THR Burias’ recovery

Before I enjoyed a drink, I was off *any* pain meds including acetaminophen ( your Paracetamol) and I was confident in my gait and balance. I wouldn't want to trip or stumble and drop my glass :rotfl::martini:
 
I also look forward to getting in a car without lifting my leg in with my hands! How exciting something so small seems! Glad to hear your doing so well! I look forward to a lot less swelling.
 
Just a thought, when did people start drinking alcohol again? I don’t mean getting wasted etc but having a couple of glasses of wine with a meal at a restaurant
I'm sure doctors would advise against it, but I'm less than a week out and have had a beer or two without any apparent ill effect.
 
We enjoy a glass or two of wine maybe 3 nights a week. I'm not on any opiates and I do use tylenol before going to bed but have had no negative issues and I think I probably started having that wine about 2 weeks after I came home.
We love a good cocktail hour here.
 
It’s great to see this place is active! Congrats on your surgery.
I just found this today and am curious if like in the USA you get to chose your surgeon? I’m in Canada and we do not. I’m 4 yrs in pain had spinal surgery when I needed a hip done.
I found it was my hip in oct got to see the hip surgeon in Jan and they said 8 month wait. Once I told them of my last 4 yrs they put me on a cancellation list. I got a call thurs asking me to come on wed!!! I’ve had no prep or pre op anything to ask questions of recovery. I have read through a few things here and was so happy to see your story.
You will be almost a full week ahead of me. I will be reading up to see how you are doing.
I can’t imagine having a little one running around through this. Although I’m sure your little one is not nearly as messy as my teen lol.
I don’t mind reading your rambles. It’s just nice seeing others recoveries. Keep updating
This is interesting to me about choosing our own surgeon. I'm in the US and didn't technically choose my own surgeon. I'm sure if I had hated him, I could have asked for another one. But I thought very highly of him from the beginning.

As a Federal Employee (and now a Federal Retiree), I have had a choice every year of at least a dozen different insurance plans. Way back in 1985
I chose an excellent HMO and never changed. We have always had excellent doctors and my kids had the same great pediatrician for their whole childhoods.
So when my PCP referred me to orthopedics, I was assigned Dr. Whadley, who only does hips, and has done anterior since his training.
I did not ask for any specific approach but was glad he did anterior and I just read my surgery detailed notes and found out I have ceramic, titanium, poly duel mobility hardware.
 
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It’s great to see this place is active! Congrats on your surgery.
I just found this today and am curious if like in the USA you get to chose your surgeon? I’m in Canada and we do not. I’m 4 yrs in pain had spinal surgery when I needed a hip done.
I found it was my hip in oct got to see the hip surgeon in Jan and they said 8 month wait. Once I told them of my last 4 yrs they put me on a cancellation list. I got a call thurs asking me to come on wed!!! I’ve had no prep or pre op anything to ask questions of recovery. I have read through a few things here and was so happy to see your story.
You will be almost a full week ahead of me. I will be reading up to see how you are doing.
I can’t imagine having a little one running around through this. Although I’m sure your little one is not nearly as messy as my teen lol.
I don’t mind reading your rambles. It’s just nice seeing others recoveries. Keep updating
This is interesting to me about choosing our own surgeon. I'm in the US and didn't technically choose my own surgeon. I'm sure if I had hated him, I could have asked for another one. But I thought very highly of him from the beginning.

As a Federal Employee (and now a Federal Retiree), I have had a choice every year of at least a dozen different insurance plans. Way back in 1985
I chose an excellent HMO and never changed. We have always had excellent doctors and my kids had the same great pediatrician for their whole childhoods.
So when my PCP referred me to orthopedics, I was assigned Dr. Whadley, who only does hips, and has done anterior since his training.
I did not ask for any specific approach but was glad he did anterior and I just read my surgery detailed notes and found out I have ceramic, titanium, poly duel mobility hardware.
Your dr is determined by insurance? Here in Canada we can purchase insurance which I do have. However unless I leave the country the drs I have are pretty much who are available. I did change family drs but that was a long time ago. Can not do that now because we have a dr shortage. People are on insane wait lists for family drs. I tried to leave mine but no one takes new patients and they refuse anyone who already has a dr. Canadian health care is horrible !
I should have my 2 week check in app from the surgeons office still waiting …
 
@Lyla Generally American insurance plans have a network and they will pay the scheduled amount if you stay in network. You can go out of network but it might cost more out of pocket with some plans. Dr.'s here in some areas don't accept new patients because they are very busy. The big thing here is you don't get a "real" Dr. you see nurse practitioners or physician's assistants. If you read threads on here you'll read that many never get to see their OS, always PA's especially post-op. That is why you have to put effort into finding the OS and their office that you are comfortable with. Most are assembly line production work clinics.
 
@Lyla Generally American insurance plans have a network and they will pay the scheduled amount if you stay in network. You can go out of network but it might cost more out of pocket with some plans. Dr.'s here in some areas don't accept new patients because they are very busy. The big thing here is you don't get a "real" Dr. you see nurse practitioners or physician's assistants. If you read threads on here you'll read that many never get to see their OS, always PA's especially post-op. That is why you have to put effort into finding the OS and their office that you are comfortable with. Most are assembly line production work clinics.
Very interesting! Here you do see the surgeon post op and pre op. We don’t get a choice who we get unless you get your family dr to send a referral to one you may have heard of. Even then if the family physician is not familiar with that surgeon you may not get that one. Then there is the insane wait times!! It takes a lot of people here over a year for a hip replacement or many other surgeries / specialists.
I have been waiting literally years to see a dermatologist … normally a 6 month - a year yet here I am years later and many referrals later.
 
Yes, if you choose to have an HMO plan for your insurance, then you do need to use those HMO doctors.

I chose this plan in 1985 and have always felt my family and I have received excellent care through them.

However, every year, during Open Season, I certainly do have the option of switching insurance plans. I felt lucky that as a Federal Retiree, I get to have the same insurance as I received as an employee, at the same price.

I should add that this HMO routinely sends cancer patients out to Cancer Care, Fred Hutchinson, etc.
 
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Just to give you the fuller picture of the American system, @Lyla --

I wanted my hip and knee replacements done by a particular surgeon at a particular hospital and had no problems at all with that for either surgery because I chose insurance coverage that allows me to see any surgeon of my choosing (of course, it costs more!)

Also, contrary to the experience @Eman85 described, I have never once had to see a PA or nurse in place of my orthopedic surgeon. He personally met with and examined me at every appointment -- and never rushed me. (One of the reasons I chose him).

So, in the U.S., there is no single standard: insurance plans and quality of care can vary widely. All in all, I'm quite happy with both of mine.
 
For what it's worth, my experience was similar to @benne68 . Everything I chose was in network (the top facility in my fairly rural area). I had a sinus surgery out of network years ago, and while it was a bit more expensive, it wasn't crazy. I did see my surgeon's PA at one point, just because I didn't want to wait a couple weeks (and she's fantastic - she didn't see anything on the x-ray, I explained my history and why I wanted an MRI, and I got it done the next day).
 
@Burias .... hope you are continuing to see improvements. The first few days...and sometimes even weeks...can be a bit rocky. Don't worry. That's normal for some people. Let us know how you're doing.
 
So exactly 2 weeks to the day was my surgery and everything seems to be going very well, even took a few full weight steps (still had my crutches in my hands) but yeah the last few days I can really feel the muscle strength slowly coming back.

Took a trip to see everybody at work the other day (I work in a supermarket) and it really helped with the confidence of my improvement to hear everybody say how it’s the best they’ve seen me walk even when I was using crutches.

Took the outer bandage off the other day as per my instructions and started cleaning (only dabbing with a sponge with sensitive childrens bodywash then dabbing dry with a towel) still have steri strips attached but they’re slowly peeling off by themselves so I’m interested to see how the incision site looks once they’ve all gone and it’s all cleaned up.

It’s weird how on one hand I think god those 2 weeks have gone quick but on the other I think my word I have another 4 till I see my surgeon again to assess me and look at lifting restrictions.

Struggling to sleep now everything’s feeling better as I’m a side sleeper and trying to force myself to stay on my back but at least I’m not at work to worry about sleeping randomly.

A lot of people did question my decision to get the surgery at my age (30) as I don’t think people understand how much pain and how debilitating the conditions which lead to this surgery are, I just got on with life struggling but showing a brave face with the odd grunt of excruciating pain every now and then. But seeing how much better and pain free I already am at 2 weeks post op I would never change my decision it has honestly given me a future full of fun and adventure with my fiancé and children and if it ends up my other hip gives in too then I’ll jump as early as I can to get the next surgery.

Sorry to have been quiet a few days but they kind of ended up being very similar so didn’t know what to write lol I’ll keep updating as I go but it may be a few days between posts if it’s the same monotonous things lol

Thanks again everyone
 
@Burias good 2 week update and happy that you're already seeing the benefit of getting the THR done. Some folks just don't understand how debilitating it can be. And you are much too young to live your life sitting on the sidelines with a bad hip. Just continue to take it slow and easy.

Recovery starts to kind of seem to slow down, especially if trying to log improvements daily. Most of us found out that if you pick one day a week and then look back you'll notice your improvements easier. And eventually you'll only be looking back every month.
 
That's a great update! Never apologize for taking few days to "coast" with your recovery. But we do have a posse who will bring you back around if needed...:fasthorse:
Okay, just kidding but we do enjoy the updates and it will help others, especially the "youngins" searching the forum for support.
 
So exactly 2 weeks to the day was my surgery and everything seems to be going very well, even took a few full weight steps (still had my crutches in my hands) but yeah the last few days I can really feel the muscle strength slowly coming back.

Took a trip to see everybody at work the other day (I work in a supermarket) and it really helped with the confidence of my improvement to hear everybody say how it’s the best they’ve seen me walk even when I was using crutches.

Took the outer bandage off the other day as per my instructions and started cleaning (only dabbing with a sponge with sensitive childrens bodywash then dabbing dry with a towel) still have steri strips attached but they’re slowly peeling off by themselves so I’m interested to see how the incision site looks once they’ve all gone and it’s all cleaned up.

It’s weird how on one hand I think god those 2 weeks have gone quick but on the other I think my word I have another 4 till I see my surgeon again to assess me and look at lifting restrictions.

Struggling to sleep now everything’s feeling better as I’m a side sleeper and trying to force myself to stay on my back but at least I’m not at work to worry about sleeping randomly.

A lot of people did question my decision to get the surgery at my age (30) as I don’t think people understand how much pain and how debilitating the conditions which lead to this surgery are, I just got on with life struggling but showing a brave face with the odd grunt of excruciating pain every now and then. But seeing how much better and pain free I already am at 2 weeks post op I would never change my decision it has honestly given me a future full of fun and adventure with my fiancé and children and if it ends up my other hip gives in too then I’ll jump as early as I can to get the next surgery.

Sorry to have been quiet a few days but they kind of ended up being very similar so didn’t know what to write lol I’ll keep updating as I go but it may be a few days between posts if it’s the same monotonous things lol

Thanks again everyone
I don’t think people truly understand how painful it is. They also don’t understand the longer you wait the more damage and difficult the recovery can be. It took 4 yrs for them to find mine and it was a doozy! Plus the younger you are the higher recovery rates are!
Your doing fantastic and yes 6 weeks can feel like a lifetime when recovering. ❤️
 
Thanks for taking the time to share your progress with us, you’re doing well. No apologies for not updating, we’re happy to hear from you whenever you’re feeling up to it. I hope you have a nice weekend!
@Burias
 
Also, contrary to the experience @Eman85 described, I have never once had to see a PA or nurse in place of my orthopedic surgeon. He personally met with and examined me at every appointment -- and never rushed me. (One of the reasons I chose him).
@benne68 Not my experience, I won't go to an office where you get PA's or nurse practitioners. But if you read many posts on here you read that many never get to see their OS post-op.
 
Well it’s now been a few hours short of 3 weeks, the steri strips have finally fallen off so the incision is free, seems to be nicely healing a couple of spots left with scabbing but the rest seems fully closed.

Movement feels amazing can already do so much which I couldn’t do before l, just simple things like whilst sitting lifting my foot off the ground, could probably get away without crutches or just one but I tend to still use both just for the added safety of if I did have a wobble, just got to build the strength back up I think and I’ll be fully back to normal.

Just got to that point now where my legs feel like they want to stretch in ways I don’t dare yet, you know that ache you get that you can get rid of by stretching, but other than that I can’t wait to get back to doing more than just walking really, not that I did loads before but even getting to the floor and putting socks on and stuff.

It is very true how day by day you can’t see loads of improvement but when you give yourself a checkpoint day or every few days it really is noticeable how much more you can do, it’s funny cause in my head I think “oh if I could get a lift to work everyday I could probably go back now” but I’ve got the time off for a reason so I’ll definitely be using it.

I’m able to sleep on my non operated side so I’ve really been catching up on some sleep being a side sleeper, the first night I managed it I literally slept for 12 hours I think what was keeping me up before was the fact I was forcing myself not to turn over so I was essentially fighting myself.

Thanks again all
 
“oh if I could get a lift to work everyday I could probably go back now” but I’ve got the time off for a reason so I’ll definitely be using it.
I love your update and I’m happy you’re doing well. You’re wise not to give into the temptation of doing too much, too soon. We see it often here, then there’s a setback. It’s simply not worth it so relax and enjoy this time off as your body recovers from major surgery.
Have a great weekend!
 

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