The following is a detailed diary of my recent BHR hip resurfacing with Dr. Stephan Raterman in Tampa FL. I recorded my progress from surgery day to 16 days post op. I am a 45 year old man and received a right BHR after suffering from OA in my right hip for 7 years.

10/21/2008 Surgery Day – Into surgery at 0700, awake in post-op at 1100. Experiencing bad shakes and chills coming out of the anaesthesia. Nurses cover me with multiple blankets. Moved to room about 1200, still shaking. See family until about 1400. Doing good, but heavily sedated. Physical Therapist (PT) gets me up and moves me to chair at about 1600. Sat in chair for about 40 mins and got very nauseous. Move back to bed. Still have IV and catheter. Get decent rest through night, receive pain meds about every 4 hours. Can’t move leg, mucsles very tight.

10/22/2008 1 day post-op – Up early. Leg still hurts and still can’t move it.Good appetite, eat all of a big breakfast. New pain meds. Feel decent but bad pain when I try to move leg. Catheter removed late morning. Good appetite, eat all of lunch. PT arrives early afternoon and gets me up and on walker. Hurts but feels good to be moving. Walk 1 lap around floor. Back to room and start exercises. Side kicks are unbearable. Most pain is in butt and front side groin. Back to bed. I can lay in bed with legs and feet straight and touching for the first time in years. During walk I saw my pre-surgery classmate Tom and found out that his operation was a success. The great news about this is, Tom is 74 years old. Yes folks, Dr. Raterman at Toms request performed a BHR on a 74 year old man.He said he had a rough 2nd day but was feeling good and walking on day 3. I saw him walking before I left. I congratulated him on his success and would like to praise Dr. Raterman for doing the procedure. Whether it’s a success or not in the end, Tom was feeling pretty good and thrilled that he still had most of his hip, as am I. This is great news for older patients and proves that Dr. Raterman is pro resurfacing. Feeling decent in the evening until Rays lose game 1 of world series.

10/23/2008 – 2 Days Post-op – Up early around 0400. Roll out of bed and take a walk around floor on walker. Get back to room and do exercises. Side kicks still hurt like hell. Good appetite. Eat big breakfast. PT arrives around 0900. Walk around and do exercises. PT says I’m doing good. Switched to oral meds. Leg feels decent, hurts a little but is more mobile. Nurse says I’m going home today. Eat lunch, then make it through 2nd PT session. Family picks me up at 1500. 2 hour car ride from Tampa to Orlando is rough. I’m light headed and dizzy. Get home and make it to temporary living quarters with recliner, sofa bed, TV and loveseat. Thanks to Joy my wife. Bad pain in eve, take extra pain med and struggle through to see Rays win game 2. Up and down all night.

10/24/2008 – 3 Days Post-op – Leg seems to be tighter. Might be due to uncomfortable sofa bed. Get up, walk outside with walker do a couple of laps around driveway. Now on 12 hour slow release pain med and percocet as needed. Sit in loveseat and recliner most of day. Do 3 short walks and 3 sets of exercises. Feel pretty good, but leg is still tender. Still no bowel movement.

10/25/2008 – 4 Days Post-Op – Slept 5 hours. Feel ok but sore. Took normal meds. New PT arrives around noon. It was good to hear from him that all this leg/butt/hip pain was all muscular. I wasn’t really sure. Had intense 1st session. Everything going ok but lying down lateral leg moves. I have little muscle control to lift with my thigh (hip flexers). I waited 7 years to do anything about my hip and have lost control of certain muscle functions. Finish PT and I hurt bad. Spend rest of day watching college football. Made major mistake of trying to come off of “as needed” percocet. Did evening exercises and am in 8 of 10 range of pain. Took both meds and got back to normal. Watched Rays lose game 3.

10/26/2008 – 5 Days Post-Op – Feel good. Normal meds. Drank coffee, had big breakfast and hooray, had 1st bowel movement since surgery. Had a great self PT session with wifes help. Walked 50 laps around pool and did 1 set of 6 different exercises. Lying down exercises hurt most. Watched football all day. Tried early eve exercises but could only get through half of earlier session. Experiencing a lot of front thigh pain. Spent rest of eve playing GI Joe with kids and watching football.

10/27/2008 – 6 Days Post-Op – Slept good. Normal meds. PT arrived at noon and put me through grueling workout. Did twice as much as 1st visit. Tried stepping with left foot without walker and right leg gave out. PT is trying to straighten out my muscles from so many years of favoring my right leg. No more activity rest of day.

10/28/2008 – 7 Days Post-Op – Slept decent. Normal meds. Am extremely sore from yesterdays PT session. Took mild walk with wife about 1/4 mile with walker. Have no hip pain, just bad muscle pain. Did light exercises in eve.

10/29/2008 – 8 Days Post-Op – Normal meds. Slept with foot elevated to relieve leg and foot swelling. Feel good but muscle soreness in thigh and groin is very painful. Cleaned self up and got dressed in real clothes for 1st time since surgery. Went to Home Depot and grocery store with wife. Used shopping carts instead of walker for support. Muscles getting sore at grocery store. Came home, played with kids after school. Did some PT exercises. Muscles very sore but hip feels ok.

10/30/2008 – 9 Days Post-Op – Normal Meds. Feel good. Muscle soreness getting better. PT arrives noon, good session, getting a little stronger. Try walking with cane for 1st time and do pretty good, but right leg still weak. Walk around house with cane but told to stay on walker for exercises. Skipped afternoon “as needed” meds and did a few laps around driveway. Am having bad groin pain, back to eve percocet. Feel ok but muscles sore. Icing down and staying down.

10/31/2008 – 10 Days Post-Op – Normal Meds. Feel good but muscles still sore. Do afternoon exercises then walk 60 laps around pool and wear out the slider pads on my walker. Must now use cane so I don’t scratch floor. Evening arrives. It’s the 1st year I can’t walk around trick or treating with kids. I stay home to pass out candy. Excessive getting up and down to pass out candy has made my leg a little sore. Icing down and taking eve med.

11/1/2008 – 11 Days Post-Op – Normal meds. Wife gets me new pads for walker. Extremely sore and stiff today. Walk around to loosen up. PT arrives at noon. Have a good session. Do 3 sets of all exercises. Navigate stairs with cane with no problems. I can now get upstairs and sleep in my own bed. Walk some pool laps with cane. PT says I’m progressing ahead of schedule. Feel good but muscles very sore. Light activity rest of day. Icing down and watching football.

11/2/2008 – 12 Days Post-Op – Norm Meds. Slept good in my own bed. Swelling in leg and foot is down. Do exercises and walk 80 laps around pool with walker. Stay on cane the rest of the day. Practiced some easy chip shots with a pitching wedge in the yard. Stiff swing but am able to rotate a little. Not going to push it. Still muscle sore. Icing down and watching football.

11/3/2008 – 13 Days Post-Op – Normal meds. Feel good. PT arrives noon. I have my hardest session yet. Three sets of all exercises plus some new ones. Try walking without cane. Can do it, but right leg gives in while stepping forward with left leg. Do side walks holding myself up with wall. I’m sore, light activity rest of day. Icing down.

11/4/2008 – 14 Days Post-Op – Normal meds. Stiff and sore from yesterdays therapy. Go vote, then go shopping and out to lunch with the wife. Too much walking with cart and leaning on left side has made my lower left back and right leg sore. Icing down and watching election coverage.

11/5/2008 – 15 Days Post-Op – Last day of meds. Travel to Dr. Ratermans Zephyrhills office for post-op appointment. Feel great. X-rays of hip look good. Have a good meeting with Dr. Raterman. He says I’m doing great and lifts most restrictions except high impact activities. He gives me a few new execises to do. I’m thrilled with the appointment and feel like I can skip out of there. He will see me again in 2 months.

11/6/2008 – 16 Days Post-Op – No meds. Feel good. PT arrives and we have good session. Walk around house without cane but right leg is still a little weak. Eve arrives and I accomplish my goal. I take my little girl and go for a 1 mile walk. I’m going to work hard to try and get off the cane in 2 more weeks. This will be my last entry.

Summary – 16 Days Post-Op – Although I am still a little muscle sore, I have no hip pain whatsoever. Dr. Stephan Raterman has given me a new lease on life as I once knew it, a normal pain free walk and a soon to be, return to an active lifestyle. Today, I bent over and tied my shoes for the 1st time in years. I walked a mile. I rode my bike. Hip resurfacing is truly a marvel. I would like to thank Pat Walter for running this site, for this is where I found most of my information on resurfacing. I would also like to thank Vicky Marlow for putting some information on Dr. Raterman on the blogs. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Stephan Raterman and his assistant Marlena for doing a great job on me. I would reccomend Dr. Raterman to anyone considering this procedure. He is definitely pro BHR and is proving it. I would also like to thank the nurses and staff at University Community Health Hospital in Tampa FL for taking great care of me. Most of all I would like to thank the good lord who saw me through this whole ordeal and my wife and kids for taking exceptional care of me. If anyone has any questions, you can feel free to contact me through this website or email me at jbillups@cfl.rr.com. Thanks for reading my blog and don’t hesitate to have this procedure done. It works!

windsurfhippy RBHR 10/21/2008 Dr. Stephan Raterman