OP
OP
Going4fun
Former BoneSmart staff member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2018
- Messages
- 1,024
- Age
- 64
- Gender
- Male
- Country
United States
Time for the nine-month update.
I last left off my story with a scary visit with my surgeon ... he had noticed some small movement of my device ... and he was worried that I was not as mobile as I wanted to be or as mobile as he had expected me to be. He recommended PT to stretch out my IT band (he doesn't usually recommend PT). At my first PT visit, after putting me through a series of tests, my PT sits down and almost rolls her eyes at my surgeon's diagnosis and suggestion. "This isn't an IT issue," she says. "Your gluteus medius is weak. I see this all the time after hip surgery. That's why you can walk up the stairs without problems but have trouble walking a good distance."
So, six months after surgery, I commenced PT with a series of exercises to strengthen my glute medius ... and within a week or so, my walking was much easier. I felt like I had jets on my behind powering me forward. But my activity ambitions are high (I want to swing dance and run and lift weighs) so I've continued with therapy and I'm reaching the end of my third month. I'm happy to report that I feel so much stronger physically and I've recovered full optimism about my hip recovery. My mood is great--didn't realize how worried I was until the worry left. I still get some soreness on the side of my hip. Last weekend, I danced for hours at a wedding reception. Came home took an Aleve and the next morning felt no pain. Less than a year ago, I danced for the last time before surgery, and I was in pain within an hour on the floor and could only hobble to my car at night's end. No hobbling last weekend after three hours of dancing.
In the past two weeks, I've been jogging outside ... slowly ... something I haven't done for maybe ten years. I had moved to the treadmill after my initial hip diagnosis. I love running intervals (mixing fast running and slow running and walking) on the treadmill, but running outside is a more meditative, soothing pleasure. And it's so much more time efficient. Don't have to drive to gym, walk to locker room, change, walk to exercise room ... walk back and all of that. Just throw on shorts and running shoes and head out the house.
Running outside is so much harder, more tiring ... and my hip is doing well. I went jogging this afternoon for about 30 minutes ... I stopped and walked some ... but my distance is getting greater week by week. I jog for 6 to 10 minutes ... then walk for a few minutes ... then jog again ... and so on.
Probably will do a few more weeks of PT for my hip and I want to continue at home with some of the exercises she gave me, because I sense how much stronger and more flexible I am. Among other exercises, my therapist has me doing lots of balance moves and moves with bands. The balancing moves are really helpful. One balance exercise is to stand on one leg on a foam pad (unstable and wobbly) ... and then holding a ball in my hand, write out in the air "in big letters" the alphabet from A to Z. All kinds of muscles get recruited, not just my glutes ... and I've noticed that my balance is so good when I jog ... I can stumble on uneven ground and quickly recover.
I totally buy the BS philosophy of not jumping into PT, but I was desperate ... and so was my surgeon. I think things turned out right by waiting for six months before doing PT. The soft tissue had healed a lot. There have been times when I worried I had overdone things in PT—joined the ODIC to use BS language. But then a week later, the soreness would be gone, and I would be able to do exercises that I previously could not--and do them more intensely. I might have a touch of trochanteric bursitis. I see my surgeon next week and will report the occasional soreness in the side. The good news is that the soreness occurs after higher and higher levels of activity.
My goal is to get back out there regularly dancing his summer--and also to get back to regular weightlifting. I think healing of the soft tissue is still taking place ... but I'm quite pleased about where I am right now. I now sometimes forget I had the surgery--and that is new. And when I'm sore, I more think of my side and my body as sore, not my (artificial) hip as sore. I've integrated the hip into my body awareness. It's no longer a foreign object inside of me.
Punchline: I have had a weak back for years and years ... and when I reported some problems with my recovery, my surgeon's nurse sent me to a physical medicine doctor to check out my back, to make sure that wasn't the problem. The physical med doctor did X-Rays ... and recommended PT for my back. He didn't think my back was involved in my hip complaints and when he tested my hip, he said it seemed really strong. So, I got two PT scripts (hip from surgeon--back from physical med guy) ... and some time in the next month, my PT will shift to a focus on my back. My therapist already has me doing some back strengthening, so we've sort eased into it.
Overall, I'm quite grateful ... I had great flexibility since day one ... and I'm beginning to exercise in a more serious way, which is why I had the surgery. Of course, I'm carrying extra maturity (years) and extra weight since I got my diagnosis. I'm determined to be patient as I try be a highly active and fit 57-year-old. I'm in touch online with runners who've had hip replacement and most report that it took 15 to 18 months to really feel great at running. And some report the improvement continues to 2 and 2.5 years.
I have never enjoyed PT in the past, but I looked closely at online reviews and picked a place with two incredibly sharp, flexible, warm therapists, one of whom is the owner. The owner and the other therapist are so nurturing and encouraging and unflappable. The place is so social. We patients talk to each other, discuss our conditions (the therapists can't reveal what condition any of us have) but we reveal our conditions to each other. Lots of laughter, encouraging each other. My therapist is so creative. I basically come in with a report ... I did X over the weekend ... felt Y ... and she continually adjusts my exercises and is always nearby watching me, making sure I'm doing the exercises in a way that will help the most. She has tested me twice so far ... She wants my hip flexors to get a bit stronger.
I see my surgeon for the nine-month appointment on Tuesday. Hopefully the device hasn't moved. I really don't think it has. I've had depression in my life, and exercise has always been great for my mind and my mood. I got the surgery in order to exercise again, which felt a little risky because my walking was mostly fine. Never had problems climbing the stairs or anything. Arrived at the OR walking fine ... the intake person assumed it was my sister, standing on a walker behind me, who was there for surgery, not me.
The intake woman and I had a good chuckle (my sister is now scheduled for hip replacement this summer). My surgeon had said he was comfortable operating as long as I was comfortable and insisted on the surgery. He thought I was a borderline case--in other words, he was not highly recommending the surgery. But if I wanted the surgery to be active and was clear about that (and I was!) and I knew the risks, he was comfortable with operating. I have sometimes joked with people that I had a “luxury” hip replacement: I had the surgery not just to regain basic daily function but to flourish. I’m not sure my surgeon would have operated on me 20 years ago, but hip surgeons have gained a lot more confidence since then. Oh, forgot to mention ... my surgeon places no restrictions on his patients. None! (His only suggestion is … if you weren’t doing a strenuous activity before surgery, be careful about starting it after surgery, and he doesn’t like to operate on people solely to help them run again, but he was totally into my desire to swing dance again without pain! That goal seemed to excite him.)
After surgery, my optimism and mood got tested when it took me nine weeks to walk without a cane (which doesn’t seem so bad at all now). And I got demoralized that walking beyond a mile or so was hard at month four and five and six (this really surprised and bothered my surgeon as well).
A few weeks into PT, once I sensed I was getting stronger and that my therapist wasn't going to injure me, I exhaled a deep sigh of relief. I'm still happily exhaling. Oh, the joy of movement, the joy of exercise. Freedom! The journey continues.
I last left off my story with a scary visit with my surgeon ... he had noticed some small movement of my device ... and he was worried that I was not as mobile as I wanted to be or as mobile as he had expected me to be. He recommended PT to stretch out my IT band (he doesn't usually recommend PT). At my first PT visit, after putting me through a series of tests, my PT sits down and almost rolls her eyes at my surgeon's diagnosis and suggestion. "This isn't an IT issue," she says. "Your gluteus medius is weak. I see this all the time after hip surgery. That's why you can walk up the stairs without problems but have trouble walking a good distance."
So, six months after surgery, I commenced PT with a series of exercises to strengthen my glute medius ... and within a week or so, my walking was much easier. I felt like I had jets on my behind powering me forward. But my activity ambitions are high (I want to swing dance and run and lift weighs) so I've continued with therapy and I'm reaching the end of my third month. I'm happy to report that I feel so much stronger physically and I've recovered full optimism about my hip recovery. My mood is great--didn't realize how worried I was until the worry left. I still get some soreness on the side of my hip. Last weekend, I danced for hours at a wedding reception. Came home took an Aleve and the next morning felt no pain. Less than a year ago, I danced for the last time before surgery, and I was in pain within an hour on the floor and could only hobble to my car at night's end. No hobbling last weekend after three hours of dancing.
In the past two weeks, I've been jogging outside ... slowly ... something I haven't done for maybe ten years. I had moved to the treadmill after my initial hip diagnosis. I love running intervals (mixing fast running and slow running and walking) on the treadmill, but running outside is a more meditative, soothing pleasure. And it's so much more time efficient. Don't have to drive to gym, walk to locker room, change, walk to exercise room ... walk back and all of that. Just throw on shorts and running shoes and head out the house.
Running outside is so much harder, more tiring ... and my hip is doing well. I went jogging this afternoon for about 30 minutes ... I stopped and walked some ... but my distance is getting greater week by week. I jog for 6 to 10 minutes ... then walk for a few minutes ... then jog again ... and so on.
Probably will do a few more weeks of PT for my hip and I want to continue at home with some of the exercises she gave me, because I sense how much stronger and more flexible I am. Among other exercises, my therapist has me doing lots of balance moves and moves with bands. The balancing moves are really helpful. One balance exercise is to stand on one leg on a foam pad (unstable and wobbly) ... and then holding a ball in my hand, write out in the air "in big letters" the alphabet from A to Z. All kinds of muscles get recruited, not just my glutes ... and I've noticed that my balance is so good when I jog ... I can stumble on uneven ground and quickly recover.
I totally buy the BS philosophy of not jumping into PT, but I was desperate ... and so was my surgeon. I think things turned out right by waiting for six months before doing PT. The soft tissue had healed a lot. There have been times when I worried I had overdone things in PT—joined the ODIC to use BS language. But then a week later, the soreness would be gone, and I would be able to do exercises that I previously could not--and do them more intensely. I might have a touch of trochanteric bursitis. I see my surgeon next week and will report the occasional soreness in the side. The good news is that the soreness occurs after higher and higher levels of activity.
My goal is to get back out there regularly dancing his summer--and also to get back to regular weightlifting. I think healing of the soft tissue is still taking place ... but I'm quite pleased about where I am right now. I now sometimes forget I had the surgery--and that is new. And when I'm sore, I more think of my side and my body as sore, not my (artificial) hip as sore. I've integrated the hip into my body awareness. It's no longer a foreign object inside of me.
Punchline: I have had a weak back for years and years ... and when I reported some problems with my recovery, my surgeon's nurse sent me to a physical medicine doctor to check out my back, to make sure that wasn't the problem. The physical med doctor did X-Rays ... and recommended PT for my back. He didn't think my back was involved in my hip complaints and when he tested my hip, he said it seemed really strong. So, I got two PT scripts (hip from surgeon--back from physical med guy) ... and some time in the next month, my PT will shift to a focus on my back. My therapist already has me doing some back strengthening, so we've sort eased into it.
Overall, I'm quite grateful ... I had great flexibility since day one ... and I'm beginning to exercise in a more serious way, which is why I had the surgery. Of course, I'm carrying extra maturity (years) and extra weight since I got my diagnosis. I'm determined to be patient as I try be a highly active and fit 57-year-old. I'm in touch online with runners who've had hip replacement and most report that it took 15 to 18 months to really feel great at running. And some report the improvement continues to 2 and 2.5 years.
I have never enjoyed PT in the past, but I looked closely at online reviews and picked a place with two incredibly sharp, flexible, warm therapists, one of whom is the owner. The owner and the other therapist are so nurturing and encouraging and unflappable. The place is so social. We patients talk to each other, discuss our conditions (the therapists can't reveal what condition any of us have) but we reveal our conditions to each other. Lots of laughter, encouraging each other. My therapist is so creative. I basically come in with a report ... I did X over the weekend ... felt Y ... and she continually adjusts my exercises and is always nearby watching me, making sure I'm doing the exercises in a way that will help the most. She has tested me twice so far ... She wants my hip flexors to get a bit stronger.
I see my surgeon for the nine-month appointment on Tuesday. Hopefully the device hasn't moved. I really don't think it has. I've had depression in my life, and exercise has always been great for my mind and my mood. I got the surgery in order to exercise again, which felt a little risky because my walking was mostly fine. Never had problems climbing the stairs or anything. Arrived at the OR walking fine ... the intake person assumed it was my sister, standing on a walker behind me, who was there for surgery, not me.
The intake woman and I had a good chuckle (my sister is now scheduled for hip replacement this summer). My surgeon had said he was comfortable operating as long as I was comfortable and insisted on the surgery. He thought I was a borderline case--in other words, he was not highly recommending the surgery. But if I wanted the surgery to be active and was clear about that (and I was!) and I knew the risks, he was comfortable with operating. I have sometimes joked with people that I had a “luxury” hip replacement: I had the surgery not just to regain basic daily function but to flourish. I’m not sure my surgeon would have operated on me 20 years ago, but hip surgeons have gained a lot more confidence since then. Oh, forgot to mention ... my surgeon places no restrictions on his patients. None! (His only suggestion is … if you weren’t doing a strenuous activity before surgery, be careful about starting it after surgery, and he doesn’t like to operate on people solely to help them run again, but he was totally into my desire to swing dance again without pain! That goal seemed to excite him.)
After surgery, my optimism and mood got tested when it took me nine weeks to walk without a cane (which doesn’t seem so bad at all now). And I got demoralized that walking beyond a mile or so was hard at month four and five and six (this really surprised and bothered my surgeon as well).
A few weeks into PT, once I sensed I was getting stronger and that my therapist wasn't going to injure me, I exhaled a deep sigh of relief. I'm still happily exhaling. Oh, the joy of movement, the joy of exercise. Freedom! The journey continues.
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but I am eager to get back to mountain hiking, white water rafting perhaps, and even the ability to go to a Water Park or boating and not worry the water/bouncing will damage something. 
