Had to go

[wayne-0]

I went snowboarding today for the first time post op. It has been 4 and a half months since surgery and I couldn't take it any more.Let my 11 year old play hookie and we went up to the mountains and had a great day. I rode pretty mellow until noon then I really just cut loose. It felt so good and the hips were not even an issue. Not an ounce of pain and I was able to really bend and flex like I haven't for a few years.I even caught an edge once and went down pretty hard and not any pain whatsoever. I'm just stoked to be able to get up there again and ride and not be in pain. So for skiers and snowboarders I believe you will be able to ride again in the future.Barbara I know you have talked alot about getting back on your skis so I just wanted to let you know get ready your day is coming soon. Good luck.

Wayne

[hawaiieric]

Way to go Wayne,

Now that is what I like read, had to go!  And to think, if nobody knows, you got 2 hips in one day, and had to recover the hard way..both legs/hips down...amazing! 


Keep it up!!
Eric

[JeanM]

That's so awesome Wayne!  I'm also a snowboarder and I couldn't wait to test the new hip on the mountain.   I did manage to have the patience to wait out the full six months.  But, I was on my board six months to the day and I was so happy that I felt so great and like me again!  For me, getting on my board allowed me to breathe a huge sigh of relief to know that I can be 'me' again.  For so long, I've defined myself as 'mountain biker' and 'snowboarder'.  During my hiatus from these things, I felt like I didn't know who I was anymore.   I'm still being fairly cautious and respectful of my new hip right now.  But, next season I intend to be a total bad-ass on the mountain - like the good 'ol days!  I cannot wait!

Jeanie

[B.I.L.L.]

Thats awesome !!

[obxpelican]

Hey you snow people congrats on getting out again, me I am waiting to ski on the soft water this Summer, I bought a ski boat and I will be up on skis for the first time in years, I won't try one ski for a while though.


Chuck

[stevel]

Hi Jeanie,

I'm glad you waited 6 months but decided to snowboard rather than wait until next year.  Last Fall you mentioned waiting a year.  I will be 6 months post-op this Sunday and plan on skiing.  I will stay on the groomed runs with no bumps as the end of the season is nearing.  I haven't played racketball for 13 years and I was an avid player for 14 years before that.  I will ease into racketball also after I pass the 6 month mark. 

[cooperman]

Hi Guys,

Just thought I'd add my experience. I've been skiing for about 20-25 years (God! Is it really that long? BTW, I’m 51 now)) although only on holiday one or two weeks a year (apart from a fantastic month I spent touring Colorado round about 1990). The last time I had a proper skiing holiday was 2002 in Bardonechia, Italy. Then about 2 years ago I had a go for an afternoon while I was out in the Sierra Nevada (Spain). At the time my osteo-arthritis was moderate, but boy did I struggle with the skiing. I didn't have the confidence in my body for the parallel turns and when I defaulted to a snow-plough - OUCH!

At the end of September (2008) I had my left hip resurfaced and my right one was done at the end of November (2008) and I would say I've made fantastic progress since then. I'd been having a personal trainer visit once a week for the last couple of years to help with my flexibility and mobility and so after the operations, Brian resumed his weekly visits to inflict the usual dose of torture. I've been working REALLY hard since then and now (3 1/2 months after the second op) I do about 1.5 hours gym work between 2 and 5 times a week (depending on what else I've got on) on top of Brian's sessions; I've also taken up Salsa in the last 4 weeks.

Anyway, about 3 weeks ago I happened to mention to a friend that I was going to Southern Spain for a long week-end (we have an apartment there) and he asked if I was going to be doing any skiing (in retrospect, I suspect he was probably joking). I said "Oh no, it's far too soon", but that had planted a seed... Over the next few days, I kept coming back to how great it would be to ski when we went to Spain. Finally, I phoned my surgeon and asked him what he thought. He had seen me (and X-rayed me) only a couple of weeks earlier and he said that the hips should be OK but to hang off the blacks and hard reds. Bearing in mind that the surgeon didn’t know the hard fitness regime that I was going through, I felt that I would surely be fine. With that it was set!

When we got to Spain, I took my self up to the ski slopes near Granada. It was the beginning of March and typical spring skiing - lots of snow and lots of sun. I got onto the snow about mid-day (to avoid the hard early morning snow) and gingerly took myself up my first green run. The first run I was a bit nervous but I could feel the rudiments coming back. The second run was a bit better and by the fourth run my confidence was pretty much back and so were the parallel turns. I stayed with the greens for 6 or 7 runs and then moved onto the blues, which by this stage felt a breeze. By 3:00 p.m. the snow was starting to go a bit porridgey and knowing that that increased the likelihood of a fall decided to call it a day.

All-in-all I had a fantastic time skiing and was really glad that I’d done it. I didn’t fall or have anybody crash into me although I managed to cross my tips on three occasions and went out of control for a bit before I managed to get it back â€" a bit of a nervous time, but no falls.

The next day, I felt absolutely fine â€" no aches or pains whatsoever â€" all of the hard work training had really paid off.

Since coming back from Spain I’ve now booked to go to Cervinia in Italy skiing over the New Year next winter â€" boy am I looking forward to that!

I hope you guys are still enjoying the great snow we’ve had this season, and for those of you wondering whether to get back on your skis, I would say train hard, listen to your body and listen to your surgeon.

Happy (and safe) skiing,

Gary

[wayne-0]

Thats great news Gary, isn't it fantastic to be able to get back up there again and carve some turns. Since I went the other day I actually feel like my ROM has made some improvement. I'll take that PT any day compared to the other kind.

Wayne

[stevel]

For BHR hippies, will you violate the manufacturer's precautions by returning to downhill skiing before 1 year post-op?  I notice in the patient guide for hip resurfacing, BHR recommends patients wait 1 year before returning to impact sports such as running or jumping.  Dr. McMinn has this post-op protocol for his patients, which includes downhill skiing.  After all he is the inventor of the BHR device.  The guide also states to follow the treating physician's instructions.  In my case, I can return to skiing at 6 months.  But I wonder, is Dr. McMinn being unduly conservative or is their some merit to his recommendations?

I'm heading up to the ski resort in about an hour.  I am a day early before 6 months post-op, or is 180 days OK?  I'll ski about a half-day and post the results later.

[CeeJay15]

I want to go snowboarding so very badly! I'm 5.5 months post op right now. After reading all of your stories here I am SO tempted to go!

cj

[cooperman]

Hi Carolyn,

I felt that I was ready but ultimately I took the advive of my surgeon -as far as I was concerned - he's the expert.

BTW, just to give you guys an update - it's now 12 months since my second hip was done and I've just got back from the skiing trip to Cervinia. To say it didn't go as I was wanting is an understatement...

The short version of the story is that on the afternoon of my my first day's skiing, I got off a chair lift to be faced with a woman in a heap immediately in front of me. Anyway, I tried to take evasive action, but the next thing I remembered was being flat on my back with skis splayed with the backs stuck in the snow and screaming out in agony - "My knees, my knees! Get my skis off!". After about 5 minutes the pain had subsided and I skied off with my friends. I took another tumble (poor viz, skis crossed and took a head first dive).  No pain in the hips whatsoever, however a visit to the local trauma centre and the doctor there told me that I had 'broken' my cruciate and lateral ligaments, so no more skiing. I've just got back home today and am off to see my GP tomorrow. The knee is still painful but there was no hip pain at all. Although I missed a week's skiing, it has proved to me that the hips are now well and truely sorted.

I hope the skiers and borders out there have a great winter (I will have too look forward to 2010/2011 now :( )

Cheers,

Gary

[obxpelican]

12 months out your hip is about as strong as it's gonna get, that was a great test of your new hips.  You might be healing a little bit but a lot of what must go on is increasing your range of motion.


Chuck

[cooperman]

Hi Chuck,

I've got a great personal trainer who comes round once a week and whose helping me with my flexibility. I certainly wouldn't be where I am today without him.

Cheers,

Gary

[obxpelican]

Gary,


Good luck with the knees.


Chuck

[pashley]

Mr Mcminn did my BHR on 27/10/09 so 9/52 post op tomorrow, I wanted the surgery to be done by Mr Mcminn so think I would be stupid not to take his advice so no high impact sport for a year for me, I want my new hip to last as long as possible and to be honest I think it makes sense to wait a year

[wayne-0]

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044633&id=1521099941

Snow Day Album

SnowBoarding on Sunday....I know it's not Utah but this is all we get here in So. Cali....

[wayne-0]

Carving...So Cali snow...lol   

[B.I.L.L.]

No more hood ornament jokes I guess 8) Thats awesome.
Nice Bertleman turn in your sig pic !