52 Year Old Active Male 4 weeks post-op Dr. Su.

[eb_NYC]

First time posting, just paying it forward. This site and vids were very helpful to me, maybe someone will find this small addition helpful.

I've always been extremely active and am used to working out daily. I add this as background info, but also as it pertains to how I approached the first weeks and months post-op.

Years of martial arts, running and lifting finally took their toll. I had to stop the Muay Thai 5 years ago and the running about 2 years ago. The squats were the final straw last year. The pain had got so bad that I could not walk up an incline and could not cross my problem leg without screaming out or even collapsing. After adjusting my routing trying PI and hoping against hope, I had my surgery March 9th.

Let me just highlight some milestones because I think if you are like me, it's why you are visiting this site.The way I break it down - and this is just me throwing it out there:


You wake up fine - there's pain because they just cut your rump open and de-boned you like a leg of lamb, but it's not crazy painful.

You get home and you feel like a rock star - because you are used to working out and pushing your body. Do NOT do this. Meeting the walking and PT milestones will be easy and you will want to push beyond. Leave plenty in the tank, because...

Day 3 or 4 your body says wait - you did what to me? And when it realizes how much bone and tissue it needs to regrow instead of being able to get you out of bed and onto the toilet, it shuts you down and gets to work on that. You may have a nauseous, weakened day+. You may have fevers come and go.

Get on the stationary bike asap. It's good to get motion in the joint but it's even better for your head to get back in the gym and feel some accomplishment.

Sleeping stinks the first week. Your body can't find new positions and you wake in pain sweating. Take some delicious oxy and watch a movie.


Keep walking and doing the PT.


Week 2, I started to push beyond the milestones to test my limits. I was in a rush to go from 2 crutches to 1 and this was a mistake. One day of overwork will kill you the next day. Take it slow. (Maybe even a tiny surprise fever for a couple hours. Strange but no biggie.)


Week 3 showed some rapid evolution. Small things - in and out of bed faster, bending lower, finally able to sleep on your non-operated side. (still a lot of sweating in my case.) I started to push beyond the milestones just fine. Listen to your body. The positions that cause me pain are gone! Now it's a matter of rebuilding and healing.


Week 4 - no crutches, but a slow, weakened limp. stretching is very deep (full child's pose after a lot of work) but there's some clicking and popping over the scar tissue which is said to be normal. My goal is to work this out. I can roll onto the operated leg in bed but haven't tried sleeping on it.


Now it's a matter of keeping with the program and staying motivated! I am grateful to Dr. Su and the wonderful staff at HSS.


Good luck to you!