March 13, 2008

My doctor is Thomas Vail at UC San Francisco. My doctor is planning to use the Depuy ASR.  Have read what I could find on your great site from bilats and it’s all feeling good. The rehab really doesn’t seem much tougher, but I keep thinking I must be missing something!

April 13, 2008

Just completed what seems to be a very successful bilateral resurfacing. Have been essentially pain free since the operation, taking one Percocet to help me sleep for a few nights and moving to Tylenol after about 5 days post surgery. I’m now 11 days post surgery , walking very easily on crutches and even able to take a few steps without them. Couldn’t possibly be happier with the outcome so far!

April 14, 2008

It’s now 12 days post surgery and time to write something. First, I’d like to again thank Pat for this site – don’t know where I would have been without it, particularly as I started the process. Second, and from an admittedly biased source, if you need to do both hips – get them done at the same time. From everything I can see, the first couple of days may be a bit tougher, but the rest of the process is very similar. One surgery, one rehab, two hips – seems like a much easier and faster process.

As fellow bilats, I particularly enjoyed Michelle and Kani’s story. Despite Michelle’s insistence that each case is different, her speedy recovery was an incredibly useful yardstick (challenge) for me. I think I’ve been pretty fortunate from a pain management perspective. Once off the epidural, I kept waiting for the pain to appear, but it never really showed up, so I used a Percocet to help me sleep for a few nights, but have been on Tylenol only since about my fourth day. No swelling, and the only real pain was caused by overdoing it on the exercises. The original plan was for me to spend a few days in a rehab facility after 3 days in hospital, but my doctor and PT team liked the progress enough that they let me go straight home – something I’d recommend to anyone who has help at home. Starting on a walker, I quickly graduated to two crutches and I’m now down to one crutch used to balance my slightly weaker right hip. In fact, if my right hip was as strong as my left I think I’d be walking without any support at all (Michelle – thanks again for mentioning that each hip will tell its own story).

Must have equipment – crutches, a toilet seat, a reclining seat parked in front of the TV and a plastic urinal. I had amazing support from my wife and don’t like wearing socks anyway, so didn’t need any of the grabbing tools. There are lots of great exercises to challenge yourself with, but the best advice I got was simply to walk, walk then walk some more. Much to my surprise, I really appreciated the walker for the first couple of days. It was very stable platform, and you can easily vary the degree to which you use it for support. While it was liberating to get on the crutches, the walker was actually very useful in those early days.

My surgeon was Dr. Vail at UCSF (San Francisco) and I couldn’t recommend him more highly. His low key approach was perfect for me and it certainly looks like he got it right. Based on the surgical times referenced on this site, his technique may take a little longer, but he does everything possible to preserve the muscles around the hip and I feel as if this helped a lot post-op (this may be standard, but it didn’t seem so).

Back to work tomorrow (desk job so no big deal). Thanks Pat.

April 21, 2008

Yesterday was surgery + 19 days. Walked to the top of a hill then walked another 3 miles and felt great – my lower back was a bit sore but the legs felt fine. Then came home and walked the rest of the evening without crutches, which was the greatest feeling yet! I’ve just been walking from one end of the house to the other, over and over, but I can already walk without crutches and without a limp. Feel like I should have opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Pat – is this normal timing, because it feels fast to me? For what it’s worth, consider me a huge fan of having both hips done at the same time (unless, of course, you only have a problem with one). Think Dr. Vail nailed it!

Not to confuse things, but I had both hips done in the same surgery – they simply turn you over and do the other one. One surgery rather than two. The first couple of days may be tougher than having one done, but I’m not so sure. I had no pain and was off all pain medication two days post surgery. Also, after the first couple of days, as you’ve already discussed, you have one rehab rather than two. From what I’ve read and seen, rehab on both hips is almost the same as it is on one. I starting walking without a cane after 3 weeks, so it’s certainly no different from that point on.

July 21, 2008

I’m also 52 and had a bilateral resurfacing on April 1. Surgeon was great (Dr. Vail in San Francisco), I was home and completely pain free in 3 days, then walking without any support within 3 weeks. Now fine on 10 mile mountain hikes and 2 hours in an indoor cycling class. Only restrictions for now are “no running, jumping or falling”. The falling part is keeping me away from real cycling for another month or so. They say that the first few days of rehab are tougher when you have both hips done simultaneously, but I’m not even sure that’s true. One operation and one rehab is a really strong argument for bilat. Planning to get back to soccer and skiing in a few months.