From Anterior Hip Replacement Back To Triathlon: 2 weeks post surgery

Thursday, March 15, 2012

2 weeks post surgery

It feels hard to believe that this time two weeks ago I was in the operating room – ready to start the journey of pain, frustration, re-learning, and accomplishments.

Today I celebrated my two-week-old hip with a walk in the sun, approximately 20mins, using only one crutch. I even managed to get my own shoes and socks on (no laces though). My PT has been directing me to slow down and stop ‘bolting from one place to another’, but to think about how I am moving. Stand up straight, hips aligned, heel down first, go slow. It’s amazing to be out, walking properly!

I am walking around the house using no crutches which feels great, and am mastering stairs with only one foot per stair. I am still having trouble sleeping (but what parent doesn’t anyway) and I lie awake waiting for the next four hourly pain medication. My PT thinks that the reason some of my exercise are still so difficult – basically anything involving lifting my leg vertically – is to do with my abdominals still being so weak after having the baby last summer. I trained my leg and arms muscles well for the post-surgery recovery with all the biking and swimming but certainly slacked off on abdominals …maybe this will motivate me…. On the plus side I have to replace all my trainers and soft soled shoes as they are molded to fit my previous hip alignment. Continuing to wear them will be detrimental to recovering and learning to walk correctly with my new hip and could cause trouble with my left hip and my knees. A great excuse for shopping once I can get shoes on and off easily in the shop.

Chris and I have finally clued into the fact that the reason my blood thinner injections are so painful some nights and fine on others is more to do with how recently I took pain meds than with how /where he inserts the needle.

I am looking forward to heading into the city tomorrow to see Dr Davidovitch and, though I’m not looking forward to the staples coming out, I’m keen to hear how he rates my progress. Hopefully he’ll be pleased and allow me to start driving. Life will really feel as though its getting back to normal then.

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Osteoarthritis and My Path To Anterior Hip Replacement

A doctor first mentioned arthritis over 10 years ago as the why reason my hip ached sometimes. It didn’t seem to be anything important so I pretty much forgot about it. But by three years ago I limped, couldn’t walk far, couldn’t jump, would get a sudden excruciating pain in the joint, would fear it collapsing under me on stairs (which it occasionally did), struggled to get up from sitting on the floor, and couldn't run so much as across a street. I finally went back to the doctor and was told my hip would need to be replaced. No other alternative procedure or route possible. I researched (resurfacing, physical therapies, partial replacement). I also met with several doctors for second opinions, and the best prognosis I found was "you will have to replace it but you don’t need to do it until you can't take it any more". This was from Hospital For Special Surgery in New York. So I continued with life as normal, and looked for alternatives to running to keep me in shape and exercising/competing outside. I discovered that the more I swam and biked the less pain there was, as well as less limping, aching, and sudden collapses. This kept me going for another 2 years, to compete in open water swim races, indoor bike events, and a triathlon with a friend doing my run for me. By last autumn the swimming and biking were still working ...but not as well ... and by now I was taking painkillers every night in order to sleep... so I began researching again. This time it was not about whether I needed to have a full hip-replacement surgery, but what kind would be the best for me.

In most areas of my life I don’t feel that young but in the world of hip replacement I am. I expect the joint to last me a long time, I expect to do a lot with it, I expect to recover quickly, and I'd also like a small scar. For traditional hip replacement the incision is usually 10-12inches and the recovery several months after a minimum 5 day hospital stay. The restrictions on the patient afterwards can be extensive with many lasting forever. With minimally invasive hip replacement incisions are usually 3-6 inches, hospital stays 2 days, and recovery much faster with few or no restrictions. There are also several types of minimally invasive hip replacement methods - two incision or single incision. As I researched further I also discovered the Anterior Approach. With this approach, as no muscles or tendons are violated, there is an easier and faster recovery, a lower risk of dislocation, and NO restrictions after the surgery. This is the surgical approach for me.

About Me

Thursday, March 15, 2012

2 weeks post surgery

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