New hip for DH, anterior method

[Buckeye]

My husband had total hip replacement on Wed, Nov 10th. We reported to the hospital at 6 am and he was wheeled into surgery at 9:23 am. I received a call at 11:06 am the procedure was complete and he would be out of the OR and into recovery in about 30 minutes. It is so cool they are using cell phones to contact people wherever they might be! He was in his room by 1:00 pm. He was goofy from the oxy (20 mg given during the procedure) and the after-effects of the anesthesia but, otherwise, he was fine.

We were home (which is 15 minutes from the hospital) by 2 pm on Thursday, 11-11-2021. The nurse recommended he take a 5 mg oxy about 1 pm because his nerve block was fully wearing off and he was starting to feel more pain. He turned into a goofball and actually hallucinated the nurse had done a procedure she had not. More oxy was going to be the absolute last resort! Luckily, 1000 mg of acetaminophen every 6 hours has done the job. He is also taking 325 mg of enteric aspirin twice a day to keep blood clots at bay (no history).

He used his walker on Thursday (indoors) and Friday (indoors and during his outdoor walk) but by Saturday he was only using a cane (indoors and outdoors) and by Sunday he was only using the cane when he went outside to walk. He has walked 6,500 steps today. Buying a Fitbit for him just prior to his surgery (I don't need that!) has turned out to be very useful. He can see his progress in the numbers.

The only limitation for the anterior method seems to be, "Don't do anything stupid!" Falls are really the biggest danger. DH (72) is of normal weight, fit, and strong so his quick recovery is not unexpected but the anterior method is amazing. I have a friend who had both hips done anterior method with quick recovery and we found DH's surgeon based on a recommendation from someone in the neighborhood who had both her hips done anterior by him. DH has kept regular Medicare and a supplement (Plan N) so, if the need arose, he would be able to pick the best provider for whatever he needed. That's exactly what he was able to do in this case with no in-network/out-of-network concerns that might come with a Medicare Advantage plan.

DH went to PT today and the work will focus on getting his gait back to normal by strengthening muscles he has ignored as he altered his gait (swinging his leg to walk) over the last 2.5 years in an attempt to manage the pain in his hip. We didn't know it was a bad hip until about 2 months ago. The surgeon had an opening in his schedule and things progressed very quickly!

 

[aja8888]

I had both my hips replaced using the anterior procedure 12 years apart. I was walking the day I got home and driving in 10 days. Your DH will be so happy in a few months.

It takes a good 6 months for the full recovery as the healing process has to heal muscles you are using daily. I play golf every week and walk 10,000 steps per day. No long term issues with either hip.

 

[aaronc879]

I had a THR thru the anterior approach as well. I was barely over half your husbands age when I had it done 3.5 years ago. I was not so fortunate with the quick recovery. I was forced back to work too soon which resulted in chronic pain. I was still using a cane some of the time when I was fired a little after the one year mark for not being able to physically do the job. I have improved some since then but still can't walk for more than 30 minutes without a big increase in pain that can last many days. Leaf clean up this time of year is painful as is snow removal. Anterior approach is usually the better option for people who are not overweight but it does not always have a great outcome. I'm only 42 and have too much pain to do any fulltime work. Make sure your husband gives himself time to recover. I focused on rebuilding strength rather than recovery and it has caused long term/permanent problems.

 

[Buckeye]

I had a THR thru the anterior approach as well. I was barely over half your husbands age when I had it done 3.5 years ago. I was not so fortunate with the quick recovery. I was forced back to work too soon which resulted in chronic pain. I was still using a cane some of the time when I was fired a little after the one year mark for not being able to physically do the job. I have improved some since then but still can't walk for more than 30 minutes without a big increase in pain that can last many days. Leaf clean up this time of year is painful as is snow removal. Anterior approach is usually the better option for people who are not overweight but it does not always have a great outcome. I'm only 42 and have too much pain to do any fulltime work. Make sure your husband gives himself time to recover. I focused on rebuilding strength rather than recovery and it has caused long term/permanent problems.

I will pass this along. Thank you.

Do you know what is the root cause of your pain?

 

[aaronc879]

I will pass this along. Thank you.

Do you know what is the root cause of your pain?

I do not. The surgeon says everything is structurally sound. No one cares about pain if they can't see an obvious cause. It has to be soft tissue related since pain is minimal until I over use the leg. I had 3 surgeries over 13 months so the leg was still weak when I had the THR. That makes it harder to recover from.

 

[Sue J]

I had both hips replaced, 5 years apart. The first one was through the side and the 2nd one was the anterior. In terms of recovery the anterior one was so much easier. With the first one I had the restriction of no bending for a good 6 weeks, which is just tough to manage. Using the walker made me feel so ELDERLY and then moving to the cane felt like FREEDOM!

Regaining a normal gait was part of the process of recovery. We have limped and compensated for so long. I was so weak on that side that it took me quite a while to get back to normal.

Good luck with his recovery. Sounds like he's doing well. After going through all this I am very careful with avoiding falls and tripping and awkward moves. I just don't want anything so send me into recovery mode again.

 

[TeeRuh]

THR 3 months ago today. I went home the day of the surgery. Lots of pain the first week but part of that was sciatic nerve in my good leg due to months of "limping". I walk for over an hour with frequent stops to sit on a bench. Wake up each morning with quite a bit of pain until the celebrex and/or ibuprofen kick in. I agree with aja that my muscles and tissues are still healing. (Some swelling and tenderness.) I could barely walk prior to surgery so I am overall very pleased. They say 3 to 6 months for total healing so I hope some of the morning pain will be subsiding.


t.r.

 

[Buckeye]

I had both my hips replaced using the anterior procedure 12 years apart. I was walking the day I got home and driving in 10 days. Your DH will be so happy in a few months.

It takes a good 6 months for the full recovery as the healing process has to heal muscles you are using daily. I play golf every week and walk 10,000 steps per day. No long term issues with either hip.

Sound like a great outcome!

 

[Buckeye]

THR 3 months ago today. I went home the day of the surgery. Lots of pain the first week but part of that was sciatic nerve in my good leg due to months of "limping". I walk for over an hour with frequent stops to sit on a bench. Wake up each morning with quite a bit of pain until the celebrex and/or ibuprofen kick in. I agree with aja that my muscles and tissues are still healing. (Some swelling and tenderness.) I could barely walk prior to surgery so I am overall very pleased. They say 3 to 6 months for total healing so I hope some of the morning pain will be subsiding.


t.r.

DH also is a little creaky in the morning but his pain has been very manageable.