my New BHR

[pjh1765]

Hello fellow Hippys. I had a successful BHR on my left hip last Wednesday June 22!  I was released from Stanford University hospital on Saturday and am now home recovering. Dr. John Lannin and his staff were/are wonderful. Real pros! Dr Lannin personally called me at home on Sunday morning to check on me.  I was so impressed. 

Now I am just so anxious to heal and start enjoying my newly resurfaced hip.

[hernanu]

Congratulations and welcome! How are you feeling?

[ohiotim]

Congratulations, had my right done the same day. Look forward to hearing about your recovery

[pjh1765]

Thanks hernanu and ohiotim for your notes. It's been 6 days since surgery, and today is the best I felt since.  I'm actually waiting for my home Physical Therapist to arrive any moment for my initial consultation. 

I must say that it has been an emotional experience since coming home.  The first morning home was tough with lots of swelliing and pain and me questioning if I made the right decision, but after Dr Lannin called me that morning and assured me these things are normal post surgery, I felt much better.  After visits from friends and family, I tend run out of gas by late afternoon and need to rest. Everone tells me to go slow and be patient and they're right.

I feel I'm making good progress so far.  I can stand with weight on both legs and with my walker or crutches, I am getting more brave each day and applying slightly more weight to my left leg when moving around the house.

I will let you all know how the visit with my PT goes!!   

[nekko]

Welcome to the club. Sure, you will feel better and better.

[Tin Soldier]

Nice job!  It most certainly gets better.  Welcome, tons of great info and good people here.

[23109VC]

Pjh,

How old are you?  What kind of timeline on restrictions and recovery did your doctor give you?

Isn't it nice to be pain free?  Were you in lots of pain before surgery?  I kmow I was!

You het much better quickly, if you are like most here, by around six weeks you will feel good enough to walk at least a mile with no cane or crutch.  If you push too hard you will inflame stuff and have minor setbacks.  I found that out the hard way!  I had a coup,e points were I felt zero pain and did too much then was sore for a couple weeks....

Do you have a raised toilet seat?.  Gross but a necessary item... It helped a lot.

Congrats!  Welcome to the club and be patient...it only gets better from here!

[hipnhop]

PJ, don't worry. I was a psycho after the surgery. I got real depressed and had to seek out help.  The first 6 weeks really sucked.  Now here's the good part...wait for it....... hold on....... here it comes......IT GETS BETTER!!!!!

I just biked 1.5 hours and now I'm going to the pool.  Pain is so low I can't even use the scale (1-10). 

Take it easy and let the PT and your body do the work.

[pjh1765]

Today is my 11th day post op.  You are all so right.  It does get better each day.  I'm surprised at the progress I've made so far.  I went outside for the first time yesterday with crutches.  It felt great to get out of the house!  My wife even took me for a ride around te neighborhood in my golf cart.  Here are few new accomplishments.  I rarely need the leg-lifter to get in and out of bed.  I do still need the raised commode, but my incision is feeling much better and I am getting more flexibility back so its easier to sit now.  Mornings are still a bit tough for the first 15-20 minutes, but once I get moving and get the blood flowing, I feel good.  Both my Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist say I'm doing GREAT and am following their instructions and doing the exercises and following the precaution rules.

Per doctor's orders, I have not been able to take a shower yet as he wants me to keep the incision area completely dry.  So sponge baths are the best I can do for now.  I am scheduled for a follow up visit with Dr. Lannin next week when he will remove the stitches and give me next steps.  Can't wait for that first shower! 

[hernanu]

Great news, PJ - keep it up, the improvements pick up now. There will be setbacks, but they are more like plateaus. Hope everything goes well.

[Nadia Smith]

Congratulations PJ!  The improvements are daily and before you know it you'll be doing a 1 or 2 mile walk, and forget to use your crutches or cane!
I had my right hip resurfaced just over 6 weeks ago, and could fully weight bear on it within about two weeks.  To sit on the toilet however I needed to extend the leg out, till I felt confident enough at bending the knee.  The swelling around the knee has just about gone now, but it's still a challenge to bend it in towards the chest while keeping the other leg straight down!

Amazing how time flies, though, and you will find that too, as unless you keep a diary, you soon forget what your difficulties were!

Speedy recovery PJ!
 
McMinn L BHR 2005   Majkowski R BHR 2011

[pjh1765]

Sorry I havent been back on in a few days so I'm answering questions out of order!  I am 49 years old and was in a fair amount of pain prior to having this surgery.  I think I just got used to the pain and learned to manage through it.  I say this because some of the pain I feel now post op is no worse than before so when asked about my pain level (1-10), I have a hard time coming up with a number.

This past Thursday was my 14th day since surgery.  I went up to Stanford and had my stitches removed which was completely painless.  The nurse was an absolute artist as she was so precise and delicate that I didnt feel a thing!  I then met with Dr. Lannin and his P.A. (Liza).  They said my incision looked great, I had no swelling except for right at the hip.  They checked my ROM which is still limited, but improving.  They gave me some recommended exercises and also advised me to be patient and let it heal at it's own pace, but to work on putting more weight on the left leg so that I can graduate to one crutch soon.  I will be going back for a follow up visit in 4 weeks.  At that time, they will take some x rays to see how things look.  I am now ready for out patient PT so am working on getting that set up. 

It is truly amazing how much I improve each day and it is crazy to think that just two weeks ago, I was lying in bed with compression wraps on my legs, and IV in my arm, etc.  I was finally allowed to take a shower yesterday which was awesome!  I took my first solo drive in my car this morning as I went downtown for a badly needed haircut.  It was GREAT to get out of the house.  Very liberating!  I too have overdone it a bit and paid the price with a lot of pain, but I guess that is the only way to discover my limits.

The Doc told me that I can begin getting in the pool next week and I am really looking forward to that!

[hernanu]

Good work pj! Remember there will be some plateaus, etc. but the improvement will keep coming over time.

[ScubaDuck]

Great update PJ!  It sounds like you are making great progress.  I suppose all of us will or have pushed too hard at some point during rehab.  The good thing is that it sounds like it is pretty difficult to do serious damage.  A little soreness is a small price to pay.

Look forward to more updates.

Dan

[pjh1765]

Hello all,
Thought I would give you all a progress report.  I am now 4 weeks post op and things are great.  I've been going into the office now for the past 5 days and spending about 5-6 hours each day.  I also started out patient PT this past week and that is really great.  I feel so good after each session and I also have exercises that I am to perform at home every day.  I am starting to walk with one crutch, but that is slow to come along.  The muscles in my leg are weak, but I know that the PT will get me going.  I'm still taking some pain meds which unfortunately keeps my a bit "irregular", but I am dealing with that.  I am so happy that I decided to go through with the BHR procedure and can't wait until I'm 100%.  Thanks again to all for your encouragement and best of luck to those of you who are preparing to have the procedure.

PJH 

[hipnhop]

PJ, way to go. It just gets better.

[hernanu]

That's great, pj - the improvement will keep up until you get spoiled and stop wondering that things that caused you a lot of trouble before are no longer an issue.

[Tin Soldier]

At the time, week 4 or 5, I was getting much better with stride, but still a limp and there were certain movements with my leg that I thought I'd never be able do, just because it felt so weak.   I don't even think about that anymore.  The leg pretty much feels like it did before surgery, but without the pain and with better ROM and stronger.     

[pjh1765]

I am now 2 months post op and my new left BHR is doing great!  About a week ago I started walking without the aide of my walking stick and I am only taking the occasional pain med when I over do it!  I have no joint pain, no groin pain, no squeaking, at all.  I go to PT twice per week and now that I am showing a lot of improvement, the PT is starting to ramp up the intensity of the exercises.  It's tough while I'm doing it, but I feel so much better and stronger in the days that follow the sessions.  I am still following my doctor's hip precautions and not crossing those lines yet, but I am looking forward to finally bending past 90 degrees, etc.  I have taken everyone's advice to remain patient, but diligent and things will improve.  You have all been spot on.

[Aerial]

Thanks for the update.  As someone awaiting surgery it is nice to read stories like yours!  Continued recovery to you!