THR Z's Postop thread

[Z15]

Sandy,

If it's already Sunday there I would be VERY curious to know if the New England Patriots won the AFC Championship!! I promise I will not use the information to wager!!

I did see your thread ( I THINK there might be a typo in your URL...you had 34DMedical.com) .... and I will be all over that when I start getting some specific feedback from my PT! Thank you!

Z

 

[Poppet]

Sorry Z - typo

I am sure you have found it 3D4medical.com

:

 

[Josephine]

feeling like a bag of toenails with all the good ones taken out....

Well, I go to the foot of our stairs - never heard that one before! :hysterical:

This article (that I just found) deals with the method developed by my surgeon: broken link removed: https://www.orthosupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=91076

I'm going to sound a real fuddy duddy now but in all honesty, all instrument sets have guides and alignment instruments of one kind or another. Implant positions are invariably preplanned on the xrays using plastic templates sheets - a process designed by Charnley, actually - and they work pretty well. Trick with all of them is that the surgeon actually knows how to use them properly.

Q: Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, practice, practice!


Z, I nearly forgot - your video is in the front page of the BoneSmart website.

 

[DallasSarah]

Wow the 3D4 website is pretty amazing, I found also the app for iPad. Intense and very clever!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Poppet]

Glad you like it Sarah, it is really cool...

 

[JohnInSeattle]

I imagine that I am not alone on this...

In the AM after moving precious little during the nite, I wake up feeling like a bag of toenails with all the good ones taken out....

Z

I love the imagery. But I actually feel wonderful in the morning. Not stiff or sore a bit, course it just goes downhill from there as I use the leg during the day.

Things I am doing that might be contributing to this? No narcotics, Lots of vitamins, LOTS of water, typically a gallon a day, Icing several times during the night and keeping the rest of me warm.

 

[Z15]

Thanks for your formula John!

I am drinking more water than ever (and exercising less) than ever....but i can try to drink more.

I will admit to having stopped icing...my swelling is gone and I never iced during the night anyway.

Vicodin is not doing much for me...but that is why I've been hesitant to stop it. I'm presuming that I'll be just that much achier without it..BUT, I that prescription is just about done, so I may find out how I am off all narcotics.

NOW....I can't take NSAIDS while on Coumadin, and I think my doc keeps folks on Coumadin for 6 weeks...that's just his protocol. I honestly feel like Ibuprofen would do the trick but that is a ways away.

I'll up the water.

Thanks,

Z

 

[C Mac]

Hi Z,

On the morning stiffness, it sounds like you found your groove with the exercise bike. You mention that you move very little in the night, so presumably you are sleeping well and that's very good -- gotta be grateful for a good night's sleep!! I do think that your stiffness will abate in time as you heal further and increase your mobility and activity levels.

Admiring that little sextant tool your OS uses to get your hardware placed in the correct spot. I have no idea what my OS uses but do sense that the alignment of my new alien leg/hip is very different than it was pre-surgery and that seems to be reeking a bit of havoc that I hope my old body can adjust to in time...

So, if we may not be able to use the rowing machine can we hope to return to a real kayak eventually?

Maybe Jo can give you some pain med suggestions if the Vicodin isn't doing the trick.

Take care,
Cardie

 

[Z15]

Cardie,

I have the sense that my (and probably YOUR) doc put us back in the "correct alignment" which for me is certainly different than it was a month ago. I was tipped to one side and favoring a bad hip, now I'm back to "normal" ...at least on the fixxed side. I am thinking it will be awhile before this all feels like the new normal for us...

As you and Jo can see, I am a fan of innovation and realize that some will make it and some won't. Heck, I'm sure that all the latest and greatest prostheses that we are getting (which hopefully last longer than the old ones) were designed and optimized using 3D modeling. If the new inventions don't make things better...then they get abandoned. But I appreciate the surgeons and inventors coming out with new things in an effort to improve this science.

Now...I will admit....I probably don't want to be the guiney pig that tries the brandy newest item. For instance, I am willing to bet that there are wonderful innovations out there that came along in the last 6-18 months, which have rather limited exposure to date, which someday may be standard practice and saving patients pain, failures and recovery time...to which I say "well done". I look forward to them being vetted and the good ones adopted.

Z

 

[Z15]

I needed to run some errands today so I stopped the pain killers ( so I could drive). What I found out was that the Vicodin that I thought was not doing much, must be helping some because I was pretty uncomfortable without it.

It was surviveable, and I could have stayed off...but it was easier to limp and compromise my gait than it was to walk "cleanly". I'm at day 18...and will give it a few more days before I try again.

Kudos to those who successfully stop the pain killers without pain. I would be curious if Ibuprofen would manage this...Ibuprofen has always been VERY effective for me....but as I've said, ibuprofen is off limits for me since my doc keeps me on Coumadin for awhile...

Live and learn

 

[DallasSarah]

Hi John,

Good for you getting out and driving at 18 Days thats amazing really!

I wouldn't worry to much if you are taking or not taking the pain pills, it's hard to compare to others. I read some stories and am blown away when they stop taking the pain pills very early, we all heal differently and have different levels of tolerance. It is surprising how sore we can get and quickly too! My first official outing in the front of a car as a passenger wow wasn't until 4-5 weeks and I was really sore. Getting back into drivers seat wasn't too bad though.

You really are doing amazingly well!

Have a good night!

Sarah

 

[Jen]

Ditto what Sarah said about being able to drive after just a couple of weeks. Your recovery is really inspiring Z. I'm also on Vicodin and so far (it is still early) it seems to be doing what it is supposed to.

I'm looking forward to watching my Giants beat your Patriots
.

 

[Jaycey]

Well - as you discovered it's a bit early to be thinking about no pain control. I know you want to drive but I am afraid you will sacrifice moving forward if you cut down on the meds.

How much longer do you need to take the blood thinner? Jo's cocktail of Ibuprofen and Tylenol works for many post-op.

 

[Z15]

Jaycey,

My doc keeps his patients on Coumadin for 6 weeks...standard. I'd LOVE to be able to just use ibuprofen...but it's a small sacrifice.

And yes....it'd be nice to be able to drive, but since I work at home it's not a big factor. I do have the occassional appt that will require me to stop the Vicodin for a day.

And Jen, I think we both deserve to have our local teams win the Super Bowl. If the Pat's lose I will just be happy that you are happy... :happy dance:

Z

 

[C Mac]

Hi Z,

The pain pill thing is very subjective. I was off the prescription meds by about the same time and just took extra strength tylenol full dose around the clock -- but I wasn't on a blood thinner and so was also taking an anti-inflammatory medication. My transition was from Norco onto the extra strength Tylenol.

However, I wasn't allowed in the car until my 6 weeks follow-up visit -- even as a passenger. Something about the havoc that would be wreaked on my hip by the seatbelt in a sudden stop (DC area traffic).

Do be careful,
Cardie

 

[Z15]

Thanks Cardie....I'm back to being the occassional passenger in the car. My wife has today off and she is considering taking me out to dinner!

My doc's pre-surgery counsel to me was that i was not going to hurt my ceramic hip thru overuse....what would compromise it was something like a car accident, and he meant EVER ... not just in the first few months, but I see your point.

We don't deal with a whole lot of traffic on these quiet New England roads...which reminds me. With all the folks from ENGLAND on BS do you ever think it strange how we have this region of the US defined as NEW England?

Even the hospital that Janet and I go to is called NEW ENGLAND Baptist. Most of the towns around here have an English counterpart...I happen to live in Groton, Massachusetts. We also have an ACTON, BOXFORD and a SUDBURY not far away...(as does your Groton...)

Z

 

[welshjane]

Hello from old England, Z (well, actually old Wales), just catching up on your thread. yeah, we called it New England because it was us who discovered it (not to mention the native Americans who had been there for millenia - I guess they didn't count). You seem to be doing amazingly well with your recovery from your revolutionary new hip procedure. I had the opposite, so to speak. When my OS discovered that I was a long-distance walker, he recommended a very old style hip that he's been using for 20 years and which has a mean survival rate of 94.4% after that length of time (so it should see me out!) and the cup is a vitamin E stabilised highly cross-linked polyethylene. Being a nutritionist,I liked the idea of the vit E! I think my recovery rate is fairly standard (I had my surgery same day as Dallas Sarah, and it seems to me that she and I are about level-pegging), but that's a small price to pay for an active and pain-free existence for the next 20 years at least. I was told I could drive whenever I felt ready to, so I got in the car and had a little test drive on day 34. All fine, then hubby confiscated the car for a few days to get some bodywork fixed. I drove it home from the bodyshop on day 38 and have been driving ever since no problem.

Re morning stiffness, a trick I learnt from my brother, a chronic back pain sufferer, is to stand up and stretch up as high as you can go when you very first get out of bed. I find that does help. No luxuries like an exercise bike here, but the 15 minute pre-breakfast dog poo walk helps to loosen me up!

I'm no expert on medication, but I was released from hospital with dabigatran (blood thinner) for 4 weeks, plus ibuprofen (which I won't take and didn't because it upsets my stomach), paracetamol which I still take occasionally, and 3 days worth of a painkiller called pregabalin. So after those 3 days the only painkiller I took I was paracetamol. I only mention this because I was prescribed a blood thinner and NSAID together and no one said that was contraindicated. Oh, and I felt no pain at any time, but we are all different, and my pain hadn't been too bad pre-surgery, unlike many people.

How are you getting on with adding extra nutrition to your daily diet?

 

[Z15]

Jane,

Thanks for all your thoughts! And a 20 year durability target sounds GREAT, but with your longevity, you will need THREE of those!

Here was my docs take on this ceramic hip that I got (and I'm sure that there was no bias with his name on the patent )

When we discussed it the hip was 14 years old. Here are his stats at 14 years: The 14-year survivorship as the end point of revision was 97.9% for the cup, 97.8% for the stem, and 95.7% for the overall implants, respectively

So...Since it is new-ish, we can't say how many will last 20 or 25 years, but the early #'s are encouraging. We shall see...

If it lasts 25 years I'll only need 3 more...:wink1:

On the food front...since starting the nutrition thread I have added or increased...

Quinoa
Nuts
Carrots
Peanut Butter
NON-green Salad "stuff" (peppers, onions etc) (i have that Vit K thing...)
FIBER cereals...mostly Raisin Bran
Fish
I'm going lighter than usual on the cheese...just because I can take it or leave it in terms of my interest level. The old (normal) Z did not shy away from extra cheese.

Good stuff to add I think! If I don't make an effort to think about eating I can easily miss a meal and trust me...THIS IS NOT LIKE ME! I am happy to be losing some fat without having to work at it...and am conscious to eat good stuff when I do eat. And altho folks have suggested that i "appear" fit, I have not posted any photos from the last year when my inactivity caught up with me... :hate-shocked:

Z

 

[welshjane]

On the food front...since starting the nutrition thread I have added or increased...

Quinoa
Nuts
Carrots
Peanut Butter
NON-green Salad "stuff" (peppers, onions etc)

Sounds good! Just thinking, you could make a really nice quinoa pilaff using all of the above (maybe substituting peanuts for peanut butter).

 

[nanamac]

Z, I didn't realize that you never assked the OS to put you back on the Oxy. You were going to check with the PT about it about a week or more ago. In any event, i've not been on as much, just not feeling well enough, but I can't believe he switched you to Vicodin so soon after the THR.

There was another NEBH patient on here in the summer as well, but i have since forgotten her name (sorry if you are a lurker). I guess she must me doing very well by now.

Well, I am mentally and physically drained right now. Hope to feel better shortly and get the show on the road here!

Oh, and although Marblehead is a quiet little New England town as well, the traffic is horrendous these days! Very narrow sreets, way too many trucks and every home has about 16 cars, I think :rolleyespink:!

Ok, my brain isn't playing well with my mouth today so I think I'll go take a nap...:sleepz: