Getting out of the house and going for PT in a professional setting worked best for me.
What a day today, I walked a lot with one hand crutch, got taken off of Percoset although I was hardly taking it, rode the stationary bike for twenty minutes and got told that I'm going home two days early on Thursday morning. I'm going to cal my PT and set myself up for Friday and Saturday.
Yippie!
Another great day of workouts: I started at 9:00 with the occupation therapist and she took me through some gentle exercises to warm me up for my 10:00 PT. Did a great workout including one one the stairs where I stepped up one step and then reached up 3 steps with the other leg. The third workout was a trip down to the gym, 20 minute ride on the stationary bike and then another trip back to the room. Great day.
Today was my final day of PT At Rusk. I'm going home in the morning. It has been amazing. I'm 8 days out of surgery. 1 day after surgery they had me up and walking, only 20ft with a walker and it was stiff. Today, I'm walking with One Cane as much as I want, I was out in the hall kicking the soccer ball back and forth with the therapist with no hands holding on to anything, I rode the bicycle for the third time and I even Ran slowly on the treadmill for a few strides until the PT stopped me and made me walk. I never thought this could have worked out so well to this point. I still have a ton of work to do, but I have all the time in the world. This is probably the last post in this thread. I'll continue to post in the main forum for some time in the future. I'll have a lot to tell about what an older guy can do with two resurfaced hips.
Thanks for all your help and advise and thinks for reading,
Jim Sweeney
Congrats Jim...enjoy your Thanksgiving...
Your doing great, you are way ahead of me at the same point in time.
Keep me posted on your progress, and contact me, if need be.
Happy Holidays
Awesome, Jim - love your recovery.
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody
Congratulations on doing so well!! I have my bilateral scheduled on December 20th with Dr. Schmitt out of the Detroit area, and I hope I feel as great as you do! This is very exciting to read of your progress.
Quote from: Woodstock hippy on November 23, 2011, 03:46:04 PM
Today, I'm walking with One Cane as much as I want, I was out in the hall kicking the soccer ball back and forth with the therapist with no hands holding on to anything, I rode the bicycle for the third time and I even Ran slowly on the treadmill for a few strides until the PT stopped me and made me walk. Jim Sweeney
wow ... 8 days, 2 hips, and walking with 1 cane?? that is amazing. hope your recovery continues to progress as well.
i decided to have 2 separate surgeries (first one done september, second one scheduled for march) because my better hip did not have much pain when i made the surgery date for the worse hip. reading your post makes me wonder if two at once might have been a better option... but i could not be happy with the results of the first surgery so far!!
Most people choose to go separately and they are better off doing it that way.
I have a strong upper body, a hard head and a very optimistic personality, and this worked out way beyond even my expectations.
Just had my staples taken out. Boy does it feel better and I feel like I could start running right now. Don't worry, I won't but it sure feels good.
Reading this thread gives me great hope for my January surgery. Thank you.
Don't worry, it starts getting better from the minute you wake up!
Nobody told me to do it, but nobody told me not to either so I tried doing laps down and up my basement stairs. I got up yesterday feeling so god that I was walking around the house only using the cane every third step. Since it was not a PT day, I did the exercises from Mcminn. Then I did two trips down and up the stairs going 1-2-3-4 not 1,1-2-2 with the cane. Still felt good but after lunch I went for a walk and at the end my legs didn't have it anymore and the swelling returned. PT gave me a lot of ice today and I'll continue every two hours with ice to get the swelling down.
Not the worst set back in the world, but I'll have to learn from it.
Sorry to hear about the set back. In awe that you did both buggers at one time. Amazing.
I know the uber athlete in some of us (and definitely not me...lol) creates that nagging feeling that you should push yourself and do more and more to get better, but I keep thinking of the horror stories with devices that become loose, and worse outcomes some report here, and see the prospect of a THR revision as akin to an ultimate nightmare, and that keeps me working within the parameters and limitations my surgeon has imposed. It takes time to get through this, and with only having one done now 8 weeks ago, I'm still hitting ups and downs with pain and recovery, albeit with a steadily improving trendline throughout.
Take it easy man, you've been through a ton, and it'll all come around in time, particularly with your composition and athletic nature. Don't let yourself have a major setback.
All the best,
Dan
We've all had setbacks, Woodstock, no worry there. You challenged your body and it told you to back off (and proceeded to swell your leg). Rest, Ice, move as much as you can, you'll be doing those steps with impunity in no time, just apparently not right now ::).
Still good news, even if you pushed it. Just listen to your body or it will give you a smack (like you've seen) and take care of the implant.
Feeling better again. Not quite as good as I did on Tuesday morning but I'm a little wiser. I spent all day yesterday resting and icing every hour. Felt much better today and did a very gentle session at PT. After lunch I walked half of what I've been doing. So I'm back on the road to recovery and feeling like I learned an improtant lesson.
Wow, thank goodness for Empire Blue Cross!
Total bill for the Hospital: $178,100.44
Patient's total responsibility: $0.00
Still waiting for the surgeon's and anesthesiologist bills. Should be the same for me
Wow! That is a huge bill. How many days were you in the hospital? I thought mine was bad.
Of course, this isn't the amount the insurance will pay through their contract. But it looks nasty. Just think if we didn't have insurance? I would be headed for India.
Dan
I got out on the morning of the 9th day. I stayed for a week of PT. That's a whopper, glad I'm not paying it!
Hi woodstock, I got an economy stay, I guess .... $50000 the first time and $55000 the second. I stayed 5 days total in the hospital, paid a total of $400 for both.... But I did have some coupons ;D
Wow that is a big bill. I was at about the same as Hern, but I was only in for a total of 4 days if you add the events together.
Yea, but this is New York. I talked to a friend who just had back surgery on Long Island and his bill was $99,000 for two days at Stony Brook Hospital.
As a Union Carpenter, I paid in huge insurance premiums all my life. Luckily I had that good insurance now that I need it.
.....GULP.....I hope my bill is substantially lower..... I have decent insurance (wife is an Aetna employee), but still have high deductable/co-insurance. Yikes!
Glad to hear you're doing so well!
Today, on day 26, I walked 1.2 miles and I left the cane at home for the first time. This is a great day!
Also, I put my pants on standing on one leg then standing on the other. This is a really great day!
Fantastic!
Great stuff, Woodstock. You've made some really good progress. How's the gait?
It feels like I am walking correctly, but slowly. I watch my shadow to make sure I'm not rocking side to side. Saturday and Sunday my left leg was weak and I had to work hard to keep from leaning left but I think the pool work Sunday afternoon really helped and I felt strong today.
And, I just got up from my kitchen chair for the first time with no hands. What a day!
good to see you progressing Woody...
Look, Mom, no hands! Congrats on your achievement:)
Your surgery is just around the corner. Good for you, best of luck.
What does your schedule look like? How long on the hospital? Are you going to a rehab hospital?
I spent 3 days on the post-op floor and then I walked with a walker to the rehab section of the hospital and spent 6 days ther.
Today is my one month anniversary, and I couldn't be doing better. I left my cane in the closet this past weekend, I'm doing great workouts in the pool, riding my tri bike on the trainer, doing PT three times a week, and walking outside almost every day.
Be prepared for a lot of muscle soreness and tightness and work hard on your PT. It will pay off.
On day 32 after surgery I walked 2.4 miles in 1:02:00 on the trail by my house.
I love my new hips!
Great news! Isn't it grand!
It is beautiful and sunny here on the Oregon Coast. I will be using my new hip for a walk on the beach later.
Dan
Quote from: Woodstock Hippy on December 17, 2011, 10:31:31 AM
On day 32 after surgery I walked 2.4 miles in 1:02:00 on the trail by my house.
I love my new hips!
:D. Yeah!
Aerial, that's great. Never liked walking for exercise as much as I do now. You only appreciate it after its gone!!
Curt
Hey Woody -
So Cool! I quoted your achievement in my journal...'cause that's gonna be me too real soon. Thanks for sharing!!!
I'm scheduled to be in hospital for 3 days and then go home, but I'm going to ask my surgeon for the most aggressive rehab I can do....so that might be their rehab wing if they have one. I was planning on having in home PT immediately upon getting home, but I like the idea of really going at it, medically supervised of course.
Don't be in a hurry to get home, three days is mighty fast for bilaterals. Are you going to Detroit Medical Center? The Rehab Institute of Michigan is right there and they can take great care of you. At Rusk in NYC they worked me like I was in boot camp for three hours every day. Staying in house for that week was very important to my success.
Just remember that we are all different and all surgeries and rehabs are different. Work at your own pace. Your body will heal at it's own pace. And remember most of all that this is a marathon not a sprint.
Yes, I am going to the Detroit Medical Center Huron Valley- Sinai Hospital tomorrow. Thank you very much for 'The Rehab Institute of Michigan' suggestion.
Last night, I emailed Dr. Schmitt (posted below) with my one month post op goals and asked him if a week at a rehab facility would help me get there. First thing this morning, Marcy emailed me that "I have forwarded your email straight to Dr Schmitt he should advise me or yourself within the next couple days."
QuoteHi Marcy,
I hope to be physically fit and active in 2012, back to doing all the sports I love. After one month post op, my goals are to be able to go to the pool, ride my exercise bike, do PT three times a week, and walk outside almost every day. On line, I'm seeing my fellow bilateral patients doing the above by working consistently and in increments. I want to work super hard, but obviously I would not do anything that would risk my successful recovery.
After my 3 day hospital stay, does Dr. Schmitt think I could achieve my goals and benefit from going to the rehab section of the hospital for an additional week of aggressive PT? What does Dr. Schmitt think about:
Polar Ice Machine
Extended Rehab at Huron
Accelerated and Aggressive PT
Waterproof Incision Patch so I can do pool exercise/PT?
Also, does he know my ball size and angle?
Does he use an X ray to determine the angle is not too steep before closing me up?
I am prepared for a lot of muscle soreness and tightness and to work hard on my PT. I know it will pay off. Thanks.
Tomorrow's the day. Best of luck to you but I'm sure that everything will go great. I was told at the hospital that all bilateral patients were encouraged to go into the rehab hospital for 7 to 10 days and it would be fully covered by insurance. If you can post from the hospital, start a thread on the first page and see how much support you'll get from all the other Hippies.
Hey what Woodstock said....
Good luck tomorrow, two4one, keep us posted.
Good Luck tomorrow. We will all be thinking about you.
Why don't you start a new topic about your second surgery - if you want. This one is getting long and maybe it would be easier to have a second one for the next hip. I am not sure - but do what feels right.
Looking forward to hearing about your quick recovery for the new year!
Pat
Best wishes for a smooth and boring recovery, take it easy when needed and follow the program carefully,mand all will be well.
Dan