THR Game of Life 411's THR recovery

I've had great luck with something called Activator Poles. They come with an assortment of attachments so as your abilities and needs evolve, you just change the little foot pads.
 
So I will be grilling him on things, but especially when I can return to certain activities especially because my prosthetic relies entirely on bone ingrowth (no screws or cement, just press fit until the bone grows into it).
A good reason to s-l-o-w your roll. If I am understanding you, you're riding the stationary bike on the days you're not walking five miles? Five miles feels pretty ambitious to me. Wondering how you're handling those walks and whether you're still icing?

As far as sand volleyball / walking on sand, a word of caution, your gait changes while walking on sand. It's more of a workout. Beach sand provides an unpredictable and uneven walking surface. This can place increased
stress / strain and loading on your joints. Walking in the softer sand requires increased energy expenditure, forcing you to work harder, compared to walking on an even, firm surface. The foot will sink slightly into the sand. This will provide the least amount of stability, which forces you to use muscles throughout your legs more.

Five weeks out is still very early in the entire scheme of things. Lots of healing still happening.
Go slow now to go fast later. :wink:
Thanks Layla. I am C-a-u-t-i-o-u-s! So 5 miles per day is not a single walk, but 2 or 3 and I have worked my way up to that. My abductors are strong (though still recovering, don't get me wrong) - I held my operative leg up while lying on my non-operative side - for a full 5 minutes this morning - not easy, but I can do it with no ill effect. Correct, I substitute 20m of stationary bike for an hour of walking.

Re: sand, you saw where I said "took a few ginger turns around the court," right? It was slow walking and not much of it. But re: acclimating, I was playing on sand the week before surgery 2 or 3 times per week for 2+ hours each and I've been doing that for 25 years. So my body's acclimated to the sand, I just need to heal from surgery and, to my thinking, not stay completely off the sand so long that I de-acclimate. I think that creates a greater risk when I start to slowly get back into playing.

Thanks for the concern and the cautions. Never fear, I'm in this for the long haul and am very measured and deliberate in my recovery. Btw, you stole my line "Go slow now to go fast later." As Project Manager, that was my mantra to all my successful project teams. :walking:
 
Yesterday was my 6 week post op anniversary. I have my final post op appt with my surgeon tomorrow, then the next one is 12 months later! I'm supposed to get an xray, but don't expect it will tell us anything about bone ingrowth this soon after surgery.

In preparation for this visit, he texted me a video to watch. It said I'm 80-90% through recovery, but I don't buy that. I'm still feeling some pain in my hip. Nothing severe and I figure it's just from surgery, healing, etc. But just to be on the safe side, I rested for a day or two over the weekend, skipped he walks, etc. And I didn't feel any better or worse, so I think that confirms that I'm not overdoing anything and all is on track.

Before my daughter headed back to college, I asked her to bump the volleyball around with me for a few minutes in the driveway. Nothing aggressive and I let stray balls go instead of moving too far or too fast. Felt good and I didn't feel any different afterwards.

Will see what comes from my post op appt tomorrow...
 
Hi, @Life 411. I got the same laughable statement from my OS at 7 weeks: I was 80 - 90% "healed." For most of us, it's baloney. With mustard. On rye. Your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves require time to recover after such traumatic surgery. Go at your pace. It sounds to me like you're doing great. Good luck with tomorrow's appointment.
 
6 week Post Op Update
Had my 6 week post op visit last Wednesday and the Doc said at this point regardless of what I do there is a 97% success rate without complications. That said, his personal complication rate is 10x less than that at 0.3%, so he suggested some prudent precautions.

Precaution #1: Think of performing an activity like riding a bike without a helmet. If you have an accident without a helmet, you'll likely get a concussion. Similarly, with the hip at this stage if you get in an accident, it may cause complications like prosthetic loosening. So stick with stationary bikes unless there is a trail so safe that you would bike without a helmet.
 
6 week Post Op Update
I can start hiking on unpaved trails.

Precaution #2: Start with a distance half as long as you think you can handle and see how that goes.

Update: I've been on two hikes now and after the first one was 1.5 miles and I definitely felt that some new muscles had been engaged afterwards. Waited a few days and went on a 2 mile hike today. So far, so good.

PS Today is actually my 7 week post op anniversary!
 
6 week Post Op Update
Continue to use at least one crutch on stairs - really?!?

Precaution #3: After telling me all these things I can do and hearing that I haven't used a crutch for 3 or 4 weeks for walking, my Doc still told me to use a crutch on the side opposite the railing when going up/down stairs. I just listened, but this sounded like generic advice rather than specific to my situation and was inconsistent with everything else we'd discussed, so as in many cases I was left to decide what made sense in my own specific case.

The whole reason for recommending a crutch on stairs is to reduce the risk of falling. To me, using a crutch on stairs and going up/down unnaturally creates a far higher risk of falling than if I just go up/down normally. Even walking with a crutch, I often found one would catch on a piece of uneven pavement which threw off my gait. I discussed with my wife, who has been on crutches multiple times, and she agreed. So I am not using a crutch or any aid other than the handrail when going up or down stairs. This is not a recommendation, just what I decided to do in my personal hip recovery.
 
Happy Two Month Anniversary!
Hope you're doing well and looking forward to Spring and Summer 2023 with your new hip.
All the best to you!
@@Life 411
 
Happy Two Month Anniversary!
Hope you're doing well and looking forward to Spring and Summer 2023 with your new hip.
All the best to you!
@@Life 411
Thanks Layla. I am doing well and continuing my recovery. Just posted a video of my 7 week post op recovery workout routine. DM'd you as I've been waiting on responses to a couple DMs. Have a great day.
 

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