Shabbis’s Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Pritchett 2014
Shabbis’s Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Pritchett 2014
October 20, 2014
I am a 41 year old male with FAI and HOA in both hips. I was diagnosed in 2012 and was told by a local ortho here in Portland that I would need a THR in both hips and to go as long as I could before getting it done. I felt that wasn’t a good enough answer and started to look for other options. I then discovered this site.
I used to be an avid runner (about 45 miles a week) and I surf, ski, road and mtn bike, hike, swim. Pretty much everything… I’ve had to cut back on most of my activities as the pain is now getting to the point where I need to take action. I have the classic symptoms, groin pain, lower back pain, stiffness in the joints, etc.
After browsing this site and finding the list of doctors, I had an appointment with Dr Pritchett last week. It went really well. He is very unassuming, extremely knowledgeable on the subject, and I never felt like he was try to push for this type of surgery. He just look at my x-rays, gave me the information I needed and answered all my questions.
I asked about the metal ion issue, all of implant type options, THR vs HR. I felt confident that his recommendation is my best option based on all of his answers.
He recommend MoM HR for both hips, starting with the left, the right still has some time. However, I was very impressed with how selective he was for deciding if this type of surgery is the best option for me, or anyone else for that matter.
November 26, 2014
It has been 15 hours since surgery. Starting to feel the pain coming on now. Incision area looks great, only a miniscule amount of bleeding. Tried to sit up at the side of the bed this morning, but got really lightheaded and had to lay back down. Blood pressure is pretty low right now.
The PT had me up and walking with a walker about 4 hours post-op. Walking went well, except my left quad and knee were still numb, so my knee gave out twice, felt like the floor dropped out from under my feet. Strangest feeling ever. Also got very dizzy and lightheaded, I assume that was from all the drugs and trama from surgery.
Worried about my next PT session.
I know I can get through this, although it’s going to be a slower process than my mind wants it to be. I am in that "what did I do?" stage right now.
November 26, 2014
2nd PT and OT session at the hospital went great; no nausea this time. I have one PT session left and then I will be discharged. Pain is manageable at this point. The quad, glute and hamstring are all super tight and don’t want to move. Brain says "lift" muscles say "no"!
Not sure if it’s all psychological, but I swear my new hip feels "smoother" when it moves compared to my original hip. Like a well oiled machine. I had some bone spurs before and it felt kind of "crunchy" when I moved.
November 28, 2014
I am 3 days post-op. As I don’t like taking prescriptions as well, I tried to go easy on the pain killers, but it was just too debilitating. Especially the first night back home, it was brutal, I couldn’t sleep at all.
I am now embracing the pain killers. I can sleep at night, move around much easier and also do the PT three times a day (which is very important). In fact, when I missed a scheduled time to take my pain killers, I was amazed at how quickly the pain returned. I am also blocked up, but I’ve been taking all the steps to hopefully loosen everything up soon.
I am amazed at just how tight my quad muscle is, must be trying to compensate for all the damage on the other side (I had the posterior approach).
November 29, 2014
Day 4 post-op. Was able to take a few steps without crutches. No pain at all in the hip. Quad is still tight and sore. Incision area is still swollen, but clean and dry. There has been barely any bleeding or fluid leak since the surgery., just a couple small red spots on the bandage. Pretty amazing.
Have started to back off the pain meds, taking about half of what I was taking before. Although I noticed I was much more mobile with more pain meds, which I guess could be a bad thing as I could push myself more. Harder to judge your limits when on too much pain meds.
At this rate though, unless there are an relapses I don’t know about, I am on a, what seems like, a very quick recovery path.
December 2, 2014
I am at exactly one week post-op with Dr Pritchett at Swedish.
First off, Swedish is top notch. Everything from the faciliities to the staff was nothing short of stellar. The service was very efficient, knowledgeable and friendly. They all knew Dr. Pritchett and hip resurfacing itself in detail. Everyone had great post-op advice that went beyond what is in your packet. Even their "a la carte" food service was decent. Everyone gets a private room, I had a great view of downtown and the Sound. I was only there for one night, but this was probably the first time ever I wouldn’t have minded staying longer if I had to as I normally hate hospitals.
The procedure itself went perfectly. I was given some meds and IV pre-op, rolled into the OR, given the spinal and blocker (got a little woozy from the blocker) and then that was it. "Woke up" in the recovery room. Then finally moved to my private room once everything was deemed stable.
The PT and OT sessions were very short for me. I was expecting much more extensive sessions, I guess I was able to demonstrate all the required PT and OT first time through so there was no need for longer sessions.
Now, a week later. My advice so far:
1. Embrace the pain meds, don’t fight them. It’ll help you sleep and also loosen you up for doing the in-bed PT, which is important. In fact, I am still taking them at night so I can sleep as the pain now isn’t that bad, but it’s still uncomfortable enough that I cannot reach REM without them.
2. Toilet seat riser: I found that I didn’t need it. But everyone’s bathroom situation is different. I would just use my crutches to help lower myself down and then lean back to keep the 90+ degree angle in tact.
3. Shower chair: I recommed this, or something to help get over the tub lip. Even a week past post-op, I still can’t lift the operated leg very high, not even close to tub lip height. I found this process to be the most difficult of all the OT. I stayed at my parents the first five days and they have a walk-in shower, really helped a lot.
4. Sock putter-on-er: If you plan to wear socks and at all and don’t have anyone to dress you. This is a must. I have someone to put my socks on for me, so I skipped this one.
5. Reacher: Also a must. Although, as I’ve done a lot of yoga in the past, I have found that I can straighten my surgery leg and bend with my other leg to pick things up without breaking the 90 degree rule, works great for me, but it does look quite comical.
December 8, 2014
I am only 2 weeks post-op, so lots of muslce soreness still, but when it comes to the joint itself, I cannot feel any difference between my BHR hip and my natural hip. My BHR hip had a lot of arthritis and bone spurs, so in fact in actually feels smoother now than before surgery.
December 12, 2014
2 weeks post-op! No more crutches. Walk with a limp, but I can get around. Start the real PT next week. Pain is mostly gone. Just a lot of soreness now. Having difficulty sleeping at night still though. I am utterly amazed at how fast recovery has been. No cardio for the past 2 weeks has been driving me crazy though.
December 20, 2014
Entering week 4 post-op. No crutches or cane. Can walk around with a slight limp, although working hard to not favor the operated side, but let me tell you, that’s a lot of work. Feel like I am having to teach my operated leg how to properly walk again.
Started the real PT a couple days back (not just the PT the hospital assigns). I am amazed at how much my operated quad has atrophied. Looks like I have some work ahead. All of the new PT has caused a lot more soreness through the entire leg, I guess that’s good. A sign of progress.
Being pretty young and very active pre-op, as I am sure many of you are as well, I think I might be pushing the PT a little too hard, thinking that will speed up recovery. My PT told me slow and steady will win this race. It’s difficult, I just want to go out and run 6 miles or cycle 40 miles or get a couple runs in on the mountain or drop in on a couple of waves right now. I am not the type to just sit around when I am not working, so this as been a difficult 3 weeks.
Also having issues getting comfortable at night, so I still don’t sleep much. Not so much pain, just a lot of soreness and, I guess you could call it "healing", as everything on the operated side is recovering. I know it’ll pass with time, more PT and a lot of ice.
Besides all that, the new hip itself is smooth when I move it. No more arthritis clicking and crunching. No more lower back pain when walking or standing for more than a couple minutes.
February 15, 2015
ust had my 2 month checkup with Dr. Pritchett. After looking at the x-ray, he said he had good news and bad news. The good news: all restrictions have been lifted on my operated hip. The bad news: I’ll be seeing him again soon for the right hip.
Almost back to normal at 2 months now. Hitting the gym on a regular basis with a pretty heavy routine. No pain at all in the hip, incision area still gets pretty sore though, which is understandable. ROM is about double of what I had before surgery, I had femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) in both hips, still do in the right, pretty amazing ROM in the left now with that restriction removed. The scar is quite a conversation starter in the gym showers too. I can walk about 5 miles right now, still get a little sore from that though, so running is still out for now.
He said I can start running, skiing, surfing, hiking and cycling again. I know I won’t be doing all of those activities for a while though as I need to build back up the muscles around the incision. It’s just a comforting feeling not to have to worry about the implant and be overly cautious.
As I look back, overall, recovery wasn’t too bad. The first 2 weeks were brutal, of course. I embraced the pain killers, which really helped, especially when trying to sleep at night. Once PT started, the recovery really accelerated.
February 19, 2015
Dr. Pritchett initially told me six months before I could go back to running, surfing and skiing. But he removed all restrictions at my 2 month checkup.
I went surfing last Monday, it was about waist high, pretty mellow. Rode my 9’6" longboard in the morning tentatively, then switched to my 5’10" shortboard in the afternoon. Everything was sore the next day, except for my hip.
I won’t surf in big surf, ski or attempt to run this year. No way the muscles are ready.