Today was surgery day.  Finished packing in the am and had a little bit of ginger ale.   Got to the hospital at 6am as instructed, went thru admission with my wife and into the prep area.  They shaved my r hip area, had me fill out a few more forms and Dr. Su came in for a pre-surgery check.  I asked him again for more detail about how I got to this place and he said that the way my bones grew just happened to be out of alignment (unfortunately on both sides) and as such, like a car whose tires wear out when out of alignment, so the cartilage is almost gone on my hips.  In fact he said after surgery that there really wasn’t any cartilage left in my right hip.  My left one is likely to follow in the next 5-10 years.   

Dr. Su said the surgery went very well.  It started at 7:30 and was over by 9am or so, and I apparently slept until about 11:30am from there.  I feel a tightness in the hip like a Charlie horse but it’s not nearly as painful as I thought it might be.  (A friend of mine had a hip resurfacing in Chicago and he said it was the most painful thing he’s done.  Of course, my journey’s just beginning…)

They have me doing bed exercises rotating ankles, flexing quads, hamstrings, and glutes, the last being the most painful.  I tried turning onto my left (good) side unaided and felt my hip pop which freaked me out.  I didn’t do that again until later tonight with the help of the nurse.  This was ultimately a great thing for me â€" lying on my back got old after 10 hours.

The physical therapist came by in the afternoon to get me up and walking but unfortunately my blood pressure dropped for a few minutes to a very low level (60/30 or so).  They decided it was best to wait til tomorrow.       
They gave me some ice chips in the afternoon and 2 small packages of red jello tonight.  Apparently passing gas is an important milestone and indicates they can step up my diet. 
Hopefully I’ll report on walking tomorrow….
:)

Pete,

Congratulations and welcome to the surface hippy club!  I am nearly six months post-op from surgery with Dr. Su and the journey is worth it.  Check out my posts under "FDA approved device and experienced hip resurfacing doctor" and my story under Dr. Su's section of this website.

Congratulations, welcome, and very best wishes.

Ed

Hi Pete

Congratuations on the new hip, you are an official Surface Hippy.

I hope your recovery continues to be quick and easy.  You will have a great summer with your new hip.

Please keep in touch. We are always happy to hear how other Surface Hippies are doing.

Good Luck.

Pat

1 day post op Dr. Su, R BHR 22Mar09

As the meds wear off and I switch from the morphine derivative thru the epidural to the Percocet orally, I definitely feel a more intense soreness in the muscles around the hp.  Today they took out the catheter, the epidural, oxygen under nose, and electrolyte drip. 

The hip is sore in the muscles but I did get up and do a few laps around the nurses’ station today.  From what they’re telling me, it seems I’m more at risk of trying to come back too strong than the other way around.  I exercised pretty intensely before surgery so the muscles around the hip are strong.  I suppose the concern is either dislocation or femoral neck fracture.  I hear the former is incredibly painful and the latter doesn’t sound like a picnic either. 

In any event, I’m up using the bathroom of my own power/will.  I didn’t feel particularly nauseous so they gave me solid foods today which was nice. 

A Home Care consultant came in and said I’d have 3 in-home sessions/week for 3 weeks.  More tomorrow

Glad to hear things are going well for you Pete. It's quite remarkable how quickly you are able to be up and about isn't it? It's 23 and 15 weeks since my surgeries and I almost feel normal, well actually much better than normal. Nobody would know that I had surgery not too long ago unless I told them. Good luck for the rest of your recovery.
Barbara

Pete,

Congratulations in joining the "new and improved" club.  You are making great progress and I think you are wise to hold back and not over do.  Something I need to take to heart as well.  I am in day 8 for my right hip and day 5 for my left hip.  The muscle soreness is finally beginning to subside.  I still haven't developed the courage to try sleeping ( or even lying)  on my sides.  I have been sleeping in a recliner since returning home on Sunday.  Prior to my surgeries, I had grown use to sleeping in the recliner.  I look forward to being able to actually sleep in a normal bed.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Hi Peter- Your narative sounds very familiar. I had my left hip done at HSS 6 weeks ago by David Mayman. (I was also fscinated with the interest in gas passing :) ). They are wise to caution you against doing too much too soon. I was raring to go and on day 13 walked 2 miles withou a cane and right into a ditch :) it took me 5 days to get back to where I had been before. So relax and remeber this is a marathon not a sprint!

Hi,
Welcome and congrats!!  My husband just saw Dr. Su on Mar 24 for his 3 month followup--he had a RBHR on 12/22.  We got a great report.  He is cleared to play golf and lift 50 pounds now.  In June he will be allowed to play basketball and referree basketball again.  What a change!  He is totally pain free.  Still has some tightness in the muscles surrounding the incision, but does quite well as long as he does stretching exercises every day.  We travelled from Chicago and it was well worth the trip.  Dr. Su is excellent.

Good luck and hang in there.  You will be so pleased with the results.
Eileen