Revision THR Golfer67 Recovery Thread

Well I have made it to the hoped for 12 week mark since my hip replacement and I am not doing well at all. I still have every type of pain ever described that comes from the hip. I can’t sleep at night no matter what I try. Taking over the counter sleep aids don’t work and the meds the doctor gave me for sleep don’t work either. I can’t walk very far without sharp pain in my thigh and rump, can’t sit very long I am just a mess. It is time for me to be better but I am not. I have read online where other professional golfers who had this same surgery were already competing in golf tournaments by the 12 week mark and they walk 18 holes which is about 6 miles 4 days in a row to play a tournament. I can barely walk a few holes at this point. No I am prepared to call this operation a failure. I will wait until my actual 3 month surgery date passes of November 19th before I call my doctor back and ask for an earlier appointment than the one scheduled for February because I am tired of lying to myself that this is going to get better just give it time. I may well get somewhat better over time but it should be much better than it is right now. I was better than this before my surgery.
 
@golfer67 I am so sorry to hear you are still in pain. I can’t imagine how that is effecting every aspect of your life, especially since we all go into this with the goal of being pain free and getting on with our lives. Remember those professional golfers are surrounded by a team to help keep them upright and moving. How many times have we heard that Tiger was having pain injections before his rounds for his back? They have a masseuse, a PT, and whom ever else will help them play. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that luxury. You should absolutely follow up with your doctor and talk through your pain and concerns. At least you will know if there is something wrong that needs to be fixed, or what is going on etc. Take care and use your support network. That is so important.
 
Are you doing any PT, exercises or stretches other than walking? I can tell you that with my first THR at the 3 mos mark I put myself in the icing chair for 3 weeks when I thought I was healed and ready to resume my life.
 
Yesterday I woke up with a large lump swollen on my operated side hip. It went down a bit as the day went on but today 11/15/20 my left hip area is still swollen and somewhat painful. Anytime I get up and start to walk I have pain in my hip for the first few steps and then I am better. It will be three full months since my hip surgery on Thursday the 19th of this week. From what I can find out from other people who had this surgery I am not doing very well. I am too busy over the next two weeks to get back to my doctor so I will wait and see if the swelling keeps going down, if not I will call my doctor after Thanks given and see what he thinks. This surgery and recovery has been the hardest surgery I have ever tried to get over.
 
@golfer67 Is the lump on your hip hot to the touch? Is there any redness? Does icing the area reduce the swelling? Could you go to your family doctor?
 
Hello @golfer67
Stopping by on your three month anniversary, wondering how you’re doing? I hope the swelling you’re concerned about has gone down, or you’ve touched base with your surgeons office and received some reassurance. We’re here if you need us.
I‘m sorry you’re struggling with this recovery and hope things begin looking up for you.
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I am still having a very rough go of it. I am starting to think that the mental implant that goes in the femur is loose or otherwise not fitting right. When I google my symptoms a loose femur prosthesis keeps coming up. I am going to wait until after Thanksgiving to contact my doctor and ask to be seen early if the pain and swelling does not get better by then.

Can anyone here who had loose femur prosthesis tell me what your symptoms were?

Thanks
 
Don't go borrowing trouble and doing the Dr. google thing usually makes everyone think the worst.
What PT, exercises or activities are you doing? Are you icing the swelling? This surgery is tough to get over, 3 mos is one of the stops along the way. My left is coming up on 3 years and it gives me pains at times. Like you I think the worst and think it's the implant, then I take it easy for a day or 2 and it goes away and it was just soft tissue.
 
Don't go borrowing trouble and doing the Dr. google thing usually makes everyone think the worst.
What PT, exercises or activities are you doing? Are you icing the swelling? This surgery is tough to get over, 3 mos is one of the stops along the way. My left is coming up on 3 years and it gives me pains at times. Like you I think the worst and think it's the implant, then I take it easy for a day or 2 and it goes away and it was just soft tissue.

Thanks for the reply and the advice. I would not be so concerned with my symptoms if the swelling had been there all along but it just appeared out of nowhere and won’t go away. I still have a lot of pain in my front thigh and really everywhere that can hurt around my hip. I don’t think anything is wrong with the actual hip joint that they put in but I don’t think that my bone has grown in to either my stem or the acetabular and that is causing my problems. Anyway if my Doctor will look at me I will let him tell me what is going on. By the way happy one year anniversary on your right hip do you remember having swelling at the three month mark.

Golfer67
 
With my left I overdidit at 3 mos and had swelling and pain. It took 3 weeks to get back where I was. That's why I asked what you have been doing, PT,exercises, or activities??
As far as the people doing remarkable activities quickly after surgery it's more the exception than the rule. There have been some on this board that had very quick recoveries and back to strenuous activities. There have also been some that rushed things and had setbacks.
 
Well I waited until after Thanksgiving to see if my symptoms would get better and unfortunately I am no better today than I was before. I called my doctor and described my condition and they scheduled an appointment for next Tuesday December 8th. Maybe by then I will be much better and able to cancel the appointment but I would bet that I will be worse than I am now. This entire recovery process has been very unfortunate I wanted to be one of these patients who simply flies through the recovery and gets on with life but it has been a struggle from the very start. I have tried to ignore my problems and wait for things to get better but that is not happening. The horrifying thing about going back to my doctor with problems is that the solutions that they can offer mostly require another surgery and I don’t want that. All I can do is wait and go on the 8th and see what my doctor thinks is going on.
 
I'm a worrier myself so I understand. At this point waiting for what the OS says and taking it from there is a good plan. You do have the choice of a second opinion if you're not satisfied with the answer your OS gives you. I guess I'm not far south of you if you're in W KY.
 
The horrifying thing about going back to my doctor with problems is that the solutions that they can offer mostly require another surgery and I don’t want that.

Please don’t project or allow yourself to feel horrified, you can always seek a second opinion and I think you should if you don’t like / agree with what you hear.

do you remember having swelling at the three month mark.

My surgeon told me you can experience swelling up to a full year post op in some cases. It’s good you’re meeting with your surgeon, but try not let your mind go to the bad place quite yet. We’re here for you, please remember that and also that three months post op is not that far out from major surgery in the whole scheme of things.

Stay in touch and best wishes for your appointment on the 8th.
 
I went back to my surgeon today to have my swelling and pain checked out. My surgeon took x-rays and did an examination of my replaced hip. He said that I definitely had pain and swelling that I should not be having. He said that the swelling could even be seen on the x-ray as a dark spot however he could not find a reason for my pain and swelling. He ruled out an infection as he said that if I had an infection in my prosthesis that I would not have been able to walk into the office on my own. He prescribed a 14 day round of doxycycline mono 100mg and ordered a CBC W/Auto Differential blood test along with a CRP and sedimentation rate blood test. He wants me to come back at my next appointment which is 02/02/2021. So the good news is the prosthesis is in place and appears OK and is not infected. Bad news is I still have pain and swelling for no good reason.
 
Hi @golfer67
I am sure you are still frustrated and forgive me if you already mentioned it in your story, but has tendinitis or bursitis been ruled out.
Those issues can be chronic and take time to resolve.
I'm guessing the doxycycline was prescribed out of caution while waiting on results from the blood work.
Certainly you will get the results of your lab tests before February?
I'm glad the x-ray showed the prosthesis is secure...now to get to the answers about this ongoing swelling and pain.
 
My doctor’s office called me and told me that my blood work was good and did not show any signs of infection and that is good news. MY doctor’s assistance told me that on Tuesday the 15th she would go over my questions that I still had with the doctor and that they would call me back and go from there on my pain and swelling. I am starting to wonder if I am having an allergic reaction to the mental in my implants. Has anyone on this forum had such a thing as an allergic reaction to the metal in the implants?
 
I wish I could offer you more encouragement than you have received as of late, but other than the really great news that their is no infection or that the implant is in place, it looks like your recovery is just taking longer than most. I am approaching the 3 month mark and for the most part doing extremely well. I had a seroma along the way that has since resolved itself,and being able to walk pain free is amazing. I know all of us here wish we could offer you an instant cure, but all we can say is try and hold on to the really good news that there is no infection or problems with implant, and stay as positive as you can going forward. Wishing you the best going forward.
 
@golfer67 We have had several members who had metal allergies. All of them were able to work with their surgeon to resolve the issues. Has your surgeon mentioned metal allergy?

Should this be something you want to explore you would need to be tested. Here's a link to a thread from our Library that discusses getting tested Allergy Testing.

And a paper on Orthopaedic Surgery in a Patient with Metal Sensitivity.
 
I have made it to my four month anniversary and I am still struggling. This recovery has not gone well from the very beginning nothing has gone as expected. I went back to my Doctor December 8th and he ran blood test and took x-rays. He said everything looks good and that I don’t have an infection. He put me on antibiotics and has since ordered a round of MethylPREDNISolone. I am on my fourth day of the MethylPREDNISSolone and so far it has not done anything to reduce the swelling and pain. I am not sure but I think that after this round of MethylPREDNISolone if it does not help and it is looking like it won’t help my Doctor will start running test such as MRI and CT scans and maybe test me for metal allergies to dig deeper into trying to find out why I have this pain and swelling even though my hip looks very good on X-Rays. So here I am at four months in more pain and swelling than I had before my surgery facing a new year with no definitive answer or end in sight for my ailing hip. Thanks to all on this forum for your help and I hope everyone has a good Christmas.
 
Hello @golfer67
I’m so sorry you’re struggling with pain, swelling and uncertainty as you mark your four month anniversary. I wish you only the best as you seek answers and resolution. I hope you have a peaceful Christmas and things begin looking up for you in the New Year.

:wreath: :merry-xmas-smiley-emoticon: :wreath:
 

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