Bilateral Hip Replacement Recovery Time and Answers to this Week's Search Terms

So you came here looking to find out just how long it takes?

The answer is:   well it all depends...  not really what you were looking for?  Probably not!
 I'm not completely there yet but I am back at work part time and a lot of my day to day activities are at a similar level to what they were pre-op.  The limiting factor now is fatigue rather than pain and as time progresses the fatigue is reducing.

The big thing that I have learnt through this process is that everyone is different.  People heal at different rates dependent on so many different factors.  I've read so many stories of single hip recoveries and the variances in those are incredible.  Some people are off and walking without a cane in a week, while others are in excess of eight weeks.  Bilateral just makes the variables in the process increase as there are two hips to consider.  I've heard stories of bilateral resurfacing that are better than ever within a month.  I think that a lot of it depends on how fit / strong / healthy you are pre-op as to how quickly you bounce back.

Not everyone is offered the opportunity to get both hips done at once.  This option is at the surgeon's discretion and will be based on how he/she determines you well you do.  Some surgeon's don't do them.  Their reasons for not doing both?  I don't know.  I could guess, though that's all it would be, a guess.  It is a longer surgery and would have more risk associated with it.   Some might weigh this against the risk of going under twice.

As you would have read in some of my earlier posts, I really do believe that the more you can do to 'train' for the procedure, the better your post-op results will be and how rehabilitation will go.  I've referred to it as prehab and pre-op preparation and for me this included diet, physio, exercise and mental preparedness.

Things didn't go exactly to plan for me but things could have been a whole lot worse if I hadn't made changes in my life to prepare for this surgery.

Another term that I've seen pop up in the search terms today is "hip replacement game".  I'm not exactly sure what that is and wouldn't think that it would be a very fun game to play.

"physiofirst", well yes I did but I'm not sure whether that was the point of the search.  If you are looking for Physios who can help you pre-op and post-op to get the best possible outcomes, I'd suggest the team at Body Leadership.  The bias I have for them has been earned through years of helping have the best life I can possibly have.  I'll keep plugging them because I believe in them and the difference that they can make in your life as well as mine.

This leads into "planning bilateral hip replacement".  The most important things that you can do is find a great physio who can help you create a pre-op program to help you get the best outcomes possible.   A healthy diet should also be a part of your pre-op planning to make sure that all your vitamins and minerals are in healthy ranges.

Getting all of the 'housekeeping' type things out of the way before you go into hospital is usually a good idea.  You aren't going to feel like sorting out your taxes when you get home.  I also got all of my insurances in order and made sure everything was up to date.  This was more me being having an irrational desire to have everything in its place.  I think it was something to focus on instead of what was going to happen.

I'm still getting queries about the four corners piece on MOM implants.  I have commented on this before but recently I have expanded on the earlier thoughts and posted the following on a website after someone referred to this 'terrifying documentary on BHRs' lumping in the Birmingham device with others that are not in that league.

I have MOM devices, specifically the BMHR. I discussed the MOM issues with my surgeon and did a lot of research before finalising this as an option for me. The program focused on the ASR recall, and this should not be used as a basis for all MOM implants as there are many that have been highly successful.

I would suggest reading Mr McMinn's response to the ABC Four Corners program at: http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/response-abc-corners-program.html as well as the other information on his site that shows his successes with a well placed, well designed MOM implant. There are many reasons to consider this as an alternative to THR if you are a suitable candidate, for example these devices are far more bone conserving and will make later revision easier for younger patients who are likely to require revision as some point down the track. As an example, I am 34 and even if I do get 20 - 30 years out of my BMHR's, I'm still looking at revision at 54 - 64.

Even for THRs, MOM implants allow less restriction to patients activities post operatively which is a huge benefit to active people.

Rumour has it that McMinn has started working with ceramic BMHR's for patients with metal allergies. If you are in the UK, I would seriously consider checking this out as even though they are new, McMinn's stats on his other devices are exceptional, including those that were done many years ago when they were new.

Cup placement is a huge factor in the success of MOM implants and research shows that those with a steep angle have a higher instance of edge loading and wear. It is imperative to seek out a highly skilled surgeon in this process. The site http://surfacehippy.info has a list of surgeons with 500+ surgeries with excellent statistics to consider talking to if you want more information on this procedure. There aren't too many listed for Australia. If you are in Brisbane, I can highly recommend Dr Simon Journeaux at Mater. He practices both publicly and privately. I went private so I'm not sure of what the wait times are like to see him publicly.

Your Questions Answered!

If you've ever had a question that you wanted to ask, now is the time to ask it.  If I can get enough questions sent to me either as replies to my posts or by email, twitter (lmcia) or any other social media, I might make this a regular event.  There aren't any stupid questions.  I'll try to answer everything I get sent.

How high is the chair you have to sit on at work and how long are you sitting at any one time?
They are height adjustable chairs, so I make sure that I have them adjusted so that my feet sit flat on the floor.  I'm most comfortable when my hip angle is just a little bit less than ninety degrees.  I think this is habit after many years sitting this way so my body feels most comfortable in that position.

I should be getting up and walking around each hour and that would probably be about right when I am in the office as I get a little uncomfortable sitting in one position.  This could be the chairs in the office or  me, I'm not sure.

When I'm at home, I sit with my feet up in a recliner chair with my laptop so I sometimes sit for longer than an hour working away.  I usually have to get up for something every hour or so anyway.  Sometimes it's to get more papers to get some work done, other times it's for a drink or something to snack on.  Sometimes it's just to move around.

Do you have trouble walking after you have been sitting for a long time?
I do limp a little bit more when I first stand up.  It usually takes me a few steps to start to loosen up a bit. It's the same in the mornings.  The elliptical helps get me moving in the mornings.  It's a little bit of change to pre-op.  Too much movement used to be what slowed me down.  It's a positive change.  One I'm not quite sure I've come to terms with yet.

As a woman how did you cope with not getting your hair done for the 6 or 7 weeks :D no serious, I'm a fella and my hair looks like a mad scientist, I can't wait to get a hair cut!
Just before I went into hospital, I had a hair cut, colour, got my eyebrows waxed and tinted and I did ok for a little while.  I had to get my tweezers brought into the hospital as the eyebrows started to bug me before anything else did.  The next thing that bothered me was my legs.  I really should have waxed those too as shaving was out due to hip restrictions.  It was totally gross.  I wore long pants a lot.  The compression socks also helped hide my legs!

When I did get home, I had my hair cut at home.  Even before the op, my hairdresser came to my friend's house and we'd all go there to get our hair cut and coloured.  When I came home, the venue changed to mine, so I didn't have to go anywhere.

When you go to the grocery shopping I assume you need your crutch to get into the shop, how do you deal with the crutch/trolley situation?
In the beginning, I took the walker with me so that I could sit down if I needed it.  I did need to sit down a few times when I first went.  When I was going with the walker, I needed someone with me as I wasn't driving yet.  Even if I had been, I wouldn't have been able to get the walker in and out of the car on my own.  I'm really not sure how the older ladies and men overcome that issue.  It's quite an awkward size and shape to lift in. It might just be that it doesn't fit into our car really well that I have so much of an issue with it.

Now I'm walking a bit better I take my crutch and put it in the trolley.  I noticed another lady doing the same thing when I was there last.  She was a little older than me but it seems to be the common solution to this problem.  Putting pressure on the trolley instead of the cane helps to stop me limping.  Shopping is becoming a little easier as time progresses.


Thanks to Tony for the questions for today!  I look forward to getting more sent through to me!

How did you get here and did I answer your question?

An interesting side effect of blogging has been checking my statistics.  I find it interesting to discover where you are all coming from and how you managed to get here.  I have been involved in Internet and associated businesses (starting out in dial up sales and support) and though I've always had an interest in all things Internet, this is somehow more interesting to me.   I think mostly because it's personal.   I'm actually curious about the people that are visiting my site and the reason that they were here, what they were looking for and if I was able to help them.  The personal reason for this blog is to share information about my hip replacement with people who are maybe thinking about getting one or have had one and are looking for other people out there and how they are going.

Looking at the search terms and the pages that are viewed, I can get an idea of what people want to look at and address some of these areas in more detail in later posts.  Right now I think I am missing out on a post about recovery time and a few other topics that I haven't really gone into great depth about my thoughts or feelings on the topic or really where I think I might end up and when.  Stats aren't the only way that I've realised that there is a lot more of my story to tell.

I've had some awesome emails with a few suggestions which have helped me think a bit more about a few things relating to how I feel about where I 'm at.  It's true that I have tried to be probably a little too positive with some of my posts and this isn't always exactly how I'm feeling. Some of the people who know me well have been able to easily read between the lines, where other visitors don't have the benefit of that insight.  I have wanted to make this blog a fair representation of the process and how I have worked through it to get my 'better life' and there are some things that are missing.

One of the things that I've been asked is if I ever get into a rut because my posts seem a little 'too positive'.  I'm going to just paste part of an email I wrote in here as it sums it up pretty well:

I do get into a rut sometimes and get sick of the whole thing.  [......]  Things are up and down and I find that when I start to write it out, I become more even which is probably why things read more positively.  When it's still all in my head, I kind of get into a bit of a downward spiral sometimes where I can't actually think about anything good that has happened.  When I go to write, I'm forced to think of at least something that has changed or improved or I'd have nothing to write about.  In a lot of ways, having the blog has helped me get through this process.  

I think that I have written some rather insightful emails to my blog visitors and my friends since I've had the operation and I think that maybe my blog could benefit from some of these personal insights that I had on days when I haven't blogged.  I'm not quite sure yet about the best way to add these in.  I'm thinking that maybe I'll summarise their questions and post my responses.  I'm thinking that I might tag as "Correspondence" and if it ends up being interesting, adding a page for these posts.

There have been a couple of reasons why I have tried to phrase things a little more positively at times.  One part is that some people know who I am.  Who I am or who I think I am often contradicts some of the thoughts and feelings that I have had throughout this process.  Sometimes I think I made a mistake in publicising where I would be telling my story because I have edited some of the things that I have said and tried to make my thoughts sound more positive than I was really feeling.  On the other hand, the Internet is forever and editing those thoughts that will be around forever may not necessarily be a 'bad thing'.  I can always come back later and tell the parts of the story that were too difficult to tell at the time with the insight that a few more days or a few more weeks has given me.  Since I received the question, I have thought a bit harder before editing my thoughts as much.

Another reason is that I still believe that when I get through this rehab process, things will be better than they have been for a long time and this perspective looking back will benefit others.  I have a number of drafts from earlier posts that I have kept shelved for the time being, that I hope that I will gain some insight or perspective or just some point for them so that some day this blog is a full accounting of how this chronic disease has affected my life and how hip replacement has changed it for the better.

Shopping and planning for the week I am admitted....

I spent some time on the weekend looking for the extra bits and pieces that I might need to take into the hospital with me.  Where I'm not sure, I have erred on the side of caution and purchased a couple of options :)  I might have mentioned that my pre-op appointment is on the Monday of the week that I am admitted (I go in on the Friday), so I won't be left with a lot of time to do that much in the last week.  The main question I have is when will I get to wear 'normal' clothes again after surgery?  From some of reading that I have found that the answer varies so, I guess it does vary from person to person based on the incision type and how long drainage tubes are in and generally how fast I heal.  I have selected loosely fitting pants and shirts (not unlike what I wear to pilates now) and dresses that aren't too 'hospital' or 'old lady' looking.   I've elected for soft fabrics that feel good and still breathe.  I've also found myself a pair of flat slip on type shoes with good soles and reasonable foot support so that when I can't bend, I can still have some sense of independence should I want it :)

So far for the last week, I have two physio sessions planned, maybe one pilates and one hydro session as well.  I will be finishing up my medication on the weekend before so the last two will depend on my overall wellbeing given that I haven't been off the anti-inflammatories for that long for quite some time.  I am currently taking Voltaren (aka Diclofenac Sodium) 50mg twice daily and will need to stop that in the week before.  I will be allowed to take Panadol Osteo and Panadeine Extra which hasn't been as effective when trialled in the past.  It's only a week, and I will be fine, though I want to be careful not to set anything off in that week before going in.  I have been working closely with my physios and know that they will make sure that I am in the best physical condition that I am physically capable of being in, so it's left to me to follow their expert advice in that field and focus on other aspects, like eating well and maintaining a positive attitude.

In between the physio and exercise, I have the non-critical tasks like getting my hair cut and coloured and getting my eyebrows waxed and any last minute shopping things that need to be done :)  I figure that if I'm not feeling 100% when I first wake up from the surgery, I probably won't want to look in the mirror and see regrowth :)  Though this may seem to be the least of my problems, I think that everything that I can do to go in feeling positive and good about myself, will help on the other end, even if it is as cosmetic as getting my hair done.

Spare Parts

When you need a spare part for an electrical or mechanical appliance there is generally a model number or some type of manufacturers description that requires some form of measurement to make sure that the right one is selected.  

Given that human beings are all different sizes, how do they work out what size 'parts' to order before the op?

Questions that I don't have the answers for yet.

This post will be updated as I find out the answers to these questions and as I think of more questions to ask.  There are a number of them that I will be able to ask when I have my pre-op appointment on 4 April.  I could make an appointment sooner - though these things will not change my decision and can wait until then. (There is a good chance that I have been given this information in earlier appointments but with the amount of information that I have received and researched, it could very well be that I have confused myself and can't remember which applies to me!!)

Where will the incision be? I hadn't thought about this until I was reading this page that I found from a google search.  I hadn't considered the various cutting locations and had assumed that it would be on the side.  I think I saw the start of a surgery video on a site recommended by the surgeon for information and assumed that is how he will cut...  (I say beginning as I couldn't watch it all - squeamish!)  What I do remember about the cut is that it isn't a micro-incision and the reasons why this isn't used by my surgeon...  just not where the cut will be. [edit:  I do know now :)  it will be down the side]