new feeling of hips?

[wap1010]

I am new to the forum and have several questions. My hip has severe OA ,zero cartilage left and bone spurs. Yet, I exercise constantly to keep my leg strong as possible, have PT and can keep the pain minimal.... but then there are the bad days.. you all know.! But not all the time. I have been a skier my whole life ( I am 52 now and still pretty fit) but can no longer ski without considerable pain. Otherwise - I can get by. My doctor recommends against the MIS, using a 4 inch single incision, ( he says it is more stable and ensures a safe placement) but is recommending ceramic on ceramic, rather than metal. Do you recommend the surgery if you aren't on your last legs, so to speak?

 

[MarilynKay]

Dear Wap 1010,
I can only speak of the hip that I have. I also had severe OA with no cartilage. I fell 3 weeks before my surgery and they couldn't tell if I had broken my hip until they compared the x-rays to pictures taken shortly before the fall.
My doctor, a contributor to this website, knew that I wanted to do triathlons. He suggested using the MIS because he felt that I would have a better result. I have a colbalt chrome with highly crossed linked polyethylene. It has low wear and safety combined. At this point(26 months after THR) I am running, riding my bike, and swimming. Last Thanksgiving I went skiing. I had stopped in 1999 because of the pain.
I'm sure that you may find others who have the ceramic on ceramic and have good results! On a running with THR site, some of the men runners had pain with the ceramic hips.
I would talk to your doctor about your plans after the THR and make sure that his expectations of what you can do after the replacement are the same as yours. I think that a 4 inch incision is pretty close to MIS.
Good luck!
Marilyn

 

[ripanco]

Hi Wap,

Welcome! I am a lifetime skier too, use to be PSIA certified, taught at Vail. If you can not ski or do the things you love, then perhaps it is time. To me at least, it is quality of life and without being able to do the things I love it just wouldn't be ok. I put off my surgery for several years due to denial and wanting to try every alternative I could find. Now in hindsight, I wish I had just had it done right away. I am 15 months out from simultaneous bilateral THR. I downhill and x/c ski, horseback ride(including jumping), rollerblade, hike, mountainbike, run a little, kayak, you name it, without the pain! Why wait till you are on your last leg, when you can have that?? Plus it will be much better on your recovery if you have it done while you are still fit!

As far as the type, a 4" opening is considered by most to be MIS. It is a term that is used kinda loosely it seems to me. My surgeon calls it MIS and I have a single scar on each hip, one 3" and the other 3 1/2". But some surgeons refere to MIS as the approach using 2 small insicions. I believe that type takes some special equiptment and training. Most important is that your surgeon be great at the technique that he uses!

If you are not planning on any high impact sports like running, I would think ceramic/ceramic would be a good choice for you. I have metal/poly only because like Marilyn, my surgeon knew I wanted to be able to run still. He felt the poly would be slightly more cushioning and less chance of fracture. Now if you are planning on skiing the bumps really hard, that may be an issue, but then most OS would have a fit about that!! I tried it once and it did not work so good! I was afraid I really damaged something as my hips hurt for over 2 months following that dumb move, but they are ok now and my 1 year check up looked great. So now I plan on staying off most black diamonds and going for the trails where the big sweeping fast GS turns will have to do. You know, if you were able to get your surgery really soon, you could be skiing by the end of this upcoming season!! Hows that for something to think about? Where do you ski? We live in VT and Mad River is my fav.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted!

PS: Hey Marilyn, how is that new bike doing??
Andrea
(Believe in Barbaro)

 

[MarilynKay]

Hey WAP,
I was like Andrea in that I waited way too long to get my new hip! I love it.

Hi Andrea!
It is going great! I rode for an hour this week and my shoulder was fine. Ran 4 miles this morning! Nothing hurt but my lungs. I'm tired, but feel great!
I love my new hip. Can you believe that I never ran distances before I got my new hip! I'm going skiing over Christmas. Can't wait for that or for this triathlon in October to be finished. I'm tired of training.
How is that mountain biking going? Take care,
Marilyn

 

[ripanco]

Marilyn,
That is so cool you are doing so much! So it took a THR to get you to run distance?? Haha. I miss the really long runs, we were up to 3 hrs, about 15-17 mi when my hips completly died. I had just run a half and was training for a full. I don't think I will ever do that again which is sad, but not the end of the world. I run for about 30 min now. The riding is really starting to fill that void for me. I am riding a good 4-6 days/wk right now that the owner is gone for the summer. I just love that horse so much!! We are into foxhunting season now and that is a real blast! Definatly a rush. So I have not been bike riding as much. We went last week and had a really good time. I always end up with lots of bruises on my legs tho! I don't ever remember doing anything either. I took one spill in deep sand but that was a really soft landing. I do really like my bike and I am sure when horsie's owners are back and I can't ride so much we will be doing more bike riding.

Where are you skiing at Christmas? Vermont is a great place to ski ya know

Andrea
(Believe in Barbaro)