Six Days to Go!

[Brian Wilson]

Only six days to go before a BHR is performed on my right hip by Dr. Christine Young at the Scarborough Hospital in Toronto, Canada. I am extremely confident that I will receive the highest quality care from Dr. Young and the Scarborough Hospital staff, as she inserted an Oxford Knee implant in my left knee last May. My only complaint to date is that my hip problems have prevented me from fully enjoying my new knee!

I am a very active 55 year old male. Up until three weeks ago, I was riding my bike to the office on a daily basis, year round, and lifting weights in the gym for 90 minutes three times a week. However, over the last four months walking has becoming progressively more difficult. About three weeks ago my pain level increased to a point where I have had to completely halt most activities and I am now walking mainly with a cane. 

I was very happy to find this site today. There is quite a bit of useful information on it and I am heartened by the stories of your recoveries and the restoration of your quality of life, even where they haven't happened as quickly as you would have liked.

I will stay in touch over the course of my recovery and let you know how I am doing.

[oldsoccerplayer]

Before my surgery I also couldn't do my usual exercise routine, which was nowhere near as rigorous as yours, because of the pain. I found that swimming was relatively painless and kept me in reasonable shape. I like to think that contributed to my recovery which seems to be on track or even ahead of the average. Good luck!

[Brian Wilson]

Thanks for the good wishes. Swimming is a good idea, but I found the kicking motion gave me problems. I could probably use a flotation device between my legs and swim with my arms. Oh well, only six days to go. Sounds like the swimming helped you though.

[Pat Walter]

Brian
Welcome to Hip Talk.  I am glad you found your way here.  There are over 3900 great, support folks that post here.  They can answer a lot of questions since many have already had their hip resurfacings.

Dr. Young is an excellent surgeon.  I met her in 2009 and did an interview with her

http://www.surfacehippy.info/doctorinterviews/younginterview.php

Good Luck and keep us posted when you can.

Pat

[Gazza2]

Brian,  I assume this is being done under OHIP since your in Scarborough ON,  can I ask what your wait time will be from referral to the op for HR?  I think this is of interest to others in Ontario.  Here in Ottawa it is ~14 months for HR surgery (I think there are two surgeons in Ottawa who do the HR, and with Christine Young of Scarborough this may be all the surgeons in Ontario who do HR).

Good luck with your operation as you will read here this is a great option for those that get the HR surgery

[Brian Wilson]

Pat, thanks for the welcome. Great site that you have developed.

Gazza2, the surgery is being done under OHIP. My timeline may not be representative since my son is a long time, very good friend of Dr. Young's daughter (who, incidentally, is currently an orthopedic resident). Dr. Young first scoped my knee in February last year after it locked, about four days after I first called her office (Mount Sinai had sent me home from emerg with my leg locked in an almost 90 degree position and gave me an appointment in their fracture clinic more than a week later). Dr. Young then scheduled me for the Oxford procedure in September, but the procedure was moved up to May on a cancellation.

A chiropractor suggested that I had a hip issue last August and she had me get my GP to arrange for an x-ray. The x-ray results showed severe osteoarthritis so I called Dr. Young's office in early September. I was given an appointment for a consultation on December 19. At that appointment, Dr. Young discussed the options with me and I was scheduled for a BHR on September 27, 2013. I was again moved up on a cancellation to August 26. So, even with an "in" with the surgeon, the wait times are not terrific - 9-10 months. One issue with this surgery was that the Scarborough Hospital had expended its annual budget for joint replacement surgeries at the time of my appointment, so all such surgeries up to March 31, 2013 were being deferred until after April 1.

As far as other surgeons in Ontario doing BHRs, a friend of my who is a former national team rugby player a couple of years younger than I has been having hip problems and I told him about the BHR procedure. He arranged a referral to a a surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto who also does BHRs. I don't know that doctor's name but I will find out and post it on here and also find out what my friend's wait time is scheduled to be.

[Reno]

Hi Brian-

I too, am having surgery on the 26th, in 4 days now!!!  I just turned 67 in June and my surgery is a THR and I can't hardly wait.  Around May 12th, just a few short months ago, I had a sharp pain in my lower back. And, to shorten my saga, after several different docs and excruciating pain, allergies to pain meds and becoming home bound, I learned that avascular necrosis had caused my left femoral head to collapse. 

My surgery is scheduled for 2:00pm on Monday, and it is my plan to chronicle my progress here. As well, I will be following your progress.

Good luck with your surgery and I am praying that both of our surgeries will be uneventful!

Reno

[Brian Wilson]

Good luck on Monday to you Reno and everyone else having their hips worked on that day. Reno, I think that what you have is what ended Bo jackson's athletic career if I'm not mistaken. Here's to pain free walking (and hopefully much more) in the not too distant future!

[MikeF]

Brian and Reno absolute best of luck with your surgeries. Be smart, take as much time as you can to allow yourself to heal.  You won't regret that.
As always.....keep us informed of your progress.
Mike

[hernanu]

Good luck with both your surgeries, keep us informed on how it went.

[nevinyoung]

Good luck with your surgery and recovery. I had mine on August 12 and am already on one crutch and planning to go back to work for half days as of next week. I think I am doing pretty well in the relative sense. I read on another thread that you are also a lawyer, so we probably have similar challenges in terms of returning to work.

Nevin

[Brian Wilson]

It's the morning after and things seem to be going well. I hope that your surgery went well also Reno.

I managed to get through my biggest concern which was that I wouldn't be suitable for the BHR when they opened me up and I would wake up with a THR. I had had a real setback about four weeks ago and was having a lot of difficulty walking. I was concerned that something had happened that would make me unsuitable for a BHR. Well I woke up post-op to the good news from Dr. Young that she had done the BHR. As near as I can tell from Dr. Young's chat with my wife and listening to my wife's explanation through the drug haze, I had a fracture somewhere in my femur that was causing the pain. Dr. Young was apparently able to do some bone grafting and proceed with the BHR. I will get the full story when Dr. Young comes by today.

Pain wise things are good, but we'll see how things go when the pain block wears off.

[Charvel101]

Great news and well done


Chris

[hernanu]

Great results, Brian - welcome to the other side.

[oldsoccerplayer]

From what I'm experiencing (5 weeks post-op) and reading here, the recovery is a roller-coaster, physically and emotionally. The best advice, I think, is hang in there and be patient. Take pain meds when you need to, or even as a preventive measure for at least the first week or two.
If you have any questions about how you're doing, call the surgeon's office and they'll help alleviate any concerns you have and tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing.
Good luck!

[Brian Wilson]

Just had my first "walk". That was intense!

[curtieman1]

Brian good luck as you go forward in your recovery. I know my first time standing after surgery was an experience. Nothing bad just having a fill in nurse not knowing the protocol for hip surgery's, thankfully my wife who is a LPN was right there to prevent anything bad from happening. Take it easy these first couple of months let the bone strengthen, follow Drs rehab instructions. This site is a great source of comfort when feeling that something just isn't right. Of course if really concerned about something call the Dr. Curt

[Brian Wilson]

Thanks again for the good wishes folks.

Now post-op day 2. The walk went much better today. I managed to get up two stairs on crutches. I am also feeling generally much better and have managed to keep my morphine use to a fairly low level. However, it does allow me to do my exercises and walking without too much discomfort.  I'm looking forward to heading home tomorrow.

As for the fracture, Dr. Young explained that it was a cyst about the size of a silver dollar that had fractured inward resulting in a piece of bone lodging in the joint and causing my discomfort/pain. Fortunately the cyst was in a place where it didn't affect the strength of the bone at a critical area for the implant.

I have my ice machine hooked up now and it is feeling pretty good.

[bestbob]

All god news Brian. take it slow and easy, and as you have heard let your body tell you how much to push, or not. The first 2 to 3 weeks were a little rough for, but then I remembered a good friend of mine said, your not sick, your in recovery mode. That helped. I am 10 weeks post op and still have soreness. Went back to work the 4th week part time from home, and full time going into the office the 7th week. Ice machine should be your next best friend for the weeks to come.

[Brian Wilson]

Post-op day 3. They are springing me from the hospital so I will be heading up to the cottage to recuperate by the lake for five or six days. The pain is remarkably quite manageable and I am feeling very good about going home and moving on to the next stage. I will keep you all posted.