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Numero dos

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UTdave

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Well, it's that time again to sit in the bed while my feet get squeezed and my bowels slow down. Surgery at 8am today. The left hip this time. I love being called "textbook" and hope it goes as smoothly as before. My attempts at nutrition were not the most auspicious start, however. Turns out protein shakes don't taste very good on the way back up! Better luck tomorrow.

My bike ride last week seems a long way off, but I hope this Spring I'll ride again!

Update tomorrow.

D
 
Sending prayers and hugs your way for a quick and relatively painless surgery! We'll be looking to hear from you soon.
 
You keep up that great sense of humor! You'll be out there riding in no time! Spring is coming!
Dave,,,,NOTHING tastes good on the way back up! Best of luck to you! Prayers are with you! Post when you can**! ;)
 
Well It is almost 8am west coast time so you are either in the middle of it or done . At least you only have 2 hips!!!! This is it. Can't wait to hear from you

Judy
 
Turns out protein shakes don't taste very good on the way back up! Better luck tomorrow.

Well that couldn't be more descriptive! Hang in there, you'll soon be feeling better!
 
Well, POD 1 (Judy, I was actually post-op when I wrote the first post) and things are looking better. Omelette, coffee, yogurt, a walk around the ward, wheelchair ride to radiology. Boy does my x-ray look funny now with two metal hips! Can't wait to go the airport next time and try to explain the metal detectors going off right where a cowboy would have his six-shooters!

I dropped the narcotics for this surgery except for a couple of Lortab 7.5 morning and night. The Oxycontin last surgery was just too much - for my brain and my bowels! They are doing a new thing here now by giving Lyrica (a neuropathic pain agent - buy stock in Pfizer!) along with the Celebrex. I'm not sure if it's helping or not, but it's not hurting and it doesn't make me dizzy or constipated, so I'm all for it.

Not sure how rehab is gonna go with all the snow on the ground. Not very excited about using crutches in 4 inches of Utah powder. Maybe a walker with skis? Fortunately, the parents are coming to help out tomorrow, so maybe they'll drive me to the gym. Anybody else deal with this issue?

My surgeon is at our University Hospital in town and can operate in the University or at their satellite ortho specialty hospital. Let me tell you, the little specialty hospital is pretty slick. My nurse's aid just brought me lunch complete with starbucks coffee (how fancy for me). No shared rooms, no trauma patients coming in at midnight screaming in pain (or, as the case may be, cuffed to the bed with the sheriff at the bedside). Like a little vacation. I can even do drugs if I want! (I think that's what prn means. .)

On a side-note, to all you commonwealth folks out there, did anyone read or get sent the article by the Canadian guy at the Fraser Institute in the Wall Street Journal (my favorite right-wing advertisement. . . I mean paper) yesterday? It's titled "too old to get hip surgery". Riddled with misinformation and anecdotes, I found it quite entertaining and wonder what people with government healthcare think about their systems and access to joint replacement. My cousin in Nova Scotia got her knee done in what seemed a very timely fashion with good results.

Enough of my babbling. Time for lunch!
 
Glad to hear you are well on your way to recovery! You'll be back on that bike in no time! It's snowing where I'm at right now, so if we get much, I think I'll just stay housebound for awhile. Wouldn't even want to navigate those crutches through snow!

Karen
 
Dave--Glad to hear that you are doing well. I'll be following you by about 2 months. Not sure yet if I will or can do simultaneous bilateral, or staggered by 5 days, or staggered by 2-3 months. Not sure yet which I would prefer if I could choose, but I'm thinking that if the risks are the same, Id like to get it over with and get on with my life. I have another appointment on Friday that will answer some questions. At this point, I kinda wish I was you, post op and safe, with good health on the way.
Good luck on the recovery and let us know how it goes, including the drugs. My plan is to stay away from Oxycontin, if possible. I've tried Celebrex and I like it.
Tom
 
Wishing you a great recovery Dave.

Chris :)
 
Enough of my babbling. Time for lunch!

I'd hardly call it babbling . . . a testament, no doubt to your relatively drug-free state!

Lucky you, to have a "boutique" hospital! So, good coffee aside, you're saying the food is actually edible?

Seriously, I've enjoyed your informed & articulate posts and wish you an uneventful recovery!
 
UTDave you sound awesome. I did miss hot coffee at my hospital. I never bothered ordering after the firstime, nothing like lukewarm coffee.

Glad you have great accomodations and are doing great. Now as I recover from my back and knee surgery I'll race you to the bikes or mountain trails. (I think I'll go there first.)

Judy
 
Hi Dave, all the best! I am always amazed that people can post so coherently so soon after surgery. Hope you continue with a nice straightforward recovery.

Cheers,
Monica
 
Well, went home yesterday. Pain has become more of an issue as the anesthetic has worn off and the mobility has gone up. I had to start up the Lortab (Vicodin) a bit more regularly. Monica, the anesthesiologist and my surgeon were really cool about making a very minimally-sedating experience for me. They let me drop the oxycontin and just use celebrex, lortab and this new Lyrica stuff. It allowed me to do more than just drool on myself and sleep all day.

As for the bad news. . . this was not a pristine surgery as my surgeon usually expects from himself. He may have cracked the bone putting in the implant. I honestly can't see much of a crack when I look at the x-rays, but suppose I can see what he's talking about. Doesn't really change anything. He says - "Don't fall and hurt yourself for the next 6 wks", "I wasn't really planning on it, that's what you said the last time", "But now I mean REALLY don't fall and hurt yourself". I guess if the crack extends to an obvious fracture and the resulting bone fragment gets displaced from the rest of the femur, it becomes a big deal and needs to be fixed. So, I'll be using the walker a bit more initially for protection and here's hoping for no falls!

BTW - if any of the readers are to be in the hospital in the near future for their surgery, may I recommend you bring your laptop with wireless. My goodness, what a reprieve from boredom! I would also recommend Pandora.com for music (it's free) and the Be Good Tanyas as an initial selection - music really does heal!
 
Well, that was a narrow squeak for you, Dave! Cracks heal pretty readily given the opportunity so your plans for being cautious are spot on!

As for the laptop - UK hospitals are non-compliant about those - we're not allowed!
[Bonesmart.org] Numero dos

 
Dave my femur was cracked during surgery or at least noticed at the final x-rays. My doc had the talk to me to make sure I really waited for his OK to head to the trails. He did wire it (he said he would slleep better at night) and all was well. Bye the second set of x-rays it had healed.

I am amazed at people that can concentrate enough to use a laptop. My first surgery in my marathon I have going was for cervical fusion. I read the same 2 pages in a book about 10 times, then just gave up on reading.

I did bring an mp3 player for this last back fusion. The day my surgeon literally put me in the chair and did not allow me to go back to bed, I listened to 2 songs then the seizures started. That was that!!!!

Glad you are home and do be careful. I'll be praying it just heals right where it is.
Judy
 
Dave--How are you doing? And thanks for the tip. I will bring my laptop to the hospital despite the fact that my wife told me that they will have me moving so much I won't need it. Also, my hospital also is plans on using Lyrica, celebrex (and tylenol with codeine). Hope you are recuperating well, even with the complication.
Tom
 
Interesting off-label use of Lyrica . . . (primarily used for nerve pain caused by fibromyalgia, diabetes & shingles). Did you find it effective, Dave?

Curious because I have some nerve pain in upper thigh now (3 mos. post THR) & was recently prescribed Neorontin, which is very similar . . .
 
Hi Dave,

My husband was horrified when I didn’t pack my laptop for hospital and he offered to bring it in each day he visited. But my brain would not have coped, and the six books I brought with me also remained unread. Best I could manage was reading through the newspaper, and that took all day between naps. Not sure if it was the anesthetic, pain medication or the surgical trauma that caused my brain to just feel as though it has parked itself to one side (Jo might be able to answer that one).

I didn’t need or take any pain medication once I got home and was very relieved to find that normal mental activity resumed shortly!

Do take care Dave – my sister found with her second hip that she was much more cavalier with the precautions, because, as she said “you know what you can get away with.”

I think, for my next hip I will follow your lead and ask about minimally-sedating options. This last time I was more concerned about the type of surgery and the spare parts and just surviving the experience than anything else.

All the best,
Monica
 
For those of you on lyrica I have a question. I was prescribed it for nerve pain a few months back. It made me very looopy, more than anything I have ever taken. didn't think I could function taking it. Then I gained almost 20 pounds in about 2 or 3 weeks. I started reading up on it and seems a lot of people have that problem.
I called my doc and got the info to taper off. He did not think it caused weight gain.
Anyone having a weight issue on it???

Judy
 
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