Become an Insider

THR On recovery journey

Day 3 Post Op.
All I can say is if you are considering the Mako approach, I highly recommend it!! While I have an extra small incision on the other side where the pins were to hold the pelvis still, it was well worth it.

As advertised, I have little to no pain, last took 650mg of Tylenol yesterday morning. No bruising nor swelling. Still a bit sore while walking, but no actual pain. We have a 2 story home and am navigating stairs using just handrails. (Hubby has walker waiting at top/bottom of steps for me.) I do believe the hype that the Mako approach with the cleaner and more precise cuts leads to a much quicker recovery.

I know there aren't very many around yet (the state I had mine done in only has a couple) it is well worth seeking it out to see if it is right for you. I wanted it done with the Mako based on a bunch of friends that had it done and seeing their recovery faster and easier than the traditional way.
 
Last edited:
Great day 3 report, @cheermom! I have walking poles, one upstairs and one downstairs but at this point pretty much ambulating without assistive devices around the house, unless really tired (and, boy, do I get tired fairly quickly--daily living feels exhausting sometimes), on my own steam. Remarkable progress so far, so keep it up and keep posting.
 
Last edited:
Yay! Rah-rah....Go cheermom :happydance:
May it only get better.
Have a great Sunday!
@cheermom
 
@cheermom, welcome to the forum! I too am interested in following your healing journey, so I hope you stick around and share with us. Everyone is so different. I would be greatly heartened to follow one of those rapid convalescences we hear about ( sometimes third hand) from someone who is actually going through it. Perhaps this robotic surgery will pave the way for many more uncomplicated and rapid recoveries. Cheers
 
@Jamie
Just to let you know I had posterior with the Mako/Stryker robot combination. Relatively new in England. Some of my surgeon's very fit patients appear to have had rapid recoveries which have been documented on the Leeds Nuffield hospital's website and Twitter feeds.

I would say that I was impressed with the new foot and hip re-alignment immediately after surgery and the loss of SI joint, back and shin pain. Leg length was more equal than I have ever known.

Sometimes it depends on what your condition is beforehand how quickly you recover. The woman in the next room to me went home on two sticks the day following her surgery but then she was much younger and had a specific hip condition not arthritis. We're all different - that's the richness of Bonesmart. Lots to learn.
 
Day 5 post op and I am bored out of my gourd! Rehab training going well. PT thinks she works for Nike, keeps saying "Just Do It." But she is right. Day of surgery, she got me up out of bed, did the requisite bathroom visit, then returned to bed. Sitting on the bed, I mentioned I didn't think I could lift my surgical leg back up onto the bed. She said in her best stern trainer voice "Yes, you can, Just Do It." Several teeth gritting attempts later, I did it. But she was right. 4 days now and my leg easily lifts to the bed like I never had a problem before.

Taking a page out of my daughter's Monday Motivation cheer meme, I plan to keep training hard. Those muscles that have been unused or misused for years won't fix themselves :) I know, a bit of a different approach than it seems is advocated here, but it works for 'me' and is prescribed by my OS (who is an insane skier himself.) Guess I am getting a very watered down version of the US team rehab program, lol. Very watered down for a 60 year old, overweight, past slug. I am so looking forward to getting back to my active self and this training feels good. Sore, but good. That sore feeling you get when you know you accomplished a lot in the gym.

Yesterday, went to the doc for blood work. Was good to get out of the house! Still on the walker, but OS wants it ditched and on a cane by the end of the week. Hopefully.....

Since I am so bored, today I plan to organize my knitting stash. I have a bin full of old yarn that is all tangled. Figured I could sit, watch tv, and untangle balls of yarn, something that has bugged me for awhile.

Good luck to all and may your recoveries be painless and exactly what is good for your body! I will check in next week to report if I was able to ditch the walker. Not feeling all that optimistic yet on that goal. But I have my Nike person continuing to push and say "Just Do It"
 
Last edited:
Thanks Layla! You enjoy your week too. And thank you for putting up with my very type A personality where I have to be going, going, going all the time. Perhaps I will learn to relax (it is a fault of mine,) but I think all hope of that went south long ago. Probably why I picked a US Team physician that I knew would push me through rehab.
 
Last edited:
Just curious - did anyone else have platelet rich plasma done during surgery? This is where they draw blood, spin out the platelets and then pack them back into the wound. It is new and still not a completely tested treatment, but supposed to speed up recovery enormously.Early results seem to favor that it does increase repair. Athletes like Tiger Woods had it done to speed up their recovery. I had a dentist do it for a bone graft a few months ago and it did speed up recovery from other bone grafts I have had. My OS also does it for his surgeries. Has anyone else had positive results from platelet rich plasma?
 
@cheermom I haven't seen anyone mention it on these boards (though I haven't been around all that long). Sounds like it can't hurt, and has a good chance of helping, at least based on your first-hand experience.

Just to chime in on your goals - I did go back to work part time after about 2 weeks, and full time after about 3 weeks. Not saying it was easy or comfortable, but it is possible. I didn't do any PT. I also had some setbacks, including a small fracture and "log leg" for a while. I got off the walker and the strong drugs pretty quickly, though I'm still using a cane about half the time - when my hip flexors get tired, I start walking with a limp and I don't want that gait to become muscle memory, and the cane helps me make sure I'm walking normally. I'm just shy of 6 weeks post-op.

I took a "just listen to your body" approach for this - pushing yourself can certainly set you back, but hopefully you're self-aware enough to catch that before it happens. For instance, I tried adding the stationary bike in a while back, and while it seemed to wake up some of my less cooperative muscles, it also really irritated my IT band.

Also, if your experience is like mine, improvements can come in bursts. There were times I felt no change for a week, but then one day I can suddenly do something I couldn't before. It's a weird and highly individual process. Keep us posted!
 
Hi @cheermom we had surgery on the same day. You make a great point about the spinal vs anaesthesia. I was totally out of it for about 11 hours after surgery, come to for a few minutes then fall asleep again. Congrats on your procedure and welcome to the other side! I will be watching your progress and cheering you on.
 
@cheermom Hi and welcome :) . I am fascinated by your robotic surgery and have found it really interesting to read about the recovery with it. Thank you for sharing! Much appreciated!

I am four weeks post op RTHR posterior approach. My surgeon is younger, and although he prefers posterior approach (as that is what he is best trained in), had me out of the hospital the day after surgery, after a general. I was on a walker for eleven days, and he told me to ditch it as it was "holding me back" with my walking, and wants me off it sooner]for my second surgery next month. He wanted me on a cane, but that didn't feel secure enough to me, so I tried two crutches (liked) and then one crutch, and then went to walking poles (love). He didn't want me to do any formal PT, or the exercises in the booklet that was handed out at the hospital (a general hospital, not specialized in orthopedics). He said to walk as much as I could, from day one, to comfort. I mixed that in with the BoneSmart guide for activities. He kept pushing me to switch from the crutches (I moved to one crutch pretty quickly for inside, two for outside as I live on a farm and have gravel road out to the barn and slopes etc.) to the cane or walking sticks. I was on two and then one crutch for two weeks, and then moved to walking poles by just over three weeks. I swear they are magic! I was able to to move to one pole inside after about four days, and two outside. About two days ago I could walk without any poles, but a bit like lurch, due to having to have my other hip done.

I am having my left hip replaced on Nov 8, so really want to be as strong as possible on the new right hip as I can. I have far more soft tissue healing going on that you do for sure. I am a bit lopsided as my surgeon added a slight leg length to help with dislocation issues as I'm a rider. I haven't got into the biomechanics about it with him, but he said he will do the same with the left leg and I'll be even on Nov 8! Also, the OA pushed my pelvis back, and I spent a lot of physio time pre-op trying to stay aligned as best as I could. Now I have one new hip that allows me to bring my pelvis back where it belongs, and one duff hip that still wants to go the other way due to the OA....thus my ungainly walking. Physio says to stay with the poles, as that will best help my gait until second surgery. I tend to use one in the house.

I am gathering as you have had so much less muscles/soft tissue disturbance due to the amazing robotic surgery (sure is fascinating and thanks for sharing your experience!), you wont have the issues that so many folks here seem to get when they do too much formal physio while those "disturbances" (I love how the medical community couches this!! LOL!!) are still healing.

On the subject of PRP, it is used a lot in the equine industry. You will see that my knowledge base for all this stuff goes back to my personal experience as a competitive rider, and rehabbing horses with injuries! Please don't be offended! A lot of folks who have the high end equine insurance (or deep pockets!) in the equine world do add the PRP and stem cell to their horse's healing rehab programs, despite there being no research to support it. It is an evolving area though and it will happen. There is anecdotal evidence that both treatments helps promote healing in torn ligaments, tendons and muscles in horses. I have no idea about the PRP research based evidence in the human world as yet, but I would imagine your surgeon is on the cutting edge of all that, so all feedback you can give would be so interesting! Thanks!

I talked a bit with my OS about stem cell for cartilage regeneration. He said that at the moment they can't stimulate cartilage growth, but it is coming. Once he told me that, I decided to proceed with the THR, with both hips, as I was and am bone on bone. I have an older friend here who has had stem cell injections once, and she said she felt a difference. She is going back a second time to try it again. However, she has not been able to get back on her horse without experiencing the same extreme pain she has felt all along. She is holding out on THR surgery. She looks like I looked, walking with an arch in her lower back, with her backside out behind her. I call it the duck walk...not fun and it kills one's back! I'm so excited to be standing up straighter already, although I'm only 50% "repaired"!

I have the 90 restrictions, but have also really listened to my body as @JoeKnows mentioned. It is amazing how the recovery unfolds.

Looking forward to following your journey! Everyone here is amazingly supportive, and it is a "safe place" to be with fellow "hipsters"! No one understands better than those who are going or have been through it! Everyone's experience is different, as we all come to the table (literally!! Ha ha I couldn't resist!) with different variables, from age, fitness, surgical approaches etc. Wishing you a comfortable and healing day! :SUNsmile:
 
cheermom said:
Just curious - did anyone else have platelet rich plasma done during surgery? This is where they draw blood, spin out the platelets and then pack them back into the wound. It is new and still not a completely tested treatment, but supposed to speed up recovery enormously.Early results seem to favor that it does increase repair. Athletes like Tiger Woods had it done to speed up their recovery. I had a dentist do it for a bone graft a few months ago and it did speed up recovery from other bone grafts I have had. My OS also does it for his surgeries. Has anyone else had positive results from platelet rich plasma?
Click to expand...

I listened to a podcast a while ago with 2 doctors discussing treatment options for osteoarthritis along with the efficacy, risks, costs etc. Platelet rich plasma was discussed and I believe their position was that there wasn’t any good evidence that it was a good treatment for OA and that it was also expensive. It sounds like your application is different than what they were discussing however. They were focused specifically on long term treatments for OA not a single application for recovery from surgery.
 
Yup, this was specifically done for post operative tissue and bone repair to facilitate quicker healing. The dentist also did it specifically for quicker incision healing with the bone graft he did. I will be interested to see where this experimental treatment goes in the future.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Your success with the walking poles gave me inspiration. I just ordered some from Amazon. I am hoping they are a bridge between the walker, which I lean on too much and the cane which does not feel as steady. I have a dear friend who just had spinal surgery in the spring and was able to trek all over Europe this summer with walking sticks. So, with all the positive reports, I had to have some :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Walking sticks are great, @MrDIY and @cheermom. They feel much more stable to me, and I hated the walker. I know I've got a way to go, to walk normally and not lurch/limp, but poles are simply easier to maneuver and force me to stand up a little straighter. My goal is to, someday in the hopefully not too distant future, to just--well--walk without thinking about it! That will be a huge milestone for me. Right now I limp if I'm not paying attention and I need to stop that, and really focus on my gait so that limping doesn't become the "new normal" going forward. Hope your good recovery continues, @cheermom, lots of folks are interested in following your progress after the "latest and greatest" in terms of surgical technique and the promise of an easier, swifter recovery.
 
I am seeing my physio tomorrow and am going to ask if I should stay on the crutch - where I feel very secure - or progress to a cane or hiking pole. I use the crutch with a very light touch now - I can tell as no more callouses on my hand! Just rely on it a bit more for slopes and stairs. Before the op I used a hiking pole so was used to it… Hope you had a good day @cheermom
 
1 week post op. Unfortunately, still relying on my walker for most of my movement. I am so close, but the hip still feels a bit unstable. Per the PT and OS, you can't fix muscles that have been underused or misused for 5 years overnight and without a LOT of work. So, rather than backing off, we are ramping up the rehab to work on those muscles and get them stronger.
 
cheermom said:
..... Per the PT and OS, you can't fix muscles that have been underused or misused for 5 years overnight and without a LOT of work. So, rather than backing off, we are ramping up the rehab to work on those muscles and get them stronger.
Click to expand...

@cheermom , Good luck with the 'ramping up' of the rehab work at just one week. I've been taking the opposite approach to rehab--and I do mean the other end of the spectrum, with my intensive and (non) laborious Rest Cure, so I am following your journey with interest :) I hope it goes well. Keep us posted
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Staff online

Members online

Total: 908 (members: 6, guests: 902)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom