Update since 4 May 2025 – Hip Revision Journey
Since my last post, it’s been quite an eventful few months. After relying on my own resources for a while, I thought it time to share my experiences here.
Checkup – June 10, RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital, UK
I saw Mr Steele, consultant surgeon at RJAH, a leading Orthopaedic Hospital in the UK, and to my astonishment the X‑rays that day showed a by then healed periprosthetic fracture of my left hip (Gruen Zones 2 and 5). This explained the pain I’d had since January 2025. Unaware of the fracture, I had continued cycling, hiking, and strength training throughout the pain, applying Wolff’s Law to the max — essentially playing with fire! By then, even though the fracture had healed, I was warned of catastrophic hip failure if I didn’t reduce the load on it.
I then adopted what I called my Hip Preserve Protocol, hoping to retain as much of my fitness as possible whilst waiting for the revision surgery, but also hoping to keep the left hip well away from that dreadful sounding “catastrophic failure”:
• Walks limited to 4 miles max on the flat, using Urban Poling Activator 2 poles
• Indoor cycling adapted (step ladder mount, cages instead of cleats, virtual shifting)
• Stairs: good leg up, bad leg down
• Core strength modified (no squats/lunges; planks/press‑ups replaced with knee equivalents)
Surgery – October 22
After a delay for infection checks (hip aspiration thankfully negative), surgery revealed my hip was far worse than expected, my prior fitness having masked how bad it was. The upper femur's bone was described as “like cream cheese.” The old prosthesis came out with hardly a pull.
Of note were:
• Stryker Trident Acetabular Socket fitted - uncemented
• Long stem to bypass the cream cheese bone and fracture sites (likely Stryker Restoration Stem, to be confirmed at my Dec 9 checkup) – uncemented.
• Femur packed with artificial bone crystal
• Cerclages to crimp cream cheese bone and muscle together
• A rather unwelcome intraoperative femur crack
• Surgery lasted 3.5 hours with ~400ml blood loss.
Hospital Stay
I spent 8 nights in hospital (the last 4 due to logistical issues, which turned out to be a blessing). Post‑op oedema (now fully resolved) was spectacular. More challenging was Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition (AMI) - due to the severity of the surgical trauma, my left quad essentially shut down, leading to total Quad Inhibition (QI). This caused rapid atrophy of the quad (all that training gone!). The QI meant that for the life of me I could not lift my leg even an inch to save my life– quite a surprise!
Recovery Milestones
• Discharged Post Operation Day (POD) 8 (30 October) on 50% partial weight bearing, crutches, 3‑point gait
• First 2 weeks home PODs 8 to 21: glacial progress, only walks of a few hundred yards possible
• POD 22: managed 0.8 miles
• POD 40: 4 mile walks now, alternating “challenge” (4 miles) and “recovery” (1.5–2 miles) days, still with crutches. I am capping my walks at 4 miles until my X-rays next week
• Core strength floor sessions resumed from POD 35: Dead Bug and Single Leg Quad holds especially beneficial for my poor wasted quad
Current Status
• Hip essentially now pain‑free.
• AMI/QI fully resolved
• Incision healed well, all sealed up and ridge free
• Awaiting first checkup Dec 9 with Mr Steele, hoping his prognosis of regaining full athletic fitness still holds true.
There are so many other things I could mention, as brevity is never my strength, but let’s draw a line here - any who have reached the end of this long missive deserves a medal!
United Kingdom
be of interest.
