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Day 3
Dr Gross warned me yesterday that the pain might be at its
worst day 3.
BINGO!
I woke up 3AM and had a lot of just trouble trying to move
around a
little. The leg is a useless lump that complains loudly.
Feeling a
little nauseous. Called for pain meds and got two oxycodone.
Day 8
I was released from hospital last Wed afternoon by Lee. I
told her I was feeling weak and a little feverish, she said
this was normal.
Went over to the wonderful Heritage Marriott Suites across
from Providence hosp. (only complaint: TV choices suck) Wed
night fever hit 102 and my wife called office. On call doc
said tylenol, which proved immediately effective. I spent
Wed/Thurs sleeping a lot and in a lot of pain with
difficulty getting comfortable. Poor appetite. Nauseous.
Friday we undertook the grueling journey home: Four-hour
drive from Columbia to Atlanta; long wait at airport;
Pleasant first-class direct flight to LA; rush-hour ride
home in a comfy limo-taxi.
Friday night I woke up with t-shirt drenched in cold-sweat.
Changed shirt and woke up Sat in another wet t-shirt.
Very weak Saturday, excruciating pain if I put any weight on
the joint or moved the leg wrong whilst changing positions.
Lots of sleep and TV.
Sunday began to feel a lot better. Comfortable on one
crutch.
Today is day eight. Up at six AM, It's almost noon and I
haven't had a nap yet. Feeling better all the time though
still a little chilled. Will sit in the sun soon.
Haven't had any problems with the wound. Dressing is cleaner
with each change.
Day 10
Feeling a lot better, a lot stronger. I don't feel sick
anymore though I did have the cold sweats again last night.
I wake up in a wet t-shirt and damp sheets. No more pain
unless I place too much weight on the hip. Hip range of
motion is excellent and getting better. Having no trouble
getting comfortable anymore. Took no Vicodin yesterday, none
yet today. Appetite improving, nausea receding. Leg still
not strong enough for a cane. I can go short distances
easily with one crutch. Two crutches required for longer
distances. My daily walk is getting longer every day. I plan
to take at least two "long" walks today. Wound is healing
nicely. Painful knots in thigh have subsided. I think I have
made the correct choice and would do it again. Can navigate
around the kitchen with no support other than countertops
when I need to move. Did the dishes yesterday. Wife has not
killed me yet.
Day 11
Cold sweats again last night. Nights are the toughest, very
restless.
Had a good walk with hiking poles this morning, first time
without
crutch. Still cannot put full weight on the leg but it's
steadily
improving. No more pain meds except a Vicodin at bedtime
because I
feel crappy by the end of the day. Shooting for at least
Day 12
Had a great night last night for the first time. No cold
sweats, slept in comfort with little interruption. Had two
good walks yesterday with hiking poles. Last one was to the
beach down a steep path and then I walked in the sand for
about a quarter mile or so, then back up the path and home.
For companionship I have two Shih-Tzus who don't need
leashes and are fine with my slow pace. I've been pushing
the traumatized muscles during the walks so I came home
pretty tired after the early evening beach walk and in
considerable pain but today I feel much stronger and like I
can almost walk without aid. Told them I will return to work
10/15. I have a desk job. Feeling adventurous today, I plan
to get out and run a few errands. Tried driving my stick
shift and had no problems. The right leg works fine for gas
and brake. Wound healing nicely, still a bit raw, we have
gradually been pulling off the steri-strips. Put my long
pants on today unaided. Flexibility and range of motion
continue to improve. Problem when I try to stand erect,
unaided, with equal weight on both legs. Sill experiencing
pain and tightness in the hip area when I try this. No
longer require assistance from my wife (don't tell her).
Day 14
Feeling better all the time though progress is slower than I
had expected. Really feeling good today. Attended a fight
party last night but was feeling pretty miserable after two
hours. Drinking beer does not make me feel better. That's a
first! Cold sweats last night. Starting to walk around the
house a little bit unaided (without flapping my wings!)
I think I'm going to push it a little bit today. It's a
beautiful day in Corona del Mar. A little offshore breeze,
perfect surfing weather. I must admit I'll be bummed if the
waves are good. I'm afraid my condition has guaranteed the
waves will be great in Southern California for the next few
months.
Day 15
Not much to report except slow progress and pain receding.
No Vicodin yesterday. I was active early and ended up really
tired. I'm still sleeping a lot and at odd hours. I took a
nap and still went to bed early and ended up watching "The
Wind That Shakes the Barley" in the middle of the night (two
thumbs way up). Hip can bear more weight
every day. Dr G said I could go to work two weeks post op
-that's today- but no way. I'm taking another week off.
Day 17
I haven't posted for a couple of days because I've been
feeling
terrible. I feel better today so I am reporting good news,
not bad.
The last couple of days I've been feeling EXTREMELY weak.
All I've
wanted to do was sleep and any kind of activity has knocked
me out.
For a while I thought I was going to die (I'm a big baby) I
had the
cold sweats Sunday and Monday nights and really bad
nightmares. I had
the chills during the day and found it hard to stay warm. My
wife
wanted to call Dr Gross's office yesterday but I wanted to
hold off
one more day because my appetite was still OK and I didn't
have a
fever and was not in any serious pain. And, I was afraid
they would
ask me to do something I didn't have the energy for, like go
see a
doctor. I went to the library yesterday and didn't have the
strength
to look for a book. I barely made it home. Maybe it's my
fault for
pushing too hard when I was feeling good last week. I was
slowly
ticking up the activity level and took a little drive on
Sunday to the
beach and went up on the pier with one crutch and got some
sun. I
stopped at McDonalds on the way home and later took my dogs
for a
decent walk with a cane. I started to feel really crappy
Sunday
evening. It started to break yesterday afternoon. I had a
good meal
and stayed up the rest of the day watching TV and when I was
able to
enjoy a movie last night I knew I was feeling stronger. I
had trouble
sleeping last night because I was not tired and here I am
6AM pecking
away at a laptop for the first time in a couple of days. I
just hope
that's the last of it. I know this can't be normal because
Dr G
cleared me to go to work this week, so I'm still worried.
Can anyone
share a similar post-op experience?
Day 19
I was very active yesterday and had a really long walk
(cane) over varied terrain. Also walked to the store (short
walk) and carried back a six-pack of Guinness (iron).
Behaving more normally every day. Moving comfortably around
the house unassisted. I am a little sore today but I have
not felt sick or weak for three days now. Looking good!
3 Weeks
I'm 3 weeks post op and doing better all the time, but I had
really severe night sweats again last night. I changed my
shirt in the middle of the night. I've never had this
condition pre op that I can remember.
Still having ups and downs, I'm frustrated by the slowness
of my recovery. I had a bad night last night but it was
(again) due to my pushing too hard yesterday thinking I have
recovered. I have to be careful to remember I am under
movement restrictions because I am less and less governed by
pain. Yesterday I forgot and started to jump up out of a
chair. Ow, that started my decline. I began the day by
driving a relative to the airport in the early AM (15 mile
round
trip). Later I drove down to Laguna Beach (20 mile round
trip) and walked the dogs on the boardwalk, but I had to
keep them on leashes so it was a lot of
leash/cane/tangle/dog chaos, a lot of work and unnecessary
movement. Driving's not a problem but it's still hard to get
in and out of the car. I finally gave up and went to bed
last night just when Trot was coming up so I missed the
track meet. I feel better today. Sleep is the magic potion
that makes the hurt go away. I
still plan on going to work tomorrow but I will follow
Venki's lead and work part (most) of the day from home.
Generally I'm doing better but there's still a lot of
healing to do. My impatience is due to others' recovery
stories and my competitive nature. I must slow down. I am
moving easily around the house now without a cane and doing
more housework. Today I will be Mr. Couch Potato. I really
appreciate everyone else's recovery stories. Some easy, some
hard but I know I'm not alone.
Day 24
No ramble today. Yesterday I had the double euphoric punch
of happy to be alive and not having to go to work. Sorry
about that. I'm not trying to make a mockery of this forum,
I just was so happy my brain was working (some may disagree)
Anyway, Paul liked it. Paul and I are having similarities in
recovery. He surfaced on 9/11. Paul buddy, I'm about to
leave you in the dust! Are you the dude that walks slow-mo
around Chicago? Hilarious. I would do that with you!
Today I feel great. I stayed up 14 hours straight without a
nap yesterday and then got 10 hours of solid sleep with no
night sweats (I did not drink alcohol last night). Yesterday
I had a lot of energy and have started doing inclined-plane
pushups when I get the chance. Reason for my drama: My BP
elevated due to bad (but tasty) food, lack of exercise and
stress. I'm hitting it on all three fronts.
I've decided to go completely cane free around the house.
The hip is great! I walk like a chimpanzee but I can walk
unassisted.
My recovery pattern is one step back and two big steps
forward.
Day 25
This is kind of embarrassing. I had a really bad day
yesterday but I'm doing fine today. I had that episode
Monday night where I started feeling so bad I thought I was
having a stroke. I felt great all of Tuesday and about noon
on Wednesday I had gotten lots of exercise and walks and was
settling in alone at home to watch Blades of Glory when I
suddenly felt terrible with a pounding headache and like I
was sure to pass out. On top of it my right arm was going
numb and I felt like I was losing control of my hand. I
panicked and called 911. I have never done that in my life,
for anyone, let alone myself. The paramedics arrived and I
closed the door so the dogs wouldn't get out and met them
outside and was having trouble answering their questions.
They put me on a gurney and took my vital signs and their
leader (a cute blonde with an ATTITUDE, there were seven of
them) was buying none of it and interrogating me like
Guantanamo. Then one of them announced my BP was 200/100.
Blondie offered to take me to emergency and I said yes. This
was a first for me, and ambulance ride to emergency (no
lights and sirens) In the ambulance I felt the worst and
then I got to the emergency room and they hooked me up to
heart monitors and I had an EKG and my wife showed up soon
because a neighbor had called her and she started getting me
water and I felt a little better. The doctor showed up and
said there didn't appear to be anything wrong with my heart
and I requested some kind of brain test because I was
worried about a stroke and he signed me up for an MRI.
I'd never had an MRI before but I think the Guantanemo boys
would draw just criticism if they used one as and
interrogation "aid". It would be pretty tough on a good day
with a valium but on this day with no sedative I found it
almost impossible to complete the 30 minutes. I thought I
would die (again with the dying!) I did get through most of
it before I cracked and confessed to everything and they let
me out. They did get a successful scan the brain and the
only part they missed was the carotid artery. My pain is in
my head so I'm cool with it.
The doctor came back and announced that I had passed all
tests. No trouble found, heart good, brain good, and he was
sending me home with orders to see my doctor. I broke into a
huge grin. By now my family had been alerted and I had a bro
and sis in the ER and a bro on the way and a brother-in-law
cardiologist communicating with the ER doc. ER doc gave me a
mild sedative and a prescription for Lopressor, (a BP med)
and sent me packing.
I had an uneventful evening. I walked across the street with
my brother and we picked up take-out Mex. I had a good
night's sleep (with night sweats) and went and saw an
internist today.
Dr Pratt said it appeared I was prone to suddenly spiking
blood pressure (he had a medical term for it). My brother in
law, his partner, had remembered a time when I had landed in
emergency with a surfing injury and my BP was sky high. Dr
Pratt said it was potentially very dangerous and in this
case it had spiked to a point where it was impairing brain
function. He is keeping me on the Lopressor and suggests I
stop taking the Celebrex. I can continue with the aspirin.
He says Celebrex in my case is for pain and discomfort and
if I don't need it stop because it may be contributing to
high BP issues.
Anyway, that's my update. Feeling groovy today. The
Lopressor makes me want to sleep and relaxes me. It looks
like I will be on it long-term. Potential downside is severe
laziness and impotence (knock knock). Pre-op I got a lot
more exercise than I'm getting now which I think kept this
demon under control.
My wife called Dr G's office to report and he has personally
left two messages with her today. She is hard to reach at
the office. I'm off for a walk. Dr Pratt said I cannot get
too much exercise if my hip can handle it. The hip is doing
great. I carried groceries up the stairs unaided today.
Week 5
I'm doing very well now. I've had a difficult recovery but
am starting to feel completely normal again. Yesterday I
spent three hours on the Huntington Beach pier taking photos
of the surfing. The winds that fan the flames are really
good for the wave situation. While Mother Nature was
creating havoc inland she tossed in a 6-8 (occasional 10)
foot northwest swell. Disaster for many, Nirvana for a few.
I watched one rogue wave catch some guys inside and break
two longboards in half. Fun! I've parlayed my complications
into another week off work. Stress is bad.
I had a hiking pole but was scurrying back and forth from
one side of the pier to the other to keep up with the
action... carrying the pole under my arm a lot of the time.
I was tempted to ditch it completely.
I feel like I'm very close to not needing the pole at all
anymore. I gave the cane back to my mother and the crutches
are gathering dust. I am completely unassisted around the
house and even outside the house. I only take the pole for
major excursions. I still get a slight twinge when I put
weight on the leg but all pain is fading.
Sean 51,male 9/24/07 Gross/Biomet
6 weeks
We're discussing post-op pain and limping. I'm curious as to
the group's opinion/knowledge about the source of 6-week
post-op pain. I have a deep achy pain when I walk and
sometimes when I'm just sitting.
It usually hurts a lot when I first stand up and the first
few steps are murder but then it gets easier and I can walk
2 miles without a cane. It is not a muscle pain but feels
like a deep bone pain and seems to be centered at around my
femur ball area. Makes sense I guess but do bones hurt? I
thought they lacked nerve endings. Should I be worrying?
Sean,51M,Gross,9/24/07,BiometAcetSZ62/56,CementedFemSZ56
Eight Weeks
I'm doing very well at eight weeks. I still need support
when I stand up after a long sit, ow, but once I get walking
I feel great and my range is increasing all the time. I am
walking with only a slight limp and while I can walk really
fast, I cannot run without pain. I took a 20 mile bike ride
and pushed it a lot harder this time and felt no discomfort
at all in the hip. I can feel the ball clunking around and
pulling slightly in and out of the socket when I do certain
movements but the hippy consensus is that this shall pass as
the femur neck capsule heals. I'm excited; buyers remorse is
gone. I'm chomping at the bit to move on to greater things.
Will be watching Super Cory the triathlete in action next
week in Hawaii and hopefully he and the other hippies in his
crew will not inspire me to do something crazy. Anyone
having problems: I had LOT's of problems and they all
gradually went away. Hang in there.
Sean,51M,Gross,9/24/07,BiometAcetSZ62/56,CementedFemSZ56
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