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Author Topic: 4 year anniversary (Give or take..)  (Read 108920 times)

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hernanu

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4 year anniversary (Give or take..)
« on: September 03, 2010, 06:04:34 PM »
Hi, new member here, have used this web site as one of my research tools into resurfacing.

I just had left hip resurfacing done by Dr. Daniel Snyder at Newton-Wellesley hospital in Newton, Mass. I decided on him based on reviews, his web site and a background check on suits, etc. I decided on resurfacing despite one of my second opinions being against it and for a THR.

I am 53 years old, male and have spent quite a bit of time doing athletics of different types. I've done 35 years of martial arts (mostly Tae Kwon Do), played soccer competitively until last year, and a good amount of weight training.

I noticed about five years ago that my flexibility was declining rapidly. Where before I could easily touch my head to my knees, now I was having trouble touching the floor. The groin pain started around then, so I went into the Doctor's and physical therapy with what I thought were muscular issues. We checked for everything - Lyme disease, all sorts of issues. None of the therapy, massage, etc. seemed to do anything, so we checked for osteo issues. Five years ago, they found my right hip slightly arthritic (they thought) and my left had normal amounts of cartilage.

The pain worsened, to the point that two years ago, I could not walk up stairs (or down) without severe pain. I still continued playing soccer until last year, when my left hip started dislocating when I ran, and I would have to pop it back into place.

I figured it was time to do something about it, so I had the first surgeon look at it. My left hip had no cartilage, and had developed bone spurs. My right hip has very little cartilage, so it is just a matter of time. I scheduled a hip resurfacing with Dr. Snyder on August 24, 2010.

The surgery went well, took about 2.5 hours and was done under full anesthesia. I woke up and was well enough to stand up with a walker about four hours after the surgery. I felt so good due to the absence of pain from my left hip that I didn’t need the Oxycontin they prescribed after the anesthesia wore off. I was on a Tylenol Plus regimen (every six hours), a blood thinner, aspirin and vitamins.  I was up the next day and walking using a walker, walking with the physical therapist. The following day, I was on crutches and being trained on how to use them, stairs, the right way to walk with them, etc. On the third day, I was released from the hospital to my parents, who had decided to help me the first week.

Part of the therapy is home PT and a home nurse twice a week. All of the PT sessions went really well, I had no problems at all, soreness like a recovering pulled muscle, but no real pain. I was asked to use a scale of 0-10 for pain, with 10 being the worst, I consistently was at 0, 1 at worst. I still have used only the Tylenol, changing it to as needed now. I have been on a single crutch for the last four days or so, walking longer distances as possible. Up to about 10 minutes now.

Sleeping is now a joy. I had serious problems before, waking up pretty much every hour for about three years. Now I get a real deep sleep, waking up once per night or so. Blood pressure is good (120-75 average) and the nurse seems happy.

After a week and a half since surgery, the bandages for the incision are off, held now only by steri-strips and the incision has apparently healed well. They did put two drains below the incision, and although those have been effusing clear fluid, that has slowed as well, and everyone thinks that is ok.
All in all, everything seems to be going really well, the only pain comes from the right (not operated) leg. And that’s ok since the pain there is nowhere near as bad as the left was. That will be taken care of in November. Very happy, positive and feeling good. I am going to be conservative about recuperation, will not go back to anything athletic until 1.5 years from now, will go back to the gym before that, but only doing what is recommended. I want to be solid for the next twenty years and not screw it up with my notorious impatience.

« Last Edit: April 21, 2014, 08:26:01 AM by hernanu »
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

MO

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2010, 07:08:19 PM »
Wow.  You are having a quick recovery; great attitude, no doubt, helps.  I was pretty helpless the first two weeks; standing made me very light headed and I suffered through 4 weeks of night sweats, so I am proof that everyone is different.  12 weeks post-op, it all seems like a distant memory and my operated hip is pain free and getting stronger every day.  I too, am now focused on my other hip which I considered to be a minor problem prior to fixing the worst hip.   I expect that I will get it resurfaced within the next year or two depending on how quickly it continues to deteriorate.  Congrats on your new hip.  Take care.

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2010, 11:20:22 PM »
Thanks! I'm pretty excited, seeing as the pain is gone from my left. It's great to know yours has improved in 12 weeks, since I'm hoping for a continued good experience.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

resurface

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2010, 05:03:43 PM »
Great to hear. Dr. Snyder did mine about 4 months ago.  The guy is an outstanding surgeon.  More people in the New England area should consider him. 

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2010, 06:12:38 PM »
I agree, he was patient, efficient and the results have been very good. It's now 11 days since the surgery, I'm on one crutch, doing exercises (3X) on the bed, but also doing exercises standing up - toe raises, squats, front, back, side leg raises (mild of course), and have been showering since yesterday. It seems like such a luxury to shower now.

I've taken two walks outside with one crutch, for about ten minutes each, fully in control and feeling fairly strong when walking. All in all, pretty amazing and the soreness I deal with by icing the area after exercising. I've cut down the Tylenol to once or twice per day.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

MarkNC

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2010, 11:09:46 AM »
Congratulations!  It just keeps getting better!  Like you, I wonder why the heck I waited so long to get it done. 

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2010, 08:26:02 AM »
Thought I'd check in. I'm three weeks into recuperating now, and making good progress. I went out for lunch with family, and tooled around Harvard Square for about three hours on one crutch. I was a little tired (slept for a couple of hours afterwards), but felt fine.

I've kept up with the PT exercises religiously, both on the bed and standing. I am able to walk without a crutch within my apartment with a slight limp, switch to the crutch if tired. I take a long walk three times a day, about 1/4 of a mile (measured it), with one crutch, but am doing stretches of ten paces without the crutch mixed in.

I lie down several hours either on the couch or on the bed, to rest muscles I'm not aware are strained. Still sleeping really well, night sweats have completely gone away and no more changing the bandages since the incision has healed nicely.

I am noticing that the other hip (still needs to be operated on) is getting a bit sore with all the exercising. I make sure that any exercise I do on my operated side is done on the other as well, since I don't want any muscular imbalance to pop up.

Overall, going great so far, really looking forward to getting both hips done and go on with a painless life.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2010, 09:38:32 PM »
Another update. I am at four weeks, and have been discharged from in-house PT. I am walking without any aids for about a week and a half, now doing about 1 mile per day at a good pace, have full range of motion according to the physical therapist, and have been doing stairs (about three flights, twice per day) for the last week.

I am switching over to outpatient PT, both regular and water, and began driving a week ago. All in all, things are going great, will work to get strength in both legs to prepare for the right hip resurface on Nov. 29.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2012, 12:17:55 PM by hernanu »
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

Luann

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2010, 02:14:41 PM »
Thanks for sharing your progress, so glad you are doing well! Luann
F age 45 right hip C+ Dr.Sparling 6/02/10

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #9 on: September 29, 2010, 12:50:05 PM »
Thanks, Luann, just got back from my post-op meeting with Dr. Snyder, X-Rays show the hip is in fine shape, I also got to look at my other, problematic hip. Really happy with the results, now in outpatient PT... very excited.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

Pat Walter

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #10 on: September 29, 2010, 01:25:44 PM »
Hi hernanu

THanks for posting your story.  I am glad you are having a quick recovery.  Good Luck and I will watch for your future posts.

Pat
Webmaster/Owner of Surface Hippy
3/15/06 LBHR De Smet

stevejco

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #11 on: September 29, 2010, 08:30:04 PM »
Hi Hernanu

Great to hear yet another success story.  Please keep us posted with your progress.

Best of Luck,

Steve
« Last Edit: September 29, 2010, 08:31:16 PM by stevejco »

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #12 on: September 29, 2010, 09:44:03 PM »
Thanks, I am happy with the way things are going. The outpatient PT is doing a lot more stretching and strengthening exercises, including balancing, which I was shocked that I was able to do.

Pat, I do want to thank you personally, as this site has been a great resource for information and a really good place to validate decisions, or just to feel better reading people's experience.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #13 on: October 06, 2010, 07:31:46 PM »
Second week of outpatient PT, can see some definite improvement. I am now walking without a limp on the operated (left) side. I am doing leg raises with 2 lb weights without issue, balancing while doing ball exercises and went on a stationary bike for 10 minutes.

One issue is affecting not the operated side, but the other side that still needs to be done. I've noticed that when active, the operated side is now much more capable in handling exercising than the remaining side. I'll have to be careful, since I've noticed pain on that side from doing too much. I'm more apt to use ice on that side now.

I still want to exercise that side to prepare for the next surgery, but it's a strange conundrum that the operated side feels much more fit than the other.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2010, 02:05:39 PM »
Well, 9 weeks along now, my progress in PT is pronounced since I began about four weeks ago. I was just measured for strength and flexibility, compared with the beginning, and the results were very encouraging.

In all sorts of measures, my flexibility (ROM?) has increased by an average of 20-30 degrees of motion. This took me into normal to above normal ranges. Strength has increased commesurately, to the point that my operated left leg is now stronger than my right. This was one of my goals, since I wanted the left leg to be at least as supportive for my upcoming surgery as my right was for my past surgery.

Very excited by the results, will be discharged from outpatient PT in two weeks, giving me two weeks of "rest" (I will be continuing the exercises) before my next procedure in 11/29. I just filed the papers with my work for medical leave for that, so I'm very optimistic (cautiously of course) about my final procedure.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #15 on: November 15, 2010, 12:29:40 PM »
Starting my second replacement soon. I am going in to be seen by a nurse (vitals, etc.) in preparation for the surgery on the 29th of this month. I'm both a little nervous and a lot more excited by the upcoming surgery, in that I have seen the progress of the first, and hope for the same outcome on the second.

I'll be talking to Dr. Snyder next tuesday, in final prep for the surgery, and am getting my crutches and sock puller-oner (my name for it) out of cobwebs and in fighting order.

I'll then be out over the holidays, hopefully mobile and driving by Christmas time. Seems like that's when the left hip allowed me to do so.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #16 on: December 07, 2010, 04:46:08 PM »
Just had my second hip resurface on my right hip, about a week ago. I had Dr. Snyder again, and they arranged to have the same anesthesiologist/physical therapist, etc. to satisfy my superstition.

The procedure went really well, the damage was not as bad on the right as the left, but the process was pretty much the same. The difference was that I made better progress, so they let me go two days after the surgery, which was a day earlier than last. The pain management is like last time, extra strength tylenol every 6 hours, and have already started physical therapy at home.

Will report more later, but the pain is now gone from both hips and am on two crutches and very excited to progress.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2010, 04:46:45 PM by hernanu »
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2010, 10:19:07 AM »
Figured I'd update this, even if just as a journal. It's been two weeks since the surgery, and things are going pretty well. I've been doing in house PT and have progressed doing both bed exercises and standing execises.

I'm walking about 1 mile a day with two crutches, am using one crutch inside of my apartment, and have incorporated stairs in my indoors walking. The visiting nurse took off my newfangled bandage (more later) after one week and the incision had healed perfectly.

Overall good recovery, and expecting to be discharged from the visiting nurse at the next visit, as well as the in house PT by the 23rd. Then outpatiend PT starts.

The newfangled bandage used was pretty amazing. It was put on the second day after surgery, it was very thin and apparently made of a thin layer of silver. All I know is that the swelling was very low, I didn't have to change it for seven days and I could take showers with it (not allowing it to soak, but it could get wet). In my previous surgery, I had to change my bandages daily and had steri strips to deal with afterwards, but with this, no steri strips, staples, nothing. Pretty amazing and apparently kept any bacteria squashed. It was awesome, and when removed, the incision had healed perfectly. Thank you Dr. Snyder.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

hernanu

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #18 on: December 21, 2010, 11:07:38 PM »
Finished three weeks. Discharged by the visiting nurse, and expecting to be discharged from in house PT this thursday (Dec. 23).

I'm walking with one crutch, doing about 3/4 of a mile per days as well as 6 workouts / day as prescribed by PT; 3 on the bed, 3 standing. The wound is fully healed and has given me no pain or problems.

I am off tylenol completely, and the night sweats have gone away. I actually think they may have been made worse by the amount of tylenol I was taking, just seemed to coincide evaporating when I stopped that. Will check in later.
Hernan, LHR 8/24/2010, RHR 11/29/2010 - Cormet, Dr. Snyder

resurface

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Re: New left hip, will do the other in November - Dr. Daniel Snyder.
« Reply #19 on: December 22, 2010, 12:59:59 PM »
Keep up the good work.  Your going to love the 6 month mark.  I am also a Dr. Snyder alum.  Just cleared at 7 months to get back into skiing.  Something to look forward to as you do your rehab! 

Advertisement:  I always say it, if you are in New England, you need to check out Dr. Snyder at Newton-Wellsley.

Happy Holidays to all...

 

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