Plastic Surgeon or Not?

[yogahips]

Pat:

I have a date for Bilateral Hip Resurfacing for 5/5/2008 and I am scared to death!!!    I am a very active 47 year old woman, I exercise on a daily basis. At this point that has become painful and walking over a few blocks becomes painful as well.  I have been reading all the postings and feel prepared for the procedure.

I have many questions, but I will start with the incision.  I was going to have a plastic surgeon do the closing of the incision but my doctor has stated that he thinks there is not a difference the way the scar would look between his closer and the plastics closer.  He said the final appearance of the scar would be dependant on how one heals. 
What is your opinion?

[Pat Walter]

Hi

Who is your surgeon? Not too many US doctors will do bilats in one surgery.

It is natural to be afraid.  If you are using one of the more exprienced surgeons, you might find a handful of personal hip stories posted on the main website about the doctor. That should help you feel better about the upcoming surgery.

I went to Belgium and had only dissolvable stitches.  That is what Dr. De Smet gives ladies in Belgium.  I did not have drains or extra staples at all.  This is supposed to give a nicer scar.  I have very sensitive skin and scar easily, but my incision even several days after surgery was just a pretty pink line. 

A lot depends on the surgeon and their technique. I am 63 now and am not much worried how the scar looks.  Some women worried about the scar showing have gone to Dr. Bose of India. He gives a small 4 inch incision.  He is one of the best doctors in the world.

So I guess it depends on the size of the incision and what the doctor has planned for you.  De Smet uses very large incision to get in and out quickly. He does one hip resurfacing in about 45 minutes.

I think as long as you have stitches instead of staples, you are probably doing the best you can.  What does the plastic surgeon tell you?  Some people have actually had their incisions glued shut and some had steri strips.  Every doctor is different.

Guess that hasn't answered your question.  I think you need to ask the plastic surgeon what he thinks is best.  I personally did not care about the incision, I wanted to be out of pain and have my life back.

I do know everyone heals at a different rate and I am sure your skin is the same way. 

Pat

[dgm]

Morning!

I am 46, had been very active - marathons, biking, etc., and had RBHR 4 weeks ago tomorrow.  My scar is about 10 inches long but I am surprised how thin and nearly invisible it is already.  As soon as it is completely healed, I am going to start massaging vitamin e oil or cocoa butter on it.  I was alarmed when I found out how big the scar would be but I am pleasantly surprised how good it looks.  But as much pain as I was in, to be honest, I didn't really care about the scar I just wanted to be out of pain.

Like you, I was really frightened prior to surgery. Despite all of the information out there, it still is surgery and the prospect can set your mind reeling.  I've had a couple surgeries before but this was by far the easiest of all.  I never experienced any real surgical pain afterwards (the most I could call it is muscle discomfort in the surgical leg) but no incision pain.  I am so excited that I am out of pain now, I walked all over town yesterday afternoon and it is the first time I have been able to do that in years!  I bet you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner - I sure do.

I don't know anything about bi-lat recovery but I will tell you two things that I think helped me tremendously.  I worked out as hard as I could- both cardio and upper body strength - for about 2 months prior to surgery.  The only thing I could do for cardio was ride the spin bike, you know what works best for you.  But I did what I called the "crutch" workout - back, shoulders, lats - it helped me so much.  The other thing I did was listen to a pre-surgery self-hypnosis cd for about a month prior to surgery.  If you are interested, I'll be glad t send you the details of what it is and where I got it. 

Good luck to you!
Denise

[yogahips]

Denise:

Thank you so much for your reply.  It helps not to feel alone in this. My family is very supportive and encouraging but they are not getting their butt sliced open!!!


I actually teach Spinning and Yoga in Queens NY, the Yoga is starting to be very painful on my right side because of the bone on bone and the crackly noises that it makes! The Spin can be painful if I over do it then I limb out of the room.  Some days are better than other and on the good days I think, I can deal with this. Then I have to climb or  bend and I am quickly reminded of why I am going through with this major invasive surgery.  Walking is always a painful endeavor after about 5 blocks. It's hard to handle as I used to run with a club. 

What a swelling, will I need to bring my fat jeans to go home in?

I am interested in your self-hypnosis cd and would love to further communicate to see how you are doing.

Thanks again, I think you know how helpful this is.

[Pat Walter]

Hi

Definitely you need your fat jeans. You don't want anything tight on your incision.  I even bought some mens cotton boxers to wear for a few weeks so the elastic from my panties did not rub on my incision.  I took some nylon warm up pants with snaps on the sides.  I just bought a man's cheap pair at Wal Mart.  It was easy to unsnap them for the nurse or to take your pants off.  They are also useful to be able to rotate on when trying to twist on the bed or a car seat.  A plastic garbage bag under your butt on the car seat also helps you twist easier.

A lot of people use the nylon warm up pants.  Some like silky PJs.  Anything to make it easier to rotate when trying to get in an out of bed and in and out of the car. 

Some people have a lot of swelling and others don't.  No way to predict it.  Most people ice the swelling.  Some people just bought big bags of frozen peas to use as ice packs - as long as you don't eat them after.  They contour nicely.

Pat

[dgm]

Hi again,
This was such a wealth of information to me prior to surgery.  People were so kind to share their stories with me so I want to share mine and Pat does an outstanding job of getting information to anyone who asks.  You are right, your family can be a great support, but only one who has had their fanny sliced open truly understands!

You will definitely want bigger pants for post-op.  I bought some loose running pants which were easy to get on and off - not sure how comfortable jeans would be for awhile.  But that, of course, is a matter of individual preference.  Personally, I didn't want to feel anything against the incision. My vote is for elastic!

I know everyone is different regarding the swelling but I had a fair amount.  It seemed to come on after PT and walking, not that it was painful.  Icing will help tremendously and for me, the swelling seemed to go away around day 10.  I will also echo Pat's idea of using frozen peas to ice your incision and any other areas.  I did find some contour ice packs (can't remember the brand name, sorry) at Kmart with the knee braces and such.  They came in larger sizes and would stay cold for about 30 minutes at a time.  These were quite helpful too.  The other thing the PT suggested was massage for your caregiver to do for you.  She showed my husband how to do it properly and that also helped quite a lot.

I have the hypnosis cd info for you: www.healingwithhypnosis.com (866-506-1700) by Steven Gurgevich. Ph.D.  I found him through Andrew Weil MD's website.  It's about 35 minutes long and you can listen to it as you go to sleep.     

Please keep me posted and don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of help. 
Denise

[yogahips]

hi there.  '

Now that the swelling is gone which in your case I think you said around day 10, is the site smooth, I mean are there any indents or bumps. I had a c-section 5 years ago and the scar is really thin and just a lighter shade than my skin but the area above it bulges a little.  I told the doctor and he said that the stomach area is different but it is possible for the site not return back to normal pre-surgery state.

[dgm]

I would say that there are a couple small spots that I would call bumpy but I'm guessing those will lessen with time.  The scar still feels tight, but it's my understanding that is normal.  I've also been told by the medical massage therapist I saw prior to surgery that massage therapy will help smooth out the fascia (sp?) (the tissue beneath the scar).  I also think accupunture will help, I had it on my c-section scar which definitely improved the appearance. 

Hope that helps, Denise

[yogahips]

How do you feel today?

[dgm]

Fantastic!  Yesterday, I walked outside downtown (no crutch) for over an hour.  Because of the snow/ice, yesterday was the first day I felt comfortable outside.  I feel like I have my life back! Denise