It’s official, I am now a Gross Surface Hippy! Hip, hip hooray! :-)
The process went as smoothly as possible, just like everyone said it would with Dr. Gross, Lee Webb, and their staff. Every person we came into contact with was extremely professional and friendly. I know that has been said over and over again, but now that I have experienced it I can be another surface hippy to agree.
There we no complications with the surgery and Dr. Gross set the cup at a nearly perfect AIA of 32 degrees. He did his work now it is my turn, just follow his instructions: exercises, walking, and lots of rest!
A few observations....
1. 6’4†tall people with low resting heart rates (mine is 44) are likely to get very lightheaded the first few times you stand up. And it is quite a 3 ring circus when it happens while you are trying to take a quick shower. Looking back on that it was very comically, me in my all-together and wet and soapy when I tell occupational therapist I am feeling faint and before you know it there are about 100 nurses (okay, maybe it was just 5) in the room trying to get me back in the recliner. By the third try that afternoon of standing and walking with crutches I was fine.
2. No major pain, but I am not trying to tough it out. Am following the recommendations exactly. Even if those dumb pain pills make my skin itch.
3. I was a bit surprised at the soreness and bruising around my groin area. I believe that is b/c Dr. Gross has to apply a fair bit of torque in that area to pop the joint open and of course it stretches all the surround muscles.
4. It takes a bit of practice to standup without leaning forward and breaking the 90 degree rule. I think this may be especially true for tall folks.
That’s all for now. I am sure I will have a few observations more over the next few weeks.
Later....Patrick
Patrick congrats mate! Now stay chilled out don't try and rush back this is a longterm thing! Rest ice eat well and sleep!
Danny
Great News Patrick! Congratulations! Just take it easy for awhile. Let's us know how you are doing when you can.
Good Luck.
Pat
Congratulations Patrick. Welcome to your new life :)
Way to go champ. I will be in your same situation in 9 days with Dr Gross bilateral. Would love to hear how you are progressing
Great news Patrick. Glad everything went well. I am on day 10 with my new hip from Dr. Mont.
Scott
Excellent Patrick! welcome to the other side.
Well done Patrick!
Imgetinold and I (and probably a few other guys) can share a bit of first hand advice...make sure the "plumbing" is pointed in the right direction when you're on the raised comode seat!
Try and enjoy your recovery.
Bruce
Hey, congratulations now you are "a little bit metallic" take it easy and heal slowly but well.
Hi All -
Thanks for the well wishes. I am trying to follow Dr. Gross's protocol exactly, realizing that this healing process is a marathon not a sprint. But since I enjoy doing 24-30 hour adventure races, I understand being in something for the long haul!
Latest set of observations:
1. It is really nice to have a wonderful wife to help me through this process.
2. I have worked very hard to minimize swelling....taking the anti-inflammatory meds, keep my leg elevated as often as possible (including at night when sleeping) and use the ice machine often.
3. The elevated potty seat was a bit of a trial and error thing for me. I am very tall and most of my height is in my legs, so getting to the seated position on the potty seat was challenging and a bit painful. And then it was really not that much further off the regular potty seat (b/c we have one of the tall toilet) it really didnt help that much. And getting all the plumbing aimed correctly was not easy. So I switched to just having a walker located around our toilet and that seemed to work a bit better. It is still not easy to get on, but at least the chances of messes is reduced. Probably more than most of you wanted to know, but it might be helpful for other tall folks.
4. I wish I had done a few more dips prior to surgery so my arms would have been more ready for this process. I did lots of push-ups but more might have been better.
5. Ross - There was a guy who did a bilateral last week that was in our PT class. He did one side on Monday and the other on Wednesday. I must say I was very impressed by him, I am not sure I could have done it. He was built much powerfully than me....bigger, stronger and shorter legs. He muscled right through the PT and the stairs. I am sure he was glad he was only going to have to go through this process one time.
More later....Patrick
Good observations, Patrick. Post whatever you think helps, I'm sure there will be tall hippies that follow that will be interested.
Sounds like you're doing well. The first couple of weeks were challenging dealing with the toilet, but eventually the strength returns and you go on to other challenges and progress.
Patrick
How was the pain after surgery? Did your wife stay in the hospital with you and if she did was she comfortable? Anything you wished that you had brought but did not. How does it feel to be over the hump?
Best of Luck
Ross
Hi Ross -
The general pain after surgery was really minimal, Dr. Gross prescribes quite a cocktail of drugs that keep you pretty comfortable. My surgery started between 1 and 2pm and it took until nearly 11pm for the spinal to wear off, so that makes for a low pain time. The next day I did find that I could easily move my leg into positions (that did not break the 3 main restrictions) and yet still be in some pretty uncomfortable pain. Again I think this may be partly b/c I has such long legs (37" inseams) and doing single leg squats on the good leg getting out of bed/recliner was a bit of a challenge.
The hospital rooms have both a recliner and a couch that pulls out into a twin size bed. But having been in the hospital before I knew that my wife would get zero sleep that night if she stayed b/c a nurse or tech comes in about every hour or 90 minutes. So I actually sent her over to her aunt & uncles that live in town to get some good rest so she could be fresh to drive me home the next day. I would sort of recommend that. You will be well monitored, completely taken care of, and fully medicated, so you will really be fine. And if you need anything, push the nurse call button and they come right too you. Wrap that nurse call remote device around the bed handle so if you drop it, you can pull it back. Or as a last resort, unhook one of your EKG leads and they will show up immediately!
You really don't need to much gear at the hospital....I brought comfortable boxers, socks, tee-shirts and warmup type pants (sweat pants would do too). And then my shoes were some trail running shoes with pull tight lacing, so they are easy to get on and someone else can get them nice and tight. Oh, and a baseball hat or 2 is nice. And be sure to bring you polar cooler to the hospital, they wrap the pad around you after Lee sews you back up so you are ready for ice as soon as you are in your room. And that cooler seems to take about 4-5 lb of ice, so you may want to stock up on a few bags at home before you head down for surgery.
One other duh-huh observation: The first few nights at home I tried to get into my bed like I always do....from the side....and then rotate and pivot my legs and feet over onto the bed. This movement was less than easy and somewhat painful. And then I realized I could just sit at the foot of the bed and use my arms to lift and pull me back into place. Doh! Much easier, very little pain.....dont know why it took me 2 days to figure that out!
I have been really diligent with the ice machine and elevation and have very minimal swelling around my right hip and basically none below my hip. The pain that I get in some positions still sort of surprises me, but even that is now reducing. This is a long process and I very okay with a slow and steady pace. It is a bit surreal to think that I now have a metal bearing in my body. I did stand up completely straight a few time yesterday and today and before this surgery if I had done that my hip would have "caught" and caused me to slouch back down. Am really looking forward to the future!
Hope this helps. Shoot over any other questions.
Patrick, you might want to try this if you need to get in from / to the side of the bed at some point.
- When lying in bed, put your non-surgery foot under the ankle of your surgical leg.
- Use your foot to support the ankle as you swing your body to face sideways.
- Support your surgical ankle while lowering your legs.
- Use the same motion to get back on, just reverse the body motions.
It helps until you get strong enough to swing that leg by its own.
I had the same issues with the raised seat. Ended up using the leg straight out in front technique on a normal toilet.
First time I tried the raised seat a lot of mopping up was required.
:o messy...... Must be a girl thing, raised seats! Men was really helpful, not glamorous, but helpful.
Duh...typing *mine* was really helpful....
Men can be helpful too, Sal ;D
Patrick;
Congrats on your new "toy", with proper care and feeding, sure to give you many years of fun.
Your approach to this stage sounds spot-on, stay head of the pain, get iced alot, follow the plan on what you should and should not do, and rest/sleep as much as possible. Spousal support really makes a difference in this process, you are 100% correct on that.
Hern's suggestion on getting into/out of bed is exactly what I did and it made it super easy and not painful at all. Some are given a "dog leash" (nylon-backed with wire with a loop at one end) also helps with moving the sore leg.
Although I'm not 6'4'', (6'1") I found that one hand behind me on the top of the toilet tank, the other on crutch (or walker in your case) will help ease you down to the throne. The operated leg staying straight early on in that situation was a must.
Best regards going forward, please keep us posted on how it goes.
Dan
QuoteCongrats on your new "toy", with proper care and feeding, sure to give you many years of fun.
You talking about the raised toilet or the hip?
Congrats Patrick. Rest, ice, rest, and more ice.
Hi All -
It is the end of day 6 and things seem to be progressing as expected.
Hernan - Thanks for the suggestion, I don't think I could have done that the first day. I was way too tender to move my operated leg in that manner. (Dan, I also had one of those leg lifters, but it didnt help much either for the same reason.) Basically I had to clasp my leg above my knee to stabilize it and then I could move it okay. I am certain that years of OA have done a number on several of the muscles surround my hip. After I get it good and healed and Dr. Gross allows, I think i am going to need some additional PT to fix the muscle issues.
Latest observations:
1. I seem to have the throne procedure all working. The straight leg process with the walker around the toilet was the ticket. I know everyone is glad we won't have to chat about that anymore!
2. Several of my buddies came over for lunch today and brought our weekly tradition of Bojangle's. Nothing like good friends, sweet tea, and spicy Cajun chicken to lift your spirits.
3. The kids came home from their grandparents on Sunday night. It was nice to have several days at home without them, but it was great to have them home. It adds a bunch more work for my wife, but it was a real boost to both of us. The kids just wanted to sit in the room with me and sort of just watch over me. It was really very sweet. And of course getting to toss a ball with my son for awhile was great for morale!
4. I have found that I cant sleep all the way through the night flat on my back....my lower back just begins to ache. So what I have been doing is propping up a bunch of pillow in a ramp and leaning on it. Sort of like being in a recliner. That shifts the load point a bit and lets me go back to sleep. And sometimes I find that putting a rolled up towel under the knee of my operated leg helps too.
5. I would really like to try to lie on my side to sleep....but I am chicken to try it. I have lots of pillows, including a big body pillow, that I could put between my legs so that they don't break the centerline rule. Would welcome any advice on how any of you managed to sleep on your side the first time.
6. I over did it some today. Went up and down our stairs 3 times, had visitors, did all my exercises, walked, and spent some time using my brain looking over maps for an adventure race. I was toast by 5:30. My wife saw it and gave me a pain pill (first of the day), had me rest, and feed me dinner.....recovered enough to write this message, but expect I will sleep good tonight!
Thanks for listening....Patrick
(Oh and I think/hope that Dan meant the hip!)
It took me about a month to sleep on my side.
I used a pillow between my knees liberally when I slept on my side. I always slipped a pillow under my knees when sleeping on my back.
Everyone overdoes it. Rest and start again when you're ready.
Pillow under the knees when on my back was essential for the first month at least. I was getting up peeing so much while the swelling subsided, I did not get through an entire night of sleep for some weeks (4-6 or something) after the first one. Was not as bad after the second.
Was not able to sleep on my side until 4+ weeks both times, and I am a side sleeper. Used a pillow then between the knees as well, and one under the top-most arm, to reduce the "twisting" of the upper body in that position as well. (Have done that anyway for years following neck surgery 20+ years ago).
Sounds like you are really progressing nicely, you'll overdo it sometimes, but your outlook and family support will really make a difference.
Keep up the healing!
Dan
2 Week Updates:
- Resurfacing is amazing. I sometimes get a bit focused on the healing from the surgery that I forget the OA pain is gone.
- It is amazing to be able to stand up straight
- Have a occasional very slight clicking, I think it is a muscle/tendon thing. I generally have very loose tendons (can pop them in nearly all my joints) so it does not surprise me. I suspect it will diminish as I heal more.
- Have been doing the Dr. Gross Phase 1 PT by the book and walking a bit more every day. Trying to be slow and steady with very minor increases each day.
- Started using the cane only today. That felt like a big step, but I think it was mostly mental. Still felt good.
- On the ick side....my stomach did not tolerate the anti-inflammatory meds (Mobic with Protonics). The Protonics was supposed to coat the stomach to help with GI issues. Didn't work, rough several days until I fully figured out what was going on. But fortunately the nurses at Dr. Gross's office let me switch to Celebrex which I have taken in the past with zero GI issues.
- I have been doing the most minimal amount of work from home. Has felt good to be at least a tad productive, even if it is only for a few hours.
- My adventure racing buddies came over for a few hours to chat about an upcoming practice race that they had been training for. They drank all my beer, but it was well worth it.
- Season 1 of The Andy Griffith Show on Netflix is awesome. 52 years later and those shows are still funny and meaningful.
- Am still a little surprised how tired I am at the end of the day. You would think I would have figured that out by now!
Thanks for listening.
Great job keep it up. Funny about your buddies drinking all your beer. I had a friend come over that did the same and fell asleep on my couch. It's nice to have visitors when you're down.
Brad
Good report, Patrick - keep it up, you're doing good things.
17 days out....
- Feeling really good today, it still amazes me that the OA pain is just gone.
- Walked about 1/4 of a mile yesterday and then today with our 65°F weather I went 3/4 of a mile, both walks with a cane and the kids.
- The 1/4 mile yesterday completely wiped me out, but after the 3/4 mile today I was just fine. I made sure to ice for 45 minutes after both walks, so I had zero swelling.
- Went to church tonight and folks were floored when I told them it had only be 17 days since my surgery, they really didnt expect to see me walking fairly normally with only a cane to assist me.
- Slept on my non operated side (with big pillow between my legs) for hours last night....ahhhh, felt so nice.
- Only slightly stiff in the morning, just takes a few minutes of moving to feel pretty good.
- Still have that slight clicking that pops up occasionally. It seems to happen when I slightly over extend on a step and/or have a slight inward rotation, which I know is one of the 3 things we are not supposed to do! But sometimes that motion happens. Not really worried, I still think it is likely a muscle/tendon thing that will heal/improve over time.
That all for now.
You'll have clicking for a while, patrick - it goes away as your smaller muscles get stronger. I still get a bit once in a (long) while, nothing out of the ordinary.
Patrick, I am about 2 weeks ahead of you on the surgery (11/5) and we seem to be experiencing similar recoveries. Did not take too long to go from the walker to the cane. It took longer to lose the cane. Hip felt "loose" and I was unsure of walking without the cane. Much of it was in my head. Went back to the office on the 4th week and managed fine without the cane. Still have some popping and slipping in the hip but way less than a few weeks back. Wife told me today that she can't hear me popping anymore.
Doing my own PT and have great strength in the hamstrings and quads. Hip flexors are really weak. Struggle laying flat on my back and doing leg raises. It is coming back, but slowly.
Keep up the great recovery. Something's will come back really fast.
Sounds like your recovery is going very well, Patrick.
I had "clunking" for about 4 months. I kept wondering if it would ever go away, and now I don't remember when it really stopped. I think your "clicking" issue will be the same. One day, you'll just realize it's not happening, and you won't remember when that happened.
Continued well wishes to you.
Congrats Patrick before you know it you will be doing adventuring racing again and all the other great stuff. Enjoy your kids and being a new dad.
Ross
Hey All â€"
Thank for all the nice comments, I really appreciate all of them.
So here are my thoughts at 4 weeks (well 4 weeks and 2 days)....
- Healing â€" Overall things seem to be going very well for me and maybe even a bit ahead of typical schedule. Which is a little strange, I normally heal a bit on the slower side. I am actually getting to the point where I sometimes completely forget about my hip. This is good and bad....it is good that the hip is feeling that great, but bad b/c my body is not 100% ready to move like it is fully healed.
- Pain - The OA pain is of course "poof" gone. I do have some minor muscle aches, a little soreness, and little stiffness but nothing really too bad.
- Walking â€" I moved to just the cane at around 2 weeks and for the past 5 days or so I don’t even use the cane in the house or at the office. I keep it with me when I do my long walks outside or am around lots of people just so nobody bumps me. I am able to do 1 to 1.25 mile walks with no issues. Still like to ice afterwards, but dont have to.
- Sleep â€" Sleeping with no major problems. I still use a pillow under my feet when I am on my back and between my legs when I am on my non-operated side. I haven’t tried to lie on the operated side. I do wake up when I roll over, mostly b/c I think I am tweaking some muscles a bit. I am still sleeping about 9 hours a night, I guess there is still lots of healing going on.
- Medicine â€" Finished the blood thinner at week 2, no pain meds since day 5, just take a baby aspirin in the morning and a Celebrex at night. (Although I think I could drop the Celebrex, I don’t have much inflammation.) Did take some Tylenol once or twice after a longer walk, but none in over a week.
- Clicking - It seems that lots of folks have some of this clicking, thanks for all your stories. Mine is already reducing, again I think it is muscular so it makes sense that as my muscles get stronger the clicking goes away. I do find it seems to happen more in the evening when I am tired. And someone else mentioned that it seems to happen when they are standing a counter and shift their weight. I get that too. But I still get a little clicking in my shoulder around my repaired collarbone and that was fixed over 10 years ago!
- Fitness â€" So my overall fitness is not bad, but not good either. I have lost about 8-9 pounds and while I would like to say it was all fat just melting away I know that some of it was muscle atrophy. I will be glad to have my 6 week appointment (2 days after Christmas!) and be cleared to do some more activities and start getting stronger again.
- Work â€" Went back to work after 3.5 weeks. Am really glad I waited that long. I could have pushed it and gone in earlier but it was nice to have one more week of resting.
- Tattoo â€" It took 4 weeks but I finally managed to wash off Lee’s smiley face and signature from my butt. I was beginning to worry that maybe she used something stronger than a sharpie!
Well that is more than most of you will want to read, but thanks for listening.
-Patrick
Very excited for you Patrick. I know how much it means to you moving towards normalcy and old ways of living. I hear what your saying about the atrophy of the muscles. The great thing about that though as you are well aware is muscle has memory. Both my legs have atrophied significantly. Now if it would move to my stomach I would not be so concerned. Just kiddin. Note for comparison though. I had a hip scope awhile ago and the leg atrophied. I use a good protein supplement and after starting PT that leg was stronger than the other. Within a three week period that leg was pretty impressive. Really, when you start to use that leg to rehab I would bet in a couple weeks you will even feel 50% better. Good luck to you.
Cordially,
Ross
Great report, Patrick - you're going well. You'll keep making good progress, just remember that your bone is still healing no matter how good youor muscles feel and you'll be fine.
6 week update:
Drove down to Columbia, SC yesterday to see Dr. Gross and Lee (I have tried to call her Ms. Webb and she insists on being called Lee :-) to have my x-rays and review with them. I did the 4 hour drive down by myself with no issues. I stopped 2 times and got out for a 10-15 minute walk. I did find that sitting on a medium size bed pillow really made the trip more comfortable too.
So....overall my hip is doing awesome. (They went so far as to say I was a poster-child patient, which is a bit embarrassing b/c my role in all of this was quite minimal, I just tried my best to do exactly what they told me to do.)
- Device position - The x-rays show that it is located right where Dr. Gross left it 6 week ago! Right at 31°-32°. That means I did not screw up any of his hard work in the past 6 weeks.
- Healing - I asked how much bone would have grown into the device at this point and he said really very little. He said that the "press-fit" (his words) that he used to place the device are still what is holding it in place. That is why no impact activities for 6 months. My past broken bones seemed to take 6-12 months until they felt really strong, don't see why this would be any different. I will be cautious and careful over the next year.
- Walking - I am up to 1.75-2 miles per day. I take my cane with me but just for security, not really for walking assistance at this point. And I am able to move at about a 3-4mph pace.
- Exercises - I am on to Phase 2 (http://www.grossortho.com/forms.htm) and this includes being cleared to ride a stationary bike, swim, and climb stair normally! Additionally there are some new leg lifts that are supposed to be done every day, more on that at the end.
- Pain - I have some groin (more like anterior upper thigh) aches when I stand for too long, but I think that is normal since I still have a ton of healing to do. Overall though, I have almost no pain.
- Clicking - It has diminished a fair bit, but still happens occasionally. And now that I am free to try new movements (touch my toes, ties my shoes, etc.) and new exercises, I get a bit of that clicking as my body moves into positions that were not allowed before. Again, this all feels very much like muscles and tendons, so not really worried.
- Medicine - Done with everything. Just take a Celebrex if I have had lots of exercise in the day and feel like I have a bit of inflammation.
- Surprise moment - When Lee had me try out the new leg lifts exercises in the office I was a bit skeptical. Those motions are just something that I could not have done (or at least not without a ton of pain) before the surgery. When I did them the first time (while Lee coached me through them) I was so stunned I was speechless and then all of a sudden a bit teary. Trying to find my words (and not start to blubber) I stumbled to explain to Lee that it had be many years since I moved like that. Then Lee asked me to hold the lift while she countered by pushing my leg down to see how much I could resist...I could tell by her wide eyes (and then her "wow" comment) that I was not the only one that was shocked.
I am very glad to be doing so well, but I must admit I am beginning to feel a bit guilty and self-conscience b/c I know that many other folks are dealing with lot of troubles and pains. Typically I am not especially lucky, but I sure feel like God was looking over me these last few weeks. I do pray that other hippies dealing with problems find some peace and solutions.
-Patrick
Sounds great, Patrick, so good to be recovering to this level, isn't it?
No need to feel guilty, each of us takes our own path and gets there in fits and starts, but progressing at a measured rate. The goal is to be recovered fully by two years, anything extra you get is gravy.
Great report.
Nice, way to Patrick!! One day at a time.
Brad
Awesome news on the progress, Patrick! Interesting that they had you take Mobic or Ceebrex. Dr. Brooks did not have me take any Mobic at all and that is what I took daily for 2-3 yrs before surgery. I had mine done on 11-28 and I'm doing extremely well like you. I don't feel guilty, just blessed. Too blessed to be stressed! Enjoy!
Good job on the great recovery Patrick, this had a lot to do with a great surgeon but you also worked on those excercises too.
Chuck