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Monday, January 21, 2008 2:59 PM
7
1/2 Weeks Post Op
I
had my follow up with Dr Stewart today, 71/2 weeks in and
all's well and.......I can throw away my crutch! Great news
and I have to say I had a chuckle to myself as I read so
much about people and PT's and all their exercises and to be
honest I worried a bit as the only PT I had was in hospital
and a home visit pre op, she gave me a print out of the
exercises which are identical to those on the McMinn site
which I have followed by myself.........I must have saved a
fortune on bill' s.
Friday, January 11, 2008 8:47 AM
6 week's post op...and loving it!!!
Now 6 week's post op and doing really well, after checking
in on the site on a daily basis here are a few of my observations and
are purely from my own experience! I hope this isn't too much of
a novel but that it helps in some way!
My surgeon was Leith Stewart in Cape Town, who is highly
regarded in this field and has been performing BHR for over 7 years. He
has also trained a couple of American Dr's in the technique and
according to the web is on the faculty for The Great Debate being held in
London next weekend, the topic being hip and knee replacement.
"The
emphasis will be focused on early intervention in the hip and knee,
and the prestigious faculty will be presenting arguments and
evidence for and against early and conservative surgery in hip and knee reconstruction", I see that Dr De Smet is also on the
faculty. See
http://www.thegreatdebate.uk.com/index.htm I'm sure this
will be of interest to all.
This leads into my first point..to wait or not to wait?
Heck, who would want to wait if they truly knew the benefit's of this
op! My OA pain has completely gone and I'm out and about again! Also
waiting too long as far as I can see is the difference between a
successful HRS and the downhill slide to THR. The point being that your
surgeon will be trying to save as much bone as possible, this is a
huge advantage down the line in later life if, for example you
break your hip, it is a much easier move to THR and an op that
would be about 45 min's as opposed to 3 hours! Which as you get older
is harder to handle.
I have seen a lot of debate here on anaesthetics, having had
an epidural with my first child and then a spinal with my
second (both c- section). I was happy to be told I was getting a spinal, it
would have been my choice anyway as my experience of that was
better. I was concerned about not going under general anaesthetic and
being sent to the twighlight zone lol..again the best possible choice, I
woke up as the last stitch (no staples) was going in. I had no side
effects like nausea etc . I was in theatre for 93 minutes and only
remember going in and then waking up..ooh yes and some hilarious drug
induced banter between me, the surgeon and the anaesthetist! I was in the
high care ward overnight and moved to my room at about 11.30 am the
following day. (Nice View of Table Mountain)
That afternoon the PT came to visit and had me up and
walking down the corridor using 2 crutches, my first steps were tentative
as I was subconsciously waiting for that awful OA pain or at least
some surgery pain...nothing much to worry about there, what an
amazing feeling! I was moving around a lot after that and eventually
left on the Monday morning, having booked in on the Thursday
afternoon and coming out of surgery at 6.00pm that day....essentially
under 4 days in hospital!!!!
Cement vs cement less...not sure of all the pros and cons
here, my surgeon did cement mine but not with the S&N cement that is
available with their BHR but simplex as it is his preference. I would
imagine that this debate will go on for a long time and it is
difficult to make a call as more post op long term stats need to become
available.
Recovery
I was fortunate in that the timing of my op
coincided with my kid's going on their Summer Vac, so I didn't need to be
their Taxi, in fact they and my husband really pulled together to
give me the rest I needed. I'd like to stress the rest word, how
many times have I seen people on this site wanting to run marathons
within a few weeks of this op. Having not been covered by my medical plan
and having to finance this myself I wasn't going to take any
crazy chances, I think that that, doing my PT exercises and
maneuvering around my house have got me to the stage I am now at 6
weeks! I'm on one crutch, have been driving for a week and negotiating my
way around the shops all in less pain and more mobility than I
was before hand!.......My advice would be "don't try to run before you
can walk"! My surgeon said no long distance walking for the
first 6 months rather a stationary bike..he too has a BHR!!! So, for
all you really sporty types it's nice to know that he snowboards and
does endurance cycle races now..must be a good ad for the
procedure!!!! Remember, this is no small op and you have to give your body
time to recover properly.
There were downsides of course, trying to sleep on my back
was awful, but after my first check-up my doc said I could sleep on my
side with a pillow between my legs, it took me a while to get used to
that too, but it's much better now. I didn't have too much post op
pain due to my pain meds - Tramacet and Panamor suppositories (let's not
go there..a big down lol). I was only on these for about 10
day's by which time I didn't need them anymore and took normal Panado
if I needed it. I also took ½ a sleeping tablet at night. Those awful sock's, getting dressed and worst of all the
raised toilet seat.eek thank goodness that one's behind me!
To all you guy's in the States, I know that this is
relatively new there so don't be put off, go for it you won't be
disappointed! Sadly I see a lot of marketing for certain Dr's who I know are
good, however I would look for someone that you trust and feel
comfortable
with. It must be hard to find
those with a 100 under their belt but I don't think that should limit your possibilities, maybe some
of those newer to the procedure are more up to date...just my
thoughts and not meant to be contentious in any way.
I hope this helps someone.....if you are waiting don't be
nervous, if you are trying to decide...GO FOR IT!
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