In January of 2013 I felt like I pulled a groin playing basketball. Prior to that I was in the best shape of my life having done P90X, Insanity a couple of Olympic Triathlons and a half marathon. I played through the groin pull as I had done with many other injuries I had suffered in the past until one night when I finished playing basketball, came home and couldn’t walk up the stairs. I knew it was no longer a groin pull. I went to an orthopedic who took an x-ray and right away said I had arthritis. I tried some physical therapy and took a steroid shot which did not help. I went to a hip replacement specialist who said I was a good candidate but too young at 43. This spurred me to look into other options and that is when I found hip resurfacing. Further research found Dr. Su and while it took four months to get an appointment with him I feel it was well worth it up to this point. I was able to schedule surgery within two months of that appointment.
I had my left hip resurfaced by Dr. Su at the Hospital for Special Surgery on November 1st so today I am five weeks post surgery. I was the first surgery of the day on the first and had to be in the hospital before sunrise. I'm not a morning person but it worked out very well with an easy commute and no issues parking in a local garage. All of the staff at the HSS were very helpful and did their best to answer my questions and keep my mind at ease.
I was scheduled for 830 am and went into the OR right on time. I woke up a couple hours later in the recovery room and my father came in and let me know Dr. Su informed them that everything went as he had hoped. My only real complaint during my entire stay at the HSS was being stuck in the recovery room for over four hours waiting for a room while others around me came went into their rooms. This was a problem because you are only allowed one visitor for 15 minutes every two hours so I had family who made the long trip in and couldn't get in to see me. The hospital did try and make up for the mix-up by paying for my phone and television during my stay.
I was up using a walker and then crutches at 6 pm that night which went well despite the fact that I was in a fair amount of pain and discomfort. I went into the hospital on Friday morning and was told that I would most likely be discharged on Sunday afternoon. I was aware that the New York City marathon was on Sunday and that it goes very close to the HSS which would affect the ability to get in and out of the hospital for a good part of the day on Sunday. I asked Dr. Su about going home at some point on Saturday and he told me that if I felt ok and if the physical therapist OK’d me to use the crutches that I could go home. I let the therapist know that and she went the extra mile to make sure I was ready to leave on Saturday. She signed off on me and I was discharge on Saturday at 2 pm, 32 hours after surgery.
The 1 ½ hour ride home in the car was very uncomfortable and getting into and out of the car was difficult. The first couple of days were tough and sleeping was not easy. I used the pain meds for the first three days and was unable to stop using them after that. I had a physical therapist come to my house for the first month which I would recommend as it saves you from having to go to an outpatient facility in the beginning.
The therapist gave me exercises and stretches to do three times a day which I would recommend you stay on top of even if you are uncomfortable. This has definitely helped speed up my recovery. I stayed on crutches for the first two weeks and switched to one crutch for week 3. I have been off the crutches since then and getting around with a little limp. I still have issues going up and down stairs but am able to use the handrail to help me out. I was driving in week three and getting into and out of the car has gotten a lot easier. I have been able to get on a stationary bike and ride 15-20 minutes a couple of times in the past week.
I saw Dr. Su this past week for my one month follow-up. I took the train and subway and was able to walk the half mile from the subway to the doctor’s office with no real problems. A new X-ray was taken and Dr. Su said the x-ray and incision looked good. He gave me four new stretches to do which are more difficult than anything I have done since the surgery but are essential to getting my range of motion back. I start outpatient physical therapy on Monday and go back to Dr. Su in February. Will post a new update then.
Topic: Rob's Left Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Su November 2013 (Read 5160 times)
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