THR AzDrew on the Other Side

[Hip Hip Hooray!]

I'm glad that you are going to wait on the exercise. I think you will be very happy with your decision in the long run. I've read so many threads by people here who have pushed themselves back into exercise too soon. They are the ones that are in chronic pain. I used to push my body to its limits, as a professional dancer. I am much more gentle with my hips now. You are wise to avoid extremes. There's plenty of time.

My surgeon told me to wait for four weeks before returning to the gym. My ego wanted to get back to the machines a few days after my surgery. I'm so glad I didn't. It's paid off in the long term.

 

[lalo]

Hi @azdrew
Just read your thread. I had a very similar experience. I broke my femural neck and had it (pinned with 3 long screws). I surprised I can't see the screws in the x ray on the before picture. In my case I had the pinning in Feb of last year and the replacement in June.
I broke mine in a bicycle accident. I hope yours wasn't from bicycling.
I can relate to your knee pain. I had a total knee replacement on the same leg 6 years ago, which made the recovery from the hip that much harder.
From what I have read on this forum they really work the leg over in surgery and knee pain is very common.
After finishing the prescribed PT I found a fitness center in town that has a Heated indoor pool and offers several aqua therapy classes. If you have that as an option I highly recommend it. It's helped me more than all the other conventional therapy.
I started working from home at around week 5 and made the mistake of sitting way too long and my my calves also started to hurt, which scared me into going to see a Dr.
I didn't have any clots but the Dr suggested I wear compression socks and to limit the sit time and take breaks often. I think it's doable but you have to use good judgement. Following the forum advice of icing and elevating really helps in recovery.
I think I posted a pic of my pinning pic with the screws in my regular thread or in the scar section.
Best of luck with your recovery.
Ill keep an eye on your posts.

 

[azdrew]

I surprised I can't see the screws in the x ray on the before picture.

Ha, yes, I suppose that is a bit confusing.

In October 2014 I fractured my hip originally, and at that point the original OS put in 4 screws.

(Interesting as I look at the original after the fracture, the femoral neck doesn't look near as bad)

Since I was recovering but still having pain, the Dr. ordered a CT scan and concluded the screws could be removed in August 2015. After that I felt great for about a week but things got progressively more painful. That led me to OS #2 in October and the x-ray I put up earlier that doesn't show the screws. In August, OS #1 said that the CT scan looked good and the pain was likely due to the screws, but from what I was told later, the CT scan wasn't showing the full state of healing, and the fracture really wasn't healing.

I broke mine in a bicycle accident. I hope yours wasn't from bicycling.

Indeed it was, it was an unexpected rain storm, and a shortcut through a parking lot with a lot of surface oil. Tight corner + speed + oil = wheels straight up from beneath me and coming down directly on my right hip. Most pain I have ever experienced in my life.

I didn't have any clots but the Dr suggested I wear compression socks and to limit the sit time and take breaks often. I think it's doable but you have to use good judgement. Following the forum advice if icing and elevating really helps in recovery.

Yes, I've been doing compression socks and elevation as well. We both felt that it probably wasn't clots, but didn't want to be a couple of weeks down the road in the ER both regretting that we didn't check it out right away.

 

[lalo]

Wow, you had 4 of those bad boys. I thought 3 were bad. And you had a 2nd surgery to have them removed.
You have been through the ringer.
I guess in a way I was lucky that mine went bad very quickly. My pain right before I had the hip replaced was unbearable. I went to work for about 6 weeks and all I could do was to come home get an ice pack pop some pain pills and try to sleep. The decision to have the replacement was easy.
Regarding my accident, I tried to sneak a quick bike ride around the neighborhood at dusk; I'm not a serious bicyclist but tried to do 3 to 4 miles several times a week to keep my muscles strong to help the knee. Anyway, on that day I had just pulled over onto a sidewalk about 1 block away from the street where I turn into to get home. At a particular spot on the sidewalk there is a 180 deg jog in the sidewalk that goes around a big Oak tree. I have done it hundreds of times before but that day my elbow brushed against it and I lost my balance. At the time it happened the sun had gone down and it was dark, which contributed to the accident.
I should have never tried to rush the ride but I did.
Every day when I make a left turn to leave the subdivision when I look right I have to stare at the Oak Tree.
I since gone to the spot (on my new 3 wheel bicycle my wife bought me) and have made peace with the tree, almost.
I have promised her to not ride a regular bike for at least a year. And she put the one I had an accident on by the curb and somebody picked it up.

 

[TerryCloth]

Better than new!

 

[Jaycey]

just wanting to avoid any extremes to mess up the good vibes so far.

Very good plan! Patience is prescribed!

 

[Rubadub]

azdrew- my LTHR was done after a femoral neck fracture. I fractured it in April 2014, had 3 screws put in. Screws removed May 2015. During that time I never was able to be without cane. July 2015 I was diagnosed with AVN - dr suggested THR - by that time I was ready! Tired of hurting. I'm 3 months out now and for the first time in a really long time I am assistant free! Hope your recovery continues! It's awesome to be back to "normal".


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum

 

[azdrew]

I had my first 2 PT sessions this week. I'm going to the place I went to a year ago when I was recovering the fracture so my PT had all my measurements from last time.

I already have better range of motion than I did at the time of my last session when I had the screws in, so I'm pretty encouraged. I'm also doing most of the exercises with considerably less pain than last time.

I did 10 minutes on recumbent cycle at PT, and things went great. Feeling encouraged, I tried 15 minutes on my road bike on the trainer for the first time since surgery (little over 3 weeks). Trust me it was super easy (Strava suffer score of 3!). It felt pretty good, not as easy as the recumbent, but way better than what I was going through last year with the fracture. Just a little bit of twinge in the knee but nothing too terrible.

Also, I forgot to report back on my "mystery incision" that I had on the opposite hip after the surgery. At my follow-up my Dr. said that its for the Mako robotic system. They insert tracker probes into the opposite hip, so it registers when everything moves around on the table. The tracker allows it to keep everything aligned with the 3D model in the computer that was generated from a CT scan. Pretty cool stuff.