I have scheduled surgery for my second hip for June 6 with Dr. Rector. I want to thank all the Hippys, especially Woodstock, Tin Soldier, Dan and Henanu for all the great input and positive stories and inspiration. I'm still working on a very slow recovery from my first procedure. Scheduling the second one was a difficult decision for me, and I delayed for awhile. You Hippys are great motivators. I got some of my life back after the first surgery. Now I want to get the rest of it back.
Boomer
Comgrats on making the decision Boomer! Let me know if I can help you and your wife out in any way. I'm just up the road.
I'm headed out for day 2 on my mtn bike - easy trails for now - but it feels GREAT!
Way to go, Boomer. You might as well have a matching set. This second on will go easier now that you know what you're in for. Just make sure Mrs Boomer takes it easy and gets some sleep.
I'm almost at the six month mark and I'm starting to move my bike rides into some hills. Today I took the Colnago out for a 30 mile, hilly, windy ride and right now I'm sitting here with the ice on both hips. Everything feels great.
You'll be feeling great also, once the other one is done and your recovery is finished!
Congrats, Boomer! Having both done has been great for me. No OA pain on either hip, just recovery and live the life you want.
Like the old cowboy said, "Get 'er done!" Good luck. I've got to fly out there for my 3 month check up, so maybe I'll see you before you go in.
8)
Looking forward to your reports after your surgery. You will be a complete surface hippy! Good Luck.
Pat
Good job Boomer - I have a matching set and they look pretty sweet on the x-ray. I hear you on the decision piece. It was sort of tough for me also, but did get the "get-r-done" comment rolling through my brain.
Another success story for you - April 6 was National Walk to Work Day" so I put away my bicycle that I do my daily commute on and put on my old uncomfortable work boots and walked to work. It was only 3 miles, but last time I did that same walk was a few dasy after my one and only cortizone shot (pre-HR). I had pain even with decreased inflammation from the cortizone. This time, no pain and I didn't really think about my hips. I was busy watching the birds on the river and noticing what the local homeless had to drink the night before. Good times.
Also I've been so busy doing other things that I don't come around here as much as I'd like to. That's sort of as succees, right?
Looking forward to your next hip journey, keep us posted.
It is a success, Tin. Happy to have you, but also happy to see you busy counting birds and homeless effusions.
You'll be glad you did it, the second one should be old hat Boomer. It will put some extra load on your first hip, but nothing major. The feeling after you are through with both will also be a huge relief. You know the drill on the surgery and recovery, which makes the whole thing much less stressful and anxiety producing (at least it was for me).
Congrats I know the decision to go through the experience a second time is no small thing.
Dan
Boomer,
Sorry to hear that you need your other hip done, but glad you have an excellent surgeon.
I am going to see him on May 7th and ask him about my other hip. I feel alot of catching and the psoas is getting tired fast. He told me 2 years ago that I would get ten years out of the hip, but I think I might be wearing it out with all of my fun.
Congrads on the surgery date.
Boomer, so glad to hear things are going well enough to move into the second hip. I've been thinking about you and your recovery often and believe that getting your second hip fixed is a great decision...as always, best of luck.
Curt
Thank you for all the kind words and support. You Hippys are the best. There is no way I would have made it through the first hip without your help. I know you'll be there to help me through the second one as well.
I have to tell you that the non-Hippys I know think I have lost my mind because I am having the second hip done. There just is no way to explain the entire dynamic to anyone who hasn't experienced what we all have. This website is the only place to tell our stories.
Live Strong
Boomer
First hip March 2011 and the second Aug 2012 - so I am 6 months after the second. It has gone well, spent more time stretching on both sides - I think taht has paid off for me
Hi There
I have just registered on Surface Hippy and am new to posting things on line.
I am 45 years old and live in Perth Western Australia and was diagnosed with OA in both hips a little over a year ago.
My right hip is the worst and so far I have had 2 cortisone injections into it. The last one has only given a few months of pain relief and the hip is now starting to grab or catch and just about stops me in my tracks.
At what point did surgery become the option for you?
Cheers
James
James,
My son is currently studying at Wallongong University. He's loved everything about your country, except for the Goon.
I'm a 57 year olds sports junkie who had been forced to give up almost everything over a period of two years when both of my hips failed me. I live in Colorado but couldn't ski anymore, couldn't climb the mountains in the summer, ditched softball after winning two senior league championships in a a row, could'nt dance with my wife etc. I was becoming a miserable cripple. I wasn't going out that way, so I did the research that all of us do. I found a surgeon close by who had a great reputation and then I contacted a few of his patients. I met one of his first patients for lunch and go the scoop first hand. I learned that if you pick a good surgeon and work your ass off in recovery, you can recover most of what you lost on the downhill spiral. Hip number one wasn't easy, and i still work my ass off every day getting it stronger and more flexible. Some days it still pains me, but I'm pushing through and doing a little more all the time. Now it the other hip that is holding me back, so that one is being fixed on June 6.
The surgery is not fun, and the first 30 days are a challenge with all the PT, lack of sleep, injections for blood clots etc. you will have bad days. But after that, it's just a matter of putting in the work. Ia m physically and mentally much stronger now than I was before the first surgery. I have no fear heading into the next procedure. I am delighted about the project of putting this whole bad hip thing in the rea r view mirror. I am taking my life back, with the help of a fabulous surgeon and the support of a lot of wonderful Hippy's who helped me though a number of dark times.
Find yourself an experienced surgeon and go get your hips fixed so you can start enjoying your life again. Stay posted and let the Hippys guide you. So many of us have already been down the path before you. Surgery is the surest and fastest way to get your life back. In less than two years from the time I decided to get surgery, I will be completely recovered and cleared to return to all the activities I love. And, even now I'm better than I was a year ago when I received the awful diagnosis that both hips neede to be replaced.
James, you can do this. Good luck and stay posted. Let me know if I can help.
Boomer
Hey James, welcome - sorry about the diagnosis, we've all faced that moment and it's no fun at all. The time for me was when I felt about the same as you. If you've given things up that you love and it's still not enough to keep the pain away - it's like sacrificing to a vicious god, no matter what you give up, there the pain at any time of day or night.
I've had both done, and consider that the best thing I've ever done for myself. I'm at almost two years on one, the other following about three months after. My first feels completely back, strong and supporting a very active lifestyle. The second lags only in comparison to the first, but it feels strong and I can do many things that I could not even attempt in my own seven year wait until I resolved it with HRs.
I saw the impact of my OA pain being gone not just on myself, but also on those I love. For those who care about you not to see that awful pain hit you lifts that dark cloud from them. I did it for myself, but benefited any number of people who cared.
Today it is exactly five months and one day since my right hip was resurfaced. And, today is the first day that I felt no pain or stiffness in my resurfaced hip. I keep getting up and walking around to see if that's possible. I even walked up a few flights of stairs. Nothing. Just a normal, quiet,well behaved hip. it is a strange feeling after having pain and stiffness for such a long time. You Hippys know the feeling.
It is as described by Tin Soldier in an earlier post. Today my resurfaced hip and I became "one". Now, it's time to get the other one taken care of.
Boomer is a happy guy. Raise a glass for me tonight. This is very good!
Boomer
Boomer - that's so great to hear!!! I'll raise one for you.
June 6 is coming fast - soon you'll be BOOM BOOM Bilat Boomer!
Raising my glass now. Cheers!
I am watching the Rockies lose to the Dodgers tonight with my good friend Jack Daniels. Johnny Walker couldn't make it. Nice to know I am not drinking alone.
It's good to be a Hippy.
Special thanks to Pat who makes all of this possible. I raise a glass in your honor Pat.
Boomer
Okay - Shiraz to you, my friend. Be one with the hip.
Boomer,
Sincere kudos my friend, very, very happy for you. It's odd how these hips seem to come together, and one day you just start forgetting the misery. My second hip is only 10 weeks out today, and I had a hilly hike last weekend that was like I never had either surgery, just damn smooth motion and no stiffness, pain or limits. I've got a ways to go to get where you are, but the progress remains remarkable.
Goodspeed
Dan
;D Cheers! Thanks. Good Luck!
Pat
Good luck Boomer. Second time around, I'm sure will be much easier.
Boomer, how are you doing? Wednesday is your day. Very excited for you .
That's right! (thanks lori). Bilatness awaits you boomer.
You'll be fully done on D-Day, I'd get camouflage jammies to commemorate 8) .
Lori and Hernanu - So nice that you guys are thinking about me. I have been laying low trying to avoid reading about all the little issues some of the recent Hippies are having. Trying to stay focussed on the positive. Just passed six months on hip number one, and although it's not perfect, it doesn't trouble me much or often.
Funny comment about the cammies. I scheduled my surgery for the anniversary of D-Day, but nobody around me seems to know what D-Day is. I purchased an official Army directors chair, full cammie with the US Army badge sewn on both sides. Who knew the Army had their own line of lawn furniture? It will help me to hide from my wife in the garden when it's time for my Fragamin injection.
Thanks for thinking of me. Very nice that you remembered. Stay with me. I've been doing OK, but the nervousness is growing. Not jump out of my skin fright like the first time, just a little edgy. This is going to be very good, and then my OA nightmare will be over. How good does that sound!
I love your support.
Boomer
It's all good, Boomah (I use Bostonese on Mondays), I was a little twitchy just before the second, couldn't tell if it was more nervousness as much as excitement, probably a little of both. I rolled right through the second, with the usual hitches for me, but it all felt so good that everything was done.
At almost two years on the first and 1 3/4 on the second, I just built a tiki bar for my girlfriend (metal, took six hours), installed a surround sound system for her and roughhoused with her son's mastiff. All without pain on either side. I think the mastiff won, although it was a close thing. I would have had him, but he pulled out the puppy eyes.
Keep your eye on the prize, my friend - you're almost there.
Best regards for #2 Boomer, at least this time there are no car mats hanging in the balance as you go off to get this little thing taken care of, so you've got that going for you.
Try to stay as relaxed as possible, it'll all be better very, very soon. I know that's near impossible, but a good goal to shoot for. For what it was worth, for me the 2nd time was so much easier.
We'll fire up a candle for you.
Dan
I just received the dreaded call to reschedule my surgery until 7:15 on Monday June 11. Not much choice in the matter, so that's the deal we'll go with.
Dang that sucks. You get all worked up about the surgery and then it gets moved. It'll be over before you know it. I too was nervous, probably more neverous on the second one. Maybe because I knew what I was getting into. It was weird, I felt confident, but I also had more nerves. I think I may have just allowed it to build too much and the anxiety took a bigger hold than it should have. I also stayed away from here a bit just prior to surgery. I think thats a good decision. Turn your brain and let the good doc do what they do best. You'll have yet another success story to share soon.
Boomer, sorry to hear that. Monday will be here before you know it.
What a bummer or should I saw a boomer? LOL
Did they have a reason?
Was just coming on here to wish you GOOD LUCK but I guess I'll save that for next week :o
That's a bugger Boomer. I was delayed by 3 weeks. It was frustrating, but for me it actually made me more eager to get on with it, sort of balanced out the anxiety a bit & also allowed me more time to prepare for those first few weeks post op.
Not too much longer in the scheme of things mate.
Kiwi,
I feel the same way you did! Can't wait for Monday to get here. Who ever would have thought that Boomer, the biggest medical coward you ever heard of, would be looking forward to another surgery? And, my hip is absolutely killing me! Walking is a challenge now. So, of course that makes showing up at 7:15 on Monday even easier. My wife let me keep my passport this time.
Thanks for your support. And, thank you very much for communicating with my son. He was hoping to have a companion for his two week adventure in New Zealand, but his buddies skipped out and left him alone. He'll appreciate your advice.
Boomer
Good Luck on Monday! Looking forward to your recovery stories!
I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Pat
No worries whatsoever Boomer. I've given him a few ideas of key places to visit. There are some spots in the South island this time of year that are pretty spectacular. He doesn't have long here so there's only so much you can do with one week on each Island. I'm sure he'll enjoy himself.
Good luck for Monday mate. We look forward to posts on your progress.
All the best,
Kiwi.
Good luck on Monday Boomer!
Good luck on Monday Boomer. Wishing you a speedy and pain free recovery.
Good luck tomorrow Boomer,
Dan
Good Luck tomorrow Boomer. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Pat
Good luck, soon be over :)
Thinking of you this morning. Have an excellent surgery.
Hope everything went well and wishing you a speedy uneventful recovery. Look forward to reading your progress.
Waiting for Boomer to check in, hope everything went well.