August 3, 2021

MY HIP RESURFACING JOURNEY

I am scheduled for right hip resurfacing on Aug 18 w/ Dr. Gross in Columbia. So I thought I’d start documenting my journey through this now. I am a 59 yr old male an in relatively decent shape. I have been doing crossfit for about 8 years now and also enjoy a few 5k’s and obstacle course races a year. I’ve known I had an issue with my hip for a few years. No pain – just instability and weakness that mainly occurred at the gym. For instance, doing anything one legged like RDL’s, I just felt way more solid and stable on my left leg. In 2018, I started having bad sciatic nerve pain down my right leg. All attempts to fix this myself with yoga and stretching (via google searches) did not work. An MRI revealed that I had 2 buldging disks in my lower back. So took a break from crossfit, went to physical therapy for a couple of months and started using an inversion table. Sciatic pain eventually went away. I’ve had to adjust how I approach some exercise but that’s fine – not looking to win any medals.

In April of this year, the sciatic pain returned although not nearly as severe as before. Immediately jumped back on the inversion table and started doing the physical therapy stretches again. This did not help and in May I started having pain in my right hip and groin and the shooting pain down my leg intensified – mostly in my knee, down my shin and into the top of my foot. Tying my shoes, putting on socks, getting in and out of the car became torture. I normally avoid taking medications unless I absolutely have to but now ibuprofin is my best friend. But still I assumed this was all sciatic nerve related and continued to try and fix this myself. Some days I may have little to no pain. But most days I’m not so lucky. My job requires both standing and sitting (about 60/40) and some moderate to heavy lifting. The days where I sit a lot seem to be the ones where I have the most pain at night.

One day at work I overheard a coworker talking about having hip resurfacing. You may know him on here as PalmettoGolfer. After peppering him with questions I found out he had had the exact same symptoms that I have. Dr. Gross had done his surgery and PalmettoGolfer highly recommended him. After doing some research I determined he was the doctor I wanted to see so I made an appointment. Xray’s revealed that I am bone on bone in my right hip. Scheduled the surgery that day.

I was excited that I was going to get this fixed but didn’t take long before I started feeling nervous/anxious. I’ve only had 1 surgery in my life when I was 5. Since then I’ve only been put under once when I had a colonoscopy at age 50. After the first appointment they sent me home with a packet of information that is well, a bit overwhelming. Lots of instructions, lots of recovery items to buy, lots of meds and schedules. I worry about driving once they release me to do so – have to brake w/ my left until 6 wks mark. Been practicing and I’m not good at it. Also drive an SUV so the height is concerning. I worry about going to the bathroom. I worry about doing something that will damage my new parts. I worry about being recovered enough for a family beach trip in October. We’ll see.

Yesterday I had my pre-op appt with Dr. Gross. Everything is a go. They did a bone density scan and cleared me for the fast track. Got my crutches. I’ve ordered all of the other recovery items (ice machine, hip kit & raised toilet seat) from Amazon. Got a review of what, when and how much for all of the meds. So now I wait. More updates to come.

Finally I want to say that Dr. Gross’s staff has been great. They have been very responsive to my many calls and emails. I feel like I’m in good hands.

August 13, 2021

Not too much new to report except that, now that I’m less than a week from surgery I’ve had to stop taking anti-inflammatories.  I failed to plan ahead for this. Taking Ibuprofen PM before going to be has been the only way I can sleep at night.  I was pretty sure I could take Tylenol but I had not asked, nor did my info packet state if I could take something else for pain during this week. I was going to take my chances and take the Tylenol but turns out we didn’t have any.  So that first night with no pain meds was brutal.  I tried heat pad and ice pack.  I tried laying on I think every horizontal surface in the house hoping to find a position where the pain would be lessened but no luck.  Called the Dr Goss’s office first thing the next morning and they gave the ok for Tylenol.   So sleeping again. 

August 19, 2021

Had my surgery yesterday.  Arrived at the surgery center at 8am and was taken back around 9.  Took a cup of pills, drank a Boost, got shaved, had IV put in, chatted with the nurse and the next thing I remember was being woken up and told the surgery was over and everything went well.  I don’t recall too many details after that because I was a bit loopy still.  So far no nausea or dizziness. I do remember my wife coming back and them serving us lunch which I was able to eat with no problem.  Drank a lot of gatorade.  PT stopped in and reviewed my home therapy steps – ankle pumps, using crutches, 90 degree rule, etc.  She had to keep nudging me because I kept dozing off.  Thank goodness my wife was there to fill in the blanks for me.  I got up on the crutches and practiced stairs.  Luckily my house is 1 story so the only stairs I have are 3 that go from my garage into the house.  So in my mind everything was going great.  Until it came time to pee.  Gotta pee or get a cath.  I was able to pee twice but it was not enough.  They gave me 15 minutes to try again so pounded down another gatorade and a cup of water but still couldn’t produce enough.  So here came the cath. This will be my first one ever. But they could not get it all the way in because apparently I have a bit of an enlarged prostate.  Gotta get that checked out.  So they had to get a special one for that.  I filled up the bedside urinal container and was still going strong.  Nurse had to grab my water cup for the overflow.  After that they let me get dressed and go home.  All total I was there for about 11 hrs.

A couple of hours after getting home got a visit from home healthcare nurse.  She checked my blood pressure, listened to my heart, checked my pulse and check my bandage.  Everything looked ok.  She also reviewed the ankle pumps and other therapy items with me.  She also said I needed to prove to her that I could pee.  This caused me some concern because I was pretty sure I was empty.  She also informed me that normally, when someone could not pee she would insert a cath tube but since I needed a special one my only choice was a trip to the ER.  Thank God I was able to pee enough to satisfy her.   She left, I ate a pbj and went to bed.  Slept well.

Woke around 8am this morning.  Feeling pretty good.  A little pain-about a 3 out of 10.  Had some waffles and coffee.  Had another home health care visit.  Was able to pee for her.  BP was a little high but no cause for alarm. Not much swelling yet.  She did tell me that the 2nd or 3rd day is when the pain will be at its worse.  She stressed not waiting until the pain was bad to start taking the heavy duty pain meds. The rest of the day has been filled with short crutch sessions around the house, icing and ankle pumps.  Napped a little.  Watched a lot of tv.  I’ll post back tomorrow with another update. 

Small edit to yesterday. My bandage became saturated. I started blood thinner (xarelto) yesterday and assumed that was the cause but could not help wonder if I had moved or sat or something else incorrectly. Called Dr Gross’s office and they asked me to come in so they could change it. Luckily I live just a few miles away. They confirmed it was probably the blood thinner.

Slept through the night which rarely happens. This morning no real swelling yet but pain has jumped up a bit as predicted. Took pain med at 6am which has helped. I’ve been sleeping and spent all day yesterday in our spare bedroom. It has its own bathroom (en suite for you HGTV fans) that’s easier to navigate than our master bath. I don’t have a recliner but our master bed is adjustable so have decided to spend my daytime hours there. Huge difference in comfort.

Today I start my full regimen of exercises.

August 24, 2021

Had every intention to post here every day for the first week okay but I’ve been slack. Sorry about that. So I’ll summarize the last few days.

Stopped heavy pain meds (MS Contin & Oxy) on Saturday. Only taking tylenol now. Pain has been minimal but last night was a little worse. Not real bad but just enough to keep me uncomfortable and prevent good sleep. I mistimed my previous Tylenol so could not take another does until around 3am.

Pretty much been strictly sticking to the protocols outlined in the post-op packet. Icing frequently for an hour at a time, keeping feet elevated, doing my exercises, using 2 crutches. etc. I did walk with 1 crutch a time or two but only because I had no choice. No issues doing so but still keeping that to a minimum. Still paranoid that I’m going to mess something up especially when it comes to the 90 degree rule and not rotating my leg inward.

Sleep has been great with the exception of the aforementioned last night. Luckily I adjusted to sleeping on my back about a year ago due to some shoulder issues.

Swelling had been minimal.

Had my 1 wk post-op appt this morning with Lee Webb this morning. Everything looks great. I can reduce icing to an as needed basis. Bandage removed. Got the go ahead to use cane or single crutch and start the walking protocol. So, weather permitting, going to venture outside tonight and try to knock out a qtr mile using the crutch as the cane still feels a little weird. Hoped she’d give the the ok to mow with my riding mower but no luck. Gotta wait for the 6 wk mark for that. Can start working out upper body in 2 weeks.

August 25, 2021

Did my 1/4 mile last night. Went well but was surprised how heavy I was breathing after. No real discomfort otherwise. Waited until just before bed to take my tylenol hoping I would get a better night’s sleep but no luck. as before not a lot of pain but just enough discomfort to not let me sleep. Tried to sleep on my non-operated side with a pillow between my legs but just could not get comfortable. Think I finally fell asleep around 3am. On a positive note I finally finished that book I started over a year ago. Getting around well on the cane now. So one day at time.

September 2, 2021

just a quick update. Yesterday was 2 weeks post-op.
Been several days since I’ve needed to take Tylenol. Other than some minor soreness here and there I’ve had relatively no pain.
I started my .5 mile walks yesterday. No cane needed however do take it along just in case.
Also started upper body workouts yesterday which consist of sitting in a chair and using some 10 & 15lb dumbbells. Just some bi’s, tri’s and shoulder work.
Able to sleep on my non-operated side now without a pillow between my legs. Still can’t sleep on the operated side no matter what I do.
Still doing my home PT and icing 1-2 times a day but only for 30 minutes now instead of an hour.

April 21, 2022

Apologies for my lack of updates. I am now 8 months post-op. Progress has been good. I do still get some stiffness in my hip after sitting for extended periods. I’ve been told that i still have a slight limp on occasions. So slight that I don’t even realize. At 6 months all restrictions were lifted and I eagerly returned to my crossfit gym. I slowly worked back into running and jumping exercises. Also kept weight lifting light and have been slowly progressing to heavier weights. Range of motion in my hip is still and issue for me. it is getting better but its very slow. I have difficulty with squats, lunges and any other movement that calls for bending hip below parallel. I’m still walking 4-5 times a week. I’ve been slack with the post-op stretches since the 6 month point so have started doing those again.