August RTHR after April LTHR

[tictac]

Hi all Replacing my Right Hip while still recovering from left hip replacement in april. Surgery to be August 14th. Have many questions about how this recovery will be with my new left hip still settling in....anyone here having your 2nd hip done and how close were the surgeries scheduled from one another? I am trying to remember that my surgeon is very experienced, but I still have pain from the first surgery (although it is pain that the arthritic pain) and wonder if this will aggreviate it further, etc.

 

[dlp]

Can't speak specifically to your exact situation, but I'm sure someone will be able to.

I assume your surgeon in onboard with this, yes? I think it really boils down to how you are feeling now, and how your healing is going. You're about 4 months out from the first surgery. Are you feeling good? Are you (mostly) back to your normal routine?

I took a trip to Ireland about 3 months after my first THR. We did 10 days driving around Ireland, taking walks and short hikes. I did a day long walk around Belfast and my recently replaced hip felt great (the other one wasn't. I upgraded that one 3 weeks ago ) . I was already back to driving my manual transmission car, and did a lot of driving of a manual transmission car around the countryside in Ireland.

Obviously vacation is not the same thing as having another surgery. But the point is, I was pretty much back to my regular routine at that point, and feeling pretty good. Based on the things you have to deal with post-surgery, there really isn't anything that I can think of that should be a problem - all other things being equal, and assuming you feel up to it!

Good luck!

 

[ladylorn]

Hi, @tictac! Chiming in on your inquiry re, having surgeries close together. I had my second hip done on June 22nd after having had the first one done on March 9th. I wound up having complications (more, I think, because of issues with the aquacel bandage and zipline suture used the second time - I had staples for the first one), but I'm getting back on track now. There are a bunch of us who've done the surgeries pretty close together - @BeBe and I both had our second surgeries on the same day, and within similar windows!

What I can say from my own experience (and with gentle reminders from other lovely Hippies) is, remember that you will have had two major surgeries in a short period of time; be gentle with yourself when it comes to progress. I have a tendency to push myself and learned very early on after the second one that my body WILL push back - HARD ! Admittedly, I'd been hobbling for quite some time before the surgeries, so my body was already dealing with THAT trauma before I added two surgeries into the mix. But the healing aches and pains that I have now are still NOTHING compared to that arthritic, bone-on-bone pain with which I'd been living (and suffering); so it's still worth it to me.

All that to say, if your doc feels that you need that second surgery, and is amenable to (and/or encouraging) you getting it done ASAP, it makes sense to me that you would want to go for it. It seems to me from everything I've read on the forums that everyone's healing path will be different; the blessing being, we're on the healing path!!!

I would suggest you check out folks' stories, there are a lot of us "close together" Hippies here; we're all different, and have had different healing curves - but, from what I've seen, the majority of us are glad that we "got 'er did".

Good luck!

 

[tictac]

ladylorn- thank you for your reply, I really appreciate the words of encouragement. The internet can be a wonderful source of information, but also contains a great deal of "what can go wrong" and my mind tends to drift down the darker path at times. My doctor has said he does recommend I get the surgeries done closer together and everyone who has looked at my xrays say something to the effect of "oh, wow, those look bad for your age", I'm 50 and this is a result of osteoarthritis, and there is not a doubt in my mind that I do need these surgeries to be able to act my age again. I appreciate all the collective knowledge on these boards!

 

[ladylorn]

@tictac, I'm happy to give you encouragement - I had GREAT support from other BoneSmarties in the days leading up to my surgeries, and ever since; so I'm happy that I get to pay it forward in some small way.

I agree, the internet can send you down a very dark road with regards to hip replacements; even I (who have been called "the Pollyanna of the family") have had moments of doubt and fear - this is a big deal we're talking about here! But I can honestly say that where I am now (and I'm nowhere near the dancing queen I want to get back to being!) is better than where I was - I'm a 50+ woman who, prior to surgery, walked like a 90 year old (and not one of those active elder 90yos), and carried the weight of the world as though I were that, too! Now, I can only expect things to get better and better (and I refuse to let anyone tell me they can't! ).

I'm hopeful of that for you, as well; here's to getting to the healing side with ease and grace!

 

[EL11]

That is so good to hear, @ladylorn. What a gift. I was in denial for a time about the fact that I honestly could not stand up straight.

Today is my 70th birthday. Believe it or not, the best decade of my life (assuming you want to go along with dividing it that way rather then in groups of say 15 or 11) was the last, hands down—career-wise and personally. So this is the perfect time to acquire new hips and the ability to work out again, walk through an airport or to the park without silent going "Ow" all the time.

Thanks for your positive presence on the Smarties board

 

[InkedMarie]

Happy Birthday!

 

[ladylorn]

Hi, @tictac, checking in to see how you're doing with that new hip!! Hope all's well now that you're on the healing side of things!!!

 

[Josephine]

this is a result of osteoarthritis

Really? What else did you expect it to be caused by? (joke!)

 

[lovesstars]

AVN...