Countdown Complete....On to Recovery

[patrick_d]

It’s official, I am now a Gross Surface Hippy!  Hip, hip hooray! :-)

The process went as smoothly as possible, just like everyone said it would with Dr. Gross, Lee Webb, and their staff.  Every person we came into contact with was extremely professional and friendly.  I know that has been said over and over again, but now that I have experienced it I can be another surface hippy to agree.

There we no complications with the surgery and Dr. Gross set the cup at a nearly perfect AIA of 32 degrees.  He did his work now it is my turn, just follow his instructions: exercises, walking, and lots of rest!

A few observations....

1. 6’4” tall people with low resting heart rates (mine is 44) are likely to get very lightheaded the first few times you stand up.  And it is quite a 3 ring circus when it happens while you are trying to take a quick shower.  Looking back on that it was very comically, me in my all-together and wet and soapy when I tell occupational therapist I am feeling faint and before you know it there are about 100 nurses (okay, maybe it was just 5) in the room trying to get me back in the recliner.  By the third try that afternoon of standing and walking with crutches I was fine.

2. No major pain, but I am not trying to tough it out.  Am following the recommendations exactly.  Even if those dumb pain pills make my skin itch.

3. I was a bit surprised at the soreness and bruising around my groin area.  I believe that is b/c Dr. Gross has to apply a fair bit of torque in that area to pop the joint open and of course it stretches all the surround muscles.

4. It takes a bit of practice to standup without leaning forward and breaking the 90 degree rule.  I think this may be especially true for tall folks.

That’s all for now.  I am sure I will have a few observations more over the next few weeks.

Later....Patrick

[Dannywayoflife]

Patrick congrats mate! Now stay chilled out don't try and rush back this is a longterm thing! Rest ice eat well and sleep!
Danny

[Pat Walter]

Great News Patrick!  Congratulations!  Just take it easy for awhile.  Let's us know how you are doing when you can.

Good Luck.

Pat

[Anna]

Congratulations Patrick. Welcome to your new life 

[Ross]

Way to go champ.  I will be in your same situation in 9 days with Dr Gross bilateral.  Would love to hear how you are progressing

[scolis0713]

Great news Patrick. Glad everything went well. I am on day 10 with my new hip from Dr. Mont.
Scott

[hernanu]

Excellent Patrick! welcome to the other side.

[OtterDriver]

Well done Patrick!

Imgetinold and I (and probably a few other guys) can share a bit of first hand advice...make sure the "plumbing" is pointed in the right direction when you're on the raised comode seat!

Try and enjoy your recovery.

Bruce

[Spanielsal]

Hey, congratulations now you are "a little bit metallic" take it easy and heal slowly but well.

[patrick_d]

Hi All -
Thanks for the well wishes.  I am trying to follow Dr. Gross's protocol exactly, realizing that this healing process is a marathon not a sprint.  But since I enjoy doing 24-30 hour adventure races, I understand being in something for the long haul!

Latest set of observations:

1.  It is really nice to have a wonderful wife to help me through this process.

2.  I have worked very hard to minimize swelling....taking the anti-inflammatory meds, keep my leg elevated as often as possible (including at night when sleeping) and use the ice machine often.

3. The elevated potty seat was a bit of a trial and error thing for me.  I am very tall and most of my height is in my legs, so getting to the seated position on the potty seat was challenging and a bit painful.  And then it was really not that much further off the regular potty seat (b/c we have one of the tall toilet) it really didnt help that much.  And getting all the plumbing aimed correctly was not easy.  So I switched to just having a walker located around our toilet and that seemed to work a bit better.  It is still not easy to get on, but at least the chances of messes is reduced.  Probably more than most of you wanted to know, but it might be helpful for other tall folks.

4.  I wish I had done a few more dips prior to surgery so my arms would have been more ready for this process.  I did lots of push-ups but more might have been better.

5. Ross - There was a guy who did a bilateral last week that was in our PT class.  He did one side on Monday and the other on Wednesday.  I must say I was very impressed by him, I am not sure I could have done it.  He was built much powerfully than me....bigger, stronger and shorter legs.  He muscled right through the PT and the stairs.  I am sure he was glad he was only going to have to go through this process one time.

More later....Patrick

[hernanu]

Good observations, Patrick. Post whatever you think helps, I'm sure there will be tall hippies that follow that will be interested.

Sounds like you're doing well. The first couple of weeks were challenging dealing with the toilet, but eventually the strength returns and you go on to other challenges and progress.

[Ross]

Patrick

How was the pain after surgery?  Did your wife stay in the hospital with you and if she did was she comfortable?  Anything you wished that you had brought but did not.  How does it feel to be over the hump? 

Best of Luck
Ross

[patrick_d]

Hi Ross -

The general pain after surgery was really minimal, Dr. Gross prescribes quite a cocktail of drugs that keep you pretty comfortable.  My surgery started between 1 and 2pm and it took until nearly 11pm for the spinal to wear off, so that makes for a low pain time.  The next day I did find that I could easily move my leg into positions (that did not break the 3 main restrictions) and yet still be in some pretty uncomfortable pain.  Again I think this may be partly b/c I has such long legs (37" inseams) and doing single leg squats on the good leg getting out of bed/recliner was a bit of a challenge.

The hospital rooms have both a recliner and a couch that pulls out into a twin size bed.  But having been in the hospital before I knew that my wife would get zero sleep that night if she stayed b/c a nurse or tech comes in about every hour or 90 minutes.  So I actually sent her over to her aunt & uncles that live in town to get some good rest so she could be fresh to drive me home the next day.  I would sort of recommend that.  You will be well monitored, completely taken care of, and fully medicated, so you will really be fine.  And if you need anything, push the nurse call button and they come right too you.  Wrap that nurse call remote device around the bed handle so if you drop it, you can pull it back.  Or as a last resort, unhook one of your EKG leads and they will show up immediately!

You really don't need to much gear at the hospital....I brought comfortable boxers, socks, tee-shirts and warmup type pants (sweat pants would do too).  And then my shoes were some trail running shoes with pull tight lacing, so they are easy to get on and someone else can get them nice and tight.  Oh, and a baseball hat or 2 is nice.  And be sure to bring you polar cooler to the hospital, they wrap  the pad around you after Lee sews you back up so you are ready for ice as soon as you are in your room.  And that cooler seems to take about 4-5 lb of ice, so you may want to stock up on a few bags at home before you head down for surgery.

One other duh-huh observation:  The first few nights at home I tried to get into my bed like I always do....from the side....and then rotate and pivot my legs and feet over onto the bed.  This movement was less than easy and somewhat painful.  And then I realized I could just sit at the foot of the bed and use my arms to lift and pull me back into place.  Doh!  Much easier, very little pain.....dont know why it took me 2 days to figure that out!

I have been really diligent with the ice machine and elevation and have very minimal swelling around my right hip and basically none below my hip.  The pain that I get in some positions still sort of surprises me, but even that is now reducing.  This is a long process and I very okay with a slow and steady pace.  It is a bit surreal to think that I now have a metal bearing in my body.  I did stand up completely straight a few time yesterday and today and before this surgery if I had done that my hip would have "caught" and caused me to slouch back down.  Am really looking forward to the future!

Hope this helps.   Shoot over any other questions.

[hernanu]

Patrick, you might want to try this if you need to get in from / to the side of the bed at some point.

• When lying in bed, put your non-surgery foot under the ankle of your surgical leg.
• Use your foot to support the ankle as you swing your body to face sideways.
• Support your surgical ankle while lowering your legs.
• Use the same motion to get back on, just reverse the body motions.

It helps until you get strong enough to swing that leg by its own.

[Jason0411]

I had the same issues with the raised seat. Ended up using the leg straight out in front technique on a normal toilet.
First time I tried the raised seat a lot of mopping up was required.

[Spanielsal]

  messy...... Must be a girl thing, raised seats!  Men was really helpful, not glamorous, but helpful.

[Spanielsal]

Duh...typing *mine* was really helpful....

[hernanu]

Men can be helpful too, Sal 

[Dan L]

Patrick;

Congrats on your new "toy", with proper care and feeding, sure to give you many years of fun.

Your approach to this stage sounds spot-on, stay head of the pain, get iced alot, follow the plan on what you should and should not do, and rest/sleep as much as possible.  Spousal support really makes a difference in this process, you are 100% correct on that.

Hern's suggestion on getting into/out of bed is exactly what I did and it made it super easy and not painful at all.  Some are given a "dog leash" (nylon-backed with wire with a loop at one end) also helps with moving the sore leg.

Although I'm not 6'4'', (6'1") I found that one hand behind me on the top of the toilet tank, the other on crutch (or walker in your case) will help ease you down to the throne.  The operated leg staying straight early on in that situation was a must.

Best regards going forward, please keep us posted on how it goes.

Dan

[Tin Soldier]

Congrats on your new "toy", with proper care and feeding, sure to give you many years of fun.

You talking about the raised toilet or the hip?

Congrats Patrick.  Rest, ice, rest, and more ice.