Blinky


Your updates fuel my rehab.
I enjoy reading about your adventures with your 2 knew hips.
I applaud your decision to go bi-lateral and by telling your story
You have encouraged and inspired  others which is what this website is all about!!

Question: I notice you had your hips done late last year, after the withdrawal of the smaller sized Birmingham devices. What type of implants did you receive? Or were you hips large enough for the Birmingham anyway?

Thanks, BB. I enjoy trying new things and then sharing how it went.


Catfriend, Dr Gross uses Biomet devices. I started looking for a HR doctor right when the BHRs were withdrawn. I had my X-rays in hand and was ready to send them off for opinions from all kinds of doctors. With the withdrawal of the BHRs, I didn't need to send as many packages.


In hindsight, I would have been just below the size cut off: (from memory, so might be wrong,) but I needed 46 and the smallest BHR size is 48. 

Thanks. My implant is a 47mm, which Dr. P told me is a little bigger than than the average woman (apparently 44mm). So I really do have big bones.... ;)

So I did something new and exciting yesterday: I swam in a meet.


I am about five months and one week out so there are still a few things I can't do, most significantly flip turns. Dr Gross said I could dive and do all strokes. I took that "all strokes" to heart, but didn't dive. Since I can't squat deeply, I went up and down the ladder and did in the water starts. Yes, that put me at a distinct disadvantage! Not being able to rocket off the wall didn't help either. But I needed some goal and this was something to train towards.


No great victories or stunning speeds to report, but I was competitive and didn't get DQ'ed, not even in breaststroke. I swam a 100m fly, 50m fly, 50m breast, and 500m free.


The best part? Feeling normal. Hanging out with friends and teammates, laughing and joking about the experience, planning the next adventure.


No pain, no problems. My right hip feels a little swollen on the outside near the incision. My legs were tired after the strenuous swims, the 100 and the 500. My breaststroke is legal and correct but very slow. I am feeling the range of motion and the way all my muscles work throughout the kick. 


We will have some out of town guests soon and that will slow down my athletic pursuits. I will switch to traveling and eating for awhile---I hope lots of walking and exploring but it will depend on the guests. But back home in May and ready to try running. Time to print out Arroyo's running plan!

Congrats on the meet. I can't do Masters. I just don't want a coach yelling at me during my workout  ;) . About how long post surgery did you start doing breaststroke again? It was always my top stroke - I could do it as fast as crawl, even a bit faster at my peak - but I haven't done it at all since I started having hip problems, and certainly not since the surgery. I'm doing crawl only, but I think about breast a lot. I still have to be careful on those takeoffs as well. Monday I took off too hard on one lap, and I could feel it for the next couple of days. How long before you started using the ladder? Or was that just for the meet (in a previous entry you mentioned you were walking in from the shallow kiddie side)? I'm still using the dunkerator, and I don't really have an idea of how long it will be before my left leg is strong enough for the ladder, especially for getting out of the pool.

I got back in the pool after about three weeks. Breaststroke was allowed but completely out of the question. I didn't have the adductor/abductor strength until between three and four months. Then I could move my legs the right way, but the feet wouldn't flex and point! Finally last week it all came together. Yesterday was the best I have felt.


I think I started using the ladder at maybe six weeks? I walked in using the zero beach entry for at least a good two weeks. Just like on the stairs, the good leg went to heaven and the bad leg went to hell and I didn't go foot over foot. (Do I go foot over foot now? Not sure.) I left my cane next to the ladder when I went in. Hooked to the ladder if I could get away with it.


Not being able to push off hard is killing me. I avoided masters until month four so I wouldn't get sucked into trying to keep up and pushing off too hard.


A dunkerator would be cool! Can you operate it by yourself or need help?


Just walking in the pool sideways has helped a lot.

The pool staff operates the dunkerator. Its operation requires pushing a button. However, the button is located at the top of the thing, so the operator has to be out of the pool. Since I've been a regular swimmer at this place for the past few years I know all the staff. They knew I was having surgery beforehand, and are always helpful to me. They see me, they're right there.

The other pool (there are 2: the competition and the recreation) has that "beach" entry on one side. I used to use it before surgery to get the the channel walk, but since the surgery I've been using the stair entry by the channel instead. (This is where I swim: http://itallhappenshere.org/swim.html )

Since I've been battling problems on my right side for so long I've gotten used to pushing off from the end with most of the weight on my left. Doing it pretty close to even last week was unusual, not to mention something I regretted.

I'm not disallowed from breaststroke, but nervous about trying it. Dr. Pritchett doesn't really disallow activities. He told me at my consultation if you try something and it hurts then you're not ready for that activity yet. If it doesn't hurt, there you go.  :)

It helps to know the staff! Those first days back, changing clothes was the most stressful part of swimming---what if I dropped something---and it was good to know they had my back.


Okay, so days away from six months out and the lifting of final restrictions. I plan on having a first run on Friday, using Arroja's schedule. And then squatting, which is what I miss the most, crossing my legs, doing flip turns, all that good stuff.


But in the meantime, a few adventures:


We returned to NOLA, last visited when I was just six weeks out. Back in December I flew from my check up to NOLA by myself and was met by the family. Lee had told me to gradually increase my walking and not to do anything stupid "like go out and walk five miles tomorrow." I had nodded solemnly and then done just that. Oops. I was pretty sore and walking with a cane, but so happy to be mobile. Well, on this trip, no cane, no soreness, and even more walking. I was pleased to be wearing out the other people with me.


Went to a BBall play off game and did NOT set off the metal detector at the arena. I warned the guards I might. They looked confused and unsure what to do, so I went ahead and chanced it. (The game itself did not go as well...)


Returned to swimming on IM day. Lordy, am I out of shape! I bought some short fins because I felt ready, and that proved to be true. No problems kicking with fins. But my muscles still fatigue more quickly. I was enjoying breaststroke, really being able to work those ad and abductors, feeling them engage, and then they started pooping out. Ditto doing fly. The first few trips down the lane felt great, then I couldn't snap my legs very much.


I am amazed reading the stories of the folks who went after me. Wow! You all are doing so well. I am so happy for you.


I feel like I need to end by noting that I do have some random aches and pains, usually when I overdo it or try something new. Much of the time I don't think  about my hips at all and am able to do more and more. The weakness and stiffness I still feel will likely resolve or be reduced once I am released to truly do everything again. I am thinking of glute related weakness in particular; since I am not yet squatting, there are some movements in which I feel weak and awkward.

Blinky


Congrats on the 6 month mark.
I'm very happy for you.
Looks like things are going well for you.
Please continue to document your recovery.
I'm very interested in how things progress once your restrictions are lifted.
How do you stretch?
Things like what have you found challenging.


Thank you

Hello Blinky,


  I am 3 weeks and my incision is close to being healed. I have a pool in my house and it's nice and warm, one good part of living in Miami.


Not a big swimmer, but plan to use it for rehab. I think it would be okay to do the following at this stage.


--- swim laps with the web hand thingys I bought, great upper body workout. No kicking of my legs or pushing off the sides.
--- walk forward,backward and latterly in waist deep water.
--- hanging off the side in the deep end just rotate my hip in different directions.


Can you think of anything else that is safe? I don't want to push it.


Thanks,


Larry

The post six months recovery will be the true test. I will be slowly returning to normal life.


I have only done the Phase II stretches so far, so nothing radical. Those are pretty easy for me. I have been afraid to do more until six months out since I was hyper mobile pre OA----I was the girl who did the splits in front of the rest of the cheer squad. Tuesday I see a PT, one who has worked with Dr Gross patients before. I will let you know what she gives me to do.


In the pool...what you have planned sounds great. I love swimming with paddles, builds strength and gives a better cardio workout for those early days when you can't kick much. If you have trouble with the permitted stretches on land, try them in the water. The only thing I'd add in the early days would be sideways walking. I had weakness in lateral movement for a long time. Sideways walking helped.


I think Pat has a comprehensive list of water exercises on this site somewhere.

Congrats on (almost...) reaching that magic 6 month mark Blinky! I hope things continue to go well for you and that the running is very, very successful. I'm looking very forward to reading about your return to a normal life.


Oh, and by the way... I'm sooooooo jealous! GOOD LUCK!  8)

You will get there! I went to a running store yesterday to just look....


Here are Pat's water exercises: http://surfacehippy.info/pool-and-water-exercises-and-stretches-at-surface-hippy/

First run in the books!


I am following the plan put forth by Arroja and did the 4 x 3 minutes run, 4 x 2 minutes walk portion today.


The big news is....it didn't hurt! Not one bit.


The more sobering news is...I have a long way to go.


It felt like my first swim really: strange, like body and brain had to learn how to talk to each other again. I felt like I was jogging in place the first interval, just bouncing lightly, forefoot striking, quick quick turn over, but barely moving. Each run interval got better and faster though, as my body remembered what to do. My turn over slowed down, but I had more forward motion each time. I didn't measure it, just noted how far I got and saw it was further each time. I wasn't at all out of breath which shows how slowly I was moving. My glutes and quads need to wake up more and I have to unlearn all that bad compensation I have been doing the last few years. My gait was crooked the first run period as I was falling into the habit of protecting my left side. It was straightening out a little more each time.


To prepare I staked out a flat piece of road in my neighborhood with some good shade. I went at a quiet time of day. I figured if it hurt, I could go run at the nearby high school track. That is still an option; I need to email the xcountry coach and ask her what times to avoid being there. (One of my kids ran xcountry at that high school, the other should have.)


What I did wrong, though, was 1) go to swimming first and 2) didn't practice using my watch.


Catfriend, I have the best swim coach. Seriously! She isn't a yeller, but she is very creative with work outs. Like on holidays. Twelve days of Xmas, Halloween. I thought today would be the SINK o de mayo work out (get it? Sinko? ) but had my days wrong. It was the Derby work out. The infamous Derby work out: 200 fly, 400 IM and then 1500 free to finish. Ugh. So instead of a high spirited, novelty work out I got a hard workout. (I did feel how out of shape I am during that work out.) But I survived. Left hip clunks after IM, but for a shorter and shorter period of time.


My watch. It is an old Timex Ironman watch, cheap and fairly simple. I haven't used it for anything but to tell time in years, though, and I didn't remember how to use the stopwatch and split features. It came back to me, but I probably had a longer walk period than I needed after that first run period as I stood there pushing buttons and cursing.


Next run: Sunday, Mother's Day! We will see if I can do the 5 x 3 minute run.

Blinky, that's awesome. Time flies it's amazing looking back at your post in November. I always loved going out for a quick 30 minute jog before work. I use to live on Miami Beach and running on the shore line when the sun is coming up was so energizing.


In theory, impact sports should have no effect on these implants lifespan. I know there relatively new so not so much data has been collected. What is Dr. Gross general consensus returning back to daily jogging?


Larry

He doesn't promise that you will return to running. He very carefully says that many people do, but not everyone; the new hip is good, but not as good as the one you were born with. This is a YMMV situation.


Does he want us running? I didn't ask that question. Is there a limit to how much is good? I didn't ask that either. (Okay, I admit to some irrational, magical thinking on the subject of running. If I don't ask, I don't have to hear the answer. And I don't want to hear the answer unless I am sure it will that running is fine.)


My somewhat more rational position has been that I will *try* to return to running. If I can, then I will start investigating how much is too much, etc. I have tried not to take a return to running for granted even though running is one of the main reasons I went with resurfacing. (The other is having bone for a revision if I wear this one out---and I am the type who would.) So I am going to see how this return to running goes and if it goes well will start researching what the limits are. I will let you know. If you find out anything let me know!


Having said that....I ran today. 5 x 3 minutes run periods. This time it felt like real running from the start. I covered more ground and got out of breath. I am sitting here letting my body cool down because I broke a sweat. I am very optimistic about being able to run a 5K in September. Heck, I will be running a 10K this time next year. Further than that? I am not sure yet.


Wanted to ride my bike but it started raining. Maybe later. We aren't talking road bike, just the cruiser.

He was pretty unequivocal with me on running and other impact stuff. He thought it wouldn't affect the implant whatsoever (his data shows zero correlation in failure rates to activity-levels), but as blinky mentioned, he said some people struggle to run for other reasons (ie., soft-tissue recovery).

Gooooo Blinky GO!!


Congrats on a successful start to returning to running, that's awesome news!  8)

Blinky,

Congrats on getting back to running.

Dr Gross did not promise that I would be able to run a 5K. He did however, say I would be able to sprint and play sports again. I got the impression that he wanted me to get back to doing these things - was the point of the surgery. He just does not promise that you will get back to distance running. It seems that just about everybody can run a mile after the surgery. After not running for 10 years I will be happy to just do sets of 400 meter runs on the grass. I am optimistic though - everything has gone very well so far - I am planning on running a 5k November 1st. To me one of the biggest things I have done in preparing for my return to running is to lose weight. I was up to 225Lbs at one point - I am now at 189Lbs. Not easy to do but I feel it will pay big dividends.