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There are many emails on the Yahoo
Surface Hippy Discussion
Group with this type of comment:
...today I am REALLY
discouraged and need advice. Here I am at 4 weeks post-op
and I still spend most of my time down. My leg is hurting
more at the incision site, although it looks great. I get up
and it's stiff and sore, and I expected to be so much better
by now! I thought I'd be pretty much back to normal...able
to get out and about, and maybe just using a cane..... ....I
didn't think I'd get the post-op blues, but now I'm just so
frustrated that I cry easily. AND, I seem to have very
little energy. What am I doing wrong?
January 1, 2009
Dear Ladies and Gents,
It's with a heavy heart that needs to be unburdened that I
write this post. I am now at 6wks approx. post-op and
feeling rather blue and frustrated today and many days
it's like this. I read all the positive posts and
before my surgery I read them all and of course hoped
they too would be my story but alas they aren't... I am
almost ashamed but mostly hesitant to put my own "bad
vibe" out there. Here it is, only because for purely
selfish reasons I am struggling and want to unburden
myself...
I am unable to let go of my cane and walk unassisted at all
without a severe limp. Something occurred to me during
the surgery that has left me with the numbness down
the interior of my leg on the New Hip leg. The front
portion of my thigh, especially at night feels like
it's on fire. I am unable to lift my foot off of the ground
if I am seated or my leg from a prone position at all
those muscles/nerves are just not responding at all. I
run out of energy most days and have to sleep or go to
bed early and my zest for lift just isn't really what
it was. I have three children at home, four total and I am
still breastfeeding one of them so I am being depleted
physically on that front as well and we also sleep
with the little tyke so it makes for a disturbing
sleeping pattern for me. I'm not looking for answers or
solutions to my life choices and I'm not wanting anything
really. Although, to tell the truth if I could trade
this constant pain and numbness in I would and had I
known this would happen and how little answers anyone
has about it I might not have done the surgery, I don't
know. Right now I am just really down and feeling like I'm
not doing enough and if I did such and such like ALL OF YOU
(my head not your words) I would be better, different,
not in this situation, etc.
Right now I go to the gym and recumbent bicycle for 30mins.
I just added in the treadmill for 15 with the
concentration solely on walking properly. I also get
into the pool and walk and do the exercises I have
been given, read about and looked up. I know there is MORE I
could do but I just am tired and maybe lazy and sick of
trying to make my leg work. It's also very hard not to
take on the negativity when I am like this... I also
must say my surgeon knows and has pretty much signed
off on it by telling me it's obvious something happened,
it's no big deal and it will come back in time and
don't worry about it.
All very well and
nice but hard to put into action when I'm down... It feels
like the "old me" is dead and this "new me" I am having
trouble accepting. I want the old me back who could go and
go and go and was in pain but only when I walked and
tried to tie my shoes or put on socks not CONSTANT
PAIN and discomfort that I spend all day trying to
avoid or face or deal with or ignore or, or, or... I've
given up having my icky hip for almost a worse condition of
life and when I read about everybody and how good and
grateful they have it I feel ashamed and frustrated
that I don't have it that way and it isn't really
getting any different. I have no more hip pain, I am able to
lift my leg to put my sock on but I physically have to lift
it I can't do it on my own, I can rest my foot on my
knee but I have to put it there and I have no pain in
the hip anymore that is wonderful! What I do have is
pain all the time and I am not in pain to walk but I am too
tired to do so for long periods or stand for long periods or
even have enthusiasm and energy or desire to live my
life fully, yet. I pray it will come in time but I
really wanted to be honest and share what my experience is
because this is the hardest thing I have ever gone
through and it doesn't seem to have an end in sight.
Casey, RHR Conserve+, Amstutz 11/20/08
February 18, 2006 Subject: discouraged I bet there are a lot of us who
totally understand your discouragement. I do. I'm at week 14 today. I, too, thought
I should be up and running much quicker than I was. I was
using 2 canes for a few weeks after surgery. At 4 weeks I was trying
to only use 1 cane but found myself back with the 2 for a bit
longer. Eventually I was only using one. When I went back for my
check up I was at week 11 and still using a cane. I have been without
a cane now since week 13 but still limp on some days. You read
about those people who are out skiing a couple of months post surgery,
or walking 5 km at week 4. I couldn't do that. I didn't do a
lot of walking post surgery because of the weather here and that
may have slowed my progress. It seems to me that the more you do
(without over doing it) the quicker you heal and strengthen. You will
get there when you get there. A person I have talked to here,
who is a PT and had 2 hips done by Dr. Bose in India, said he knew
exactly what to do to strengthen the muscles quickly but decided not
to do it. He wanted to see how long it would take to recover if he
was a person, like most of us, who didn't know what to do. Like
you said, am I doing too much? too little? He knew how much to do but
didn't do it. And he still got there. Slower, for sure, but he got
there. He was good with me by telling me that what I do will
get me there. Whatever I do will get me there. I can work out like
crazy or go slower. And I've been slower. You will make it. Don't
be discouraged. Juanita (R ASR 05/27/05 L ASR 11/11/05 Dr. Antoniou)
February 18, 2006 Subject: discouraged Lets take the last part first. The emotional reaction,
tendency toward tears and depression are part of the deal.
Almost everyone has them to some degree or another, EVEN
WHEN THEY HEAL FAST. It is not just exclusive to women.
Plenty of the men have had these intense down periods or
periods when they felt very tired and had no motivation.
When you have concerns that you are not healing fast enough,
it just adds to the intensity of these episodes. Hang tough
- they will pass. If you need to, phone or e-mail another
hippy. They have been through it and will try to help. Re: the healing rate. You say that your incision is hurting
more at the incision site. Do you mean that the pain has
increased from your operation date until now? Some stiffness
and soreness is normal, but if the pain has increased since
the operation you should talk to your surgeon. Who is your
surgeon and the operating date etc.? Have you had any
physiotherapy? I don't mean violent exercise, but supervised
prescribed exercises where a professional measures your
progress? Have you had any professional medical person
looked at your incision? Perhaps you should consult a nurse
or your local GP if it is not possible to contact the
surgeon. Sitting in fear is the worst thing for you. Try to
get some answers so that you can concentrate your attention
on getting better. Keep in touch. We are all here for you. Chris De Smet RBHR June 23,2004 Antoniou LASR May 27,2005
February 17, 2006
Subject: discouraged? I think the feeling of discouragement
as you call it , or sadness, or depression at the point
where you are post op is not uncommon if that's any
consolation and is not necessarily connected to what you
perceive as your progress or lack of it. Granted the external circumstances seem like a logical
"cause" but the feeling may be there no matter the
circumstances...I felt similar feelings and yet for the most
part, except for some setbacks primarily manifesting as
sciatica, except for those several incidents I was really
quite zipping along in my "progress". Even the idea of
progress may cause grief in your case...it doesn't do to
compare to anyone else as everyone tells us and yet it is
both true and somehow almost unavoidable. I've only just
now, at about 11 weeks post op begun to emerge from a total
hip-ocentric mindset, and what a relief! As if the sky has
cleared. So, my experience is just ride with it, be where ever you
are, just really be there and soon enough you'll just be
riding along to wherever you need to go Best of trips... Flame Ure R C+ 12/02/05
Hi Recent Surfacehippy, The only thing I can add to the posts from others is to say
that maybe this is the true initiation to be a "card carrying Surfacehippy". I think EVERYONE, to some degree or another,
has been where you are now and come out the other side. I relate it
to the postpartum blues--that letdown you feel afew weeks after the
baby is born and everything is just "off". You also have had a son
move out of the house--traumatic in itself. No wonder you are down. Forget about not being where you thought you'd be at this
point in your recovery. I used to call myself "the slowest hip in the
east"-- actually another hippy and I shared the nickname for a
while. This place is GREAT, but has a side effect of making us compare
our progress to others, whether favorably or not. I used to get
very upset at my lack of progress (or my perception of it) but it
didn't stop my body from healing anyway. I had a different surgery
a year earlier and still wasn't prepared for these feelings. But at
least I had the perspective to realize that it all ends up fine WITH
TIME. And everyone's body has its own idea of time. I think you get the idea from all these posts that you are
not alone in your feelings and that they will pass. But don't be
afraid to vent or discuss how you feel here. I think the most valuable
thing about this site is the ability to hear from others who have
already been where you are now, either pre or post-op. Which is also why
this site will around even after the procedure becomes commonplace.
This time next year you will be the one to give this very same advice
to another, just as I am now. Hang in there--we are all rooting for you! Allison LeftC+ Mont 1/5/05
How Fast Will I
Recover by Patricia Walter
Everyone Recovers at a Different Rate
Surgery experiences and recovery rates will be different for
each person having a hip resurfacing. Many of us were very
fortunate to have good experiences in the hospital and have
fairly quick recoveries. I guess we are the Rabbits.
There are people that have experienced very difficult
recoveries and their return to a normal life has been very
slow. I guess they are the Turtles.
Some are lucky and have an average recovery which puts
them right in the middle of the Rabbits and Turtles - don't
really know what to call them but Average Joes.
There is really no way to predict what your surgery experience
will be and what your rate of recovery will be. I do think
that people who are younger and in very good physical shape
often tend to recover faster, but that is not always the case.
There was a person that ran a
Full Marathon three months after their hip resurfacing and
other people that have taken a year to completely recover to a
normal life. It is important to understand that you may
experience any one of these rates of recovery.
I personally think that your mental outlook and expectations
also affect your recovery. I just knew in my heart,
after reading all about the other De Smet Hippies, that I
would have an easy surgery and a quick recovery even though
I was 61 years old and not in good physical shape. I
did indeed have a quick recovery being on one crutch in four
days and no crutch at four months. People don't often
believe our stories when we tell them, but there are many of
us with that type of easy recovery. For some reason I was
not fearful of the surgery, maybe because I had never had
any surgery in my life before the hip resurfacing. So mental
outlook really does have an effect on your recovery.
I also know that having a very bad hip problem before
surgery can affect your recovery process. Some people
have had a short leg all of their lives and others had
problems with the way their hips were not quite in the same
position as other people's. If your surgeon adds an
inch to your leg, then your muscles have a long and tough
job ahead of them to adjust to the new length. If a
person has limped or walked in an odd way much of their
lives, all of the muscles have to learn how to stretch and
work when the limp is gone. I think that many of the longer
recoveries are due to muscle problems and a person's body
trying to get use to a more normal gait and walking action.
The new hip itself is ready to be pain free and working
properly, but the muscles around the hip and leg have a lot
of rehab ahead of them to adjust to a normal walking style.
Some people have required extensive Physical Therapy to get
their muscles back to working normally without pain.
Some people have not even taken any formal Physical Therapy
and just started to lead as normal of a life as their new
hip would allow. It seems that people taking PT and
people not taking PT all end up in about the same place
after one year. Again, if you have a physical problem before
surgery, then I would think PT would be important to teach
your body and muscles how to work. But if you did not have a
large physical problem before surgery and only had a painful
hip, you might not even need a lot of Physical Therapy.
Each doctor has their own protocol for PT. Most people have
very stiff muscles after surgery and find the stretches and
even water therapy do help. Other people are able to
just walk and eventually end up feeling normal after some
time. The muscles have gone thru a lot during surgery
and take time to heal and get back into shape. Some
people just have more problems getting those muscles back to
operating normally. There does not seem to be any way
to predict a person's recovery.
Many people recover at different rates because their bodies
react differently to major surgery. Hip Resurfacing is
definitely major surgery and your return to a normal
physically active life will take some time. The
anesthesia and trauma to your body causes exhaustion. Some
people also have reactions such as itching, nausea,
headaches and a very small number even have blood clot
problems. Problems sleeping thru the night are most common.
Many people also take naps during the day. Our soft
recliner, lounge chairs often become our best friends after
surgery. Patience is your best friend.
Family and friends often don't understand why our recoveries
are so slow and difficult. Sometimes it is hard for other
people to understand. If you have questions be sure to
ask your doctor. A short phone call can help you solve a
problem and put your mind at ease. If you need support
from other Surface Hippies, join the
Hip Talk Discussion Group. There are almost
1000 hippies willing to listen to your problems and offer
you support.
So the best suggestion I can offer is to read the hip
resurfacing stories to understand the Rabbits, the Turtles
and the Average Joes. We all hope to be Rabbits, but
unfortunately, there are many more Average Joes and even
some Turtles. What really counts is that you have a
new hip or hips and are going to be out of pain as your body
heals. Your immediate internal hip pain will be gone
when you wake from surgery, but your muscles still have a
long recovery process ahead of them.
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