My journey with Osteoarthritis and my journey to get rid of it

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I am a 62 year old male. I have been very active all my life. My main physical activity is long distance cycling both on the road and on the trails here in Northeast Ohio during March to November. During November to March I hike in a wooded area and hike 5-6 miles per day. I have been cycling since 1982 and a normal year of cycling mileage will range during a slow year at 4,000 miles and my good years, over 9,000. I have 4 bikes, a 1995 Bike Nashbar Tandem, a 1998 Trek United States Postal road bike, a 2000 Trek Mountain Bike and my 2014 Pinarello 65.1 Dogma road bike.

This will be a multi-part series and I will take you up to my 6 week post-op follow-up (I see the staff on August 27th, in one more week, but who’s counting, me).I will then post updates for this series when something that I think might help others comes along during my recovery.

I hope this helps others if they are thinking about surgery, are in the middle of recovery or working up to that 1 year post-op anniversary.

Osteoarthritis Diagnosis/Treatments

I was first diagnosed with Osteoarthritis of both of my hips about 3 years ago after I saw a Rheumatologist for the first time and he took X-rays of both hips. My Dr started me on Celebrex twice a day and after about a year I started getting Cortisone injections in my right hip. About a year later, I started getting Cortisone injections in both hips. The injections would start working after 3-5 days and I would mostly be pain-free. The injections would last about 4-6 months. I knew that the injections would only work for so long and that eventually I was going to need hip surgery.

My Introduction to Birmingham Hip Resurfacing

I decided in October of 2020 during my Cortisone injections in both hips that I would begin exploring my options for hip replacement. In January of 2021, my daughter’s boyfriend, (he knew about my ever increasing pain with both of my hips) told me about a podcast by Joe Rogan, on a particular podcast, Joe Rogan had the wrestler, The Undertaker. I watched the episode and listened to how The Undertaker had the procedure Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) done by a Dr in New York City. I was intrigued and began investigating about this procedure that I had never heard of before.

I began my research on the web, read all I could find, including the website surfacehippy.info. By the way, a great website and many people contribute their experiences of BHR and answer questions of newbies that are apprehensive at the procedure.

It Sounds Like BHR Might Be For Me?

My next task was to find a Dr near me that did the BHR and I found Dr Peter Brooks at The Cleveland Clinic. I went to his website and reviewed all I could about the BHR procedure. During the review of his website I kept thinking, Am I eligible for this procedure? I know the procedure is normally done for males, younger, active and I fit 2 out of the 3, but was that enough? I went to make an appointment on The Cleveland Clinic online portal and then I chickened out. It was March my son was getting married in April and I had an appointment scheduled for another round of hip injections and I told myself, if the hip injections don’t work this time, I will schedule an appointment with Dr Brooks. I still had the doubts has to whether I would be eligible and then I started thinking, If I’m not eligible for BHR and the injections don’t work, what will I do next? I kept thinking if I end up having a Total Hip Replacement, my cycling days would probably be over and cycling has been a big part of my physical and mental health for over 40 years.

My son was married in April, the last round of hip injections did not work and when we got back from the wedding in New York City I made the appointment with Dr Brooks. By the way, after we got back from the wedding we found out that we were are going to be first time grandparents (a grandson). Another reason to get these hips fixed so I can keep up with our grandson.

I will post the next part later today.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

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My First Visit With The Staff For Dr Peter Brooks

I had my appointment with Dr Brooks staff (the staff was very nice). I showed Phil the PA my X-rays originally taken 3 years ago by my Rheumatologist and he showed me a CT Scan I had of my pelvic area for another health issue that was taken a couple of years earlier. Phil showed me the latest X-rays taken before my appointment. The pictures did not lie, in 3 years I had gone from a little bit of space in both hips to absolutely no space in my hip joints. I found out that I was indeed eligible for the BHR procedure but because I had the Cortisone injections in April I was going to have to wait 3 months to have the BHR procedure. My BHR procedure was scheduled for July 16, 2021. I hate waiting, but I also hate that I could no longer do the things I loved to do, I had already stopped cycling in April because it was painful while riding and then I was unable to move the remainder of the day because of the pain. I had always told my family that if I could no longer cycle, that it would be time to have surgery, so it was time.

Pre-Op

I did all the pre-op testing on July 1st, had my pre-op talk via telephone with Dr Brooks on July 6th and everything was a go for July 16th. Dr Brooks told me during the phone call to give him a year and he would have me back on the bike.

I decided after that comment by Dr Brooks, if he wants me to trust him to get me back on the bike, I was going to do everything I was told by the surgeon’s staff, the physical therapy staff and the occupational therapy staff to make sure that my surgical outcome was the best it could be. I was given a notebook with all the steps about the procedure leading up to the surgery and after. I read that multiple times leading up to the surgery so that I followed all the guidance.

Two weeks before surgery day I was told to discontinue all meds and supplements. That meant that I was no longer permitted to take my Celebrex but could continue taking my Tylenol. You have no idea how much a med works until you have to go off of them. The two weeks pre-op were very painful because I was no longer taking Celebrex and it truly was helping me with a lot of the pain.

Surgery Day

My son came in from New York City (our daughter is a Nurse Practitioner and had just started a new job a few weeks earlier and was unable to be there) to help me and my wife by getting us to Euclid Hospital where the surgery was to take place. We entered the hospital, me limping in pain, while walking in to the surgery center I thought to myself this will hopefully be the last time I have pain in this hip. The preparation in the surgery center went great, the staff was excellent.

I thought I would be a nervous wreck, I had not had any surgeries for 25 years, my last one was a biopsy for my Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1996 (another big health hurdle, I was told by my Radiology Oncologist that I would never ride a bike at the level I was riding pre-cancer, I proved him wrong, just a hurdle). I was calm knowing that this was going to be another hurdle that we were going to get through and that I would be without pain after my recovery. I did not even need anything to calm me down before surgery.

They ask you to write NO on your non-surgical hip before surgery and they check multiple times to make sure they know which hip they are working on. I decided that I was going to write “No, Next Time” on my non-surgical hip knowing that if all went well I would be back in approximately 4 months to have my 2nd BHR.

OPERATING ROOM

They rolled me into the operating room, moved me from the bed to the operating table. They introduced all the staff that was in the operating room at the time. I told them “ALL OF YOU, HAVE A GREAT DAY”. They had me sit on the side of the operating table, someone kept me from falling as they asked me to lean forward, someone put a mask over my nose/mouth and I saw the anesthesiologist with some large needles and he said “I’m going to put you out now”. That was the last thing I remember until I woke up in the PACU.

PACU

The PACU nurse was also excellent. This part was a little hazy coming out of anesthesia and I’m not sure how long I was there. My family said the surgery lasted about 1 hour and I was in the PACU over 2 hours. When I woke up in the PACU, the nurse introduced herself and I asked her if I had received the BHR or did they have to do a THR, she said I got the BHR and I cried. I was so happy that the BHR was successful and that my cycling days were not numbered. I had a spinal block, so the nurse in the PACU kept trying to see if I had any feeling in either leg, I didn’t. At one point I started shaking and they gave me some meds and the shaking dissipated. X-ray came in and took an X-ray of my hip, it was hard to keep from shaking. I kept saying I was cold and they already had me wrapped in warm blankets and even had something warm on my head. At one point the nurse took my temperature and said I was overheating from the warming blankets and she removed the one from my head. I eventually started getting some feeling in my legs and it was time for them to move me from the PACU to my room. I asked the PACU nurse if I could have a room with a view of the lake (Euclid Hospital is directly on Lake Erie). I was mostly joking but the PACU nurse asked someone and it turned out that I had a private room with a lake view.

Moved To My Room

Once in my private room with the lake view is when things got busy. I had a lot of different people come into the room, so many I don’t even remember everyone that came in over the next few hours. A few were the nurse taking care of me and the Nurse Practitioner that talked to me about the pain medications, my son, my daughter (my wife was alternating with the kids to visit). I had not eaten since midnight the night before, it was early afternoon by the time I got to my room. My son had ordered food for me, the NP wanted to give me half a pain pill, warned me about taking it on an empty stomach. By then the spinal block had pretty much worn off and I had pains in my upper leg and I wanted to take the pain pill but didn’t. The food took over 2 hours to come and after about an hour of waiting on food and having so much pain I took the pain pill anyway. Big mistake. Physical Therapy had come into the room, wanted me to stand up, I stood up and my blood pressure tanked and she ordered me to lay back down in the bed. Then my food was finally delivered and the odor from part of the meal made me feel sick to my stomach and my daughter got me a bed pan as I vomited, My son and daughter got the nurse to come back in and she gave me a shot of Zofran and a different pain med into my IV and things started to settle down. I eventually had a little bit of my meal (not the turkey that made me sick to my stomach!).

My wife and son left about 7pm after I started feeling better. My daughter stayed a couple more hours. I started getting my pain pill every 4 hours and the pain was pretty manageable. Don’t wait too long between pain pills, take them the first few days, the pain can be pretty awful and if you wait to take the pain pills it can take 30-60 minutes for them to kick in, do you really want to be in pain, not me.

During the late evening and through the early morning of day 1 post-op, it consisted of taking vitals, taking pain pills, Zofran and me eating saltines, graham crackers and drinking lots of water to keep from getting sick again. During one of my pain pills the pain pill wasn’t working and I started having a lot of pain. I found out later that I had dropped the pain pill in the middle of the night when I tried to take it and we didn’t find it until the next morning when they were getting me out of bed for PT and OT.

At first daylight, I wanted to make sure that I got some breakfast as soon as possible before they started PT and OT because I did not want a repeat of surgery day post-op. I couldn’t get food ordered and so I texted my wife (we live an hour away from the hospital) and asked her to see if our daughter (she lives about 20 minutes from the hospital) could bring me a McDonalds Egg McMuffin and a small Orange Juice. My daughter showed up with 2 Egg McMuffins, OJ and a large bottle of water (our kids are the best). I ate the food and was prepared for pain meds and PT/OT but PT didn’t show at 8am like I was told and I did my OT early morning and had to wait until after 1pm for PT.

I will post the next part later today.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

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Time To Go Home

My wife and daughter drove to my house in my daughter’s car. My son and I drove to my house in my wife’s car. It’s an hour but it seemed like 4 hours because I was having pain and could not get comfortable in the passenger seat.

When we got home my wife, son and daughter went into action.

My daughter began to put my meds post-op and my supplements that I was taking before surgery into my pills cases, I have one for am and one for pm and then I do my meds/supplements two weeks at a time. My daughter made my wife a spreadsheet that she printed out so my wife could chart when I took my meds so she could keep track, especially for my pain pills because they were every 4 hours and did not work with my am/pm pill cases.

We have a step-in shower in the basement and a tub shower on the 1st floor (ranch) and I thought I would be able to get into the tub-shower but discovered during PT that raising my leg to get into the shower was not going to happen. My son had ordered a shower chair, a sprayer shower hand extension while I was still in the hospital from Amazon and it was there when we got home. My son went to work putting everything together so I could take a shower. Post surgery, moving down the stairs with a crutch, using the walker to get into the shower was a new experience. We used plastic wrap to cover the bandage to keep it dry and I sat down on the shower chair to take the shower using the hand shower extension. A new experience as well but I felt so much better getting that shower.

We also discovered after getting home that my bed or the guest bed would not permit me to get in and out of either of those beds (one was too high, the other was too low). My son and daughter brought up a twin bed from their youth that we had saved in the basement and put it together in the Living Room for me to sleep (it was just right).

My 6 Week Schedule For Recovery

Make sure you have one or more people available to help you during recovery. Do not think you can do this by yourself? I do not care how strong you are. This procedure will humble you as far as thinking you can do this alone. I had my kids and wife there for the first couple of days to help get the daily schedule figured out, getting through shower issues, med schedules and sleeping issues. You have to remember that you are healing, you are on pain meds and your mind will not be working as usual. You will need someone to help you and you better take advantage of the help to get you through the recovery process. In my case my wife was the one taking care of me during the recovery process. This is 6 weeks, she needs a break too, she will have errands that needs to be run and you can’t be left alone so you don’t do something stupid to jeopardize your recovery. We had 2 of our neighbors that came over when my wife needed to run errands, they just “Tony sat” and really we just talked and they helped when I needed something during the few hours my wife was gone. This extra help is especially important during the first 2 weeks, really as long as you are on pain meds, after that you should be able to get around enough to take meds and go to the bathroom without help.

For the first week and half post-op, my schedule was get up at 8am, get a good breakfast fixed by my wife, take my meds at 9am, do my Physical Therapy at 10am. At noon, get a good lunch fixed by my wife, take my meds at 1pm, do my Physical Therapy at 2pm. At 4pm, get a good dinner fixed by my wife, take my meds at 5pm, do my Physical Therapy at 6pm. After a couple of days I started going out front and sitting in a sturdy chair and initially once an hour (eventually twice an hour) I would walk down my driveway and then back up approximately 75 feet each way using the walker trying to get muscle tightness out of my operated leg. I would sit out front until it was time for lunch, meds, PT.

The first 1-4 weeks post-op, I had issues with pain and tightness in some of the muscles of my upper leg. I am sure it was because of this surgery. I have not watched any videos on how exactly this procedure is done. I do plan to watch the videos, once my 2nd hip has been operated on, I would rather not know until after the 2nd hip is done. I thought I would post some of my observations with the muscle tightness pain, maybe someone can tell me exactly why I had issues with these particular muscles. I had pain and tightness in my Vastus Lateralis Muscle from the top of my knee to my hip and Sartorius Muscle and Rectus Femoris Muscle (I could have the wrong muscles, I’ve never had an anatomy class, I’ve never asked by Nurse Practitioner daughter her opinion). Each week of Physical Therapy the pain and tightness has subsided. I believe the biggest gain was when I started doing the 2 week post-op exercises below. At 5 weeks post-op I still have a tightness, almost like there is a large wad under the skin but that has subsided over the weeks (I notice it during the Hip Abduction/Adduction exercise) and I’m sure will eventually be gone.

My physical therapy done at home consists of the following exercises, I started with 10 reps and added one each day until I reached 30 reps, these are done 3 times per day:

   Circulation Exercises (I continue to do these through my entire 6 weeks, unless told at my 6 week follow-up I will see if these can be discontinued)
      Ankle Pumps
      Quadricep Sets
      Gluteal Sets

   Physical Therapy Exercises (I started these day 1 post-op, at home, I continue to do these through my entire 6 weeks and plan to continue doing them 1 year post-op)
      Short Arc Quads
      Heel Slides
      Hip Abduction/Adduction
      Lying Down Helping Your Knee to Your Chest   
      Sitting, Bending Forward, to Touch Shoes, Socks, and Feet      
      Exercise Bike (you would think a guy with 4 bikes would have a way to do this, but I did not, so, I did not do this exercise)
      Seat Knee Extension
      
   Physical Therapy Exercises (I started these 2 weeks post-op, at home, I continue to do these through my entire 6 weeks and plan to continue doing them 1 year post-op)
      
      Hip Abduction (standing)
      March in Place (standing)
      Hip Extension (standing)
      Forward Leg Raises (standing)
   
I stopped taking the pain med 1 1/2 weeks post-op and my schedule got a little more flexible but I continued to do my PT three times per day and I do my walks in the driveway using the walker.

At 2 weeks post-op, I added 4 more PT exercises to help with Range of Motion. I also began doing most of the PT exercises on my non-operated leg, at least those that don’t require me to put more than 75% of my weight on my operated leg. This was hopefully to help strengthen my next leg for surgery and to help support my operated leg by having more flexibility/strength/Range of Motion in the non-operated leg. After a few days I had to discontinue the exercises for my non-operated leg, I was getting too much pain, felt that it was making that leg weaker and I need as much support as I can get and so for now, I have stopped them. I did notice while I did these exercises of the non-operated leg, that my operated leg has so much more Range of Motion with the BHR and that my non-operated leg has limited Range of Motion and is not as stable as my operated leg.

At 5 weeks post-op, I still do PT three time per day and do my walks in the driveway using the walker and I am looking forward to my 6 week post-op appointment with the surgeon’s staff and hope that my X-ray shows that everything is progressing nicely. I am hoping that I can get off the walker/crutches for this hip and I can start driving again.

My Post-Op Recovery From 6 Weeks Post-Op For The Next Year

I have my 6 week post-op appointment, Friday, August 27th. The following is what I hope can happen from 6 weeks post-op until my next BHR on my left hip happens 4 months post-op of my first hip. Yes, my 1 year anniversary of my first hip will be uneventful because the clock will start over after my second hip is done so my 1 year anniversary of my 2nd hip will be when things can get back to normal.

At 6 weeks post-op, my plan is to walk approximately 3/4 mile around my allotment, once per hour eventually building up to twice per hour for next two weeks.

At 8 weeks post-op, I then hope to get on my mountain bike and ride the same 3/4 mile around my allotment a few times per hour eventually building up to approximately 5 miles (6-7 times around the allotment).

10 weeks post-op, I was told pre-op that at 6 weeks post-op I will be permitted to ride 15-20 miles and won’t be able to ride more than that for 1 year. I have a favorite, mostly paved trail, that I like to ride that is 18 miles out and back so I will be doing that for that 1 year. Remember I said hopefully 4 months after the first hip I hope to have the second hip done, that means that all the clocks start over again, so it probably will be 2023 before I’m back to riding my long distances again but that’s ok, I am following Drs orders and put my faith in him to get me riding again because it has been an important part of my health through the years.

I will post the next part later today.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

[Pat Walter]

Hi Tony
Congratulations on the new hip. I am glad you are on your way to a pain free, active life again. Thank You for sharing your story. It is wonderful you have taken time to write such a detailed and interesting account of your hip resurfacing.  I am sure many folks will read it and learn from it.

I will say that many people don't have folks to help them afterwards and were able to manage. It all depends on how your body reacts and heals. You don't know, so it is always good to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I look forward to your future posts and I wish you the very best. Dr. Brooks is one of the best hip resurfacing surgeons in the US.
Pat

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Where I Am At Today

I am 5 weeks post-op.

Most of the surgical pain and tightness are gone. The daily schedule is routine now but look forward in a change soon.

One thing I forgot to mention before was that I was told that my surgical steri-strips would start to come off around 2 weeks. I did not have any come off until week 3 and then only a few fell off. I waited until end of week 4 and I was able to very gently remove the remaining 13 steri-strips. This made life much easier once the steri-strips were gone, with showering, PT exercises, putting on clothes and sleeping.

I am anxious for my 6 week post-op Dr visit on August 27th. I want to see the x-ray of my hip 6 post-op and hope that everything is as it should be, I can get off the walker/crutches and start to get back to a somewhat normal life knowing that there will be a few limitations during this next phase of recovery.

I also hope to schedule my 2nd BHR for later this year. I hope COVID-19 does not delay elective surgeries.

I have lots of questions for the surgical staff as to what I will be permitted to do up to my 2nd BHR knowing that the clock will start again for my recovery after the 2nd BHR.

I will keep you posted.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

[imgetinold]

Fantastic!  It will only get better from here.

My brother lives in Twinsburg and had his hip done by Dr. Brooks.  I'm in Georgia and had both of mine done by Dr. Gross. 


I prefer my cycling off-road, so I bought myself a new Fezzari Delano as a recovery "carrot".   It's awesome!

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6 Week post-op follow-up:

I got my 6 week post-op x-ray of my new hip (BHR), the PA (Phillip Golnick) said everything looked good.

He said he would show it to me after he whisked me out of the exam room and took me out in the hall to see how I walked without aid. He had me go up/down the hallway a few times. At first it was weird, I hadn't put full weight on the operated leg for 6 weeks, my head was telling me no, don't do it, but after a couple of laps of the hall I was feeling better, still weird.

Phillip said I was doing great for someone that had surgery 6 weeks ago.

We went back into the exam room and he showed me the x-ray, yep, looked good to me too.

We then discussed what I could and could not do on my new hip and he answered all the questions I had accumulated over the last 6 weeks.

I won't go into the do's and don't but I'm happy to just have some normalcy back and I'll deal with the limitations and appreciate the things that I am now permitted to do.

He said that my Physical Therapy can include the standing exercises (Hip Abduction, March in Place, Hip Extension, Forward Leg Raises and he added one new one, Side-Lying Hip Abduction. After doing all these exercises for 6 weeks it was strange to not do a bunch of exercises that I had done 3 times per day.

I received my list of post operative BHR guidelines.

Phillip then asked if I had any more questions. I said, when can we schedule my left hip BHR? He said 4 1/2 months, I asked, Is that from 6 weeks post-op or surgery day? He said surgery day. That was good to hear, that means I could have the surgery in late November or December. He said he would have his scheduler call me to setup the date of my 2nd hip BHR.

I then left the Dr office without any aids and walked from the office to the parking lot and eventually to where my wife had parked the car, far out in the parking lot. She said I thought you would call me to pick you up. I said I wanted to walk all the way without any aids.

I received the call from the scheduler to schedule my 2nd BHR before I could even get out of the parking lot and I am scheduled for Friday, December 10, 2021 with a note that if someone cancels for Friday, December 3, 2021 I will take that slot. We have picked Friday surgeries because our daughter can help get us home on Saturday just like the last time when our son and daughter helped. We know what the drill is at home and this time it should be much smoother. Our son may not be there because he will have a newborn baby, hopefully by the end of September and I'm sure momma and poppa will want to stay with the baby.

I plan to start doing my neighborhood walks tomorrow morning (before it gets too hot) instead of my driveway walks that I've been doing for the last 6 weeks. I hope to build up my distance and endurance over the next 2 weeks, after that I will do the same but instead of walking I will ride my mountain bike around the neighborhood building up my distance and endurance.

That's the 6 week post-op update. I will update as warranted with anything that might be of value to those considering BHR, recovering from BHR and those looking forward to 6 week post-op and beyond.

By the way, my operated hip has so much more strength and range of motion than my non-operated leg and that is encouraging and scary. I need to keep my non-operated hip going until December 10th.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

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It's been 2 1/2 months since my 6 week post-op and I am now one month from my 2nd BHR on December 10th.

Since my last post.

    My rehab 6 weeks post-op was walking for two weeks around our allotment, walking about 2 miles per day. The next two weeks I was riding my mountain bike 4 miles per day.

    At 2 1/2 months post-op, I have been riding my mountain bike on the improved trails alternating riding and walking on a paved trail at our local park every other day. I have been riding my bike 15 miles per ride and walking 4 miles per walk.

    I continue to do my PT each day, twice per day.

    I continue to "baby" my un-operated hip and look forward to my next BHR (not looking forward to the first 2 weeks but after that it went as expected after the first 2 weeks)

    We lost our 15 1/2 year old Yorkie, Sophie, on September 23rd and we have been slowing getting used to not having her around. She was blind and having seizures about 5-6 weeks apart starting in February and her last day with us she had 12 seizures in a 2 hour period and with heavy hearts we decided it was time for us to let her go.

    We became first time grandparents on October 2nd when Alexander "Alex" was born. We get a FaceTime visit each day with Alex.

    We made our first airplane flight since COVID-19 started on October 21st, going to New York City to see our grandson Alex. (I had no issues going through TSA Security. I was scanned going out and coming back using the full body scan.)

My operated leg still performs as expected and my un-operated leg is not as painful as it was before my first BHR. I am guessing it's because i am not compensating for the pain of both hips hurting. It's enough that having the 2nd BHR will be welcomed and look forward to getting the next one done so I can continue my rehabilitation.

I now have the added incentive to get through my rehabilitation so we can make visits to New York City to visit our grandson Alex (and his mom and dad too). I am hoping that by February 1st I should be able to make the trip.

I will give updates after my 2nd BHR and I hope that it's pretty much a repeat recovery as the 1st BHR.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

[LarryBud]

Excellent Tony!

Very active and that's awesome.  I recommend many trips to NY to see that Grandchild.  They are one of the best things in life.  You will never get enough of him.

[Pat Walter]

TonySounds like you are doing great with your first hip. Dr. Brooks is one of the best hip surgeons.  I wish you the best with your second hip. I guess it will be your Christmas present.
Pat

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I hit a big speed bump on my journey to rid myself of Osteoarthritis this last week.

Last week I had been sick for about 4 days with severe heartburn, stomach gas and severe diarrhea.  Friday/Saturday night/morning I woke up and told my wife I have to go to the Emergency Department. My wife drove me there and dropped me off since you can't visit. I talked with the medical staff about my symptoms and they did a physical exam. The Dr poked in my lower stomach area and he said I might have a appendicitis. The Dr ordered a CT scan. I overheard the Dr order an EKG and a COVID-19 test and I knew that I was going to be transported and admitted to the hospital. When the tech came in to the EKG, I said I guess I have a appendicitis and she said no, you have a blood clot in your lower right lung. I was floored, I could not believe it. They pumped me with an IV to flush out the contrast solution and then ordered a 2nd CT scan off my complete chest. Those results came back and I had MANY blood clots on both sides of my lungs. They started me on Heparin and hooked me up to a heart monitor.

I was transported to the hospital via ambulance and went to my room. They continued the Heparin and heart monitor. I was sent to the ultrasound lab to get an ultrasound of my legs and yep, they had blood clots in the operated leg above and below the knee and in the un-operated leg below the knee.

So the question was, did my BHR from July causes these blood clots and they went to my other leg and lungs? It had been 4 months since my procedure, I had had an ultrasound of my legs that were negative 2 weeks post-op. Everyone said that 4 months I shouldn't have been the BHR, I am active (I've been walking and riding 15 miles), I had no chest pains, no swelling, no shortness of breath.

I also received an echocardiogram to see if the blood clots in my lungs caused any issues with my heart. That test came back with no issues.

It took the hospital 4 days to get my PPT-INR numbers (clotting) where they wanted and I was released day before yesterday from the hospital with Eliquis (blood thinner).

I have a followup visit with a hematologist on December 6th to get results of a bunch of bloodwork she ran looking for any clotting issues including genetic testing to see if I have a marker for clotting issues. I'm 63, why would I have a clotting issue now?

I talked to the staff at Dr Brooks office today, I filled them in as to what happened.

My 2nd BHR on December 10th is officially cancelled and they say that if I'm released by my Hematologist that I am still eligible for the procedure and that they would need to know one month ahead. I told them that even if they would still do the BHR on December 10th, that I would not feel comfortable going through with the procedure until I knew that I could safely get through the procedure and the recovery.

If I did not go to the E.D., if they would not have done the CT scan that caught a little bit of my lower right lung, I might not been writing this now. By the way, this is the 2nd time in my life that a life saving discovery was made because of circumstances. 25 years ago, I attended a conference because a co-worker got called for jury duty. During the conference, one evening, there was a dinner and show. My group was at a table toward the side of the room and I saw an empty table in front of the stage. I asked someone if we could move there and was told sure. After watching the show and looking up at the stage all night my neck was stiff and when I went back to the hotel room I was massaging my neck and discovered bumps in my neck that turned out to be Hodgkins Lymphoma. My bloodwork showed no cancer and a hip biopsy showed that my bone marrow was barely active. A biopsy surgery, 3 months of chemo (2 different treatments one week apart) and then 6 weeks of radiation every day, I have been cancer free for 25 years. So I've now dodged a serious health issue twice and I showed no symptoms and never knew I was ill.

So, I'm thankful to be writing this but disappointed that my 2nd BHR is going to be put on hold. The 1st BHR is working perfectly with only a little bit of tightness at times and because this hip is so strong now that it is helping me compensate for my un-operated leg and that helps keep the pain levels down.

I forgot to mention, because of the blood thinner I am no longer permitted to take Celebrex so I'm back to high doses of Tylenol to keep the pain in my un-operated hip down.

I'll give an update after my visit with the hematologist on December 6th and hopefully she will find something in the bloodwork that explains all the blood clots that I have/had.

Tony

[LarryBud]

That is very scary and very disappointing.

Let's hope you get a clean check up and and can move forward as planned.

Good Luck!

[ad313tg]

My December 6th appointment with the hematologist was disappointing because all the tests she ran did not tell her why I have the blood clots. She said that my first hip surgery was too long ago (July 16, 2021) to have caused the blood clots.

The hematologist wants me to remain on the blood thinner (Eliquis) and to come back in 6 months.

I asked her if we could do an ultrasound of my legs to see if the blood clots are still in my legs at 3 months (March 7, 2022).

Then, if my legs are clear at the ultrasound then we could do a CT Scan of my chest to see if the blood clots are clear in my lungs (that is March 10, 2022).

I then will see the hematologist on March 14, 2022 and I am hoping that she will clear me for surgery of my left hip.

I have a lot of pain in my un-operated hip because I can no longer take Celebrex because it could cause bleeding while taking the blood thinner.

My left hip was originally scheduled for December 6th and I heard the Cleveland Clinic cancelled elective surgeries that week and are currently cancelled until at least the end of January because of increasing COVID cases. Even without the blood clots I still would not have had the surgery but I can only think that if I would have been able to have the surgery on December 10th I would have been just past my 6 week follow-up and looking forward to a pain free life.

Patience, grass hopper, patience!

Tony

[ad313tg]

I had my ultrasound of both legs on March 7th, no blood clots.

I had a CT scan of my chest on March 10th, no blood clots.

I saw the hematologist on March 14th and she cleared me to get back on the surgery schedule for my 2nd BHR.

When they did the CT scan they saw stenosis of the artery that goes from my heart to my left arm and also to my brain (there are 3 arteries that go to your brain and your body will compensate the reduced blood flow to your brain. I did have to go see a vascular surgeon and she told me that if I have no issues with my arm (tingling, numbness) that they won't have to do anything.

My 2nd BHR is scheduled for June 9th, 2 weeks from today, but who's counting, ME.

I went for pre-op appointments last Thursday and except for my blood pressure going really high, everything else looked good. I believe that my high blood pressure is due to anxiety with the upcoming surgery because this time I know what to expect and the first hip I had no idea what to expect but I know in the end i will be better and in no pain from my hips after the recovery.

I have had so many hurdles to get through to get this 2nd hip done (blood clots, stenosis, cancelled surgeries and now high blood pressure) it's no wonder I am so much more anxious this time.

As my wife and kids keep telling me, I have to relax, stop stressing what you can't change, I'm on target for surgery and to keep the good vibes in the universe. I'm trying.

And... My surgeon, Dr Peter Brooks, Cleveland Clinic is retiring at the end of June, more hurdles, I'm getting tired of jumping.

I hope to update you guys in 2 weeks with results of the surgery and the start of rehab.

Tony

[Desert Tortoise]

They say life is a journey... I just wish it wasn't so damned bumpy sometimes!  Keep your chin up, and know that there are a lot of us rooting for you to get through this.  I hope everything resolves soon, and that you can get back to biking!

Good luck!

[ad313tg]

And the hurdles just won't end.

In my last post I said that my blood pressure was very elevated during my pre op appointment. I figured it was just my anxiety with the upcoming surgery but the PA wanted me to followup with my PCP. This past Friday (5/27) the surgeon's office requested that my PCP put me on a low dose (5mg) of amLODIPine once a day. I started the BP med on Friday, let's hope it works, today was the first day that my BP has been under 140/100 (125/86).

I had gone to my PCP on Thursday (5/26) to establish with a new doctor because my previous doctor had retired (a lot of my doctors are retiring, I hope it's not something I said). The visit was already planned. When I woke up on Thursday morning I didn't feel good and just before I went to my PCP my daughter texted us and said she tested positive for COVID the previous evening. I have not seen my daughter in a couple of weeks but my wife and daughter both attended calling hours for my wife's brother on Wednesday (5/18) and apparently someone there was positive and my daughter got COVID, my wife did not but some how I still got it through my wife's contact. When I saw the PCP I told him that I wasn't feeling well and that my daughter tested positive and my wife had no symptoms and he ordered a COVID test. The next day when I was positive I convinced my PCP to prescribe the anti-viral (Paxlovid) and I'm now taking that for 5 days (started Friday), twice per day. I'm starting to feel better but I'm hoping that when I go for my pre op COVID test on June 6th that I will be negative. Because of the anti-viral I have to stop my Eliquis (for the blood clots) for the 5 days that I'm taking the anti-viral and I have my fingers crossed that my blood clots don't come back during this time. By the way, I've had both vaccines and one booster.

Kim P, yes, life is a journey but I'm ready to have non-eventful days going forward.

Tony

[Desert Tortoise]

I don’t blame you.  Good luck.🤞

[ad313tg]

I finished my anti-viral (Paxlovid) June 1st and my Covid symptoms were minor and I felt good on May 30th.

I had my pre op Covid test on June 6th and the test was positive but I was told that I was past the 10 days since my first positive Covid test on May 26th. I guess our bodies shed dead Covid cells and the testing picks those up but the CDC guidelines say 10 days after a positive test.

My surgery is on for this Thursday, June 9th.

Let's hope there are no more hurdles and we can get this party started.

I'm ready To Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

[ad313tg]

Well, it finally happened, I got my left BHR on June 9th. It almost didn't happen again. The day before the surgery I received a call from Dr Brooks office. I had taken a COVID test on May 26th that was positive and I tested positive 3 days before surgery. The person calling me said I would have to move my BHR to June 20th as they had just had a cancellation. I asked her if CDC  guidelines say if don't have any symptoms 10 days after testing positive that I am considered clear of COVID. She said, Oh I didn't know that you first tested positive on May 26th. She called me back after she discussed with Dr Brooks office. She then called me back and said I was good to go.

In pre op my wife wrote on my leg that was operated on July 9tb, "Let's go for a matching pair, Thanks Dr Brooks". The staff in pre op thought it was hilarious and the staff in the operating room said that Dr Brooks should read it. I'm not sure if he did but I hope he got to see it and know how we appreciate his years of operating.

Just before they put me out for the surgery. Guess who walked into the operating room? Dr Peter Brooks. He introduced himself and there were a lot of things I wanted to ask him but they put me out. It was truely a pleasure to meet the man that is going to give me back all the things I like to do but was unable to do.

The staff on floor 5 at Euclid Hospital kept seeing the magic marker and asked what it said. When I told them they too thought that was neat that I did that. If you remember I did something similar on the first hip (July 16th) by writing "No, next time".

I'm home now, I had to spend an extra day in the hospital because they could not get my pain controlled except using Dilaudid (a IV pain killer) which they could not send me home with. They tried Oxycodone and then finally they got Norco to work. 1 day post op I was unable to do any of the exercises. They tried again on day 2 post op but I couldn't keep the oxycodone down and finally on day 3 they switched me to Norco and that was the trick. The other thing that helped was when Ali the PT pushed me to do the exercises to stretch out my thigh muscles. I walked with crutches all the way from my room to the PT room and I got the steps and car in/out done with no problems. She even made me walk the long way back to my room.

I got released on day 3 around 3pm and we made the hour drive back to the house.

Now, I continue the PT and walking a little at a time and look forward to the ultrasound at 2 weeks post op to check for blood clots. They did take me for an ultrasound while I was in the hospital and that came back negative for blood clots.

I heard that Dr Brooks is retiring at the end of June and is moving to Florida and will continue doing surgery (hopefully he can spend less and less time doing surgery and he can enjoy retirement).

I will reply at my 6 week post op, hopefully everything goes great during the next 6 weeks.

Keep on Pedaling!

Tony

[Desert Tortoise]

Glad you were finally able to get it done!