Synopsis
ust past 12 weeks. Just past 12 weeks. Time to synopsize the experience as best I can, and perhaps inform others how this all works, with some authority although a population of 1.
It’s not all roses, but it’s certainly not dire either. Just a realistic summary that will reinforce your expectations, but also, to some degree, temper those expectations.
The Promise
Videos abound of people just out of surgery smiling and walking, climing stairs — leading one to think, “Piece of cake! According to this, I’m going to be out walking around like normal and riding my motorcylcle in 2 or 3 weeks, tops!”
What the videos don’t show is the experiences of those people after they get out of the hospital and go through the full recovery process.
Sure, they’re smiling and walking — I was smiling and walking, too. And happy for the experience!
But, as the previous pages relate, the followup was a bit more of a slog. Ultimately, it’s still major surgery, you’re still going to go through a recovery process.
Prep
There were a few things I had to do/procure prior to the surgery:
Physical
The main thing for me was to make sure my hip and thigh muscles were as toned as possible. That meant lots of stretch and strengthening exercises, including:
- Hamstring stretches
- Hip flexes
- Stair running
- Side steps
- Monster walks
Equipment
I needed a couple of things:
- A walker: got one from a medical supply place for $80. Two wheels in front, glider caps on the rear legs. There are more expensive versions that are wheels front and rear — they’ll save the floor finish. I used a couple of tennis balls with an ‘X’ cut in them so I could push them over the rear glider caps on mine. It didn’t mar the floor and worked fine.
- A reacher: In retrospect I think I should have gotten about five of these and sprinkled them around the house. They’re cheap and you invariably will drop something where your single reache is unavailable.
Food/Nourishment
I knew I was not going to be able run to the store for at least the first couple weeks — more likely four to six:
- Protein powder — recommended a week before and after.
- Electrolyte drinks/mix — same.
- A few Ensure-type drinks for when you (or your caregiver) don’t feel like cooking/prepping food.
- At least two weeks worth of groceries.
The Surgery
The surgery was amazingly fast — essentially one hour for each hip. There was more time involved in the prep and initial recovery than for the surgery, itself.
Pain Control in Recovery
The medical staff prescribed hydrocodone for pain relief.
I tried it for one day and it made me feel miserable — I decided to just stick with Tylenol (acetamenaphine).
That meant I would still have to deal with a certain amount of pain, but it was manageable. I could sleep. If I didn’t move anything, I really didn’t feel any pain. Pain essentially came with movement (of the hips and legs), so I minimized movement, especially when sleeping (or napping.)
Apparently, I’m not alone in that sentiment — the visiting nurse said there were lots of people who took the same approach.
The Foot
I didn’t expect to have as much foot trauma as I experienced. At 12 weeks, I can still feel some residual pain in the right ankle.
This is because of the manipulations they have to do to separate, expose, and reset your hip.
Think about what they have to do to accomplish this: first, they have to separate your hip. That entails pulling your femur away from the socket. Then, they have to pop it out of the socket fully and expose it so they can cut the ball off. That is done by tugging and manipulating the foot (which is clamped in to a device with which they can lower it, turn it, and tug on it as needed to perform the surgery.
When I came out of surgery, I was quite surprised at how much my foot was hurting, never mind the hip.
And it’s not uncommon: on a followup visit with the PA, he did x-rays looking for a fracture in the lower fibula where it goes alongside the ankle. Apparently, that happens enough to check for it.
Fortunately, it didn’t happen in my case, but the foot was quite painful for a long time.
Walking
Yes, you’re walking pretty much immediately after surgery.
And it’s great.
But, those walks will tire you out. And you won’t necessarily be perfectly stable..
I used a walker for about two weeks. Functionally, I felt like I didn’t need it to ease the walking. The concern was falling down: falling is the number one concern! Number one: Don’t fall. Numbers two through ten: see number one.
So, I happily pushed the walker around and used it, even when I felt confident enough to not use it, especially for morning bathroom runs. I could take short excursions away from the walker now and again, but only when I felt extremely confident enough to do so and only for a few steps.
After three or four weeks, I was able to abandon the walker, but still used hiking sticks as crutches, especially when I was out and about.
Full Flexibility Can Take Much Longer
After 12 weeks I still can’t reach the floor to pick up something fine or flat. Putting socks on is still a challenge (but doable…)
I need to resume my hamstring and hip flexor stretches to see if that helps.
Remember in your pre-op documents, it can take up to a year to fully heal. Even though your functioning reasonably well, your hip musculature will still be out of sorts for quite a while.
I had a bilateral (both hips) procedure and there has been a marked difference in healing between the two. In six weeks, the left hip was almost back to normal. At 12, the right hip is still lingering significantly — it is weaker than the left and nowhere near as flexible. For me, I seem to be experiencing both extremes: very quick response (in the left) and somewhat slow response (in the right.)
The right is improving, though by millimeters it seems. Again, the test is donning the sock: on the left, I can easily slip the sock over my toes and pull it up — on the right, I have to loop the sock opening over the toes by either tossing the opening over them or (lately), hooking my right finger in the outer side of the opening while holding the inner side with my left hand.
But, last week I couldn’t even do that.
Current Focus
I find that after the last 12 weeks, I’m defaulting to a smaller stride. I can stride out bigger, but I’ve become used to the smaller stride by constraints imposed over the last 12 weeks.
As a result, I have to consciensciously stride bigger, stretching the hip flexors more and forcing more complete movement.
The result of that effort underscores how much I’ve been ‘babying’ the hips — the full-stride effort is much more tiring. I’m feeling much more stress in the flexors.
This too, will improve.
Conclusion
So. Was it worth it?
Considering the inevitable progression without the surgery, I have to say yes. Even with the current discomforts and issues with the right foot, one has to consider the alternative: continuing degeneration leading to having to use a cane for support, to eventually winding up in a wheelchair.
The latter end result has much greater implications for overall health than just the hips: without the ability to even walk I am sure everything else in my constitution will degenerate much more quickly — heart, lungs, digestive system, circulation, mental acuity — everything.
I have to close with an almost reverent appreciation for how this technology has developed in my lifetime — without it, the outlook beyond the next few years would (for me at 74) have been as described above. With it, my overall ability, lifestyle, and health is much more likely to be extended fifteen to twenty years or so.
It’s a good time to be alive.