Well, it's been a somewhat trying week. For background info, aspirin and ankle pumps are the two things I've been doing to prevent blood clots. It turns out, for people with gout, aspirin can cause and attack, and in my case it did (well, I believe that's the cause, because I've been eating healthy). Gout, in turn, makes a person more prone to blood clots, and an attack removes the ability to do ankle pumps. I didn't recognize the attack coming on till it was too late, thinking it was just post op pain and swelling. As a result, I spent all week on crutches, in pain, not sleeping, and not doing PT. Finally, on the advice of a few friends who work in ERs and the dial-a-nurse from my insurance, I went to an ER Wednesday night with calf/ankle/foot swelling to the extent all skin was drum tight and my toes couldn't touch the floor with my foot flat on it. Good news, no clot, but lesson learned. Took some medication for the gout that has significantly reduced the pain but not eliminated it. Then yesterday I took a spill on our concrete driveway...funny story, but it'll have to wait because we're headed out the door for my scheduled follow-up with Dr Pritchett in Seattle. I'm somewhat confident the fall did no damage. The joint is a bit stiffer and sorer, but nothing extreme.  Wish me luck! :-)

Let us know how the xrays look after your visit with Dr. Pritchett. Sorry about all the other complications, but if you heal like I do, then you'll be up and walking around in no time.

I agree with your comments regarding Dr. Pritchett. Professional. Humble. Very quiet until you get him talking about his practice. Very responsive via email. I also went with his recommendation of the high carbon cobalt chrome BHR implant.


It has been 52 days since my surgery by Dr. Pritchett and everything is going to plan. Back to walking normally with just a slight limp. PT getting more and more progressive. I can now test ROM and it's quite amazing. I have FAI in both hips, now that it's gone in my operated hip and I can actually lift my knee higher than I've been able to in years.

The difficult part for me now is not being able to ski, surf, run or bike outside right now, especially now that I am a lot more mobile, it's becoming a battle of willpower not to strap on the skis or paddle out. I have my 3 month checkup coming up with Dr. Pritchett, I am going to see if I can at least start road biking.

Driving to Seattle and back was a lot of road time and pretty uncomfortable by the end, but the checkup went great!  One down, one to go.  :)

X-ray looks good mate ;)

Congratulations on the early stages of what sounds like a successful recovery (with the not unexpected ups and downs). Did you drive yourself round trip?

No, I only broke the "no driving" prohibition twice, both very short (2 mile) trips to the pharmacy the day before my checkup. My wife drove us too seattle, with me having one pillow wedged between my incision and the seat bolster and another folded in half between my knees so my right leg didn't flop toward my left around right turns. On the way back I drove the first 110 miles and was pretty much at my limit, sore and tired, so she took over again. :-)

This was the fifth orthopedic surgery of my life, preceded by one knee and three shoulders. None of the others left me feeling remotely as helpless and relying on someone for assistance with routine tasks. I'm glad I was married for this one (was single for the others), as my wife was an absolute godsend. :-)

Your joint surgeries sounds like my life. Two shoulder, two knee and two hip (same right hip). I was into symmetry until my HR after the scope. It seems your recovery is going well. Remember, it is a marathon, not a sprint. I overdid it early in my Rehab and had a bit of a setback causing a month delay in my recovery. Keep plugging along.

Today is three weeks post op and things are going well.  I returned to work last Wednesday (16 days post op) and made a bit of a mistake.  Having read here that one of the problems with an office job is all the sitting, and remembering to get up and walk frequently.  Well, apparently I took that a little too far...taking a stroll around a few neighboring buildings as my pain levels went up & up.  I'd started the day around a 1-2 on the 10 point scale, and left work after 6 hours closer to a 6 or 7, ready to get home where I could safely respond with oxycodone.  I did recover somewhat overnight, but still found myself at a 3 or 4 the following morning and back on a crutch, with my first formal out-patient PT appointment also on the agenda.  In all I made it another 6 hours on Thursday, plus PT, and took Friday off.  The three day weekend helped as I diteched the crutch again Saturday morning, did my at-home PT, and made it through 8 hours at work today without a crutch or even Tylenol being necessary.

Long story short - I overdid it a bit on my first day back to work, but I'm trying to avoid that error now and have only a slight limp remaining at the 3 week mark.  :)

Welcome to the "feel better -> overdo it -> ease off until you recover" cycle.  :)
I was in that loop for (I think) about 18 months. Of course you get stronger as time goes on and what was once overdoing it is now OK, but it's hard to resist pushing yourself a bit more every time.

Quote from: oldsoccerplayer on January 27, 2015, 08:10:04 AM
Welcome to the "feel better -> overdo it -> ease off until you recover" cycle.  :)
I was in that loop for (I think) about 18 months. Of course you get stronger as time goes on and what was once overdoing it is now OK, but it's hard to resist pushing yourself a bit more every time.

Ha ha, yep, that seems to be the process.  This week I made longer days, two 8 hour days and two 9 hour days, with level of discomfort gradually increasing throughout the week.  Today I'm going to call to schedule my left hip, then take another three day weekend, and hopefully be up to 10 hour days next week (my normal schedule).  Tomorrow my PT transitions to the pool, which I'm looking forward to despite warnings that I should expect to be "wiped out within a few hours afterwards".  :)

I've had a couple sessions in the pool now and, never having this type of PT before, am now a big fan.  On the down side, when my knee gets off-center while treading water, the combination of muscles pulling the leg forward and water resisting that motion results in enough inward rotation for some VERY sharp pains, however the slower pace of movements and constant resistance in all directions more than make up for that negative.  Currently doing forward/backward/side-to-side walking, squats, flexion, extension, and abduction, the last of which already has greater ROM than my non-operated hip.  I finish with 15 minutes of treading water and my legs feel like lead by the time I get out.  My left hip is now schedule for March 2nd and I'm thinking this PT will have the added benefit of proactively strengthening the muscles on that side to, which should aid in recovery. 

I'm also having the disc between C5 and C6 removed and those vertebra fused on March 4th (two days after LBHR), so that week will probably not be very fun.  But, based on my recovery so far from my right hip resurfacing (now 4 weeks post op), I'm very much looking forward to a summer of feeling better than I have in years.

Yesterday marked 6 weeks post op and the official lifting of the 90 degree restriction, so I celebrated with an 11.5 mile bike ride with zero pain in my resurfaced hip.  I'm also walking with no limp most days, though occasionally I struggle a bit.  At the risk of oversharing, Valentine's Day was a huge success in our house, but I was a bit sore the next day (moreso in the non-operated hip than the new and improved hip).  ;D

Edit to add: I'm also now putting my socks on and tying my shoes without the assist device, and this morning in the shower I brought my right foot up in front of my left knee (figure 4) to scrub it directly instead of using a long-handled brush or dropping a loofa on the floor to rub it across.  Small victories!  ;D

How is your ROM compared to pre-surgery?

Somewhat better abduction and flexion (the latter still improving), significantly better in extension.  Not sure about external rotation, but don't remember it being a problem before and it also isn't now.  Adduction needs a little work, internal rotation is still pretty painful but improving daily.

It really surprises me the variance in protocols between surgeons. Pritchett does an anterior approach? That probably explains at least some of the variance between his and Gross' post-op protocol (Gross uses posterior). I'm six weeks today and am now allowed to flex the hip up to 90 degrees and to ride a stationary bike.

Congratulations on the continuing excellent recovery, and of course the successful Valentine's day.

Quote from: jss on February 18, 2015, 11:28:32 PM
It really surprises me the variance in protocols between surgeons. Pritchett does an anterior approach? That probably explains at least some of the variance between his and Gross' post-op protocol (Gross uses posterior). I'm six weeks today and am now allowed to flex the hip up to 90 degrees and to ride a stationary bike.

Congratulations on the continuing excellent recovery, and of course the successful Valentine's day.

Nah, Pritchett used a posterior approach on me.  I vaguely recall him seeming to hint he would do anterior if the patient was adamant but preferred the visualization posterior afforded himl.  I wasn't about to argue against what he thought was best.  I'm not sure what the difference is you're referring to in post-op protocol.  The limitations I was given were no driving for 2 weeks, no immersion for 4 weeks, and a 90 degree restriction for 6 weeks.  I haven't actually seen him since my 2 week checkup, so have just been abiding by the restrictions on my own, doing at home PT the first two weeks and outpatient since then...in a pool since the 4 week mark.  Perhaps if I had asked, he'd have suggested a stationary bike over a real bike, but the notion didn't occur to me.  I just felt strong enough and knew the 90 degree restriction had expired, so I went for it.  I'm riding my mountain bike instead of my road bike due to its greater "stability", less aggressive stance, and because it has stirrups instead of clips which avoids the whole "twist to disengage" thing that I think might be a challenge and would significantly increase the risk of falling.

AFAIK they recommend a stationary bike over a real one for the first 6 months to avoid the risk of falling off and stressing the bones around the implant while they're getting back to full strength.

Quote from: oldsoccerplayer on February 19, 2015, 11:28:56 AM
AFAIK they recommend a stationary bike over a real one for the first 6 months to avoid the risk of falling off and stressing the bones around the implant while they're getting back to full strength.

For 6 months?!  I'm getting these surgeries done now so I can actually enjoy this summer! Now that I think about it, there was one more restriction imposed...no high impact sports for a year, but to me that meant running (repetitive low energy impact) or stuff like hockey, basketball, football, soccer, etc.  I can see where a cycling crash would qualify as high impact, but no running, biking, skydiving, or snowboarding for a full year would likely have me so bored I'd do something even dumber.  Swimming seems fine if rather dull on scenery, so I plan on doing more of that this year, augmented with hiking when I want to be out of doors with great views and fun challenges.  Cycling seems like a reasonable compromise for routine aerobic exercise ...perhaps better to ask forgiveness than permission? lol

For what it's worth, Dr. Pritchett initially told me six months before I could go back to running, surfing and skiing. But he removed all restrictions at my 2 month checkup.

I went surfing last Monday, it was about waist high, pretty mellow. Rode my 9'6" longboard in the morning tentatively, then switched to my 5'10" shortboard in the afternoon. Everything was sore the next day, except for my hip.

I won't surf in big surf, ski or attempt to run this year. No way the muscles are ready.

Quote from: livendive on February 19, 2015, 12:32:38 PM
For 6 months?!  I'm getting these surgeries done now so I can actually enjoy this summer! ... but no running, biking, skydiving, or snowboarding for a full year would likely have me so bored I'd do something even dumber.

Gross told me that a stationary bike was Ok at six weeks, but not to take if off the trainer for six months. When you posted about riding 11.5 miles, I turned as green as the dandelions growing in my front yard. I did my long distance six week checkup visits with the local xray and PT people. When Gross gets it, I'm really hoping he'll lift the outside bike restriction.

Talk about a cabin fever induced stupidity; I recently bought a used K2 mountain bike and have planned a trip to the Colorado Rockies for the week I hit the six month mark. I've already got my 52 mile route laid out. That ride will be my first time on it.