Post surgery vacation - Should I cancel ?

[Mr.Box]

I have a yearly trip scheduled with a group of friends the weekend of the 28th, 29th, and 30th of September in Lake George, NY. We go camping at a place outside the area and we do a lot of relaxing and go into Lake George here and there. That particular weekend is the " Worlds Largest Garage Sale Event " and we might be doing a lot of walking around the town and maybe some mini golf. ( We are seriously a bunch of old women ).

I have my Bilateral hip surgery scheduled for the 14th of September and even though most common sense tells me to decline going to the trip, I would really like to go.

Would I be able at that time frame to 1. Walk around that much ? 2. Be okay with pain 3. Have my staples out ?

Any advice will be welcome. Even blunt comments about being crazy. Let me know if this is possible or should I just cancel.

[John C]

As you will read on this site, everyone heals very differently, so I can only speak about my own experience, which was only on one side. Your experience may be very different.
1. As far as walking around that much: At two weeks, I was still on crutches pretty much full time. I was taking about three walks (on crutches with very little weight bearing on my operated leg) a day, averaging 10 to 20 minutes followed by a nap each time. Even as a full time athlete, I found climbing in and out of bed to be challenging, and a soft recliner was the lone place of comfort. I cannot even imagine dealing with camping.
2. Pain. Many people are down to just Tylenol by that point, but there were also many of us who still needed narcotics for PT and sleeping. You may not be in much pain resting and healing in your recliner, but long walks around town may have a different result.
3. Ask your doc when he wants you back to get the staples out.
In my humble opinion, planning on that trip two weeks after a bilateral would qualify as crazy. Imagine that you are going to be in a car wreck in which both hips are going to be dislocated, and you will have deep lacerations through the area you walk with. Sorry, but thats my "blunt" version.

[Mike D]

Don't do it Mr Box.
I'd say that schedule would be too much even if you were only having one side done, but to try all that activity as a new bilateral is way too much, too soon.
I'm in the U.K, so I've no idea about how far away your trip is, but any chance of meeting you're mates up for one of the days?
Go with what your common sense is telling you-you can always make up for lost time next year!
Mike.

[Spanielsal]

Hi Mr Box, I'm day 15 of hip surgery, one side only and being a mini hip it's also a smaller incision.  My surgeon told me to expect a faster easier recovery than with resurfacing which I had on the other side a few years ago.

From my own experience, I could no more attempt your camping trip than fly to the moon right now.  I'm doing ok, keeping my exercises going, sleeping mostly through the night now with occasional wake ups to rearrange all of my 5 pillows in the bed and have moved hubby to the spare room too.  I could not sleep on a blow up or camping mat. 

We all heal at different rates and achieve wildly different things but I'm afraid I'm with John C on the car wreck, this is the time for self preservation, dedicate 6 months to concentrating on healing, re instructing your muscles and realigning your body. You won't regret the results

[rubyred]

Mr Box,

I'm 13 days post-op and like Sal has just said, I can't even walk to the end of our road and back let alone go camping! However we all heal quicker or slower than others but I would think long and hard about it. There will be other trips to go on and enjoy, but you only have one body...

I have a couple of days away planned in November and even i'm debating whether or not that's too soon!

[obxpelican]

I would skip that trip and do it next year, that would be too much 2 weeks post-op.



Chuck

[hernanu]

Mr Box, At two weeks my big adventure was going with my sister's family to Harvard Square, shopping for two hours on crutches, then sitting at my favorite Tex Mex restaurant.

Total was four to five hours, I was wiped out for the rest of the day and for then next couple of days I paid for it. Not too much extra pain, but very wiped out.

I'd skip it - no bed, everything is uneven, no set up rest rooms and a trip there and back. It sounds like a lot of fun, but you just wouldn't enjoy it.

[imgetinold]

Mr. Box, I am on the cancel bandwagon.  At two weeks I could walk a mile and was off all but Tylenol, but if I was on my feet for any length of time, the swelling would get out of control.  Plus, you'll need to be laying down and icing on-and-off all day (unless you want some misery).  Give your body the time it needs to recover, and you'll have more fun next year with two painless hips than you thought possible.

[Tin Soldier]

I'll be blunt, "you're crazy!"

No you're not, you're actually quiet sharp because you're asking all of us a really important question.  I would probably say go for it just for the heck of it.  That would be if you were only having one hip, and if you weren't camping (depending on your version of camping).  2 weeks for one hip, as most every one has stated, is still a time when you're on crutches, you're being pretty careful with hip, and with getting up and down, doing 3 sets of floor exercises a day, might be taking pain meds, icing a lot.  Getting some good daily crutching is good for you and the docs will want you to be moving, but milling about in the world's largest garage sale might be a bit much.  If it were outside your front door and you could go back to the easy chair anytime you wanted, that would be different.

You're doing 2 hips at once.  Based on what I've heard about recovery from bilat surgery, you might be having trouble just getting in and out of your chair at that point.

On the other hand, being able to feel like a human again, ya know like garage saleing all day long, is huge for your mental state during recovery. Good luck.

[Miguelito]

I only had one hip (four months ago) and I would not have been able to do it. My surgery is recent enough that I can (vaguely) remember how tough the first two weeks were. It was pretty rough. Finding a comfortable way to sleep even on my gloriously comfortable bed was difficult. I could not even imagine camping. Plus I was still on ice therapy (where would I get ice)?

I am very comfortable advising you to cancel. You won't be second guessing that decision post-surgery, I promise you. But I am sorry you won't be able to go. I remember how much my annual golf trip meant to me (immediately pre-surgery). I just got back, however, from it and I'm like, meh. I now fail to see what the big deal was.

Mike

[Woodstock Hippy]

If you really want to go on the vacation, pospone your surgery.  People do it all the time.  Go and enjoy yourself and then come home get your new hips installed and work on your rehab.  There is no way that you should be doing this trip 2 weeks after surgery.  Crazy?  Yes!

[Mr.Box]

I'm definitely not postponing after waiting almost 5-6 months for the consultation and setting up the surgery. Next available appointment is Dec / Jan and I'm not trying to walk around with new hips in snow.

I'm going to cancel my participation in the camping trip though. I've seen the resounding " You aren't going to feel well at that point " and I do have some sanity left.

I do however have another question since this forum seems to have more participation in it than most of the individual topics. Do you feel your implant after the surgery ? Or, do you feel like your hips are normal ?

[John C]

As far as feeling the implant after surgery, I would basically say no. If you experience the "clunking" that many of us did for the first few weeks/months or so, you will definitely experience that as a strange new sensation. Not everyone does, and of those that do, it 99.9% goes away. Short of the clunking, the actual joint felt nothing but better. What I think that everyone pretty much agrees on is that there is a lot of soft tissue healing, and this can lead to a lot of different little issues depending on how hard you push it. My guesstimate is that the joint often feels normal within a month or so, but the soft tissue is still healing for a couple of years, and you may be aware of that, depending on how hard you push the soft tissue.

[Woodstock Hippy]

'' Do you feel your implant after the surgery ? Or, do you feel like your hips are normal ?''

At first you'll feel your hip, not that you'll feel the implant, but the swelling or sore muscles.  Once it's healed you won't even notice it.  I'm at 8 months with bilaterals and my left lagged behind my right but right now no matter what I do, both sides feel fully recovered.

Good luck with your surgery.  It's right around the corner.  Who is your surgeon?  Where?

[Spanielsal]

Hi Mr Box, I second Woodstock, youll feel natural and great after a comparatively short time, particularly with no natural hip to compare it to. It is a shame that you have to cancel but if you are feeling good and it's not too far away you could always drop in for the afternoon, you'd be able to recuperate from the trip for the next couple of days.

By the end of each night my knees and incision are swollen like overripe tomatoes and I'm feeling cranky, you wouldn't get many verses of "cum by ah" from me round the campfire!! 

[Miguelito]

That's a great question, and one I had before surgery too. It's hard to believe pre-surgery that an implant could be placed in your body and you not be able to tell, but I'm at four months (after surgery) and it feels completeley normal (not counting minor pain/numbness if I push at the incision site).

And i agree with whoever mentioned clunking. Clunking doesn't feel normal, but mine was minor and only lasted a few weeks.

My leg is still weaker than the other (it was before surgery too, but not this much) but the hip really feels completely normal, no foreign sensation, no anything. I haven't tried to do any serious stretching or anything, though, a possible caveat.

Mike

[David]

I think you are making the correct choice to cancel your trip.  If you were having one side done, then maybe, but not with two.  Especially camping, much uneven ground, etc.
Good luck to you with your surgery and recovery.

[kamoynsgi]

Glad to hear that you have decided not to go camping.  It is really tempting to try and do all the normal activities that you had planned pre surgery.  I do sympathise, August was meant to be a big celebration time for me but you will have plenty of opportunities when your are fully recovered.

I'm two weeks post op today and can't imagine the journey let alone 3 nights away from my 'nest'.

Ka

[Mr.Box]

I posted on my other topic about how much this forum has meant to me and my decision on having my surgery. It's helped me pick an excellent doctor and talk about everything that has lead up to my choices.

To answer your question Woody, I'm scheduled Sept 14th at HSS in NYC with Dr. Edwin Su. I'm having BHR's in both hips.

Again, thank you to everyone who has posted! I'm actually curious if there is anyone on the forums that have had a Bilateral with Dr. Su and what their experiences were.

[23109VC]

skip it.

I had my hip resurface last year and at about 6 weeks I went to Disneyland.  I took my cane...I was pain free when I went and by the end of hte day my hip ached and it was sore for a good 3 weeks....  in retrospect, I wish I hadn't gone...

you can do the trip next year.  if you hurt something, you will kick yourself for pushing yourself too soon.