Hip trip report

[Eleeski]

My recovery is officially over. I have switched from patient to caregiver. My wife broke her wrist playing tennis today.



Fortunately I had been cleared to drive. So I got a ride to my wife's car with the spare key and drove to the urgent care to pick her up. Not so fast, compound fracture, get to the ER stat! Driving isn't that much fun when every bump hurts everyone in the car. No way am I power stopping for that stale yellow. If I get pulled over, maybe we can get an escort to the hospital.



I ditch the cane so I have both hands free to help her. We hobble in to the ER. The attendant looks at us and asks who needs to be seen. Great…



This isn't a story about broken wrists so I'll be brief. She got surgery and is doing fine. I should be able to spring her from the hospital tomorrow.



For me, what a horrible day. Too many too fresh difficult memories brought back. I don't think I relaxed at all. At least I didn't pass out.



Leaving, I notice a sign that says handicapped people get their parking comped. I ask the nurses, they look at my suffering gait and clear me through security. At least something went in my favor. The parking was $4. Her bill, our share will be several zeroes bigger. Getting fixed is expensive. So much for the new snow ski budget – but we will be getting a late start this season.



Home alone. Crappy salad, crackers and dip and tea. I'll clean up tomorrow. But I've got to wash my compression socks. Good thing I've been getting them on by myself.



And so much for a manageable “to do” list.



Eric

 

[VickieH]

Interesting read.

I wonder how much your recovery differs from a hip replacement.

Sounds like you're on a good path. Now you get to be as good a caregiver as Lisa was. And she gets to be as good a patient as you. That darn Karma ....

 

[Monique]

And my right (good) knee hurts a lot – and it's never been an issue before. Maybe the hip pain decreasing is making the other pains come to the forefront. I hope all the pain eases in the next months of my recovery.

Just now, four months into rehab for my knee, my glutes on the other side went ballistic. Charlie horsing like crazy. I got a massage specifically to address this, and she worked above and below as well as right on the glutes, and I had immediate relief that made me realize how tense that side had been for quite a while. Not as "sudden" as I'd thought.

Then an hour later, most of it was back again.

I got dry needling with e-stim a couple of days later in the same glutes. HUGE relief. Then another massage by the miracle worker. It was 100%. Of course now, a few days later, I'm starting to feel it creep up again. At least now I know how to address it before it gets too far.

Anyway, point being, it could just be that the pain in your hip is subsiding - but it could also be that your other side is working so hard to compensate that it's causing side effects.

Also perhaps relevant - my knee was aching, so I had the same miracle worker spend a lot of time on the knee. She loosened up a lot for me, but in particular she worked on the shin muscles just below the knee. It made a big difference. I went from my knee hurting with every stair, to stairs being comfortable. For a few days, anyway.

What I'm getting at: 1) It could be compensation 2) there may be ways to treat it.

This isn't a story about broken wrists so I'll be brief. She got surgery and is doing fine. I should be able to spring her from the hospital tomorrow.

Glad to read it. What a pair you two must make right now

 

[Eleeski]

@Monique Thanks for your insights from your knee adventure. And for blazing the path with your injury writeup.

A massage sounds wonderful but I'm not sure I'm healed up enough for that yet. I've lost my E-stim machine and I might not be cleared for that yet either. The tape over the incision just came off. I'll see at the upcoming doctor visit. I'm a bit queasy about the acupuncture - especially with voltage added!

And yes, as a couple, we are a mess. She's safely home, binge watching British detectives and sleeping. I'm the hobbling servant.

Eric

PS shopping carts are better than walkers.

 

[Stacks]

BHR completed for Anthony Mundine, rugby league and boxing star from Downunder. All round 'extraordinary' tough guy. Interesting watching and hopefully inspiring.

 

[Eleeski]

That guy is way tougher than me. In the interest of full disclosure, they didn't show him going from sitting to standing, but he surely made that transition better than me as well.

One thing that I do have in common, I didn't do this to be ordinary. I want the best hip for activity. The THR might be less invasive and have a quicker recovery but has more limits than the Birmingham hip. And if this hip gets damaged or fails, a THR is a good option.

I hope I live long enough to enjoy the fully recovered hip. Good possibility, I think I survived the surgery. But why are there so many zombie movies playing now?

Eric

 

[Monique]

I hope I live long enough to enjoy the fully recovered hip. Good possibility, I think I survived the surgery. But why are there so many zombie movies playing now?

Your new hip will help you be one of the *survivors*. You'll be able to outrun the shambling zombies!

 

[Eleeski]

It's been two weeks since the surgery. Intellectually, I knew that I wouldn't be better in two weeks (the no skiing interval was 3 to 6 months) but I didn't think it would hurt so long. But I have a very low pain threshold and I whine a lot.



The old hip would hurt in certain positions or doing certain things (climbing ladders, RTB, crossing the wakes, edging on ice, crossing my legs, walking down stairs, etc) and it would tire out after a few hours. I slept reasonably well without the hip waking me up. Aleve controlled things reasonably well. But even on good days, people would comment on my limp. I guess I was compensating. Extremely well.



The new hip has not quieted to the pain level of the old one yet. I can do it but it hurts a lot to get dressed. Walking is a challenge and I tire very quickly. I moved the car in the parking lot to be closer to the grocery store to shorten the walk – I never do that! The exercycle has a 15 minute limit to keep away the deep pain. Sitting is a real pain in the ass. But standing up, I need a bracelet radio that says “I've sat down and I can't get up!” Of course, I get tired if I stand too long. I can't win…



There are real signs of progress. The kids who came to pick up the skis I'd been fixing were surprised to see me getting around so well. At the office, they are saying that I'm limping exactly as much as before. The in home PT is done with me – no problems with everyday living (and take better care of your wife!) I got rid of the walker, the cane and now the handicap toilet! Thankfully, I'm done with compression socks! The incision looks pretty healed, maybe I can swim soon! From the outside perspective, I'm doing great. Honestly if I assess my progress, I AM doing great.



Of course, the doctor screwed up. My leg is at a 15 degree pigeon toed angle. Ignoring the engineering types who try to claim that a ball floating free in a spherical socket can't be misaligned, it must happen a lot. The physical therapist devotes about half her time to getting me to rotate my foot outward. Dealing with that might take the longest. But if I don't want to snowplow all winter and be off balance all summer, I'd better do the rehab.



I am going crazy with cabin fever. I can putter fine but any big project is still beyond me (fortunately, the water heater problem was just a loose damp wire and easily fixed - but the utility room door replacement to keep it from happening again is a bit more daunting). Take away a few hours a day for extra sleep and extra workout (that doesn’t really feel like a good workout) and not much is really getting done. I'm just getting older.



When I had my tonsils out at age 21 (no barhopping for my birthday, lime jello was all I could get down my throat), it took me a while to appreciate the operation. The tonsillectomy was the worst sore throat I'd ever had – and I'd had strep throat for 5 years nonstop. After 6 weeks with no sore throat, I was stoked about the operation. After a few years before my next sore throat, well it was one of the best decisions in my life.



I'm hoping my hip turns out the same. I was pretty crippled with the old hip. The new hip might reverse that. But as an old guy, this is a lot tougher. My body does not recover as fast. The hip is not the only thing degenerating. And I'm flat out not as tough. But my dreams of floating the powder, rocking the bumps, enjoying the Gees of deep shortline, powering through a challenging trick run and just going through life without constant pain have me excited and motivated.



Lisa looked at me from her fog of broken wrist pain and asked “You did this voluntarily?” Crazy, but we'll see where this path takes me.

Eric

 

[mdf]

Good luck. I'm sure you will get there.

I noticed my foot went from nearly perfect alignment to a little toes out after my ACL surgery. Not a lot, and not enough to bother me skiing, but you can see it in the wear pattern on the heels of my shoes.

 

[Eleeski]

@mdf My soft Reef sandals wear out before they can get uneven. Nobody likes me wearing flip flops with the new hip. But they are easy to get on - even crippled.

And no way am I getting knee surgery to make my shoes last longer.

Eric

 

[Monique]

Hang in there! I can identify with everything you've posted. All I can say is, some days will suck. It's okay to let yourself feel what you feel, at least for a little while. And on those sucky days, compare your ability now to what you were able to do a week ago. Or as you get further along, a month ago. When I get hung up on what I still can't do, it helps to look at it from the other direction. To look at everything I can do now that I couldn't a month ago.

 

[Eleeski]

Three weeks out. I might be over the hump. Barely. Things still hurt all over but not all the time. If I get situated perfectly, the pain goes to zero and stays there for a while. I woke up last night (there's still painful episodes) and couldn't get back to sleep. Not due to pain but working out details of some crazy project. Normal insomnia!



The doctor says I'm doing great. Shout out to Dr. Ball, UCSD's Birmingham hip guru. Really took my sporting needs into consideration and magically fast tracked the surgery. (Maybe he recognized that I might chicken out if given enough time.) Anyhow, this might work for me.



Started PT today. Shout out to Ben Harwood at Rehab United in La Mesa. He too understands my athletic aspirations. He has helped me specifically with recoveries to get me back on the water or the slopes quickly. And optimize my competitive performances. As a skier and competitor himself, he gets it. And as a competent PT he is able to make it right.



Ben says I'm in the 90th percentile of hip replacement recoveries. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I don't think I'd be able to handle any regression to the mean – this recovery is hard! I might be overdoing it a bit as I'm always exhausted at the end of the day. Not looking forward to switching from daylight savings to daylight wasting* – I'm not sure I'll be able to stay awake the extra hour. But I now have a few more exercises to do three times a day. This rehab is turning into a full time job! And my real work is backing up as well. I can do the little stuff, 1 hour max with no lifting or ladders but that helps. But my backlog is growing at an alarming rate.



*Regarding daylight wasting, my daughter in law is a vet doing a slavery residency at an equine hospital. Long overnight shifts. She is totally bummed because she is working the night the time changes and that means she is getting stuck with an extra hour on her shift. As a medical resident she is exempt from things like overtime, shift lengths and minimum hourly wages. Everyone else is stoked because she's giving them an extra hour!



@Monique is recovering from knee surgery and I'm following her progress (thanks for the updates). She's approaching ski season and the end of her mandated athletics quarantine. Now it's becoming more of an “on condition” assessment as to when she can start skiing. Her issues have me quite concerned. She's young and healthy and still not positive of her return date. I'm old and have been struggling for a couple years and really hurting after my operation. There's more to it than just days on a calendar. Scary.



I am losing my lopsided left Kardashian butt, the swelling is way down. With that said, Ben says I have to work on the incision with vitamin E lotion. I'm not particularly vain (socks and sandals) especially on a scar on my butt under the spandex but I think he was talking about dissolving the deep stitches and lessening the incision pain. The left leg bird leg is just going to take time and work – and look weird in the process.



I got my flu shot. Dragged one of my sons with me so he wouldn't be a vector. Resist the modern day Mcarthyism (bad Jenny!). Reminder, get the shingles vaccine – I might not have needed the hip if I hadn't gotten shingles. They tried to give the flu shot to me on checkout from the operation but that was just too much at the time. But my health balance is so precarious right now that a case of the flu might kill me. Or worse, ruin my progress on the hip.



I'm not back to before the operation but I'm back among the living. There is hope!



Eric

 

[Monique]

I might be overdoing it a bit as I'm always exhausted at the end of the day.

My PT said it's normal to be exhausted every day. It's not just the exercise - your body is working overtime just healing.

This rehab is turning into a full time job! And my real work is backing up as well.

I know what you mean. I am lucky when it comes to recovery - desk job that I was able to do from home/recliner, with a very understanding team. My PTs encouraged me to put off working, and especially working full-time, for as long as possible. Even working from home, it was rough, and hard to keep to an icing schedule. I felt like I was constantly one step from collapsing in exhaustion. At least it made it easier to sleep ...

@Monique is recovering from knee surgery and I'm following her progress (thanks for the updates). She's approaching ski season and the end of her mandated athletics quarantine. Now it's becoming more of an “on condition” assessment as to when she can start skiing. Her issues have me quite concerned. She's young and healthy and still not positive of her return date. I'm old and have been struggling for a couple years and really hurting after my operation. There's more to it than just days on a calendar. Scary.

Yeah, it was a shock to me when I found out that "you can run at 3 months" didn't actually mean "you can run at 3 months" - it meant "Your ACL can handle it if your PT clears your body mechanics." Doh. But all you can do is your best. When I am cleared to ski, it will be a very limited form of slow bunny slope meandering, not anything like fast or aggressive skiing or any unpredictable/varied terrain, for a while.

Btw, I am young-ish (39 today!), but I do have Crohn's, which is sort of in the same ballpark as an autoimmune disease, and I can't take any NSAIDs, so no vitamin I, so I have probably had a lot more swelling than most. No way to know how much that plays in, but it's surely a factor.

 

[Eleeski]

TEMPTATION! 85f air, 77f water, I'm dirty and hot and need to get wet no matter what. So is my son and the boat is in the water to give him a quick ride. I'm so tempted to just go up and back on my trick ski. The incision is completely healed, no problem there. I've been getting up and down all day working on the old Cessna. I can do this!



This is likely the last chance I will have to get a ride with no wetsuit and no chills. I don't have to do anything, just getting up and riding to the end of the lake would be a rush and feel like an accomplishment. And just viscerally feel wonderful.



Ryan-Sandy won't pull me. Lisa can't (not enough hands to drive) and is adamantly opposed to such foolishness. I have a new boat's cost of titanium and a few weeks of agony (so far) invested in this hip. It would be really stupid to screw it up at this stage. Sullenly, I put the boat away…



Lifting the boat cover to check the bilge was more stress than a ski ride would have been. The day's work was a bit too physical already and I was pretty uncomfortable on the drive home – and I whined about it a lot. I would have totally sucked it up and not complained a bit if I'd gotten that ride.



Eric

 

[VickieH]

Congratulations on the good judgment, even if it was forced on you!

 

[Monique]

Lifting the boat cover to check the bilge was more stress than a ski ride would have been. The day's work was a bit too physical already and I was pretty uncomfortable on the drive home – and I whined about it a lot. I would have totally sucked it up and not complained a bit if I'd gotten that ride.

I get it. On the other hand, the ride would be dynamic movement ...

 

[Eleeski]

Got the bill for my hip today. Over 60K! I'm not sure how much I have to put out of pocket or what kind of deal the insurance gets but no matter how you figure it, my hip is pretty valuable. Lisa's wrist is close in cost. Don't get old or injured.



PT Ben gave me a hard time over trying to sneak a ski ride. The bone needs more time to grow into the implant. The muscles and tendons need to heal. There is lots of potential to do damage.



But I don't hurt all the time anymore.



To be sure, things do hurt still. Lots of movements are off limits. I get exhausted too quickly. I'm pathetically weak. I have no flexibility. I'm still recovering.



But recovering I am! Considering a ski ride is the best indicator of that. In my arrogance, I'm sure I could ski up and back safely. The chances of me falling on that ride are less than the odds of getting an infection in the joint or having some random accident. But as Ben noted, it is a slippery slope that I'm not ready for yet. So I'll do the rehab and try not to live too aggressively. (But the hot water heater doors are now in place.)



It's good to feel good and be getting back at things. I was blessed with a wonderful body that served me well. This fix is starting to look promising. Or maybe I should have gotten a new boat.



Eric

 

[Tricia]

Wowzer on the hospital bills.
Glad you're healing. Hang in there and keep doing what you need to so you can be strong when you're on snow.

 

[Eleeski]

For the sake of clarity, the bill was over 60K but my share was not nearly that high. We have pretty good insurance - but a high deductible and I pay a percentage of the cost. My surgery was elective so we budgeted for it (so much for the new boat fund) so I'm not screwed by the thousands I have already paid.

Lisa's wrist was (obviously) not planned. I'm not sure of how big our share of her huge bill we are responsible for and what we pay will have some effect on our finances. Good thing we were working on the new boat fund. (Too bad about the new boat off the planning radar.)

If we were on the financial edge, these could have become serious problems. Saved by budgeting for the high costs of my sporting activities. Hmmm, the injuries requiring my sporting budget were caused by participating in sporting activities...

The last few years of my father's life were very costly medically. Confined to a wheelchair for way too many years with many complications, my sporting costs are tiny, relatively. So maybe these aren't wasted resources. I'll try not to do anything stupid during my recovery.

But it is a hot Santa Ana day today and I'm sure somebody is out at the course...

Eric

 

[Stacks]

I went to India to get my hip resurfacing, very affordable. The surgery and hospital treatment cost $US7,0000. All up with my partner and I in India for 3 weeks and travelling around, recovering in a resort by the ocean it came to $NZ18,000 which in terms of quality of life and opportunity unbelievable value.