Julie 6 weeks after surgery
Salut ! I am now 12 days after surgery, back home in Montreal. I am now a happy owner of a left BHR. It took 50 minutes to implant the device. The installation of the femoral component was tricky : it is standing in a weird angle to compensate the anteversion of the pelvis. This way, my leg will be able to move in every way without smashing the neck of the femur (and the FAI will not come back). I see now why the other surgeons refused to do the resurfacing on me. Dr. De Smet is a very special person. You can feel your anxiety going down to zero when you are in touch with him. He’s also very funny with a straight face.
I had a very hard time in the hospital the day after surgery. I lost conscience in the bathroom, I was on a lot of mixed drugs that did not take the pain away, but made a mess in my brain. The day after, I went out of the hospital, almost fresh… (???)
Day 5, I was on one crutch, fooling around. In the pool, doing the exercices, my non-operated hip joint was doing worst than the operated one… !
Day 9, I was able to go down the stairs with my hands in the air… I was doing so well I forgot to concentrate on my operated leg to remain straight in the pool… OUCH ! I guess it’s a lesson. I had almost forgot I had surgery… I came back home on day 10, holding my butt in my hand, the crutch in the other one, because I had hurt a muscle very bad. I can walk on the operated leg, but I have to press somewhere on the muscle to release the cramp. But this means I have no free hand for carrying stuff, so I dropped the other crutch. I walk like a duck. The pain in the muscle is getting better (3 days after), and I hope that it will be OK by the end of the week.
I was afraid that the trip back home would be terrible. I was surprised to see what Tramadol, Bailey’s and ice pack can do to make things easier… But this is not recommended by physicians…
The week I was recovering was much more quiet than the previous week when Melody, ‘Tsunami’ and David were there. But I’ve met a crazy woman from California to fool around with me. We kept on claiming that ‘It’s a Miracle !!!…
Thanks to Chris Saunders who passed by at the Villa to say hello, and have a ride with us in Gent. We had a 2 hours walk 7 days after my surgery…
I am happy that I worked out a bit more before surgery. Those muscles where VERY HANDY. I was able to pick things on the floor by day 3, and I was able to move easily in my bed, and get up all my body weight on one leg.
I have to mention that that I already had a hip arthroscopy on that same hip, and that this recovery is much easier than the previous one. I know it’s because of the short time on morphine, and a lot a physio and hydrotherapy very quickly after surgery.
I am a wise girl now, so I will go back to the bed to have another ‘Julie-on-the-rocks’…
Julie in Montreal LBHR, De Smet, 15 janvier 2008
Before surgery, I was a lot preoccupied by the fact that most people here where much more in pain than I was. I was worried that I was too quick on my decision of having surgery. After all, I was still walking !!!! (?) I have stopped working 2 years (physical job) prior to surgery, and stopped playing tennis 4 years ago. It was enough waiting for me. Now that the joint pain is gone, I know now that my pain was there 15, maybe 20 years ago ! And I am only 34 !!! I was just living with it !!!
Today is 4 weeks after surgery, and I am so happy with my new hip ! Everything goes very fast, and I am not pushing, it happens naturally. I am crossing, lifting, doing all kind of things with my operated leg !!! Every morning, I see a difference. Today, my morning gift was to walk with NO limp… I saw a few people who couldn’t tell which hip had surgery !!! 🙂
I am working on making videos, now. You will see by yourself in a few days… I started filming at the Villa, at day 6, and I am amazed to see how quick this recovery goes. I had an arthroscopy 2 years ago, and that rehab was way much harder, for a lot of reasons :
– The time I’ve spent on the operating table (few hours VS 50 minutes)- The time I’ve spent on morphine at the hospital (3 days VS not even 1 day)- The time I spent on meds afterwards (total of 3 weeks on Dilaudid VS 10 days on codeine)- The skill of the surgeon (well, from the outside – scar – my resurfacing job is VERY neat…)- The therapy (pool and dryland) RIGHT AFTER surgery… The pool is magic, just like the one in the film ‘Cocoon’…- The ATMOSPHERE at the Villa is to mention… Just being with others with the same ‘problem’ is motivating. You just can’t remain in your bed, you wanna be part of the event ! Seeing others who had surgery the week before is VERY MOTIVATING… You could not beleive you will do that in one week… These other people just SHOW it to you !!!… Almost everyone at the villa was on 1 crutch by the end of first week.
I know I recover fast partly because I am young, flexible and with good muscles (never stopped personal PT in 2 years !) The more I would have wait, the harder the recovery would have been. Also, my ROM was still very good, since I am very ‘elastic’. That’s why I managed to tie my shoes 3 weeks after resurfacing, by letting my leg straight, and folding-rolling my back on it.
I hope this helps some folks who are questioning themselves about the fact they are too young for surgery… Since a lot of doctors have probably told you so. Maybe what they say is wise. But I don’t wanna be wise, I wanna be alive…!
Julie (34)LBHR, Koen De Smet, 15 janvier 2008
