It's now 12 days post surgery and time to write something. First, I'd like to again thank Pat for this site - don't know where I would have been without it, particularly as I started the process. Second, and from an admittedly biased source, if you need to do both hips - get them done at the same time. From everything I can see, the first couple of days may be a bit tougher, but the rest of the process is very similar. One surgery, one rehab, two hips - seems like a much easier and faster process.
As fellow bilats, I particularly enjoyed Michelle and Kani's story. Despite Michelle's insistence that each case is different, her speedy recovery was an incredibly useful yardstick (challenge) for me. I think I've been pretty fortunate from a pain management perspective. Once off the epidural, I kept waiting for the pain to appear, but it never really showed up, so I used a Percocet to help me sleep for a few nights, but have been on Tylenol only since about my fourth day. No swelling, and the only real pain was caused by overdoing it on the exercises. The original plan was for me to spend a few days in a rehab facility after 3 days in hospital, but my doctor and PT team liked the progress enough that they let me go straight home - something I'd recommend to anyone who has help at home. Starting on a walker, I quickly graduated to two crutches and I'm now down to one crutch used to balance my slightly weaker right hip. In fact, if my right hip was as strong as my left I think I'd be walking without any support at all (Michelle - thanks again for mentioning that each hip will tell its own story).
Must have equipment - crutches, a toilet seat, a reclining seat parked in front of the TV and a plastic urinal. I had amazing support from my wife and don't like wearing socks anyway, so didn't need any of the grabbing tools. There are lots of great exercises to challenge yourself with, but the best advice I got was simply to walk, walk then walk some more. Much to my surprise, I really appreciated the walker for the first couple of days. It was very stable platform, and you can easily vary the degree to which you use it for support. While it was liberating to get on the crutches, the walker was actually very useful in those early days.
My surgeon was Dr. Vail at UCSF (San Francisco) and I couldn't recommend him more highly. His low key approach was perfect for me and it certainly looks like he got it right. Based on the surgical times referenced on this site, his technique may take a little longer, but he does everything possible to preserve the muscles around the hip and I feel as if this helped a lot post-op (this may be standard, but it didn't seem so).
Back to work tomorrow (desk job so no big deal). Thanks Pat.
Topic: A very satisfied (so far) bilateral resurfacing customer (Read 2526 times)
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