The Right Time

[Boomer]

I am a 57 year old sports junkie living in Denver who managed to wear out both hips during a lifetime of joyous activity. No regrets, it was a blast. Visited with Dr. Rector in Boulder recently, who confirmed I need bilateral resurfacing. However, since I still enjoy riding my bike and can walk and sleep without too much pain, he advised me to come back in year for another set of x-rays and a consultation. So I ride my bike, do some light weight lifting three days a week, and see a chiropractor who helps stretch my lower body to enable me to keep as much range of motion as possible.

I have found the input provided on this website to be extremely helpful, both for informational purposes, and for the psychological support it provided as I worked my way through this issue. I would love to hear from you Hippies in Denver, and especially patients of Dr. Rector as I wait for the right time to get my new hips.

[lori.36]

Hi Boomer,  I am a Dr R patient, however I do not live in Denver I live on the Western Slope.  Dr R is a wonderful surgeon and I enjoyed my hospital stay in Boulder so I would give everything an A+.  I waited around 9 months from my original consultation with Dr R, trying everything to avoid surgery, mainly because I had an infant.  I was down to only two activities, swimming and biking, it hurt so bad to walk a couple of blocks and I was in severe pain when I went in for surgery, the difference in night and day.  I am now able to walk 5 miles, bike pulling the kids in the trailer, swim, I can do squats, I have increased my ROM from pre-surgery.  I am going to see Dr R in mid August for my 3 month and hoping to get the green light to hike again.   
There is a really good pre-op PT routine on this website that I would recommend for you.  Best of luck, here for any questions.

[Boomer]

Nice to hear from you lori.36. Thanks for the positive feedback on Dr. Rector and Boulder. Your recovery sounds pretty amazing to me. Squats? Wow, I haven't been able to do those in such a long time. I look forward to the day when I will be able to get back into the mountains and hike again. I hope you get the green light. Please let me know how it goes.

[bdoughty]

Hi, Boomer. Another Dr. Rector patient here, LBHR on 3/2/11. I live south of Denver around Lone Tree, age 52. I've been back on the bicycle since end of May, averaging about 4 days/week, working up distance (30 miles last Saturday), doing regular weight workouts including squats, hiking, golfing - anything I want to do except running and jumping; have to wait a full year out for that although others resume more quickly. I think my story also might have been what gave lori.36 the final "push" to schedule hers!

I had been increasingly suffering for about 5 years, kept being told my hip pain was "resonating" from a couple of problem discs. Did PT, chiro, had 3 lumbar injections, NSAIDs, pain meds, etc, etc. Last December another ortho doc finally said I was bone-on-bone in hip and needed total replacement. Had not even heard of resurfacing before I started researching replacement. It may seem like a quick decision compared to others, but once I looked into resurfacing I knew it was for me and then to find that Dr. Rector is among the "rising stars" for this procedure, I scheduled the consult pretty quick. After our meeting where I liked him immediately, I took another week to think some more, then scheduled surgery. A few weeks before, I could barely walk around with a visiting friend. I would have gotten on the table that night if they had let me.

Dr. Rector, his team and Boulder Hospital were all top notch. I'm so grateful for their care and so happy I made the decision.  I had not realized how bad I had gotten until I got it fixed. And the back issues for the most part have resolved themselves too.  Unfortunately I had not remained as active before surgery as I would have liked, so now I'm trying to drop about 15 pounds! But at least I'm doing it pain free.

I understand your desire to wait as long as possible, and if that's Dr. R's advice, I would tend to follow it. But at the same time, I caution you not to wait too long, suffer too much. I wish I had known about this a few years ago. Good luck and I'd be happy to chat here or offline.

[Boomer]

Thank you for the reply BDoughty. It's good to have some folks like you and Lori to chat with.

I was ready to immediately schedule my first resurfacing the first time I met with Dr. Rector, because I had already had a consultation with another OS in Denver who recommended resurfacing. I was ready to get started on getting better. However, Dr. Rector is such an impressive individual that when he said if he had my hips, he would wait a year or two, I just didn't feel qualified to argue with him. He explained that every year I can hold out, lessens the risk of revision down the road.

I'm having difficulty with the waiting. Getting worse, instead of getting better, is not something I have been able to get comfortable with. However, the feedback on this website, and recovery stories like yours are extremely helpful and remind me that some day I will be getting better. Your recovery sounds fantastic. Very inspiring. Please stay in touch.
 

[hipnhop]

Boomer, I am not a Dr, Rector patient but I am getting ready for my 2nd resurfacing.  I am trying to prolong it as long as possible but the pain is getting unbearable. I can ride, swim and walk but any attempt at running and whoaaaaa.  It is frustrating because my operated hip can handle it.  I am getting scheduled for October.  You'll know when it's time.

[Boomer]

Thanks for the input.

 I'm going to try doing some hiking in the mountains this fall with my wife to enjoy the scenery. If I can't enjoy that, it will be time to move forward. I gave up impact sports, and running, but enjoying the mountains is not something I want to forego.

Until last year I was able to run, ski and play in a competitive softball league. I was dealing with pain, but it was bearable. This year I became aware of the whoaaaa factor that you described and had to cut back.

Please stay in touch and let me know how things are going for you. All the great input and positive feedback I see on this website makes it a lot easier to move forward in my thinking. I appreciate your reply.

[Tin Soldier]

Boomer - There is lots of talk about "the right time" here.  I'm not sure it's the easiest thing to search, but What I've seen on this thread pretty what we usually see on the subject.  I'm 42 and have bi lat OA.  HR no 2 is coming up (a little sooner than HnH ).   I'm a bit mixed about no.2 because the pain is not as bad as no. 1 was.  It's more about ROM on hip no.2. Regardless, my lifestyle has changed pretty dramatically in th elast few years, due to OA.   

Generally it's the combo of pain, limited ROM, and change in lifestyle that are the reasons for deciding to do it. 

Good luck.

[Kiwi]

Hi Boomer
I discovered the resurfacing option (as opposed to THR) through this website. As you've also found, surfacehippy is an incredibly informative & encouraging place to be if your considering resurfacing. There's not a lot of surgeons over in NZ that do the resurfacing op so I needed good advice (and encouragement) before deciding. My question was similar "when's the best time for resurfacing". I had multiple helpful answers and "you'll know" couldn't be truer. I'm 42yrs old and are now booked in for L BHR on Nov 2nd over here in NZ with the most experienced surgeon (in NZ) with over 600 BHRs to his name. I have been delaying the op for a long time but now look forward to being on the other side & getting on with a pain free life.

FYI - I recently received this email in from Dr Blackley when asking how long I should / could wait before having BHR...

"I would not hold off surgery too long as most experience surgeons agree the worse your bone stock the higher the early and late failure rate of the BHR.
Also Xrays underestimate Bone loss and damage.
 Kind Regards
Hugh Blackley
Orthopaedic Surgeon"

Good Luck
Kiwi

[Boomer]

Kiwi and Tin Soldier,

Thanks for the feedback and support. The folks posting on this website are an amazing lot.

My plan is to see Dr. Rector every twelve months for an assessment of my physical condition, and to get a new set of x-rays. This should ensure that there isn't significant deterioration in my bone quality, or any other issues that hurt my chances of a successful resurfacing. Dr. Rector told me that if the pain gets too bad, or my lifestyle starts to deteriorate, he will be happy to move forward. Either I will know when the time is right, or the good doctor will tell me so based upon what he sees. Dr. Rector has a great reputation, so I'm pretty comfortable going along with his recommendation to wait awhile.

At this time I am undergoing physical therapy which is improving my range of motion and reducing my pain. A mixture of the pre-op, post op PT regime on my own is also helping. This stuff is hard work!

Good luck to both of you with your upcoming procedures. Thanks for responding.

[Tin Soldier]

That's good.  I like your approach.  I think a lot of folks come here months in advance thinking about HR, I did.  There were just a few intances that caused me to finally go forth.  I think I had just had enough.  I was done with the striuggle and gained enough info from doctors and from the forum that I had pretty solid confidence in it.   

Stick around and ask questions and you'll be well prepared when the time comes.

[lori.36]

Dr R is very conservative with surgery.  When first spoke with him, he said that my x-rays indicate that I need the surgery, but he has seen people with my x-rays that are able to endure the pain.  I tried to modify my life and endure the pain, but it was no longer an option.  You will know when you are ready.  If you are able to still hike, then I would say that you are good for a year.  It is so strange, because I was having issues and then one hike, the nemessis hike "Lake Nolan" was the one that killed me.  It was a really mellow hike, but my hip just felt like the tube went flat.  I was in so much pain after that hike and was unable to walk 3 blocks without pain.  Enjoy your time that you have now being all natural.  Enjoy getting your teeth cleaned without an antibiotic script, enjoy all the stretches that you want to do and most of all enjoy traveling without the security scanners going off.  Oh and Bill was my poster boy.  I watched him go through surgery with Dr r on Surface hippy and then I was ready to hit the table. 
Bill, Glad to hear that you are doing good and that your back is treating you better.  Have you been doing yoga?  I go see Dr R on the 16th, hoping to get some more green lights.     So 30 mile bike rides, do you have a road bike?  I have been riding my cruiser but only 6 miles a day.  Still so happy that I did the surgery.

[ScubaDuck]

Damn, you guys are all making me feel slow. I dealt with hip pain after hikes/walks/bike rides for years before I even asked a doctor to check it out. 

It was in December I found out I had OA.  It was January when the orthopedic surgeon told me it was bone on bone but to live it.  It was February when I found this site.  And August 1st before I had surgery. And today when I realized I don't have hip joint pain any longer.

I know the feeling Lori of finishing a hike (specifically the north coast trail on Kaua'i) and not being able to walk.  At the time I didn't know what it was.

Dan

[Boomer]

Seems like half the people say they waited too long and half say the knew when the time was right,


Thanks for the input

[hernanu]

And I did both.

I think in my case I tried a lot of other stuff first, had to overcome the feeling that I was too young for this, that it could be something else, and the inertia of having gotten so used to the pain and its restrictions that my urgency was less than it could have been.

Once I got to the amount of constant pain, the dislocation of one hip at random times, having given up everything but grimacing as I went up the stairs, etc... a long list of things I would never have put up with if it hadn't happened gradually. I knew it was time when my first surgeon looked at it and said ... either you do it now, or you'll need assistance to walk. Of course he was talking THR, but he knew where my deal was when he asked me to undo my shoe laces and it took me about five minutes to do it. It was pretty humiliating, when I had always been proud of my independence.

I was able to have resurfacing, which I am thankful for, although a MOM THR would probably have been a good, if lesser (IMO) option.

So I think you can know when the right time is, and consider your path there and say... I would have lost less time suffering if I had done this earlier.