Slinkycarrots bilateral with Dr De Smet Oct 2016

[Slinkycarrot]

As some background to my bilateral surgery - Im a 37yr old female. 9 years ago I put my SIJ out playing squash but never got it seen to as v shortly thereafter was sick for 3 years with chronic fatigue. After getting better from that illness and back to sport I then developed piriformis syndrome on my left hip, that after 2 years of treatment had a release surgery - terrible decision that led to instability in the hip. Anyway I then was very unlucky and had a tubing accident where I tore the ligament and cartilage in both hips leading me to lots of pain in both hips. 3.5 years, 5 unsuccessful scopes later (yes 5) with the discovery of dysplasia and a small degree of arthritis led me to the position of wanting the resurfacing. After 6-7 years of injury and starting to get dodgy knees and sore back from all my muscle imbalance I was ready to be done with it.

I chose De De Smet due to his reputation, good results with women and the fact he is still doing the op for woman after the BHR was removed for smaller sizes. I had planned to the surgery last year then fell pregnant. So postponed surgery until after the baby was born (and remarkably during the pregnancy my hips were about 75% better to the point I've been able to walk mostly pain free) and here I am with a 3 month old just having had the bilateral with Dr De Smet.  I flew from South Africa with my husband and baby last week, for the surgery on Wednesday. When I got to the hospital I was a little bit freaked out as all the other patients seem quite a bit older. I have been nervous about my age and what will happen when my hips run out.  As I'm nursing a 3 month old the logistics needed some planning as I want her to be mother fed.  I had expressed as much milk as I could and had that shipped in dry ice for post surgery and the plan was to pump and dump or save for when I was in hospital and baby was with my husband.

[blinky]

You have made quite a lot of progress in a week! Remember that you just had both your hips replaced and now you are walking and moving around pretty freely.


I had trouble and weakness with lateral movement as well, and one side was worse.



Caring for a nursling is the wild card here. How much does she weigh? How often does she eat? (And that varies, I know. She may hit a growth spurt and want to nurse more often.) I wonder what sort of hacks you can come up with to make caring for her easier. It has been a while since I had a baby, but here are some ideas: 1) put everything up high so you don't have to bend over. That would be the changing table, the crib, the bath (or bathe her in the sink), any other baby supplies. 2) how to carry her. In a sling? One of those loose, large, cloth containers that allows for easy nursing? You could wear her all day. Once at home, could you have her sleep on a cart with wheels? It sounds crazy, but maybe you could wheel her around when you don't wear her. 3) help when you get home. You need your rest, too. Could someone come for a few hours in the afternoon or at night to help out? Feed baby expressed milk or bring baby to you to nurse? 4) how well is baby sleeping at night? Once you get home, you can focus on getting her to stretch out her sleeping periods. There are all kinds of ways to do this, way beyond the scope of this forum. (Like if you aren't sleeping together, there are strategies vs if you are cosleeping). Not sure it is worth working on this until you get back home. You may have to tough it out until then. Can you sleep upright in a chair at the hotel with baby propped up breast high on pillows?  (My older child had a terrible time with change; away from home I had to cater to him while at home I could train him more). 5) does baby use a pacifier? How good is she at self comforting? If you are doing all this already, I apologize.

[Slinkycarrot]

Thanks Blinky! Yes you are right I need to put it into perspective.


Re the baby, I am lucky as I have help in SOuth Africa - so my house helper will be able to help me out a lot until I am off the crutches.  My baby is a terrible sleeper as has had colic - shes just starting to come out of it now.  We had just got her in the cot before we left for surgery, and for ease now for me to feed her she is back in the bed.  I was totally against co sleeping and pacis before I had her - but now its just whatever works.  Re settling, no she wont self settle but we can put her down and shush and pat her to sleep - takes an effort though!

[Slinkycarrot]

Im just going to type my progress on one post - that doesnt show up on the main page.
Day 1-2
The surgery itself was apparently unremarkable, I woke up thinking I was in heaven and then thinking i had no legs. A bit surreal. The first couple of days after surgery were relatively fine as I was on an epidural for the time so I could nurse my baby and not take painkillers so couldnt really feel anything.
Day 3
Tough day - they took me off the spinal and onto only paracetamol, definitely not strong enough! So went back to the stronger pain killers and baby had to be fed some of my stash and during this while kept pumping.  When they got me up and out of bed for the first time I almost puked/fainted a couple of times.  The size of the surgery really taking effect, I hadn't really contemplated how hard 2 hips at the same time would be in terms of initial post surgery.
Day 4
Today the pain was generally much better so I dropped down to paracetamol. Getting in and out of bed and walking with the zimmer frame still very uncomfortable. I got the shitz - worst timing ever! Had to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes for a couple hour period - and sitting on the toilet very uncomfortable with 2 hips.
Day 5
I was planning to leave hospital but wasn't able to as not ready to do the stairs - not due to my hips but I kept feeling sick after being up for any prolonged time. I managed one length of the corridor on my crutches. I havent felt so weak after surgery before, really feeling like id been run over by a bus! To be honest I was glad to have another night being looked after and not having to care for my baby.
Day 6
I left the hospital to the hotel. The first night back was horrible as I was back caring for a young baby that's not really sleeping in bed next to me.  I was in hell. I didnt get much sleep due to the discomfort, the lack of pain meds and the baby.  I have also come down with a cold and I have tendonitis in my wrists which mean my hands are killing me (this is from holding the baby apparently!).  My hips are frustrating, my left hip feels great but my right is super sore.   It is like night and day.  i can see why some people have v quick and v slow recoveries when I compare the difference. My right is the bad one and feels like all of my groin tendons round to my butt are grating or catching so any movement exaccerbates this.[/fon

t]Day 7
Today my right hip is marginally better, still pulling and sharp pain on movement. Ive been icing religiously which helps. My left is great. Getting in and out of bed is getting easier but still hard to move my right laterally with out sharp pain. I can walk to and from breakfast with my crutches and sit at the table to eat so I am progressing, albeit slower than I thought I would. The physio visits every day and her exercises are good.  The nurse also comes every day to check the wound and inject me with heparin.  My husband had planned on going back to SA today and leaving with the baby, but there is no way i can care full time for her - its too hard to lift her and move her without it pulling on my abductors.
Day 9

Day 9
My left is great, I can pretty much fully weight bare. My right is not making progress tendon/flexor wise. The post op swelling is getting better and my hip motion is good but all of the tendons around my joint are causing me lots of pain.  I think my joint is in a slightly different position - my knee is no longer crunching which leads me to believe this - that is causing the tendons to either catch or pull.  I pray they will stretch and settle with time as it doesn't give me much confidence atm.

My left hip is great, I can put full weight on it and reckon would be off the crutches if it was just the one hip.  My right continues to be v painful - its definitely my hip abductors and quad. I think my hip is in slightly a different position than before hence all the pulling and tugging - I can tell this as my knee on my right is not making the horrible crunching noise it did before; so i guess a good thing as long as these muscles get into the new position quickly!

[blinky]

I didn't have groin pain. Not pre op, not post op. My aches and pains were always elsewhere, so no first hand experience with this.


If you are still in Belgium, I'd press hard to get some answers from Dr DeSmet and/or the nurse. You mentioned they seem to think it will stop after six weeks, and that may well be right, but I'd still press them while you are in town. Maybe they have some ideas on what you can do to manage until it goes away? Including ideas of how to move to minimize the problem?


As noted already, the difference in your situation and the rest of us is that you have an infant and so there are things you have to do the rest of us don't. If I had a twinge of groin pain, I could take it easy and tell my husband to do a job.


And about the baby...I think  things will be so much easier once you get home. You will have help, you will be in your own environment, you can get back to training her to sleep, to self comfort, etc. You just have to get there!

[Slinkycarrot]

Just an update week 2.


So my husband flew home with Bub on Saturday leaving me in Belgium until Monday. To be honest it was a huge relief and let me rest properly taking the mess needed to make me more comfortable.  I completely backed off the pt on my right leg as it wasn't settling pain wise. By the day I left the pain had settled a lot but still very crabby when I tried to do much. Speaking to the Physio she said I was one of the slowest patients she had seen for a long time and the problem I was having on my right was rare but still confident it would heal with time.


I think I've figured it out, I think I've just badly strained or torn the hip flexors and anductors, which would explain the pulling pain. I've done a lot of reading and the consensus is rest and time will heal and should take 8 weeks.  Therefore I'm just going to try chill out and treat it as a muscle injury.


My flight back solo to South Africa was ok.  I didn't have help at the train station so trying to crutch and wheel my suitcase was a spectacle. Once I got to the airport I had a wheelchair and on both legs of the flight I managed to bag a whole row so was able to lay down the whole flight.  As I was babyless I've been pumpin my milk to try and keep my supply up, pumping in the public toilet in instanbul in my wheelchair was a real comical low point.


Now I'm back home I'm just taking it easy which is hard with a baby as I have to get up and down very frequently. Hips are slowly improving but it's hard to say as I'm probably doing more.

[blinky]

Glad to hear you made it home. Let the healing begin!

[Slinkycarrot]

Just as an update I am now 28 days post op.


The tightness and pain in my anductors and hip flexors is better than before but still causing me issues and pain.. My left now is also flaring up aswell as my right.  I find I wake up more sore as I'm using them to try and shift to a comfy position sleeping. Sleeping on my back is killing me! Can't take sleeping pills because of the baby and have to wake three times a night for her which means I have to fall asleep on my back four times!


I've started doing my mobilisation exercises in my pool at home and walking in it, it's great having a pool.  I'm not able to walk far on crutches yet, really just around the house. I think my progress is slow compared to others   but I'm trying not to get too worried yet, will give myself another few weeks before i do!!

[Slinkycarrot]

Today is a bad day, now 32 days post op and the pain, lack of progress and sleep deprivation is starting to get me down. Ive managed to remain pretty upbeat and patient until now.


I really struggle sleeping on my back and given I have to wake 3-4 times a night to feed the baby it means i have to try get back to sleep that many times so am moving around to try get comfy and really aggravating the soreness. I wake up more sore than when I go to bed. The baby is going through a growth spurt so waking more at night.


Ive been taking tramadol at night for the past few nights which help me sleep but my baby has turned into a catatonic zombie during the day so I've had to stop. I really didn't prepare myself for so many weeks of discomfort after surgery, I knew i'd have to cope with no pain meds for a bit but not for such an extended period of time.


At this rate I dont feel like Im making ANY progress and i'm weeks away from getting off the crutches.


Anyway, sorry needed to have a moan!

[China Lady]

While lying on your back, put a pillow below your knees. At least that helped me a lot

[Ljpviper]

wow, reading through your first post you had 5 hip scopes, that's a lot. I had two and the recoveries are no fun either.

Makes me wonder if your long recovery time is all the work that has been done to your hips in the past. The joint is fixed but that joint capsule has gone through so many surgeries. Hang in there I am sure it will start turning around.

Good luck,

Larry