10 Days Out

[gfunk309]

Greetings hippies!  I've been lurking for a while but wanted finally get involved in the discussion.  I wanted to know if any younger folks are out there and what their experience was like.  I am a 36 yo male with pretty bad FAI.  I just saw Dr. Gross on Tuesday and am scheduled for a cementless biomet on 10/7/13- I was able to drive down early for my pre-op from NC.

I had an arthroscopic labral tear debridment that also showed Grade IV chondramalacia (bone on bone) in 2009 on my left hip.  In April of this year, all the same pain from before the scope came back and in 1 month I went form working out 6 days per week to working out 2-3 days/week.  Now I have a bad limp and from 5 pm on I can't really bend over.  I feel way too young for this and I was in pretty good shape before this.  I went to a hip FAI specialist, Stubbs, at Wake Forest and he said there was nothing he could do since I had the debridement and was bone on bone.  He recommended Gross, so here I am!

I am 6'2" 225 llbs. with really good bone density.  I seem to heal pretty fast, so I am hoping for a speedy recovery.  I am just really nervous because I don't want to be a burden to my wife who is pregnant- by the way we have a 2 yo as well.  I guess what I am tryin to ask is that after a week or two, can I do things like put my son to bed, help make dinner, put away the upper dishes (I know no bending for 6 weeks)?  I feel like having young kids just makes the whole process that much more complicated. Oh, and I am scheduled for the right hip in December, too. 

Didn't mean to babble.  I am just ready to get this pain in the butt out of my butt- not mentally ready for the aftermath quite yet!  Would appreciate any thoughts or comments!

[oldsoccerplayer]

Hi gfunk309,
Welcome to the club!
If you're anywhere near the Charlotte region in NC send me a message and I can give you a bunch of post-op paraphernalia and save you some money. The ice pumps they sell you at Dr. Gross' clinic are expensive. I bought mine on ebay for about 1/3 of the cost and it's packed up ready to be reused.
I think you should avoid lifting the kids for a while. I don't think there is a  way of predicting how soon you'll be ready for those other activities. You might want to look for a Plan B (friend, family, neighbors) for helping with the kids just in case. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself by trying to do too much too soon - that would mean an even greater burden on your wife.

[gfunk309]

Thanks Oldsoccerplayer!  I already purchased that stuff at my pre-op, luckily my insurance covered everthing except the polar ice machine.  I think I read your story recently- I assume everthing is still going well!  My parents will be here the first week and my wife's will be here the second, after that we are on our own.  There is only one day per week that I would need to put my son to bed, so I am working on a plan for that.  Am getting a bit nervous as I am a week out.  I rationalize it by thinking about how if I do nothing, my hip will hurt forever, whereas if I do something and get through the first couple of months, I'll feel a lot better.  Are you back to playing soccer?  I used to play soccer, basketball, and flag footbal quite a bit until 2009.  Went to just basketball 1 day per week until April of this year.

[Staggerwing]

Hi, gfunk309,

I'm a bit older than you but still a young 48 years old.  My surgery isn't until Nov. 8th with Dr. Brooks, Cleveland Clinic, but like you, I go through periods of excitement and then anxiety.  I use the same rationalization, if we don't do anything, the trend will only be down hill with more pain and less mobility.  We really don't have a choice.  And I think everyone on here will tell you they felt the same way.  The great thing is the vast majority of those that have had this procedure will tell you it is not that bad and once we are healed and get that first year behind us, it will be great! 
Still, as each day passes and "the day" gets closer, I get more and more nervous about it.  But I know the pain will be over soon and we can get on enjoying life!  Good luck to you and please post our experience with surgery as soon as you can!

Nathan

[brianebanta]

Hi Gfunk,

I am 39 and had my RBHR on 5/21/13 and extremely grateful that I did.  I was very lucky to have a speedy recovery due to a few things:

1. I was young, in good shape and ate healthy before the surgery
2. I took it very easy for the first couple of weeks

Here comes the big one...

3. I asked for help, and accepted the help that was given.

This was a big mental block for me to get over.  I asked work for help ( a whole month off ), asked my ex-wife for help (more help with the kids), asked friends (drive me to dr. appointments), asked my parents to come stay for a while.  All of this allowed me to focus on one thing only.... resting and healing.

In the grand scheme of things it is only a few weeks, soon enough the crutches will be in the closet and you will be back to putting the dishes away.

-Brian

[oldsoccerplayer]

To answer your question: I'm not allowed to play soccer until January which is 6 months post op.
The schedule for a fast track recovery is very light exercises, basically just flexing the leg muscles and as much walking as you can for the first 6 weeks.
6 weeks to 6 months, you can participate in any activity that does not break these three restrictions:
1. No lifting greater than 50 pounds routinely (leg lifts, no limits on upper body)
2. no impact loading such as jumping or jogging (soccer falls into this category!)
3. no deep squats.

At about 8 weeks out I can say that even if nothing improves from now on, I'm still in better shape  than I was pre-op. I can reach down to my toes (finally!), and all sorts of things that were painful before have stopped hurting. I'm discovering there were things I didn't do, or made excuses about not doing while my hip was hurting.
It's not easy staying off the soccer field, I've been doing leg strengthening exercises at the gym, keeping within those restrictions, and feel healthy enough to start back but I've been sternly warned by other Hippies and my surgeon's nurse to restrain myself - and I can't argue with that 

[hernanu]

Good luck today Gfunk! Let us know how it went.

[gfunk309]

Sitting in my room.  Not much to do for getting into a comfortable position.  The spinal and other med's seemed to wear off around 4 (surgery at 10) and I got a ridiculous cramp in my quad that spread to back of my leg- extremely painful!  Got up to walk it out with PT and seemed to help but got worse after sitting back down (went way down hall and back but got nauseous and lightheaded, had to sit immediately.  Wasn't expecting post op pain to that degree, cried like a baby.  I'm not too familiar with Nucynta, but it does nothing for me, apparently.  Needed a flexoril (muscle relaxer) and a shot of morphine to get comfortable.  Was able to nap while my wife went and had dinner and walked a bit.  I am hoping cramp pain subsides because I would like to go home to tomorrow.  Good news is hip joint feels good.  Anyone else have cramps in leg post op?  Hope I didn't babble. 

[gfunk309]

Pain and cramping have been subsiding overnight.  Finally got enough pain management to get it where I thought it should be- back of leg/butt near incision.  Have had 3 good sleeping sessions (1-3 hours each without waking).  I am anxious to see Dr. Gross and Lee in the morning to hear their take on the surgery.  Dr, Gross talked to my wife after surgery and he seemed to think it went well.  Apparently, the visual inspection of cartilage was only bad (bone on bone) on one side/edge of socket,  he said he typically sees more even distribution of wear in other patients with fAI.  From one to 10 (10 being worst cartilage and one being very good carliage, I was at a 5-6, whereas he said he averages seeing 8-9.  Consequently. I may not get as much near term satisfaction.  However, at six weeks I should be able to judge the improvement better.  The 8-9's have a more immediate wow factor.  He said he may want to reevaluate my right hip situation at my 6 week to see if I really need the right side done.  Will be posting again soon as have plenty of free time.  Time to sleep some more!  Take care hippies!!!

[Juno]

Gfunk --- congratulations on your new hip. Dr. Gross did my right hip 13 weeks ago and I am having my left hip done on December. This immediate postop period you are in is rough  -- no question! Take it easy, let your body heal and do what they tell you!

I have severe muscle cramps about 5 days post op. It was so awful that I had my husband take me to the ER. After several hours, IV fluids, two shots of morphine and Flexeril, I was finally comfortable and pain/cramp free. When I called Lee the next day to alert her about my ER visit, she and Dr. Gross put me on 5 days of Flexeril. She even said that they will put me me on it immediately after my next surgery. She said it's not uncommon to have muscle cramping, but generally it is not severe and subsides quickly.

Do your best to get comfortable. Ice like crazy. Elevate your leg as much as possible and take your meds as needed.

Best of luck!
Juno

[whyme]

I got some muscle spasms while in bed at night, they usually lasted 1-2 seconds and went from the lower back all the way down through the leg. Now at almost 5 weeks post surgery it happens less often and are less painful.

[gfunk309]

Well, I am 10 days on the other side and thought I'd give an update.  So far so good after starting out with a couple of bad days post op.  All the cramps and spasms really caught me off guard, but they seem to be in the past.  As of day 7, I stopped pain meds and muscle relaxers and moved from 2 crutches to a cane.  I did one crutch partially for a day or two, but just got tired of them being in the way.  I tried the cane and it went over very well.  I have even taken a few steps without the cane by accident while in the kitchen- no big deal.  I seem to improve each day and hope to be back at work on day 21.  I am so bored and feel like I am missing out on too much at work and here at home with my kid.  Most of the time I am in a recliner watching whatever happens to be on, which is usually crap.  I went out yesterday for the first time to hobble around a playground and watch my son play.  I lasted about 15 min standing, then had to get into the car and "sit".  One thing I have found difficult and one reason I haven't been out much is that I can't get in or out of a car easily.  Even with the seat all the way back and reclined, it is hard to get my foot in.  I am 6'2" and wear a size 13/14 shoe, so my body, legs and feet are longer than the average person.  The amount I have to bend my knee to get my foot in is very close to 90 degrees and my "area" lets me know it.  Anyone else have this problem?  Other than that, my incision is healing nicely and the bruises are nearly gone.  Also, the swelling is almost completely gone.  One thing for sure, I don't feel anything in my hip, which is good and weird as it has hurt for a long time.  Mostly what I feel is soreness and weakness around incision and involved muscles- maybe a little knee pain (I think that is related to the limp and will resolve).  Hope all is well in the hippy universe).

[oldsoccerplayer]

How are you getting into the car seat? Try first sitting sideways with both feet outside then swinging around 90^o.

[hernanu]

One thing that helped me in getting in and out of my car was to raise the seat, gave me more clearance to get in, less knee bend, then lower it to comfort.

Only was an issue for a couple of weeks, until the hips got strong enough to handle getting in more naturally.

[gfunk309]

I do the swing around 90 they showed me when leaving Providence Hospital.  Unfortunately, my toes are about 2 inches past the point at which it gets hard to get them in.  Also, I think its easier in the morning; in the afternoon I can feel the fatigue of the day set in. 

Old soccer player (and others): when did your soreness subside? when did you go without cane? am I crazy for hoping I can do some normal things at 6-8 weeks once I get 90 clearance?  when did you sleep on your side?  Getting closer but not quite there?

[oldsoccerplayer]

I was about 2 weeks before I got off the cane but I think my recovery was faster than the average. The soreness comes and goes, it might hurt somewhere one day, then stop and then the next day there'll be soreness somewhere else. At 10 days out it's too early to worry about anything other than doing the phase 1 exercises you got from Dr. Gross and walking as much as is comfortable. I'm nowhere near your height so can't really help with getting into the car other than thinking you should do it as little as possible, and it seems like the fatigue is not unusual as the day wears on.
I did my post-op checkup at 7 weeks and other than the limitations of not doing any impact exercises (jogging, jumping) until 6 months out, I feel like I'm pretty much back to normal. I've learned from this site that everyone heals at his / her own pace, I think I'm one of the more lucky ones, so I wouldn't stress about the pace of your recovery. Dr. Gross' staff is really helpful and you can call and talk to Lee or Nancy if you have any questions or just need reassuring - I did!

[Juno]

Gfunk --
I started using the cane at about 2 1/2 weeks and returned to work at 3 1/2 weeks. I kept using it to insure my gait was steady and I wanted to elminate any limping quickly. I walked into Dr. Gross' office at 5 1/2 weeks for my check up and Lee basically told me to ditch the cane! She remarked I was doing better than I thought and I didn't need it. Once I was given that reassurance, it was as if walking just became easy. No limp and no issues.

13 weeks now and I just returend from walking 4-6 miles a day around Disney World and had no issues.

BUT, let me stress that even now at 13-14 weeks there is a "new normal". Everyday I hope to be back to my old pre-OA normal and I am not there yet. Hubby keeps telling me I need to give it 6-12 months. I'm impatient. But, I have no OA pain and it is so much better than pre-surgery.

So here's normal for me now:
-about 9-10 weeks when I suddently realized I was getting into the car one leg at a time instead of doing the sit and pivot the whole body to get in.
-at 9 weeks could just start sitting criss-cross on the floor, but it hurt. Now at 14 weeks I can sit that way, but prop my butt up on a pillow for support.
-8 weeks balancing on the surgical leg got better, but I would still hold on for support. At 14 weeks I can balance unassisted.
-13 weeks can just now lay on floor and do a 3 point leg cross. It's purposeful though. I have to make my leg go into that position. It's not insitictive.
-12 weeks can finally get into a lunge position and do pulsing lunges  -- again I have to think about it though.
-8 weeks I was taking a 60 minute spin class....wasn't until 10 weeks that I felt good standing out of the saddle.
-14 weeks I still cannot comfortably cross my operated leg over the unoperated while seated. The ROM is just not totally there yet. Yes, I can do it, BUT again it doesn't feel comfortable.

My ROM is only at about 70% were it was pre-OA. It doesn't help that my unoperated side has really deteriorated. I am taking this as 18 month commitment and hope by this time next year I'll be 100% on both sides! Every night I lay on the floor in front of the TV and still do my level 2 exercise and work on stretching. Even just sitting criss-cross for 10 minutes at a time helps.

I burnt the inside of my arm (2 inch burn -- no bid deal) taking a hot pan out of the oven. I did it three weeks ago and the scab just fell off, the area is just now not tender and the skin is just now starting to heal. I need to remember this and how it takes the body time. If a 2 inch burn that was not a big deal takes 3-4 weeks to heal, then no wonder a huge surgery like a HR takes 6-12 months!

You will get there! It's a work in progress

[gfunk309]

Thanks for the insight Socc and Juno!  Nice to hear about possible expectations.  Juno, sounds like you had a wonderful vacation- very jealous.  It will be great to be able to do 3-4 miles a day, hopefully, in a couple of months.  My staycation here at home is wearing on me- apparently I would be an excellent player of The Price is Right!  I always wanted to take a week or two vacation and stay at home and chil-lax, but I feel now that it is highly overrated, either that or I need to a least be productive a few hours a day while at home.  Am now using cane for balance only and sometimes will do some stuff in the kitchen without the cane.  My plan is to go back to work next Monday (originally was going back today, but realized another week was necessary), so I hope this next week will get me off the cane, though I will take it with me just in case.  Have been noticing some butt and hamstring pain with occasional behind the knee pain.  I suppose this is all normal in the healing process.   I feel like one day is good, then I over do it, then the next day I ice and lay around more than usual thinking "I won't do that again", then I feel good again.  An seemingly endless cycle.

[gfunk309]

Hi all- it's been a while but I wanted to give an update.  I am 1 month out (4.5 weeks/31 days) today.  My how time began flying!  I went from crutches to cane at day 7 and went "caneless" at day 21.  My big turning point was around day 15 when I left the house by myself, for the first time, to drive to pick up dinner.  It was hard but the independence really motivated me.  I still have a slight limp but can fake it if I have to.  Most folks I see at work (came back at 3 week mark) are truly amazed that I can walk around like nothing traumatic happened 4 weeks ago.  All of the hip pain from before surgery is gone, now I just deal soley with the muscles healing.  Lots of clucnks and pops but nothing too bad.  I even find myself getting into the car the normal way, which is a big deal for me.  I cannot wait until the 90 rule is lifted because I really want to put on a sock normally, which is the last thing I need an implement from the "kit" for.  In a week and a half that is lifted and I am sure it will take a few weeks to manage that contortion but I am ready for the challenge.  I walk a lot now and was able to get out for my son's first halloween around the neighborhood.  So all in all, my spirits are good and I hope to continue the pace I am on. 

I will have a roadblock in December.  I have decided to cancel my right hip resurfacing and am having it scoped instead.  I was able to get 4 years of relief from the scope on my left hip, so I am hoping for the same.  Honestly, I cannot put my wife through this again while she is pregnant.  I feel those first 2-3 weeks were hard on her and with the scope I'll be back at work in 3-4 days walking around normally within 5-7 days.  It is a "band-aid" type fix, but if I can get my kids to a more managable age, then let my righ hip go bionic, I feel it will be smoother and easier for everyone.  Hopefully, Dr. Gross doesn't retire in the next 5 years.     

[hernanu]

Good news and nice recovery! 

It's nice to get back to the things (especially the small ones like getting in and out of the car smoothly) that you left behind.

Only you know the right time to do any surgery and if you can and want to get some time for the next, it's all good.

The only thing to keep track of is that the damage being done to your right is limited. There is a point beyond which you are more suited to a THR, so keep track and let your surgeon guide you about that if you want an HR.

Otherwise, excellent report and congrats on your upcoming addition!