8 days post-op!

[rlm869]

hello all, sorry it has taken me so long to write. i have been resting a lot and to my surprise, not wanting to be on the computer at all. this is very unusual for me!

i am doing great and wanted to share my experience with the my fellow surface hippies. first a little background info:

i have a congenital hip dysplasia that the doctors said i would grow out of. unfortunately, i never did and dealt with varying degrees of pain throughout my life. it started to get worse in my 20's but again it was come and go, so i didn't really pay much attention to it. i was overweight most of my life, which more than likely contributed to the wear and tear. i lost 45 lbs. at age of 27 and felt better than ever, little to no hip pain. i finally got a diagnosis of beginning stages osteoarthritis with some bone cysts around the age of 32. i continued to run, hike and bike and at the age of 35 joined a roller derby team.

well, at the age of 36 it all go the best of me, it seemed as if it happened overnight. i completely lost all flexiibility in my right leg and could barely reach to tie my shoe. pain increased to the point that i finally had to start taking meds and i began speaking to an orthopedic surgeon. this surgeon in houston believed he had a quick fix for me. his original review of my x-ray showed and impingement, probably from running, and his belief was that fixing that would rid me of most pain and give me a few years before i would have to think about replacement. he called me the saturday before a monday surgery and said upon further review of a recent ct scan that his plan was not going to work. that my best bet was to live with the pain until i could not stand it then get a replacement. i started doing research and found out about resurfacing, which he said was all hogwash and that there was no good data backing up it's reliability.

well, here i am 2 years later in another city and happier than ever! the first day after surgery, i was wondering if i had made the right decision, but now i KNOW i made the RIGHT decision. i am amazed every day by how much stronger i feel and how much more movement i already have than before surgery.

i went in at 9am monday, march 24th. i chose an epidural and they put me in a twilight sleep. the last thing i remember is a nurse swabbing my leg and feet with betadine. i was in my room by 2pm feeling little pain. about 5pm the physical therapists came to try to get me up, but that was a bad idea considering the epidural, i almost passed out with a blood pressure lower than i have ever had in my life. tuesday i was up and at 'em. i started with a short walk around my bed to a chair which i sat in for a while. a little later i walked around my room. starting wednesday i was walking down the hall and thursday i learned stairs. friday i came home and made it up the two flights of stairs to my apartment with flying colors.

i have had some pain, but it has not been nearly what i expected and it's not the same pain i had before. most of the pain and tenderness is the incision area. i have a lot of stiffness when i first get up from bed or sitting, but my range of motion is unbelievable to me. my angle of abduction on the operated leg is already at least 15 degrees more than it was before surgery.

this being my first surgery and first hospital stay ever, i was very anxious and nervous. the hospital was amazing, christus santa rosa medical center in san antonio. the nurses, and all the staff are so nice and willing to help at all times. my surgeon was dr. john evans of the san antonio orthopedic group, i think i might be number 60, so he is still under 100, but he is very good and has been in practice for a long time. his nurse, chris madrid is also an amazing individual, who instilled confidence in me from the first time i met her.

thank you pat for this website and thanks to everyone who answered my questions!

i have my post-op appt. next wednesday and will give an update then. if anyone has questions, feel free to email me!

rebecca
evans
3/24/08 rbhr

[Pat Walter]

Congratulations Rebecca

Sounds like you are doing well.  You will be really stiff for a long time.  Your body has a lot of healing to do. Think, however, of what a great summer you are going to have!!!  No pain, walking, riding a bike - doing pretty much what you want to do again.

Have fun.  Stay in touch.

Pat

[Clarkefan]

Hey, Newbie, sounds like you and I are in similar situations (though at 42, I may be just a few years older). I had nearly identical problems (apart from my torn labrum). The only difference in my hospital experience was a rather bad reaction to the pain medication, which had me suffering about two days of nausea.

I'm now on day 6, about to start PT at home, and looking forward to seeing what I can and can't yet do. My muscle pain is perhaps a bit more significant than you're describing (but I probably did a little too much walking the past two days). It's hard to remain seated with two girls running around the house.

I'm now down to about 3 Percocet a day (morning, noon, and bedtime), but I'm checking on switching to Advil as soon as advised by my Doctor. I could probably make it on one prescription pain pill in the evening.

Transitioning to one crutch was a big help in moving around the house, and I'm anxious to talk to the therapist about how soon I can just use a cane. I am deceptively stable and feel that I could walk around the house without an "assistive device", but don't want to do any damage and end up at square one.

My next major hurdle is getting back to the gym and hitting the weight rack and upper body exercises -- with my 25th high school reunion in July, I'd like to look as "Buff" as possible.

Keep me in the loop on your progress here. I'd like to compare notes with someone more or less "in my shoes" (or should I say T.E.D. stockings).

[rlm869]

hi there clarkefan,
yeah, i found myself a little nauseous with the morphine, but i just didn't use the pump that much. honestly, i didn't really have much pain except after physical therapy. it was rather surprising.

my doc has a strict schedule of 6 weeks on 2 crutches. although it is irritating going up and down stairs and not being able to get around so fast, i am going to respect it because that bone has been through a lot. i want to keep the chance of neck fracture as low as possible. i certainly don't want to be back in surgery. your extra muscle pain could be due to a higher muscle mass as well.

i guess my next goal is just to get back to the gym period. i am looking forward to being able to work out with no hip pain...something i have not done for several years.

oh, don't get me started on the TED stockings! i told the nurse i actually liked them the first day i had them on; she said "let me hear from you in 6 weeks!".

yes, keep me up to date on your progress, i think we are the two most recent grads to the hippy club.

rebecca

[Clarkefan]

Just an observation. I tried to do the prescribed physical therapy session on my own today (I'm at home alone for about 6 hrs a day), and may be paying the price. Ouch. I hate not doing the recommended program -- don't want to slow my recovery, but it's not something I can effectively manage without some help. Will wait until the family is home before attempting round 2.

 

[Marilyn]

Hi,

Dr John Evans also did my surgery on April 21, 2008.  I am VERY pleased with my results and also with his nurse Chris Madrid who has been wonderful.  I would not change a thing!!!  I was 48 years old at the time of my surgery. 

I had been in constant pain for about 1.5 years prior to surgery.  I have rheumatoid arthritis and was misdiagnosed with sciatic nerve pain for a while and went through PT prior to having x-rays performed which showed the severe damage to my right hip (most likely from a skateboarding injury from years ago).  I was basically bone on bone - something about hearing your bones scrape together is VERY disheartening!  I was told by many people to wait and have the surgery when I was older as I would have to repeat the surgery.  I just couldn't see myself sitting around waiting to get older, while I felt so old already and could not do many of the things that I enjoyed.  My hip would hardly hold me up and I was limping very severely, which really puts a lot of stress on your back.  I was having to take pain meds and did not want to live this way.   My right leg was shorter and smaller than the other (which is all better now). 

My rheumatologist referred me to Dr. Evans.  He told me about the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing.  If my bones were in good shape, I would be an excellent candidate, especially with my young age  Now, that made me feel really good!

Everything went very well and I was in the hospital for 4 nights and received excellent care at the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Northwest Hospital in San Antonio!  I had much less pain after surgery than before (with the exception of surgical pain, which was very minimal).  I was the first patient at my Physical Therapy clinic to have this surgery, so I had to do some educating with them to make sure I received the proper care and rehab.  I have been very proud to share my story with anyone that is experiencing pain and want to make sure they are aware of all of their options. 

I am so happy and feel great at 3 months post-op (today in fact)!!!!  I look forward to a whole new lease on life with my new hip.  I love this website and I would be honored to call myself a "surface hippy".  Thanks Pat for the wonderful website!!!  You did a great job!  I just found you today and look forward to reviewing the postings and information on this site!

Marilyn Cave