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Date of surgery: Wednesday March 17th 2010 (My
49th birthday)
Doctor Michael Clarke Right hip resurfacing
Check in Community General Hospital at 8:30 AM
First I talked to anesthesiologist about options. Usually they give
an epidural, but when I explained that I had had back surgery 6
years before for a bulging disk that affected my left leg and that
since the surgery some of the pain had remained. After having a new
MRI it showed that I had arthritis that now was affecting my lower
spine. During my back surgery they had tried to remove 6 benign
tumors, but were unable due to their location. He began looking
through my file. After finding the results of the prior surgery he
said that there was no way he would do the epidural due to the fact
that in the last two years they had found in studies that it would
feed these types of benign tumors of the spine and they would grow.
So he could only do the general. He apologized ahead of time for any
pain I would feel after and told me not to be afraid to push the
pain button.
The last thing I remember was the nurse saying we were off and
slowly pushing the meds. I kissed my husband and before I even made
it out the door to the operating room I was out. I woke up to a
hello about 1 1/2 hours later without any pain. The nurse handed me
the button and said to push it for pain. When I said I felt good she
laughed and pushed the button.
With my blood pressure fine and all looking well I was off to my
room. I asked when I could get up and walk and the nurse said that
they do not allow that the first day. My right leg was strapped to
the side of a cushion that was holding my legs apart and I realized
I also had a large ball with a wire attached to my right hip. It was
a pain ball which was putting a pain killer right into the surgical
site. Other than back pressure I was still feeling no pain even
without pushing the button. From the moment I woke I began doing
foot flexes in both legs and pulling my left leg up to keep it from
falling asleep. I drank as much water as I could for the rest of
that day and all through the night to wash out any of the anesthesia
or pain meds left in my system. I had a catheter in and because I
only slept at 10 minute intervals it was easy to drink a lot. I had
donated my own blood for the surgery so even though it wasn’t used
during the procedure they put it back through the iv throughout the
night, which gave me bright rosy checks the next day.
In the morning the catheter was removed and the pain button, which I
choose not to use due to no pain. Shortly after I was up and walking
with the PT. It felt great to walk, but she kept me to half the
floor. The pain ball was removed that night and I was able to walk
the whole floor. While we were walking the PT said I was doing so
good that I may be able to leave the next morning as long as I could
do the stairs. I still was unable to sleep well, not because of pain
in the hip, but because of sleeping on my back and the stiffness
that caused. I kept drinking as much water as I could, which of
course meant getting up a lot, and I began taking Tylenol the next
morning hoping that I would be taking a ride home. By 8 AM the nurse
came in and said I was doing well and could go home that morning by
10:00. I had to go to PT to be sure I could do the stairs first. It
turned out to be much easier than I thought so I was released!
Getting in the car, the ride home (about an hour) and getting up the
8 stairs into the house took its toll and I was existed by the time
I laid down again. We had ordered a hospital bed, but I just could
not get comfortable so I moved to a recliner. I had a walker which I
used for the next 2 days. Because I left the hospital on Friday I
did not see a nurse till Monday and all was well, so she said I
would not need her again. Because I had glue and sterile strips she
also said that I could take a shower. That was the best shower I
ever had and when I was done I felt like a new person.
Monday afternoon (day 5) was my first in home PT. Even though I knew
my leg was not doing as my mind told it to I was still surprised
when the PT told me to lie down, straighten my leg and then lift it
that no matter how hard I tried it just would not budge. He tried
helping it up and then telling me to hold it there, but it just went
down. I could pull it up to a bent position, but slowly and with a
lot of stiffness. He also had me walk with the cane and concentrate
on not leaning. Although my new hip felt like it was a foot higher
than the other he assured me that it was not and that I needed to
push into it to walk straight. I had to teach my brain to walk into
the pain a bit. Day 4 of PT he took away the cane and had me work on
my posture while walking, as hard as it was at first, after a few
rounds I felt my hip responding and I could walk without the cane or
the limp. By the next day I had worked hard, but still could only
lift the leg an inch and a half. Although he said that was good I
felt defeated. I was amazed by day three that I was able to not only
lift it straight up but he had to stop me from lifting it past the
90 degree limit. Then came the stairs. After I went up and down a
couple times as I was taught at the hospital he told me to walk down
normal. I put the bad foot down first then went to step to the next
step with the good and I felt a tearing sensation from my knee up. I
stopped caught my breath and he said to continue so I did go down
and up a few times. I was sore after, but with ice and time it
slowly went away. By day 16 I was going up and down one foot on each
step without the cane and no pain. That was my last day of home PT.
I start out Monday with my pre-surgery PT. three times a week.
During the last two weeks my leg went from looking pretty good, to
swelling to the bruising running down the back of my leg and
settling at my ankle. I bruise very easily and after seeing the
video of the surgery I was not surprised or worried.
Sleep has been the worst of all. Sleeping on my back has not been an
option for me since the back issues, but now it was the only way I
could. As hard as I tried to sleep on my side with a pillow the
feeling of the hip was odd and I just could not get comfortable. I
slept in my recliner leaning sideways into one arm of it. Also the
ache from my shin was keeping me up. As the days progressed that
slowly went away. I am now back in my bed, still on my back, but
sleeping better on day 17.
As far as work goes I own my own business and I started back on
Monday (day 5) working from my home doing desk work, payroll, and
orders. On day 13 I did groom two dogs without any lifting. Mostly I
am home working still and only go to the shop if needed. I plan to
take it easy until after I see Dr Clarke on April 27th.
I know when I was told about resurfacing and sent to Dr. Clarke I
looked up everything on the subject. This site was a lifesaver and
after surgery I just needed to hear about others who had gone
through it. I felt great comfort in the fact that we are all
different and heal at different rates. Just to know that there are
others that understand the journey and to read their stories is
reassuring. I hope that my story will help someone through a bad day
or even a moment of their recovery.
Thank you Patricia. You have helped me through my journey…..
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