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THR Trailrunner's recovery

Tomorrow is my six-week anniversary. I'm also returning to work, which will be another step towards normalcy. Before I left to go on sick leave, there was talk of a work trip to California at the end of June. I don't think it's a useful trip but one of my bosses wanted me to go, and it's a nice location, so I was on the fence on it. But I haven't read my email in a long time and I will have a lot of catching up to do, and I don't really fell like traveling right now. Plus, it would involve a lot of walking. Hopefully I won't be pressured into going. After that, I'm supposed to go on a trip in early July, which won't be a big deal, and then in August, another trip to California to my hometown (many years ago) that I will definitely do since it's one of my projects.

As far as recovery goes, I think I'm on another plateau, or maybe a very gentle upslope. I'm walking further, and I'm doing it without my cane, trying to maintain good heel-to-toe form. I can also go up and down steps normally without my cane, albeit slowly and carefully. I'm able to put my shoes and socks on my surgical side with a little bit of effort, and I have better ROM than I did before the surgery. All in all, not too bad. But I'm still stiff when I first sit up, and then it gets stiff and painful later in the day. I can still feel certain muscles are weak when I move in a certain way. Over the weekend we went to an outdoor venue (@raylo - Wolf Trap) to hear a friend sing. I refused to take the shuttle from the parking lot, and then I had to walk up and down the steps at the venue. I took my cane for that and used it off and on, sometimes to keep the crowd away (which didn't work that well). By the end of the evening I was pretty tired and sore.

None of this worries me. I know that I will eventually reach the end goal, and I also realize that I'm hyper focused on every thing I feel. I also realize that although the surgery seems so long ago, it's only been six weeks - 42 days - since the surgery.

I have a PT appointment in two days, and I'm looking forward to that. I'd like to get some more specific guidance. I'm going to join an adult swim group this week if I can find my goggles and jammers. After that, my next follow up is at four months, which will be the end of August.
 
I have done a few weekend trips now that required about ~5 hours driving each and they weren't too bad. Still, I felt a little stiff the following day. I have not yet flown anywhere and I suspect it would be similar... or with the cramped seats these days, could be worse. Hours in a cramped seat plus lots of walking could make for a tough day. I believe I could handle that now it but I might not enjoy it. But is air travel is ever enjoyable??

Good for you taking on Wolf Trap. I haven't been there for years. I am a curmudgeon these days and eschew live music and big events. I just hate all the parking, the crowds, the heat, the waiting in lines, then trying to get out of the parking lots to go home. Oof.
 
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You're doing great at six weeks!
 
I‘m 2 days behind you and am also starting PT this week. I’ve struggled more with walking longer distances, but ROM is generally ok. I’m not able to walk without a limp when I’m not using the cane though. I also have travel in early July - back to back meetings that mean I’ll be gone for about 2 weeks. Should be interesting.

I hope work goes well for you! I didn’t take the time completely off but took the first 2 weeks off except for dealing with one small project and “important” emails. At 3 weeks, I had at least one online meeting a day but that availability led to a lot of quick calls and I ended up spending multiple hours at a time in an office chair and I think that’s contributed to a slower recovery. Glad you are going to be wfh, it helps with being able ice as needed.
 
The PT question... I opted out of PT and haven't really needed it, but in a way I wish I had scheduled some because I wouldn't mind having a little specific guidance as @trailrunner said. Not so much for strength, but for stretching. I forgot to ask the PA about that at my one and only post-op check so far about which motions are allowed and how far to take it. I generally follow the "don't do anything that hurts" rule, but still. I guess having the anterior approach that has "no restrictions" and being at 8 weeks the hip should be pretty solid and be able to take some stretching in whatever direction.

You guys getting PT that far along, please post up what stretching motions they are giving you.
 
@raylo The event at Wolf Trap was small, mostly friends and families of the singers. Like you, I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to large events. I have no desire to go to Jiffy Lube Live again.

@JoeyRamone I decided to take a full six weeks off. I have lots of sick leave saved, and my job is pretty supportive. I wanted to focus on my rehab, and not be running up to my office to take care of one little task, which then turns into two, and so on. I know that once I return, I will have to go from 0 to 100 right away. I thought about just working a few hours each day, but I knew that I would get sucked into the vortex and wind up working full time.

@raylo Yes, I definitely want to know what stretches I can and can't do. Yep - I was also told that I have no restrictions, but I'm still a little nervous about doing even some basic stretches. My body is telling me it wants to stretch. I'll tell you what the PT says.
 
@trailrunner It is so good to hear you are progressing well! I hope your work does not insist on the trip this month as it does sound like a sure ticket to the ODIC.

Ah Wolf Trap - use to love that place when I lived near by back in the 1970s. One totally fabulous concert with Arlo Guthrie will live in my memory forever.
 
I'm at 6 weeks plus 1 day post op.

I had my first PT appointment today. The director of the clinic evaluated me. He confirmed that my hip flexor, adductor, and quads are weak. That seemed obvious to me but it was nice to get confirmation. He also said my abductor was weak, so it's safe to say my entire upper leg is weak. No surprise there, really, and I need to accept that I'm far from my peak cycling shape that I was in when I was 20 pounds younger. He said my flexibility is pretty good. He noticed one quirk about me - I've always struggled crossing my good leg (right side) over on top of my left knee, but I can do it much better the opposite way, even though it is my left side that got the replacement.

@raylo - As far as stretches go, he cautioned against me going too deep because he didn't want me to tear some tissue that was still healing. I thought my scar on top of my hip was healing well, but he said he was worried about internal soft tissue that was still healing. I was sort of surprised to hear that, but I will trust him. He said maybe in a couple of weeks I can go deeper. He did give me some good stretches that felt good but weren't too aggressive. We set up a schedule of appointments for the next few weeks.

I started back to work yesterday, and that was a bit of a shock. As @JoeyRamone pointed out, sitting in a chair all day is not good for our hips, so I made sure to get up and walk around. My day yesterday turned out to be really long, and I was exhausted when I was done. I'm not used to concentrating for so long. And then I had to do it again today! And tomorrow too! Retirement is in my near future - I don't know when exactly, but it's getting closer. The good news is that it's almost certain that I will not have to take that trip to California later this month.

Tomorrow I'm going to swim with some other adults. That will be a huge shock to my body. I used to swim a lot, but I've barely been in a pool in the last decade.
 
OK, this is officially bizarre. I have exactly the same quirk. I have always been unable to cross my right leg over my left knee, even as a teenager. Maybe just barely when I was a teenager. But essentially couldn't. But I could easily cross the left over the right. I am not yet ready to try again to cross the right over the left now I have a new hip there... but maybe down the road after I have a chance to stretch some. I doubt that will change, however. Let me know if your physio has some magic trick to loosen that up!
 
@raylo - We must be brothers! Maybe it's a common asymmetry?

The PT just said to "work on it." If I'm working on my left side, I shouldn't neglect my right side.
 
@trailrunner - You're lucky in that your PT is well informed and smart to be prudent about letting deeper soft tissues heal. Too many aren't!!!
 
You know, that may be it. When I was a lad I remember the right side being difficult so probably just defaulted to the easy side and never worked on it. I went to a doc for some bursitis on the right once upon a time and he noted that asymmetry immediately.

trailrunner said:
@raylo - We must be brothers! Maybe it's a common asymmetry?

The PT just said to "work on it." If I'm working on my left side, I shouldn't neglect my right side.
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Prior to hip issues I could put either foot to either knee. My first hip 9 mos. I cannot do it. Not remotely ready to try my just done hip. Please share any tips, strategies, etc.
 
I can get my foot to opposite knee on the surgical side. That was one of the exercises I was supposed to do during weeks 4-6 I think. My ROM on my surgical side is at least as good as it was before surgery, probably a bit better and getting better as I heal.

I don't think there are any miracle strategies. Daily stretching should help, but I also think the geometry and layout of our individual hips has a lot to do with it. I think that shallower hip sockets probably permit more flexibility.

The asymmetry could be developmental. I'm right handed, so my right side is likely stronger. Over my lifetime, I've done more kicking and other activity with my right leg than my left, so maybe my right side is stronger, or the bones in my pelvis on the right side grew slightly differently than my left side. Or maybe I'm right brained and my right side grew to compensate for the extra cerebral weight.

I am a little sore from the PT session yesterday. I've been doing my exercises pretty regularly, but doing a focused session for an hour was a little taxing, especially when I was being watched, and forced to have good form and to do some exercises I wasn't used to.
 
I can lift my leg it just doesn’t want to do the turning (???) part. It would make putting on shoes much easier. Thanks for answering.
 
Hi, just read through -- I think you need to ice more. And also know this is not a perfectly linear process; you'll def have a good day followed by a bad day, you'll also plateau for what seems like forever (weeks in I could only do elliptical for 20 mins on the nose, for weeks! I thought I was losing it, then one day I literally just busted through all the way to 45, it was wild and weird). Lower your expectations, from one athlete to another :).
 
That is certainly part of my asymmetry. I tore my left ACL when I was 19 and that leg has always since been weaker than the right. Still is, even after my April 10 right THR. That left knee without the ACL was lax which mimicked knee flexibility that the right doesn't have.

trailrunner said:
The asymmetry could be developmental. I'm right handed, so my right side is likely stronger. Over my lifetime, I've done more kicking and other activity with my right leg than my left, so maybe my right side is stronger,
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Glad the PT went well! I went today for the first time too after an unexpectedly long day at work. Your comment about it being hard to concentrate captured it perfectly - I have felt so brain dead trying to keep up with work and could not figure out why I was so slow by the afternoon. I hope your first week back ends well!
 
As a retired guy, I almost feel sorry for you guys having to work through this. Well, maybe a little. ;-)

JoeyRamone said:
Glad the PT went well! I went today for the first time too after an unexpectedly long day at work. Your comment about it being hard to concentrate captured it perfectly - I have felt so brain dead trying to keep up with work and could not figure out why I was so slow by the afternoon. I hope your first week back ends well!
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