THR Kevin- left hip

[kevin78]

My left hip was done yesterday, June 15th. Man I was nervous, but I'm already so happy that I had this done. A quick background if anyone is curious. So I started feeling some pain in my left hip and groin area a few years ago. The pain wasn't too bad and I was able to carry on with most activities. I meant to see a Dr about the pain, but it was so slight that I just didn't make it a priority. It got a little worse and eventually I stopped running. While seeing a Dr for a sinus infection I mentioned my hip/groin issues (at this point I didn't know what I was dealing with and thought it may have been a hernia). So the dr started with x-rays, saw some concerning soft tissue around the femoral head and sent me for an MRI. The MRI revealed a tumor that destroyed much of my cartilage and bone. This led of course to a biopsy, which turned out in my favor (chondroblastoma- kind of a rare benign bone tumor), but my hip was trashed and I'd need a new one. This was in September and I was still functioning pretty well so I figured I'd enjoy my summer and have the hip replacement in the fall. Well, I woke up about three weeks ago and things were different. I don't know what happened, dr thinks the cartilage was coming apart and getting stuck in the joint. Anyway, I couldn't function very well so I scheduled for the first available appointment.

So here I am; the first incision was done about 1:30pm yesterday and I was done about 5pm. The surgery took a little longer than I expected, but I'm very pleased so far. I had ceramic on ceramic as the Dr believed this was the longest lasting option, since I'm on the young side for this surgery, also they used the anterior approach to gain access to my hip. Anyway, I was in recovery for anesthesia until about 5:30. They took me to my room where I was experiencing very mild nausea. I took a pill for that and had some saltines and I've been feeling great since. I've been almost without any pain at all (with pain meds) since the surgery. My knee was a bit sore, due to the anterior approach, they do some crazy contorting of your body while in surgery I guess, that soreness passed after a couple hours though.

Today is the day after surgery and I just spoke with the physician. Things are going so well, that I will likely be discharged this afternoon after some physical therapy. I could not be more excited or pleased thus far. Anyway, wanted to give my experience in case there are others going down this path and are reading about the many different experiences of having a hip replacement. I'm sure the pain will get worse, but thus far I'm in less pain now than I was yesterday prior to surgery. I'll leave updates as things change.

Edit-I realized I had the date wrong. No idea why I said June 6th. haha. June 15th.

 

[Cynthia777]

Welcome to bonesmart Kevin!
You will find a wealth of information here, as well as tons of support should you have any questions or concerns. One of our fabulous moderators will be along shortly to give you some very resourceful and helpful information. Until then make sure you use plenty of ice to help keep any inflammation and pain to a minimum. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[Krista]

So glad your tumor was benign. With that trashed hip I'm surprised you made it this long! Wonderful to hear such positive news about your THR and how good you feel today. It's a long haul recovery, but you are starting so well!

 

[Liveringer]

@kevin78 Welcome aboard glad to hear your surgery went well and on your way to recovery. Of all things follow the mantra of rest, elevate, ice and pain control around the clock. You will find ice as your best friend as you start the healing process.

 

[kwarendorf]

@kevin78 Welcome to the world of bionic body parts! It sounds like you're doing great. Now that you're 10 days out how are things going?

Kyle

 

[kevin78]

So I just finished my first physical therapy and I'm 100% lead bearing on my hip. I'm just in awe of medical technology right now, that being said the forecast is for the pain to start here in the next day or two. I greatly appreciate the advice and I'll be icing and elevating like crazy. Hell, I even put my own socks on today, I'm less then 24 hours post-op.

 

[Josephine]

they do some crazy contorting of your body while in surgery I guess

We sure do! Samuri wrestling doesn't compare!

I just finished my first physical therapy, that being said the forecast is for the pain to start here in the next day or two

Well it doesn't need to, my friend. Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

Here's the recovery articles

Here are the BoneSmart mantras ....
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
- be active as much as you need to be but not more than is necessary, meaning so much that you end up being in pain, exhausted or desperate to sit down or lay down!

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery
Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Activity progression for THRs
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

 

[Horseshoe]

@kevin78 congrats on the new hip and thanks for sharing your positive story, you sound great!

 

[kevin78]

Thanks for the input. I'm definitely taking that advice and working my leg, but not to excess and keeping it iced. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but I'm optimistic that I can keep my good streak going.

 

[Jaycey]

Congratulations on that new hip! Easy does it. The slow and steady approach works every time.

 

[GIMPY GAL]

Congratulations, and welcome to the other side! Great that everything is going so well.

 

[Sommers16]

@kevin78 - congratulations on your progress and welcome to the group!

 

[gullimac]

Congrats on the success so far and good wishes on the success to come!

 

[kevin78]

It's been just awesome to be back home. I feel like things are going well, but I really hate the pain meds. I'm on oxycodone, I'm taking as little as possible and trying to find a good balance, but I'm blaming my nausea at this point on the drugs. It's not been terrible, no vomitting and it subsides easily with bland foods or when I lay down (only get nauseous when I'm up), but darn....I'd sure like to be up a bit more. The hip feels great, some soreness around the surgery sight. Any advice or info on how much I should be up at this point? I had my surgery the day before yesterday and I don't want to overdo-it, but I'm eager to get on a strong path to recovery.

 

[Krista]

A cousin of mine just had joint replacement and said that her opioid was making her nauseated, so got switched to a different kind, so that's an idea. Regarding activity, this was an article linked in the post above from Josephine: Activity progression for THRs. Glad you are enjoying being back home!

 

[Cynthia777]

Have you tried eating a few saltines right before you take your meds? The saltines were a godsend for me. Congrats on joining us here on the other side! Let your body be your guide. Walk as much as is comfortable without overdoing it. I found walking one day and resting the next day was my prescription for avoiding unnecessary pain and yet getting stronger at the same time. It helps if you can keep track of how far you are going each time. I walked around my pool (127 feet) and added a lap once I felt strong enough to do so. Hope this helps.

 

[Zelda]

The first few days, I was up and walking maybe 5-10 minutes of every hour - skipping a few for naps! Little and often is the mantra they gave me!

 

[Royal1383]

@kevin78 I am having hip replacement on July 6 th. No need to tell you I am terrified. I live in Staten Island NY and have a surgeon with a good reputation. still the anxiety is awful, thoughts about what can go wrong even years later scare me. I have not found too many men on this forum so your thoughts mean a lot to me. I never had major surgery, but hope for spinal with sedation. My arthritis in the hip started about 4 years ago. I am still able to function but with discomfort. My OS uses the anterior approach and does over 200 a year. Still I hear about possible nerve damage and other complications. So you see I need some words of wisdom. Glad you are well.Ken

 

[Josephine]

@Royal1383 Ken, Kevin hasn't been to the forum for a couple of weeks so he'll be unlikely to see your post very soon.

 

[kevin78]

@Royal1383, good morning Ken. I know what you're going through, I've been very fortunate, and for me, the anticipation was the worst part of the surgery thus far. I'm almost 3 weeks post op and doing very well. In fact, it's 2.30AM and I'm heading into the mountains to do some fishing today. My only regret is that I didn't do this sooner. I'll try to hit on some things that stressed me out, just in case you have some of the same concerns.
1) anesthesia- I was worried something would go wrong or I'd have some kind of lasting damage as a result. This is where using Google can sure freak you out, there are lots of horror stories, I think they are probably quite rare though. The last thing I remember was talking to the anesthesiologist as he was doing my spinal thing. I woke up post up with no neasuea doing quite well.
2) quality of surgery- I'm on the young side for this surgery and active and I was, actually I still am, scared that something will go wrong with my new hip. I'm still too recently out of surgery to make any definitive statements, but I will say that I'm loving life after surgery so far. I'm almost totally pain-free and not quite 3 weeks post op. I did like you and shopped for an experienced surgeon who performs pretty much only hip and knee replacement.
3) pain- for me the most painful part of the ordeal was maybe getting my IV put in (it was not painful by the way) or having the catheter removed. I've never had either as I had never been to the hospital before this. I woke up with catheter already in so that was painless. Removal of the catheter kind of sucked a little bit. It was more weird than painful, definitely my least favorite part of surgery, but still not bad and nothing to be afraid of. Post-op pain was minimal, I don't think I ever went above a 2 on pain (scale of 1-10).
4) drugs- I personally don't like taking medication and I've certainly never taken any of these powerful pain killers. I heard a lot about how the pain meds constipate you and can cause you to feel nauseous. I did kind of have a small problem here- about 3 days after surgery I was not feeling well. I was nauseous and throwing up quite a lot. I had a low grade fever of about 100-100.5. I started to worry that maybe I had an infection, or my blood pressure was low or any of the problems that I might imagine. I went to the ER at about 2AM that morning. They were and I was worried about a possible blood clot. Spent a few hours getting tests done to rule out blood clot or other issues. Long story short, just had a bad reaction to the drugs. This was on day 3 and I stopped taking the oxycodone that day and amazingly I had no pain, aside from some soreness. I really hate that stuff. I haven't been that sick in awhile.
5) recovery- I think I got very lucky here. I was pretty worthless the first week. I slept a lot. I was able to get around, but it was such an ordeal I limited myself to being up just a few times a day to 'exercise' my hip. Basically walking back and fourth a few times. About a week after surgery I woke up and my hip felt awesome. I haven't used the crutches since. The Dr said to let the pain be my guide so I've been doing that and I've been mostly pain free. I mostly feel like I have sore muscles (kind of like after a workout) and that's about it right now.

That's my experience Ken, sorry for the long ramble. My surgeon used the anterior approach as well.

Basically, I don't think anyone can say anything to calm your nerves, it's terrifying, I was terrified. That being said, I regret not doing this sooner. My quality of life is already much improved, I bet you will feel the same way when you are done. I don't log-in often, but do let us know how you are doing. I'll be logging-in to see how you feel tomorrow after the surgery. Best of luck to you. You will be so relieved once you come out of surgery.