9 Days Post Op - Dr. Rogerson

[The Kid]

Hi everyone,  I just had my left hip resurfaced last week Monday and my Doctor set up a program with a special rehab facility and WOW was it great.  I was in the pool just 4 days after surgery and doing other land based PT on a regular basis.  I really believe that helped me tremendously, maybe it was just pyschological but I'll take it.  I'm 9 days post surgery and already feeling better than I ever thought I would.  My doctor and physical therapist both said to take it easy follow the precautions and walk as much as I can.  I'm going to keep doing my PT and I just know that all will be well and that I should be back to myself in 9 months to a years times. Thanks to everybody for all your comments and suggestions they are very very helpful. I feel like my nickname again for the first time in a long time.  

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I wanted you to have your own story posted where everyone could see it better.  So I moved it.  I hope you don't mind.

This way we can read about your progress in one place.

Dr. Rogerson is one of the best hip resurfacing surgeons in the US.  He has a great rehab facility as you mentioned.

I hope you continue to have a great recovery.  Please stay in touch.

Good Luck.

Pat

[The Kid]

Pat...Thanks for the kind words and no I don't mind you moving my post at all.  I'm new to this whole internet blogging, messaging thing so I'm learning about it as I go.  I just love to read these posts and all the great stories they are so motivating.  As for me, Monday will be two weeks and I'm down to one crutch which I often use as a cane now.  This morning my wife and I went for a nice walk of about 1 mile.  She was worried but I felt really good.  Afterwards I rested up and applied a heating pad to my injured hip area.  This was something they did in my first rehab session and it really felt good so I asked if I could continue it at home and my phyiscal therapist said absolutely so that is another thing I'm doing.  Well it's time for me exercises.  Good luck to everyone.

[The Kid]

Hi everyone...I'm now in week three of recovery and off the prescription pain meds.  The muscles in my affected leg especially the quadricep and hamstring are very sore and tight and it is tough to sleep through the night.  I had a PT appointment yesterday and my therapist applied heat and massage to the muscles after I told her how things felt.  She also had me do some simple stretches. Between the heat, massage and stretches it really loosened things up and made my leg feel great, unfortunately it only lasts a couple of hours then I need to basically do the same thing she did.  This is all quite normal from what I understand since the muscles and tendons are still healing.  I was told that this too will pass and that after about 8 weeks I should expect the leg to feel "normal".  Other than that walking is going well, I'm down to one crutch and much of the time I use it as a cane.  Well time to apply some heat, massage and stretches.

Take care...Tom

[Pat Walter]

Hi Tom

Glad to hear you are progressing well.

Everyone is stiff.  I was very stiff at 6 weeks and did some water walking and exercises.  They really help a lot of people.  If you are near a pool, you can see what I did here  http://www.surfacehippy.info/ptarticles.php

By this summer, you will be active and the memories of recovery tend to fade since you are having fun and out of pain.

Pat

[The Kid]

Hi Pat...Thanks for the kind words and the pool advice.  The pool that I've been doing my PT in is part of the retirement facility in Madison and I've been told that I may be able to continue to use it as a guest for a small fee each time.  I'll definitely be looking into that and if not there perhaps the local YMCA or another local gym.  What I really liked about the pool at the retirement facility was that it had a nice gradual built in ramp that you could walk right into the pool on.  I suppose that any small pool would work I would just need to be very careful getting in and out on a ladder. 

On another note sleep is getting easier for the most part getting up once or twice on most nights.  Much of this is because I drink a lot of water and should probably stop drinking it a little earlier in the day.  I do look forward to this summer and getting back into the swing of things. 

Thanks for all your work here Pat you are phenomenal.  Tom

[The Kid]

Hi everyone...Going into week 4 after surgery and feeling pretty good for most part.  I went for a walk today not really knowing how far I went just walked because it was so beautiful outside.  I wanted to see how far I did go so I mapped it on Mapmyrun.com and it turned out I went 1.75 miles.  I'm not sure if that is overdoing it or not at this point but I feel pretty good, a bit stiff but overall good. I'm going to do my PT and ice my leg down then give myself a nice massage which really seems to help.  Hope everyone is doing well and recovering nicely. Take care...Tom

[The Kid]

This past Tuesday I had my five week follow up with Dr. Rogerson and everything looked good.  I got the go ahead to stop with the cane unless I felt I really needed it.  I still take it with on long walks in case I get tired but overall I feel pretty good.  I'm going to start riding our recumbent stationary bike and now that the weather is getting nice I'll get the real bike out and do a little riding outdoors.  I still can't bend over to put my sock on my left foot and have to use the sock helper but other than that I feel great and can't wait to start exercising on the bikes.  Hope all is well for everyone else and that their surgeries went well and recovery is progressing nicely.  Take care everybody.  Tom

[The Kid]

Well I'm at 8 weeks now and no cane but still a little tweak in my gait but not bad.  Last weekend I got out on the bike for some decent rides one day almost 16 miles then the next I felt good and made it 25.  All that on my big old clunky mountain bike.  This weekend I put new tires on the road bike and hope to get it out later today if the weather is nice. Hope everyone is doing great.  Take care...Tom