Surgery scheduled for 3/14/12

[Jbennett]

Finished my pre op appointment with Dr. Gross. All went well. Bone density was fine so I'll be full weight bearing. Checked into our hotel downtown. Wife and kids have already figured out where the good shops are. They went down to the indoor pool. I only slept about an hour last night because my mind was racing. I'm pretty beat. I guess we will go to dinner tonight somewhere and hopefully I can get to sleep early. Slightly nervous now that it seems real.

[imgetinold]

Glad to hear the bone density was fine.  Mine was borderline (low in my L4 spine), but I also was full weight bearing.

It will be over before you know it.

Go get your prescriptions, and make sure you take the pain medication like clockwork for the first several days.  I weaned off of the narcotics on day six, but boy were they helpful the first few days.  I got behind taking them on day 2, and learned my lesson the hard way.

Two weeks from now you'll wonder what all the fuss is about.  Good luck!

[Aerial]

It will all be fine.  The worst part was worrying about it.  Just go with it and it will over before you know it!  Hip pain will be gone and your new life ready to begin.  Good luck.  I live in Columbia and pass the hospital on the way to work.  I'll send good vibes.  After dealing with my hip for three years, I am 13 weeks post op and the surgery seems like a memory.  Take care!

[curt]

Have a smooth ride!  Its almost fun to wake up and feel the "loss" of that deep pain.  They will take great care of you. Say hi to the team for me.

Curt

[hernanu]

Hey - Good luck today... ! Let us know when you're on the other side.

[Jbennett]

All done. Woke up about 1:30 today.Dont even remember getting the spinal. Still a little loopy from the sedatives. I don't think it's the Nucynta. Typing is a struggle. PT came to walk me about 5 or so. We could not do it. Did some exercises in the bed but when we stood up with the walker(which felt greg by the way) I started getting dizzy. BP dropped to like 85/50 and the physical therapist said no walking today. Her and the nurse said it's a side effect of one of the drugs in the spinal today. Will try again tomorrow. I was pretty nervous before the surgery. Pain is a little more than I expected. I heard so many people asking about being out of pain when they woke up. That is not the case with me. I actually feels pretty similar to my OA hip when I used it too much. NUcynta helps but I'm not sure it's as good as Oxycodone. If you think about it I don't know how you could not feel pain. It's got to take a couple of days for the nerves i the bone of the ace tabular and femoral head to calm down a little. Definitely manageable though. Not any worse probable better than it felt after the little 2 mile hike at Whiteside Mountain this past friday.
Jeff

[mslendzion]

Congratulations.  I'm glad all went well.  You are on your way to a new and improved life.

[hernanu]

Congrats, Jeff - you're on the starting blocks now. You'll be walking soon enough. Good news.

[Two4One]

Alright, Jeff!

Congratulations on breaking through to the other side.  Work hard on your PT, and you'll be doing yard work this summer!

Good luck and Good healing,
2fer

[Jbennett]

Just lost the catheter. I was surpassed they took it out before I have walked. I guess I'll walk later this morning when the pt comes again. I've been up most of the night. Not pain just a little doped up and playing around on the computer and watching tv. I guess I should try to sleep a little more.I did doze off a little here and there.Two hour stretch between 11 ad 1 I think.
Woke up at 1 and realized I had not moved my lower body side 4:30 the previous afternoon. Tried to sit up and realized that 1: I was all tangled up in cords etc. and 2: Sitting up is really hard. I set some machines to blinking so the nurse came in and she helped me sit on the side of the bed for a minute. Getting up or down is the hardest part. I think it will be easier to walk that to get out of the bed,. I'l let you know shortly I guess.

[hernanu]

All normal, Jeff. Things will be sore and difficult at the start, will get easier as you go, but as we all said - this is a marathon. Let your body tell you what you need, sleep when you feel like it, don't when you don't. No schedule applies right now, just go with it.

[Jbennett]

Saw Dr. Gross this morning. He brought me a copy of my hip x ray. Cup angle is 29 degrees. The just did standing x rays a few minutes ago too. I'm good to go home tomorrow. Bone pain is not an issue today only tissue pain. May be because they have been giving me Oxycontin instead of the Nucynta.
Jeff

[hernanu]

Sounds good Jeff - great results and have a good ride home. Make yourself as comfortable as you can be at home, there will be setbacks, but mostly good progress. Happy for you that things went well.

I also did well with Oxycontin at the hospital, but didn't use it at home - just Tylenol. Remember though, the meds are your friends while you're healing if you need them.

ICE, elevate and ICE again, exercise and stay in front of the pain !!!

[Jbennett]

Here is my hip.

[mslendzion]

Looks like a nice install.  Congrats~!

[Jbennett]

Ready to go but not looking forward to the 9-10 hr drive. Showered and got dressed with no assistance this morning. All except socks. They were more trouble than they were worth so I just slipped on crocks. Tylenol was the only med they gave me at 6 this morning. I'm guessing they will give me a narcotic at 10. Regardless my scrips are filled and I can take that as soon as I get out of here. They are saying by 11 I should be discharged. Looking forward to being home and hoping the next couple of weeks go smoothly. Guess I'll see Dr Gross or Lee this morning too. It's been so long since my hip hasn't hurt I'm really excited about the prospect of that.

[Jbennett]

Dr. Gross came this morning about 8. Said if I wanted I could skip PT and go since I have such a long drive. The nursing staff was great. Very patient and helpful. He said the 3 mm leg length increase not necessarily a planned thing. Just worked out that way. Lec could have shortened from the oa but that wasn't his plan to increase it. He said anything under a cm won't be noticed. Your pelvis will adjust and shift and you will not notice if there is a discrepancy. On the way home now. I know what a monkey fist is now. Ouch. 

[Two4One]

I hope your home by now and resting comfortably.

Rest Easy,

One

[Jbennett]

3 more hours unfortunately. Will be glad to be in bed and out of a car. I've been filling ice packs up at gas stations along the way.

[Aerial]

Almost there!  Good luck on the rest of the way!  Living in SC I had the good fortune to have a 10 minute ride home (during which I manged to throw up twice which was the worst part of the surgery and recovery for me)!  Anyway, the worst is over now concentrate on recovery  :)