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Richard from Nova Scotia Antoniou RASR April 10 2007
I'm a new 69 year old surfacehippy that was in pretty good
shape
before the operation and am now 10 days post op in Montreal.
Staples
were removed yesterday and I'll be returning to Nova Scotia
tomorrow.
At the outset I have to say that I think I read too many
stories of
surfacehippies who with few problems and little pain were
walking
without aids and back to a normal life within weeks. My
recovery
hasn't been so smooth or quick, and part of the mental
problems I
encountered during my recovery were a result of the
illusions I had
accumulated. So for those of you that might encounter
similar
problems here's another look at what you might expect.
The operation was easy. I got a spinal and was awake or
drowsy
through most of it. Time passed quickly. The drilling and
pounding
didn't even appear to be on me. I definitely recommend the
spinal. I
was wheeled into the recovery room wide awake and feeling
good. Of
course, I was still frozen from the waist down. Several
hours in the
recovery room passed uneventfully and eventually I was
admitted to a
bed on the eigth floor of the Jewish General Hospital.
Orthopedic
ward. Nurses hooked up a morphine pump and I was advised to
use it
frequently to stay on top of any pain. I did, but I didn't
have much
pain just lying in bed, and I slept fairly well the first
night.
I wasn't too bad the second day until the physiotherapist
arrived and
got me out of bed for a short walk in a walker. It was then
I
discovered how intense pain can be. Groin, down the front of
my leg
and over the incision â€" it made my hip pain before the
operation look
like child's play. I was a bit shocked and it was hard to
imagine I
would ever walk normally again. It was also during the
second day
that I began to experience nausea at the sight of food and
this
bothered me for the next 4 or 5 days despite various
anti-nausea
medications. This along with a low grade temperature that
left me
feeling achy meant I was able to eat very little for about 5
days. I
can't entirely blame the hospital food. Even some St. Hubert
chicken
my wife brought in from the outside could not bridge the
nausea barrier.
Each day for the 5 ½ days I was in the hospital I got up
several
times, did some very painful walking with a walker (on day
four they
showed me how to go up and down stairs with a crutch), tried
to sit up
for awhile and do my (painful) exercises (some of which I
was
completely incapable of doing, but the low level temperature
made if
difficult to throw myself into any of these activities with
any
enthusiasm. Probably as a result of my selective reading I
hadn't
expected any of these problems and that made it all the more
discouraging. I don't think I'm entirely unusual in speed of
progress. Other patients on the floor seem to be doing about
the same
as I was. I didn't see any of the miracle cures I had read
about.
I've since joked that I improve every other day. The days in
between
it's usually to detect any improvement though it must be
going on.
In the hotel my appetite has improved a lot and I'm walking
more every
day, but I can see that this will be a long slow process
with lots of
pain along the way. I'm still using a walker with about 50%
weight
bearing on the operated side. I read the stories of 100%
weight
bearing and no cane within two weeks of surgery with
astonishment. I
suspect that unless you're much younger or in extremely good
physical
shape that won't be your healing curve. It's not mine.
I had the staples out on day nine and the wound is healing
well, but
the nights are still long. I was never a back sleeper and
it's been
difficult to adjust. I usually wake in the early morning
with a very
stiff and painful lower back, but once I'm up it quickly
goes away.
I was fortunate to have encountered Chris Saunders on this
board and
his detailed information on what I was likely to encounter
was
invaluable. Anyone considering a resurfacing in Montreal
should
definitely get in touch with him.
I'm continuing to take a few Tylenol during the day and
Tramacet at
night. Tramacet, a combination of Tylenol and Tramadol
Hydrochloride
â€" a synthetic opoid - was the only pain killer that did
anything for
me before the operation, and I tried most of them. It also
tends to
help me sleep at night though it doesn't make me drowsy if I
take it
during the day. No problem for the stomach either.
I've seen questions from time to time on this board about
the maximum
age for resurfacing. For those of you still wondering, I met
another
patient who was resurfaced a few hours before me who is 74
and plans
to have his other hip resurfaced in three months. He seems
to be
recovering at least as well as I am. He had been told in
Ontario by
one surgeon that his cutoff date was 45 and by another, 60.
We all
know what balderdash that is.
I don't mean this to scare off potential surfacehippies, but
just to
outline another recovery path that may be followed by more
patients
than I at least read about on the surfacehippy board. I
don't mean
any of this to reflect on the quality of the medical care I
received
which has been the very best. I'm very pleased with having
gotten it
done. Dr. Antoniou is one of the premier surgeons in North
America
with a great many resurfacings under his belt. I don't think
you could
find a better doctor. The Jewish General Hospital staff were
terrific, thoroughly professional and helpful. There are
just
different recovery paths and mine appears to be one of the
slower
ones. Now that the nausea and temperature are gone, I'm
feeling good
and determined to be off walking aids as soon as possible.
To sum up at 10 days post op:
Still tire quickly.
Swelling down to the ankle continuing but I'm told this will
disappear
in a month or two.
I'm walking with a walker and at about 50% weight bearing an
estimated
1/6 of a mile three times a day.
Still taking pain killers at night but not much during the
day.
Doing most of the physiottherapy exercises but some are
still very
painful. A few I still can't do.
Getting up and sitting down are the two most difficult
things I to do
each day.
Richard from Nova Scotia
Antoniou RASR April 10 2007
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