Oct. 9, 2009

Amazed by the results – Schmalzried

I am a 44 year old who (much like a Golden Retriever) was
apparently born with dysplasia in my right hip. Never really bothered me
growing up though I would have a little pain when I walked a long way and
never knew why. Around age 33 my hip started to ache more often and for more
prolonged periods. By the last couple of years I would go a week or two with
slight pain then one to four weeks of significant pain that made it hard to
sleep and impossible to play with my kids or exercise. Of course, I had been
diagnosed 8 or 10 years ago but wanted to wait on surgery as long as
possible. This summer was as long as possible! This site was fantastic as a
research tool and I was pleased to find that a real expert in resurfacing
was so close by. I visited Dr. Schmalzried for a consult and was extremely
impressed by him and his staff. Everyone there was friendly and seemed to
know exactly what they were doing. To cut this a little short I had my right
hip done by Dr. Schmalzried on 8/31. They used a combination of an epidural
and light general which made waking up a bit easier. I was wheeled into my
room around 12:30 PM and, with the epidural still effecting things, felt no
pain. Around 4:00 the therapist came in and had me walk down the hall with a
walker. I had limited ability to control my legs but felt pretty good
otherwise. The next couple of days in the hospital were pretty easy. I had
intravenous pain medication and never really had any discomfort. I was
taught to give myself Lovenox shots which was not something I looked forward
to but turned out to be pretty easy. PT continued twice a day and was tough
but again, no real pain. The worst part was getting the catheter and the
drain removed!

Recovery at home

Once I left the hospital the second day after surgery, I
tried to walk around with the crutches and do the stretches the therapist
taught me followed by icing the hip. I have to admit, there was still no
real pain and walking around was much easier than I anticipated. By Friday
(surgery was Monday) I could easily get around on one crutch and was
probably putting 90% weight on the operated side. There was definitely some
swelling but it was easily controlled by ice. Still no pain meds other than
a Tylenol or two. Sunday I felt good enough to go to the LA County Fair with
the family. I suspect I walked (with two crutches) a mile or more during the
day. Finally gave up and sat in the wine area and had a glass while they hit
more booths. By the time we got home there was a fair amount of swelling and
soreness (though the very attractive TED stockings kept the swelling above
my knee!) but a Tylenol and some ice and elevation did the trick. I started
PT Monday and was able to do the various hip exercises fairly well and some
leg presses on the reformer along with a few other strengthening things. By
Tuesday (1 week plus a day after surgery) the crutches had been put away. I
am truly amazed by the pace of recovery.

Now Five weeks post surgery

Five and a half weeks after surgery the recovery has been
remarkable. The morning after Surgery Dr. Schmalzried said “I don’t think
you can hurt the hip though it might hurt you. No real restrictions other
than what if feels like you are able to do.” I took him at his word and have
worked the hip pretty darn hard the last 5 weeks. Last week I jogged a mile
on the treadmill at 5 mph with some incline to reduce the impact. The
muscles were pretty sore afterward but no joint pain. I haven’t jogged again
thinking I might wait a bit longer for impact exercise (though I will talk
to the Dr. next week since I have an appointment) but have been walking 1 –
2 miles on the treadmill on my off days from PT. PT has consisted of leg
presses, bosu squats, lunges, cable walk, and a slide board that mimics
skating along with stretches and other exercises. There is still some
weakness in the hip muscles, particularly in the rotational control and
strength but it is getting better all the time. If I work it really hard, a
little ice and elevation helps keep soreness to a minimum though that is
rarely needed. Dr. Schmalzried appears to have done an amazing job. The only
problem is my knee now hurts because it hasn’t had to work this hard in
years!