3 Days Post-Op w/Dr. Vail

[Doug J]

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all of your comments to my first post.  Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get back online after surgery, but the pain meds have kept me pretty light headed.  Besides that, and the occasional wave of nausea, I'm feeling good. 
Dr. Vail said the surgery went well; the device fit well, I had less blood loss than average and my bone density is great.  His chief resident said, "You had some gnarly osteoarthritis" and that it was obvious why I needed surgery.  My cartilage was completely gone, the femoral head was warped (more oval shaped than round) and I had a number of bone spurs.
I don't have much pain in my hip (I'm sure this has to do with the medication) and my range of motion is better than I would have thought.  I have swelling and bruising but it's not as bad as I expected.  I'm amazed that I can already walk with crutches and that I was able to get up and down stairs the day after surgery.  I know I have to find a fine balance of building stregth but not pushing too hard, but my new hip feels stable and hopefully I have a strong foundation for a quick recovery. 
The one frustration has been my light headedness.  I feel fine when I lie down but as soon as I sit up or stand, my head starts to feel funky.  It's not so bad where I think I am going to fall but it's keeping me in bed more than I would like.  Hopefully I can dial down the pain meds and that will help matters. 
Overall, I am really happy with the outcome and I'm more confident than before that a hip resurfacing was the right decision.  I know I have a long recovery road ahead, but I am looking forward to it.  Thanks again for all of your comments and I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress.
All the best,
Doug

[gibbcutter]

Glad to hear the good news.  The next step is to stay focued on the physical therapy.

Good luck.

[imgetinold]

Good luck.  I'll be interested in how quickly you can dial back the pain meds.  I hope I can wean off of them quickly when my time is up.

[hernanu]

Sounds like a good result, Doug. Like gibb says, now you can focus on the PT. That means you do the real hard stuff and hold back when they tell you to 

You'll know when to tone the meds down, everyone is different, but in the end, fairly quickly, things sort themselves out and you're off the meds. Good to know you're going well.

[ScubaDuck]

Doug-

Great report. 

I definitely pushed to get off the pain meds as quickly as possible even though I didn't have the symptoms you describe.  I would much rather deal with a moderate amount of pain as long as it doesn't prevent me from a therapeutic activity level. 

I dumped the Oxycodone 24 hours after surgery.  It was 84 hours before I got off the Oxycontin.  I think I could have stopped it earlier but was trying to be conservative.  It has only been acetaminophen as needed since.

My bruising got worse up to about a week.  First it was the outside during the first week and then it was the inside during the second week.  I still have some decent bruising on the inside of my knee.

Check out my blog since I am about three weeks ahead of you.  Fullmetalhip.wordpress.com

[got2newhips]

Doug, welcome to the other side!!  Don't worry too much about the light head - that will go away as soon as you drop the narcotic pain meds.  Hated those things.  They made me tired, light headed, sweaty and ITCHY!!!  I had bi-lateral a month ago; dropped the Oxycontin at 5 days, and the Nuycenta a couple of days after.  Light headed thing went away immediately, sweating and itching stopped a couple of days later.  Took 2-3 X-strenght tylenol a day for a couple of weeks after as needed, but don't take anything now.

Most important thing now is to listen to your doctor and your body.  Once the new hip is in, we're all ready to be recovered - protect your new hip now; you now have many years to enjoy getting your life back!! 

Richard

[AlanN]

Well done and welcome to the club!

As everyone says, you'll be fine once off the Opiod pain meds.
I was off them within 48hrs and only took 1000mg paracetamol every 4hrs for a week then nothing.
Everyone is different but you will be fine I'm sure!

Again, listen to your body and your doctor and you'll soon be well on the way.

Good luck!

[Tin Soldier]

Good Job Doug.  We weren't antsy to hear from you, not at all.

I think we're at almost the exact same time down to minutes or a couple hours in recovery.  I agree with everyone on the light headedness being related to the narcotics.  However, just by laying on your back for a few days and doing limited activity, your BP may not respond as quickly as it used to.  It may take a few more days to feel less weak in the head.  I stopped the narcotics at about 29 hours post-op when I left the hospital. I find that the the minor pain in the hip is way easier to deal with than upper abdomenal cramps from the oxy's.  Ice and acetaminophen is all I need, oh and a good little session of hospital-weight PT helps with the constant charlie horse and stiffness.

BTW - Nice blog.  I found having a blog was a good way for me to remember what happened last time, plus it's fun.   

[newdog]

Sounds good, Doug. Every day gets better. Like the others said, you'll feel better after the meds are out of your system.

[Doug J]

I switched my pain meds and the nausea and light headedness have disappeared...thank goodness!  I feel the pain in my hip a little more but I'll take that rather than dealing with dizziness.  I've been walking up and down the block and doing exercises at home.  So far the hip feels good.  I noticed a bit of "thunking" in my hip yesterday as I walked and shifted my torso, but I understand that's not uncommon and over the next few months, it should go away. 
Tin Soldier, I hope the pain subsides.  I am trying not to push too hard but I also want to get out of the house and walk as much as possible.  A fine balance.  Thanks for you kind words on my blog.  As you mentioned, it's been fun to create and has been an excellent way to keep friends updated.
DGossack, I checked out your blog prior to my surgery and it was helpful in giving me a sense of what to expect.  I'll continue to check in on your progress.  Great name, btw!
All the best,

[ScubaDuck]

Great news Doug.

I always to try to push the exercises and walking.  My athletic background has taught me that our bodies can generally take more than we give it credit.  I have also learned what is bad pain and good pain.  Even though I have pushed the limit somedays it has only taken an easy day to get back on track.

Thanks for the comments on the blog.  Being able to be a resource to other future hippies was one reason I created it.

Dan

[lori.36]

Doug, Happy to hear that all went well.  Please try to get of the pain killers, those things make me lightheaded.  Also whenever I was giving myself a shot I would get wousy.
Rest, drink water, Ice, and walk walk walk and ice ice ice.

Lori

[Tin Soldier]

Good job getting off the heavy stuff.  Nasty crap.  I have found that a decent cup of coffee in the morning helps get the joints and muscles working again.  I think the crookedness from walking around on crutches or a cane, makes the whole body have odd pains and muscles discomfort.  The baby PT helps too. 

[Doug J]

Thanks for the advice.  lori.36, I think I read in one of your earlier posts that walking was an integral part of your recovery.  I start PT next week but have started walking with crutches as much as the hip can tolerate.  I've almost entirely ditched the pain meds - they should be gone for good in a couple of days.

[Tin Soldier]

A lot of folks here say walking is the single best PT you can do.  I agree.

[ScubaDuck]

Walking is great.  My PT started me walking sideways which also is very good for short stretches.

What I am really loving is aqua jogging.  You can get good range of motion in the hip while getting exercise.  And there is no pounding.

I can't wait until I can start getting on the stationary bike once the 90 degree restriction is removed in a week and half.

Dan