Preparing for surgery

[jodieshane]

Good morning!
I'm scheduled for a bilateral with Dr. Gross Feb. 14 & 16 th., 2011. Can anyone recomend a pre-op exercise/stretching routine to prepare me for this? Also, I've heard that ibuprofin is not good for the bones (not to mention, it upsets my stomach). I've tried neproxin and meloxicam (mobic) with no results and my insurance will not cover celebrex. Any suggestions?
Thank you!

Shane

[obxpelican]

Excercise your upper body, I would not worry much about your legs as you're going to lose some muscle tone anyhow but you will quickly come back post op.  The reason I say upper body is that you will be using a lot of upper body to move around, practice moving your body on a bed without leg assistance.

These are some handy tips and comments about Dr. Gross that we put together from multiple Dr. Gross patients:  http://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/index.php?topic=1512.0

Here's my recovery log:

This morning I took some time and pieced together my recovery from emails that I sent out to people explaining how I was doing.  As you read you'll see I was probably between the hare and the turtle, maybe closer to the turtle.

Disclaimer:  Do not use my or any other person's recovery to gauge how your recover is going, everyone recovers at a different rate.  Many people have recovered faster than I have and many have taken longer, but guess what?  They all pretty much recovered in the end.


My recovery --- Operation date: August 6th 2008, 7:30AM
Columbia, SC  Dr. Thomas Gross, Lee Webb Assisting



Wednesday August 6th -Operation day:  Woke up from surgery, no pain at all, at 2:30 the PT people got me up and walking the hallway.  I had some nausea.  I had expected some pain but I was delighted to have zero pain.  I got asked if I wanted pain meds but I said no.

Day 1 post-op:  No pain until late in the day, had nausea from the surgery meds for the first 10-12 hours the day of the operation.  Took no pain meds until after dinner time today.  Walked the steps across from my room and walked the hallway several times.  I spent a number of hours sitting on the chair in my room.

Day 2 Friday Discharge Day:  Pain from around and under the incision, felt like a large monkey fist, this is the first day I took pain meds the whole day before I was discharged and in the evening.  We tried going out to dinner to celebrate my discharge from the hospital but I could not find a comfortable seated position.   I should have taken a pillow with me.  Ate my dinner at the hotel.

Day 3:  Pain like a bad cramp from around and under my incision, took pain meds before we left for Pittsburgh and was the passenger in our car for the first 4-5 hours, in Virgina we had a late lunch/early dinner I did not take pain meds then so I could drive 4 hours or so to get us to West Virginia where my wife took over.  At a rest stop in West Virginia my wife took over driving.  Sleeping is bad as I am not a back sleeper.

Day 4:  Pain like a bad cramp from around my incision, took pain meds when I got up, had swelling from the trip back to Pgh, elevated and iced the whole day on Sunday.  Walked around the house a lot with 2 crutches.

Day 5: Have been trying to get my leg into my own bed and I can almost drag it up myself.   I did not sleep well until last night, I slept in my own bed and was able to sleep almost the whole night, I am not a back sleeper so it's hard.  Took pain meds all day.

Day 7:  I slept on my good side and what a relief, I slept the whole night on my left side and it was the best sleep I've had in a week.  Since day 6 I've been on tylenol no need for anything stronger.  I can now put my leg in the bed by myself using my patented swing technique where I hook my bad leg with my good leg's foot.  Works like a charm.  I attended my daughters tryouts for fast pitch softball which lasted 2 hours.  I spent the time walking with my crutches.

Day 8:  I started using only one crutch today and I even dropped both crutches and walked 3 steps without any assistance, I got chicken and went back to one crutch.

Day 10: WOW!  Pain is down to a 1, my monkey fist is gone, I was told by Dr. Gross's surgical assistant that around days 9-11 is the magical time for Dr. Gross patients and she was right on.  I've tried walking without a crutch only around the house to go from my chair to the tv and back, still not real steady.  Still on one crutch.

Day  12:  Slept on both sides and what a relief, at around midnight I decided to try to roll over to my bad side and other than feeling like I am laying on a ball it feels great to sleep on my operated side.  Pain is just about all gone.

Day 13:  Walking around the house without a crutch at all for the better part of the day.  No pain, some stiffness and soreness but no pain that you can measure.  I still use a crutch outside because I am nervous of falling on an uneven surface.

Day 19:  Started going unassisted for short periods outside I can now easily get in and out of my car and blazer as my rom has really improved.

Day 22:  I am now going longer distances without any assistance whatsoever.  For my long walks I still take one crutch for insurance. 

Day 25:  Actually did some work around the outside of my house.  I used a weed whacker for about a 1/2 hour unassisted.  It was nice to be outdoors doing something without having to run to a chair every 5 minutes.

Day 28:  I have ditched my crutches, they are safely in my attic where I hope they will stay forever.

October 6th 2008.  Around 8 1/2 weeks post-op.  Played my first round of golf, was only going to play 9 holes but I continued on and I actually won the round of golf.  My golf buddies will never live down me beating the 3 of them just 8 weeks post-op.

I went back to work the first week of September, although I could have gone back probably weeks ago my classes do not restart until the beginning of Sept.

Fast forward.  I am now past the 6 month point.  I go to Bally's every Mon, Wed and Friday I do weights, I started squatting on the horizontal squat machine, I did 175# last night on the squat machine, I also do the abductor machines for inside and outside set at around 90 pounds.  I swim everyday we go to Bally's.    I still have startup stiffness but I've never had sharp pain like pre-op since the day I walked into the hospital.  My post-op pain never got worse than my worst day pre-op. 

I was someone who waited to the very end to get the surgery, I suffered for a long time before being diagnosed last February with end stage arthritis.  I am sure had I waited much longer I surely would been in a wheel chair or at very best 2 crutches just to get around.  I actually had to use crutches when the US Open was in Pgh a few years back as it was way too much walking for me then.

My advice to anyone out there, don't wait to get your life back, I gave up many things that I loved, golf, surf fishing, softball and riding my mountain bike, I was wrong, I should have gotten myself taken care of.

I now have zero limitations and this Summer I hope to play some softball, water ski and some water volleyball with my daughter and friends. 



Fast forward once again.  It's now been 1 year and almost 3 months for me, I am still doing well.  This past Summer I purchased a boat and jet skis, I got out water skiing, jet skiing, white water rafting, mountain biking and lots of water volleyball but I never got out and played on an over 50 softball team, I ended up being an assistant coach of my daughters fast pitch softball team.   

I have never regretted getting my hip done, the only regrets at this point is that I did not act more quickly.

Chuck

[einreb]

Good morning!
I'm scheduled for a bilateral with Dr. Gross Feb. 14 & 16 th., 2011. Can anyone recomend a pre-op exercise/stretching routine to prepare me for this? Also, I've heard that ibuprofin is not good for the bones (not to mention, it upsets my stomach). I've tried neproxin and meloxicam (mobic) with no results and my insurance will not cover celebrex. Any suggestions?
Thank you!

Shane

I'm also scheduled for 2/16 with Dr Gross :)

I started up Diclofenac (generic Arthrotec) a few weeks ago with good results.  I make sure to take it on a full stomach and with water.  I had been avoiding anything but Advil up until this point.

-Bernie

[newdog]

Chuck,
Very good! It really helps to know what will happen after surgery. I too was wondering if I should be doing something physical to get ready. I can't go for walks or run but it does make sense to get the upper body used to things it normally doesn't do. Thank you. I will be in South Carolina January 10 with Dr. Gross and team.

Shane,
I will be a bilateral also. I hope to be able to give out some good advice after it is over. I know it's not easy but hang in there!

Steve

[obxpelican]

Steve,

The most importat thing you said is that you will help when it's over, we need as many as possible to help support on this forum, this is a forum that is for patient support and it's great how it runs now but we can always use others.  I can't stress that enough.

Good luck with Dr G, Lee and company.


Chuck

Chuck,
Very good! It really helps to know what will happen after surgery. I too was wondering if I should be doing something physical to get ready. I can't go for walks or run but it does make sense to get the upper body used to things it normally doesn't do. Thank you. I will be in South Carolina January 10 with Dr. Gross and team.

Shane,
I will be a bilateral also. I hope to be able to give out some good advice after it is over. I know it's not easy but hang in there!

Steve