Going home from hospital with new RBHR today wanted to say thanks for information posted on here and Happy Thankgiving
Welcome Bryan!
Congratulations! You're on the way to better days. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
Bruce
Congrats! Welcome to the other side! Be very patient with your healing. Lu
Does anyone here know about success rates with smaller bones? My surgeon mentioned I had a 44 mm hip he expected it to be a little larger about 48 mm. He has me on the same restrictions for a THR.
What a day to have your hip done. You'll have a lot to be Thankful for. Good luck with your recovery. With your smaller bone just follow your doctors protocol and you should be fine.
Congrats Bryan! Welcome to the other side, I am pretty sure you are going to like it. I say that and I am only 10 days post op myself.
Per your question regarding success rates, there are really a lot of factors to consider, size being just one of them. My surgeon was Dr. Gross and his webpage has LOTS of great information about devices in general and of course lots about his procedure and technique, but I think you might be able to glean some good info from there. Also, he recently published an outstanding article on a 10+ year study he has been conducting on the best, or safe zone, for the placement of the cup portion of the device. This paper may help answer some questions and likely will give you a few questions to ask your doctor, like what AI angle did he place the cup?
http://www.grossortho.com/Journals/Metal%20safe%20zone.pdf
Hope this helps....Patrick
Hi Bryan
Congratulations on the new hip. Many people with smaller sized resurfacings do great. A lot depends on how well the acetabular cup is placed. Most of the top surgeons are very aware of that and are very careful, especially in smaller people. Take it easy and don't push your recovery and listen to your doctors recommendations. Once you are healed further down the road, you can be active without any worry.
Thanks for letting us know how you are doing. Look forward to your future posts as you continue your recovery.
Good Luck.
Pat
Thanks Patrick, very interesting data. Thanks Pat. He said my angle was from 40-45. Femoral head size was 44mm. The reason I am concerned is because I am not small, just small boned, he expected my bones to be larger. He seemed surprised when I asked him the angle of placement. Thanks guys for the info.. Looks like from the data a 44mm needs to be placed at 35 to 45 angle so if I heal right should be good. No wonder my bones wore out :D
Congrats Bryan! Welcome to the good side.
Ask away, part of healing is getting all of your answers in line so your mind can be clear and you can enjoy the increasingly good hip.
Not used to this energy drain, having to readjust tired by early afternoon. Leg swollen some above the knee everyone thinks that is normal and I am progressing well. Sleeping much better day 4 and 5 at home. Today I feel good this AM Day (6) , going to try the stationary bike for a few min today . Watch some football Alabama and Auburn nothing bigger in this state!!
Roll Tide!
All normal, Bryan - your body's been through a lot and you are in the right spot in your recovery. Keep it up.
Don't worry about the energy drain; right now it is a good thing. Your body is mustering all of its resources to take care of the healing, and that is right where you want all of your energy to go for now. When more of the healing has taken place, your body will free up more of your energy for other things.
Cool thanks John, helpful to know this is normal. Day seven good day slowed my pace down seems to have helped. Bruising all down my operated leg even below the knee now, does not hurt but almost as if the blood thinner is allowing blood to run down the length of my leg. Strength slightly better today mornings are best. Need to go back
to work one week from tomorrow at least for a while (couple of hours at a time), (desk job) with walking occasionally. Any ideas on sitting? Finding it hard to sit on real firm or real soft surfaces. Was thinking maybe a bar stool with a cushion.
Bryan, icing helps, if you can arrange it at work. Other than that, I had problems sitting for long for a while (six months or so?), but went back to work full time by 5 weeks.
The hip gets stronger, but I found I had to get up and walk after 20 minutes or so. No long walk, just long enough to straighten the leg, take the pressure off and get some blood flowing.
Once that was done, I was good for another twenty. Your body will tell you what you can take. The pillow sounds like a good plan, though.
Congrats All the best for your recovery.
I second the plan for ice, I love my Breg Polar Care cooler. It does an amazing job.
I have also found the elevation, just putting my foot up on another chair (topped with a pillow) while sitting really helps. Not sure if you can setup that kind of arrangement at work, but it might be worth a try too.
So went to work today 10 days post op, took a pillow and made it about 3 hours long enough to check 150 emails and work a little. Using 2 crutches to get around did good!. Walking at home between rooms with little assistance, and pain, muscles still seems very weak though and gait not straight yet, happy with progress overall, but impatient at the same time... ???
Just keep your eye on the prize, Bryan - you want to come out of this with a strong joint and a really good gait. Impatience is not our friend here.
One thing that helped me to walk in the winter was my nearby malls. There is no shortage of long stretches of negotiable paths, it's friendly to crutches and plenty of places to rest.
There's nothing like confronting a big sheet of ice while on crutches to realize that malls are a healing hippie's helper.
Congrats on the hip. Yeah, lots of ice. Be easy on yourself with the ups and downs of recovery. You're also really early for getting too concerned about your gait. In the next few weeks as you start to move from the crutches to cane then I think you will want to be focusing more on symmetry and gait. For now you just need to do the light PT exercises "floor exercises" and get some walking/crutching in and resting/icing.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the advice, as I have read in other posts I realize I am that Type "A" person, thinking today need to clean out the gutters. Patience is not one of my stronger qualities...but good things come to those that wait seems to be the consensus..
Yeah, I never idled well either, my RPM's were just set a little too high at the factory. But after reading many of the other comments and stories on this forum I just resigned myself that this endeavor is one of those "Less is more" and "Quick is slow and slow is quick" type things. I am trying to stay focused on weeks and months down the road. I figure a year from now this will all seem like a distant memory.
Well 15 day mark today getting the 32 staples outta my behind tomorrow!!. Doing well I must say, still sore and a little bruised, working about 5 hours a day, crutches are gone as of yesterday, still need a cane if walking a long way, but short walks are no problem without assistance WOOHOO! and no OA Pain :D.
Still getting tired rather easy but my strength is slowly returning. I actually almost got my leg in the truck without having to pick it up and put it in there today.. Its the small things I guess.
Awesome, that has to be real exciting. I am sure having them out will really feel better when you are moving. Good luck tomorrow.
That no OA pain is so amazing it is difficult to fully explain to people that have never had to deal with it. That OA pain was just always there and now just totally gone, almost unreal.
And that first time I walked across the kitchen without the cane I felt like a kid who just took his training wheels off his bike, like I was not really sure if I was supposed to be doing that.
I am almost 3 weeks out and still find I need 9 (or even more) hours of sleep at night. I think that is normal, lots or trauma requires lots of rest to heal properly.
Hello again Bryan-
Hope the staples didn't cause much grief!
Your truck comment sure rang a bell for me. That was my drill for quite a while. Now I just jump in and go again...
it's great!
Take care, Bruce
Bryan;
Congrats on your new hip and welcome. I found early on the wisdom, support, kindness and willingness for all here to give unselfishly is a huge element of getting through this, so along with ice, sleep, and excercises/restrictions you're on the way to a great recovery already.
OA pain going "poof" is a theme here, like magic for many of us. Once you heal more you'll be amazed how good you feel overall.
I didn't have any staples just the glue, which was no problem, and my incision was only on the side (anterio-lateral) so luckily my sorry ass didn't have to go through that. Swelling and bruising was considerable.
Sleep is really important and getting as much as you can do, will help alot. My sleep was fubared at night for some time after each, so naps and such made up for it. Working wiped me out for weeks afterwards-- I would nap when I logged off (when working from home) or even longer after coming in to the office. Standard operating procedure. It will take some months to get back to "normal".
Best of luck and welcome again
Dan
A 20 minute rule is useful for the first 6 weeks: Sit, stand, lie flat, walk, flex, 20mins at a time. Even when I started driving at 3 1/2 weeks I would stop and walk around after 20 mins.
Good luck!
G
Quote from: Bryan712 on December 04, 2012, 08:25:20 PM
short walks are no problem without assistance WOOHOO! and no OA Pain :D.
Terrific for two weeks out!
My gutters could do with a good clean done the garage, porch and conservatory but couldn't reach the top of the house so if you are volunteering ? :P
Well tomorrow will be four weeks, seems like all this happened rather quickly, I seem to be back to normal for the most part walking now 2 weeks + without assistance, getting shoes and socks on, scar is healing well, driving is back to normal using RBHR leg for braking and accelerating, ( I cheated and used both legs at first. )
I still feel like my gait is still off a bit, some soreness (feels like muscle or tendon issue though no bone pain). Still tired as 2 of my three kids ended up with the Flu, and of course the passed it on to me. A little stiff in the morning.
Was wondering how many of you had the 90 degree rule, seems like some docs use this and some don't. Are they worried about a femoral fracture and if so why 3 months? Bone heals in 6-8 weeks right?
I haven't heard of a 3 month 90 degree precaution... but 6 weeks is pretty common. With THR's the biggest concern is dislocation. But I think as most resurfacing docs will tell you, it's damn near impossible to dislocate a properly placed BHR.
Dr. Pritchett advises a six-week 90 degree precaution. He says that's about the time it takes for the primary healing of any transected muscle tissue. More importantly, it also allows the detached and then surgically reattached, short external rotators and their tendons, to properly heal.
Quote from: Bryan712 on December 16, 2012, 06:07:02 PM
Well tomorrow will be four weeks, seems like all this happened rather quickly, I seem to be back to normal for the most part walking now 2 weeks + without assistance, getting shoes and socks on, scar is healing well, driving is back to normal using RBHR leg for braking and accelerating, ( I cheated and used both legs at first. )
I still feel like my gait is still off a bit, some soreness (feels like muscle or tendon issue though no bone pain). Still tired as 2 of my three kids ended up with the Flu, and of course the passed it on to me. A little stiff in the morning.
Was wondering how many of you had the 90 degree rule, seems like some docs use this and some don't. Are they worried about a femoral fracture and if so why 3 months? Bone heals in 6-8 weeks right?
The reason I've heard given for the 3 month time and femoral neck fracture is that the surgery depletes blood flow to an area that is not highly vascular. At three months it is at its weakest point, eventually returns to fully capable by the time six months have gone by, so the threat of fracture is lessened significantly.
The bone overall heals almost completely by the time a year has passed. Neck fracture is a significant issue to keep track of for the first six months, though.
I believe, but may be wrong, that the 90 degree rule is assocoated with certain approaches to the surgery, for example
anterio-lateral (what I had) and reportedly 20% of all HR's, does not require any 90 degree restriction because the risk of dislocation is relatively lower than other approaches.
Others, particularly posterior (not even sure that is the right name) due to the risk of dislocation with total hip replacement (and much less of a risk with HR) I believe include the 90 degree rule.
Dan
Congraton getting better - keep it up and do not climb the ladder yet :o
Congrats, Bryan! I am 3 weeks today and and finally getting into my normal sleeping routine. Like you, I was getting tired in the afternoon and early evening. I have learned to listen to my body, so I just slept when it wanted to. Never used ice when i got home and probably don't need the crutches but Dr. Brooks' protocol is 6wks, so I'll be good and follow that. Can't wait to get back in the pool and train!
John
At 4 weeks (now 5) you shouldn't be too worried about having a perfect gait. It could take a couple months to feel like you've lost the limp, especially if you already had a significant limp from OA for the last few years, like many of us did.
Also on the topic of the femoral neck fracture concern and the 3 month number, there's been a lot of discussion about that and as Hern said the bone is still reconstructing and getting organized with the slightly modified loading. There are some pretty interesting x-rays around here somewhere that show a progression of bone growth and readsorption in the femoral neck after HR, over a several month period. When I saw that, it was very eye-opening about this issue. Definitely take it easy all the way up to the 6 month mark with lifting, jumping, runnig, and other impacts and loads to the hip. Stick with the soft stuff for awhile (walking, cycling, swimming,...)
Eight weeks ago I could not walk without pain, stand during church without pain, and was a part of the Arthritis club at work (The one where on bad rainy days we would all compare aches and pains). Seems like a long time ago now. Yesterday I went riding bikes with my three kids for about an hour and a half What a Blast! ;D. Thanks so much Pat for this site and everyone's encouragement through this life changing surgery. Last doc visit was about 2 weeks ago and he does not want to see me again until Jan 2014 wohoo. ROM still limited somewhat, some aches and pains after 5 miles of biking but I am happy to say the least..
Getting there, Bryan.. it is a blast finding out the things you can do again along the way to full recovery.
Bryan,
It is a blast w/o pain! I've been out twice on a ride on my Triathlon bike. Haven't pushed it too hard but rode 17mi last Sat. Zero pain & my right leg is now back in line with my other leg and it is much easier to pedal. Staying in the saddle for a while but it certainly is a big difference. Enjoy!
Congrats Brian, it's going to continue to get better over the next many months, so enjoy the ride!
Dan
Just checking in cant believe it wil be 6 months on May 19. Definite life changing event for me. Update for me I have some external numbness near the incision site and some groin pain when I fell off my bike one day riding with my kids. Today playing soccer with my daughter some weird groin pain when kicking the ball sideways. Kicking it straight on no problem. Minor issues really compared to how it was 6 months ago. Would do it again in a second. 👍
Good stuff, Bryan. You might be dealing with scar tissue or just healing on the numbness and groin pain.
Your smaller muscles are still recouping, so make sure you're still doing balancing / core exercises to keep things on the up.
David I think mentioned some active release therapy to work on scar tissue, so that is an option if you think you need some help. I had some numbness in the area for a bit - it went away at about six to eight months. No more.
Gong back and reading this post is eye opening..how quickly I forget where I was. Well I will have my one year anniversary in less than a month (Nov 19th). Yesterday I deadlifted almost my full bodyweight 185lbs and am squatting about the same weight. As I get stronger I have less and less of the cluncking sensations, very rare, now my other hip actually feels weaker than the BHR hip. Needless to say I have my life back. My 5 year old played ball this fall, my daughter soccer, and my oldest son football, I was right there practicing with all of them. Hiking, riding a bike in the pouring down rain through the woods, running up the bleachers at the football field, chopping firewood, my normal activities.. have all been a part of the last 6 months. I hope this encourages someone out there and I hope this success continues, because I could barely walk up the stairs in my house last year.. ;D
Congrats Bryan! (Well, pre-congrats, saving the real one for your one year).
Sounds like you're diving back in. It's a great position to be in.
Nice one Bryan - that's a quality recovery.
I took note of your squatting as I'm trying to get back into it at my own pace - I'll keep at it.
Bryan
Great to hear how well you are doing. Thanks for taking time to post your story. Many people will enjoy reading it.
It is nice to be able to go back and read what you went thru, how you progressed. Usually, we start to forget the difficult times and move on when we are healed and active. You are proof of that.
Good Luck for many years to come.
Pat
Thanks Pat! I really appreciated reading this site when preparing for surgery, I was scared and excited all at the same time. The excited part mostly came from the support and information I received here Thanks for what you do here!