I am 44 yrs old and began experiencing hip pain around 35. I was still active in several competitive softball leagues, snow skiing, tennis, golf , working out, all of the stuff a normal 35 yr old did. However, as the years progressed, the pain became more pronounced after activity and so I started to stop participating in the things I loved to do. The exception was skiing where I suffered through it b/c I love(d) it too much. After purchasing a hot tub to get hydrotherapy, glucosamine tablets, etc. it became pretty obvious that I had developed arthritis in my hip. I had my xrayed the first time around 40 and confirmed that I had moderate arthritis.
At this point I had pretty much stopped most aerobic activity with the exception of golf and cortisone-aided skiing. I am 6'3" and 10 years ago weighed 210-215 lbs. From 40 to 44 my weight increased to 250 lbs. which added insult to injury - literally.
I began reading about a BHR about 2 years ago because a THR just seemed to extreme for my age. I was inconvenienced and limited by my arthritis, not crippled by it. I made an appointment with a local Ortho guy who didn't do BHRs and said when I couldn't take the pain any more then I should consider a THR. This was about a year ago.
The last year saw additional weight gain causing more pain and limitations after the cortisone wore off. Finally, in the Fall I decided I was going forward with the BHR and it was only a matter of who and when.
I set my surgical date with Dr. Mont in mid-November for Jan 15th. I had little more than 8 weeks between my visit and my surgery. I am now 4 days post op and am sore, my knee and thigh are swollen, the muscles involved in the operation that were cut (a glute, and the one down the side of my leg) give me the most discomfort, but muscles heal quickly.
I'll pass along my learinings to anyone considering this FWIW:
*The day after my office visit I decided I would spend the next 8 weeks no matter how painful it was to work out every day to build my strength up. I spent four weeks on my treadmill then 4 weeks with a personal trainer. This was needed not only in the hip flexor, but in my abs, my other leg, everywhere because I knew this would help with recovery -- thank God so far. Getting in and out of chairs using my normal leg would be been nearly impossible had I not strengthened it those 8 weeks. I am able to walk around my first floor without crutches, gingerly, but I am very optimistic.
*Spinal anesthesia without a doubt is the way to go. Do not be intimidated by spinals -- they are painless, you are out, you will wake up thinking "have you started yet?" If you can avoid general -- do -- you won't regret it. Waking up groggy with a breathing tube in is horrible.
*Pain pump -- they had me on a pain pump that allowed me to inject myself every 10 minutes. This last about 2 hours and I said no f'ing way. They started ome on oral percosets every two hours + Toridol IV+ Dilaudid IV (sorry about spelling). This made my first night outstanding. Of course, when I woke up at 4 am I was on fire, but that was quickly addressed.
*Pain management - you and only you have to be your advocate for pain management. Do NOT let a nurse dictate how your pain is managed. They will ask you to rate your pain on a 1 to 10 scale. Everyone's scale is DIFFERENT! My 7/8 is different than yours. It's subjective. They were stretching me out less than 18 hours after my surgery to oral percosets every 4 hours. Nothing else! The nurse was not cooperating and I was really uncomfortable. I needed another break through IV to get some sleep and she wasn't cooperating. It took the intervention of a PA on call to get me what I needed. Hell, I am not a junkie, I am don't enjoy being drugged up, and I was 18 hours post op!
*Stool management - I am not joking - between the medicine, the iron, the Tums, not eating for nearly 2 days -- a bad situation was developing. So bad that on Sunday night (3 days post op) my pains were so bad that I almost fainted. Please, start taking stool softeners immediately and laxatives too. Do not let this happen to you. It's terrible. The oral percosets I'm still taking are constipating me now. Continue taking the stool softeners. Have laxatives available. Heed my advice!
Finally, you need to be 100% dedicated to this decision. There is no going back after the procedure. I can see how daunting a recovery is and what is ahead of me. However, I am willing to put my normal life (so to speak) on hold for about 10 weeks while I rehab. My leg is swollen, it's hard to get in and out of chairs, sleeping in the same position all night isn't easy. But I know I am headed to a better place. I'll check in periodically with my updates.
Regards,
Tim
Topic: 4 Days Post Op BHR and here are my learnings from the whole process... (Read 3124 times)
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