Well, the day has come. Tomorrow morning Dr. Pritchett will install BHR #2. The last few days have been extremely painful, since stopping the Celebrex. I'm hoping the early recovery will be a little less painful than last time, but I'm prepared for whatever may come. I'll try to update once I'm coherent tomorrow.
Good Luck tomorrow. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Let us know how you are doing, when you can.
Paat
Good luck, BB - it'll make a world of difference, as you know.
Best of luck, you'll do great!
Good luck BB, this one should go easier because you now have a good leg to support you
Good luck, man, into the breach.
I hope you have a speed recovery on the way out again.
You're an inspiration.
Hey everyone,
Having a late night snack here at Swedish Orthopedic. Dr. Pritchett was fresh off of one of his annual hip resurfacing conferences. Said he spent a lot of time chatting with Dr. McMinn. I've always had confidence in Dr. Pritchett, but when you hear he's just spent the weekend chatting with Derek McMinn that gives you an even greater level of confidence.
Surgery went well. Dr. Pritchett was able to once again use a 52mm femoral component. As he was installing the acetabular cup, he said he was having a bit of trouble getting a good angle and getting full bone coverage (because of my dysplasia). Also, he said my bone density was off the charts and didn't have much give. So after taking an intraoperative X-ray, he held the impactor at the correct angle, while one of his stronger assistants did the hammering.
Funny thing is, the force required on the impactor WOKE ME UP!!! I remember hearing whacking and my whole body shuddering with each blow. In that moment, I realized what was happening and turned my head toward the sound. That when the anesthetist said, "night, night" and pushed more of the sedative. I'd say this lasted all of 8-10 seconds... but it was freaking AWESOME!!!!
My pain right now is a little different than last time... a lot more in the groin. But all and all I feel pretty good. I'm gonna go home Wednesday afternoon.
And a quick update: at the "Seattle Jingle Bell Run/Walk", I used my opportunity of holding a hot mic in front of 15,000 people to give a few shout outs. First to Dr. Pritchett and hip resurfacing in general. And second, I told them about this website. I've already gotten a couple messages from people who called the station, wanting to learn more about this site and hip resurfacing. That's a pretty great feeling to know you might have helped a few people find answers... like I was in search of two years ago.
Thanks to everyone here for being a shining beacon of truth for a surgery that has given so many of us a better quality of life.
Fraternally yours ,
Rob
"bam, bam, bam" What a thing to wake up to. At least it didn't hurt!
Congratulations on the new hip. Glad everything is going well.
Good Luck. Give us some updates when you feel well enough.
Pat
WOW, that's amzing. I'm glad they got you right back to sleep. Also glad you are recovering and getting midnight snacks
Now it just keeps getting better
Hip hip hooray for number 2. Frieky weird that you woke up to the hammering. Glad you are recovering well.
Dee
Good Job Rob -
Sounds like the stuff nightmares could be made of!?
Remembering your ROM video demo...I'll be looking forward to the next episode detailing your performance of a "Grand Ecart" or "Grand Plie".
Congratulations!
Bruce
Well Rob - you are DONE! Congrats and now there's nothing but good stuff ahead. Welcome to the club.
Too funny, I had almost the exact same experience on number 2. The anesthesiologist knew that I had a slightly larger dose of Versed on the previous surgery, so I think he kept it down a notch on the second and so I woke for about 3 or 4 hammerings, which skooched me across the table a bit and I recall asking the anesthesiologist about it. I did try to look and I remember someone putting a hand on my head and that was all. Stoner voice - "hey man what's going on? you putin the cup in? woooooow, that'sssss cool".
I don't recall the name of the anesthesiologist but he was a kind of a surfer dude. Maybe he tends to go a touch lower on the dosing, fine with me.
Congrats on the new one. Sorry I missed the send off. The other day I remembered it was coming up for you and realized I hadn't been on in awhile. Off having fun again. geez
BTW - in McMinn's book "Modern Hip Resurfacing" the last section is co authored by Pritchett. That's kinda cool. I'd like to think that most of the really experienced surgeons are discussing HR a lot and doing so at conferences and at the pub afterward too. I think it's very healthy for the science of HR.
Nice job on the PR, too. Good job and speedy recovery to you.
Just arrived home... and wow, what a roller coaster the past 36 hours have been.
The morning after I wrote my most recent post (yesterday), I couldn't even stand up with a walker. I was having severe muscle spasms in my groin and and glute. Dr. Pritchett came up, and ordered some dilaudid and flexeril. After taking them, I had an occupational therapy session. I felt a million times better than I had just a few hours earlier. Later in the afternoon... I had a PT session and that went well too.
Today, I woke up and felt awesome! Far less pain than with my left BHR. I think a few things are at work. The flexeril (muscle relaxer) has prevented cramping, which plagued me last time... and from the moment I woke up, I've been self massaging my quads and other soft tissue surrounding the incision. I have also been on an anti nausea and have been aggro about drinking water.
So hopefully, the other shoe doesn't drop, because I like how I'm feeling right now. Last time, days 4-7 were the worst for me. Day four is tomorrow..... I'll follow up then.
Thanks for the kind words everyone!
I've heard this many times that from Bi Lats, each hip was slightly to majorly different than the other, so, maybe this hip will be the hip that does not bother you.
You got it now, just a short bit of time and you'll be running around like a nut.
Chuck
Congratulations....the dial audio works well but man it can really make you nauseated. I was given OxyContin 30mg and barely noticed the pain except when walking or standing. Enjoy your family and Merry Christmas to you. It's over.
Soooo..... freaking awesome is not what I would have been thinking if that happened to me, but I am glad you had a great attitude about it! Slow and steady....keep it up.
Well, what would progress be without a few setbacks....
For those who've been on this board since my last BHR, may recall that I got very ill a few days after surgery. My temperature spiked to 106 and I began to vomit uncontrollably. Of course when that happened, my first fear was infection. Well, it wasn't infection, it was (a guess by a few different doctors) a reaction by my body to a traumatic surgery.
So this time around, I made sure to stay in the hospital an additional day and I made sure Dr. Pritchett sent us home with anti nausea medication. That all seemed to be working well and good...
Until last night...
At about 8:00, my stomach started feeling rock hard and I could tell all the liquids I had been drinking were just splashing around in there. Within a half an hour... even with anti-nausea meds on board, I began vomiting uncontrollably. During the next three hours my temperature shot up to 106 and I became delirious. It was the weirdest thing. I couldn't judge time or space and felt outside of my body. My wife checked, and my incision site didn't show any signs of infection. The doctor told her to give it one hour and give me more Tylenol and ice packs to bring down the temperature. If it didn't budge, we were to go to the ER.
So I proceeded to have this strange out of body experience the next hour, while my wife tended to the ice packs and cold wash cloths. My temperature finally broke and within the hour had dropped to about 100.5. I felt like I'd been slow-rolled by a tractor and finally fell asleep at about 2:30am.
It's now just after 8am and I feel pretty good. For whatever reason, my body has a serious and violent reaction to surgery. Just like with my first hip, it began on the 4th day post op and was done by the 5th. Not sure if there is anything to be learned here, since this seems to be a pretty rare and unique complication. I guess the one takeaway for everyone would be... don't freak out and think you have an infection just because of a slight fever and some nausea. It could be. Or, maybe you're just a weirdo like me who doesn't tolerate surgery very well!
As a footnote: my muscular pain this time around is WAY lower than the last surgery. I've spent a lot of time massaging through he tightness and discomfort in my thigh, and it seems to have worked. I feel like I could already move to one crutch if I wanted to! Even though I won't. : )
Hope that will be your only setback. The minimal pain you have sounds like a positive thing.
Chuck
Sorry to hear about the surgery attack! Haven't heard it before, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened or won't again. Thank You for sharing your story for others.
I am glad you feel better today. I hope that's the end of weird stuff for you.
Good Luck.
Pat
Rob;
Holy sh*t, glad to hear you're back in your body, at least it was a "consistent" process :). Really strange stuff how different people react so differently. The timing and duration are really odd to say the least.
Seriously, hopes for better and smoother things ahead. It's all down hill now, and you're an old pro.
Best regards,
dan
Damn, Rob - not something you want to re-do, but I'm glad it's over. I wish you clear sailing the rest of the way.
Wow Rob,
You had a rollercoaster ride. Makes my "don't over do" experience seem mild. I cant imagine your out of body feelings and high fever. I know my fainting was really scary. I could feel myself slowly going out and it really was awful. I am finally feeling better and the swelling is going down, but that thigh muscle is screaming at me. Like you, I keep trying to massage it but it is soooo tender after the episode. It was fine before the cramping pain episode.
Our bodies are so wonderfully made. I am just thankful that we have the technology to get new parts to help us keep our active lives when the old parts wear out.
Keep on recovering. We are about the same time frame. I moved to one crutch today (day 9)
Dee
Did your hands feel like two balloons? That's crazy high, that's the kind of thing children have. We probably all had a high fever when were young but not as an adult. I remember hallucinating about my bed spread bubbling up out of the kitchen sink when I was 6 or so. Bizzarre. Glad you got that worked out. Must have been pretty scary.
Pritchett might have mentioned this to you, but there is a reaction one can have to bone particles that get in the bloodstream from the surgery. I think the team is pretty darn careful about keeping the bits and pieces out of the surgery site when grinding and such, anyway, fever a few days later is one of the side affects from this reaction. I think I read about it somewhere also, as if its pretty common, maybe more common with THR. I don't think a high fever is common though.
Hey Tin,
He did mention that as one of the possibilities. And it could be that is something I'm especially sensitive to. But now, 24 hours after it all began I feel great! I got out and walked 3/4's of a mile today and I'm ditching all the narcotics. In terms of pain and recovery, I'm way ahead of where I was on the left side.
Back to the whole hallucinating high fever thing.... it really was crazy. The best way I can explain what I was feeling was this: looking out at my room, it felt like I was just a set of eyeballs in the corner staring out. And I had no sense of depth or space. So the rational part of my brain was saying I need to get up. But the whacked part of my head couldn't figure out how to do that... how to travel the vast space between me and the door, or how long that would take. I even remember counting how many flat surfaces I saw (floor, ceiling, walls) to see if that could help me figure out how to navigate my way out of the room.
Even as I write this, it doesn't make sense or do justice to what I actually felt. Maybe this is why I've steered clear of drugs my whole life. I'd go crazy taking a hallucinogen!!
Congrats - looks like recovery is picking up speed - yes walking faster!!!
Funny Tin, "You are receding". "Slight fever, 106"?
I hope Robb & Dee Dee are both done with the tough parts of the recovery. Hope the rest goes smoothly with a quick recovery.
ONE WEEK UPDATE:
Hard to believe it's already been a week since Dr. Pritchett installed BHR #2. I won't rehash what I've already posted, but I will tell you where I'm at right how.
After a few pretty good days, I'm really sore today. And best I can figure, it has something to do with a big reduction in swelling. Yesterday evening, I knew something was afoot when I started urinating every 15 minutes. And I don't mean a little trickle... but a full bladder emptying. And this went on for a good 3 1/2 hours.
I measured with a tape and my thigh decreased 3 inches in circumference, in less than a day. But now, from my incision to my knee, the muscle/IT band hurts like a mo-fo. So just when I thought I could start ditching the narco meds, I'm back on them. I suppose there should be little about this that is surprising to me. I guess I was just hoping this time around would be a little easier. But I guess nothing good ever is, right?
You'll get there Rob.
Your body is like Reed Richard's right now (not Keith Richard's), and is distending and contracting all over the freakin' place. It is worth it, but can exact a price as you get back to where you ought to be.
At least you know there's good circulation and your kidneys are in FINE shape :o, keep it up, buddy - this too shall pass... ;D
Ice, Ice, and more ice.
Scary about the fever. You must be glad that's over with.
Late to the "party" here.
1) Waking up during hammering? I think you and I might have a different definition of "cool". You sure handled it swimmingly.
2) Sorry about the fever trip. Definitely stay away from mushrooms (or so I hear).
3) Excited that you're having a much better early recovery.
Keep posting!
Rob,
Good to hear the progress, the offboarding of the fluid in one day is remarkable. Hopefully you will get through this stage quickly.
I found myself peeing rivers for more than a week the first time, urgent, middle of the night crutching to the bathroom in a hurry, as the swelling subsided. Second time was far less of that.
I do not like the narcs either, but important to not be in pain at this stage, because that will delay healing, sleep, etc, although I did find the narcs disrupted sleep after a few days as well. I did ice continuously from morning till night which helped alot with that band type pain.
Dan
Tin,
Thx for the Floyd reference, they has significance for my 1st bhr; could not sleep in the hospital, jumped on the wireless in the hospital and downloaded Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and drifted off to that and later Van Morrison's version of Comfortably Numb from the Departed soundtrack. It seemed to help, probably some sort of 70's flashback to quadraphonic therapy in a Pacer with a really nice sound system...
Dan
Quote70's flashback to quadraphonic therapy in a Pacer with a really nice sound system...
Sweet! I just always think of that quote when people talk about high fever. I think I actually had that weird feeling of detachment when I was a kid, it's all a distant memory and a little fuzzy around the edges.
back to the topic at hand, I hope BB is getting along better now.
Glad to see you are doing better. That's one crazy story about the hammering and then the hallucination. You'll be laughing about it before you know it. Best wishes for a more boring recovery from here on.
A few random bits and pieces:
I'm now 11 days out from surgery and doing pretty well. I have a far greater range of motion this time around. I'm already frequently using just one crutch to get around. Yesterday, Dr. Pritchett took out the stitches and took X-rays. Everything looks great.
He did tell me a bit more about trying to seat my acetabular component. He said my bone density is so high, he couldn't get the anti-rotational fins to engage. They just kept popping out. So they kept rotating the component until they found a spot where the bone was soft enough to allow those fins to dig in. Since they spent so much time hammering, that's likely what woke me up.
Interestingly, I shot off a picture of my X-rays to a friend with engineering computer software to measure my component placement. My first implant, the left, has an inclination angle of 37.47 degrees. The second, my right, is 37.59. I couldn't freaking believe it! Dr. Pritchett is a fantastic surgeon, but there was obvious luck involved as well.
There were a couple of interesting things to come out of my conversation with Dr. Pritchett. As I mentioned, the weekend before my surgery, he attended a hip resurfacing conference with Dr. McMinn and many of the other top surgeons. He said one of the big topics was metal ion testing. Dr. Pritchett says more and more doctors are becoming averse to such tests. He says as a growing number of patients insist on getting the tests, surgeons are increasingly seeing just how poor of a diagnostic tool they are. Even within the same lab, blood tested my different lab personnel can come back with wildly different results. Furthermore, a few patients of Dr. Pritchett's who've insisted on tests and they come back at the higher end, have then wanted MRIs.... and they have all come back problem free. Likely to be a debate that continues for quite a while.
Also, Dr. Pritchett recently called NY Times writer Barry Meier to directly voice his concerns about his biased reporting. Dr. Pritchett says Meier basically admitted to him that the metal-on-metal panic stories, draw a great number of readers to the NYT website. And that he's flooded with hundreds of emails from happy HSR patients every time he writes a new article.
As a fellow journalist, this sickens me. I've always gone after the truth in any story I've ever reported. And many times, the truth I've found, is not the truth I expected to find. That's what makes the job so exhilarating and fun. I think most journalists would agree. But sadly, the few rotten apples spoil the whole bunch... which, coincidentally, is exactly what Meier has done in his reporting of MOM prosthetics. He's writing about a few bad apples and letting them spoil the whole bunch.
All good news, Rob. I'm glad you're over the hump and progressing so well.
Very interesting about Meier; I just don't think you can compare him to real journalists. The difference is their goals and ethics, not their training. If he writes something that is knowingly biased for profit's purpose, he metamorphosizes from a journalist to a marketing shill for his paper. Journalist no longer.
That's all great news ,BB. Soon it will,all be behind you and you'll be enjoying life pain free.
I'm at 13 months and I think my left has finally caught up to my right. Both feel all good.
Very cool stuff - BB. Measuring angles is sort of fun. If I recall the software that Roman (Dr. P's radiologist) put on the disk of the images, has an angle-making software. I couldn't figure out how to use it. Maybe I had the free version with reduced functionality (love that word).
Cool that Dr. P contacted Barry. That's awesome. I think maybe the winds are changing. Kinda seems lately that the surgeons are standing up to the negative press. Although, still surprised S&N, Cormet, Wright, Finsbury aren't doing more press releases about how great HR is.
BTW - speaking of Barry, and bad apples, I guess I have to commend him for being truthful with Dr. P about the fact that metallosis sells and that's why he extends the truth and embellishes.
Interesting deal about the metals analysis having varying results. I believe the analysis is the same type of analysis I'm familiar with when we test metals in soil and groundwater, (ICP - mass spectrometry) and I don't usually see much difference in the lab results of a duplicate sample (same sample, just analyzed twice to assess lab process). Although the samples of blood and serum may have a different digestion process or something that adds variability. Don't know, Also, I think folks need to understand that the low levels we are talking about are sometimes at the lower end of detection limit and thus some of the accuracy is lost. Anyway, it's all very interesting. Looking forward to learning more about the metals analysis in blood and seeing how that tool develops.
Good job on recovery.
Glad you are doing well.
Very interesting about Meir. It is amazing what a few can do to influence a whole lot of people. Too bad.
Good Luck and keep up the healing. Take it easy.
Pat
Isn't it great to feel better. I can totally relate to your progress. Mine is finally on the upswing.
Thanks for your inquisitive nature and finding out about the issues!
Merry Christmas!
Dee
Rob,
Lot of stuff on this thread. I am glad you are doing better. I am starting to dread the inevitability of the second time.
I just wanted to comment on your waking up during surgery. I didn't during my HR, but I did during hernia surgery fifteen years ago. I don't remember if my eyes were awake but I could feel this somewhat remote but firm tugging (no pain though). It went on for a bit before I finally spoke up and said, "I'm awake". Then they must have knocked me out again.
No idea what the reported percentage of people who wake up during surgery is, but I bet the real number is higher than people think.
Mike