Hola, all - update post -op. Flew to NC on Nov 12th, did all the pre-op work at Dr. Gross' office on the 13th and then goofed off for the weekend. Got to the surgery center Monday the 17th on time, there were 5 hips scheduled that day and I was #4. They were having some equipment issues, so a pretty long delay before surgery. I'm one of those who declines all drugs until absolutely necessary, so a stressful day ... went in to the OR about 1:30, I remember sitting up for the spinal and nothing more until waking up about 4:30. The surgery took a little longer than expected, lots of damage in the joint but Dr. Gross was happy with the outcome. So much so that instead of the slow recovery program I was on last time I was upgraded to the fast track; 2 weeks on crutches and 2 more with a cane. I use trekking poles instead, they work better for me. I was up and about by 6 pm and back at the hotel by 8 pm with no pain. Ate a light dinner and spent a lot of time on the ice machine. Home health nurse came by and was happy. Decent night's sleep.
Dr. Gross and the nurse both came by hotel the next morning and everybody was happy except my glut muscles which had to abruptly learn new angles and were NOT happy. Lots of cramping but moving around and stretching helped. I accused Dr. Gross of whacking me in the butt with a baseball bat
which is about what it felt like!
No pain meds after the mandatory 3-day long acting Nuycenta, which I didn't need. Lots of sitting around in the sun, lots of water, all the exercises. Nurse and Dr. Gross stopped by the second morning at the hotel and released me until 6 week follow up.
8 hours of flight time home with one connection was by far the worst of the whole thing. Lots of swelling but a day on the ice machine pretty much took care of that. Tylenol only along with the prescription anti-inflammatories.
I'll be back at work tomorrow, my job allows me to schedule office time so I've basically blocked the next four weeks to be either in the office or in training classes rather than in the field.
Outpatient is THE way to go! The surgery center staff was awesome as was the hotel - they have an arrangement with Dr. Gross and waited on us hand and foot. Recuperating in a hotel room or by the pool beats the hell out of being in the hospital!
Now I can focus on full body recovery rather than pain management as has been the case the past couple years. Very much looking forward to it. Please ask anything --- if you have the option for outpatient, take it!