MattR – Total Hip Replacement – Front incision (Surg – Post Surg Day 21)

Total Hip Replacement – Front incision

Pain Levels:

0	0% of the time I don’t even know my hip surgery happened
1	I know I have a sore hip, it takes a few seconds to go from sitting to walking due to stiffness, but when walking I’m ok
2	Feels like the day after a marathon (I’m a half marathoner so I’m usually really sore after a marathon) or hiking up or down a steep mountain when the next day you need to hold onto the stairs handrail in order to go down. You can move, but it is slow and your muscles hurt.
3	I need pain medicine in order to feel comfortable sleeping or sitting (pain meds no more than over the counter)
4	0 So far I didn’t have a 4 or greater

Myself: I’m 56 years old, I like half marathons, I’m not fast but also not slow, I can do a half averaging a 7:13 – 7:20 pace. I do triathlons Olympic distance; I can usually finish top or close to top in my age group. I bike at a B+ pace with a bike group. I’m a vegan due to health reasons, and I brew beer (meaning I enjoy a good beer, and occasional scotch).

Approach: I panned this operation for 7 months when the doc told me it’s not if its when. So I decided to do this when I’m in really good shape. I had bad arthritis in my left hip (right one is good), and I had to stop running because I was over compensating for my bad hip and it was starting to cause pain in my knee. I went all in with biking, did close to 4k of mileage this year, all out doors. I did the triple bypass in CO, I did it in 9 hours, a little over 8 in the seat. I also did a bunch of century’s and usually one metric century a weekend. I also did a lot of abs workouts.

I treated the surgery as a long bike ride, drinking a lot of fluids before and after. My goal was to stay really hydrated and flush out the toxins from the medicine used during the surgery. I purposely did the operation in Dec so I will have enough time to build myself back up. I live in PA, so there is not a lot of outdoor biking in Jan & Feb (this is usually when I do a lot of running). I am signed up for the Honor ride metric in Florida in Feb 2017. I really don’t think this will be a stretch goal at all. As of Post Day 3, I will listen to my PT, he is telling me right now less is more due to how well I’m doing. So while I would love to get on my trainer and just spin, I will follow his direction.

Surgery Day:

Epidural for the surgery and 24 hours after
Walked around the hospital floor with a walker
Sat in a chair
Still on surgery pain meds
Sleep: Slept ok – they woke me up 3 times during the night for hospital stuff
Worst Pain Level: 2 – when the meds wore off during the night
Average Pain Level: 1

Post Surgery Day 1:

Pain Meds: Extra Strength Tylenol
Walked around the floor without the use of a walker or cane
Did PT
Showered and dressed myself (I was able to put on my socks myself)
Got released 10 am
Went to a restaurant to eat
Sleep: Slept well
Worst Pain Level: 2
Average Pain Level: .5 (When sleeping or sitting 0 pain, when walking or moving really stiff 1)

Post Surgery Day 2:

Pain Meds: Extra Strength Tylenol & Aspirin (for blood clots)
Able to go to the bathroom (a lot of talk about being constipated due to the medicine used during and after surgery, that is one reason I didn’t and don’t want to take any narcotic medicines after surgery)
Showered and dress by myself
Drove myself to PT
Walked very slowly (no assistance equipment or person) 200yards into the doc office
PT – I’m doing very well, warning don’t over due it, less is more right now with me
Went out to happy hour – had a few beers
Sleep: Slept well
Worst Pain Level: 2 – I felt that this will probably be my most painful day of the post operation, my body is off all operation meds and I’m starting to move around
Average Pain Level: .5

Post Surgery Day 3:

Pain Meds: Extra Strength Tylenol & Aspirin (for blood clots)
Prior to taking any medicine, I’m seeing how I feel this morning with out any pain meds. It feels like good while sitting, but walking is slow and stiff.
Walked around the house, did a few light things, ice storm outside so I didn’t take any outside walks
Went out to dinner, short walk from the car to the restaurant
Sleep: Slept ok, woke up a few times during the night
Worst Pain Level 2: Pain level was the same as yesterday
Average Pain Level .5: most of the time I was not in pain

Post Surgery Day 4:

Pain Meds: Extra Strength Tylenol (night), Motrin (after meals) & Aspirin (for blood clots)
My leg was a bit more swollen today, didn’t ice it enough yesterday
The extra strength Tylenol was not working as well as I would like, I feel I’m still at the same movement level as post surgery day 2. So I decided to take 200mg of Motrin after every meal instead of Tylenol.
Walked my dog twice for about 1K each walk, it was slow and I felt pretty sore by the end of each walk
Sleep: Slept ok, woke up a few times during the night, and woke up at 4am not able to go back to sleep. Getting comfortable to fall asleep was difficult.
Worst Pain Level 3: Pain level was more than it has been, but I’m doing more
Average Pain Level 1: most of the time I was not in pain

Post Surgery Day 5:

Pain Meds: Extra Strength Tylenol (night), Motrin (after meals) & Aspirin (for blood clots)
While my sleep is getting worse, I felt better today than yesterday. I went to work today Monday. I have a long commute (drive) but I was able to ice my leg while I drove to work. We have a work campus, and I usually need to walk around a bunch, I stayed pretty close to my desk all day. My hip was pretty sore by the time I got home from work.
Sleep: Slept ok, woke up a few times during the night, and woke up at 4am not able to go back to sleep. Getting comfortable to fall asleep was difficult.
Worst Pain Level 2: Pain level was a bit better than yesterday
Average Pain Level 1: most of the time I was not in pain

Post Surgery Day 6:

Pain Meds: Motrin (after meals – Lunch and Dinner) & Aspirin (for blood clots)
I slept a bit better last night. I’m still only getting 4 – 5 hours of sleep per night. I went to work today Tuesday. Iced my leg on my drive into work. I was feeling pretty good this morning, I didn’t take my usual Motrin after breakfast, I went until early afternoon with out any pain medicine. I did take 200mg after lunch and after dinner. I did a good amount of walking at work today. Still a pretty slow pace.
Sleep: Slept better, woke up but was able to go back to sleep. I didn’t take any Tylenol for sleep, and I got 6 hours of sleep.
Worst Pain Level 2: Pain level was a bit better than yesterday
Average Pain Level 1: most of the time I was not in pain

Current:

I am starting to not need as much Motrin or Tylenol. I feel that keeping my pain level at a certain point will keep me from over doing any walking / activity. So while I’m still pretty slow when I walk, my pain level is getting to a point where I may be off all pain meds soon. The most pain is when I go from sitting to walking, if I have been sitting for a while, it takes me a bit to get loose. I have PT tomorrow and Friday, and I’m hoping to do light bike peddling on my trainer on Sat (Post Surgery Day 10).

Post Surgery – two weeks

Post Surgery Day 10 – I was able to bike on my trainer 10 miles. This was my first ride after surgery, not counting 10 minutes biking at PT, I averaged 93w, mostly soft peddling but if felt really good.

Post Surgery Day 15 – I was able to do several small bike rides between day 10 and day 15, but on day 15 I did 15 miles on my trainer averaging 139w. I was starting to get more power, and during PT a few days earlier the therapist allowed me to work out pretty hard on the bike.

Post Surgery Day 18 – This was New Years Day, I did 30 miles outside with a group averaging 140w.

Post Surgery Day 21 – This was my first followup with the doc, they gave me the green light to do what ever I want to do as long as I’m not seeing any unordinary inflammation.

Over all, I had a plan with my recovery, and I was able to either stay to the plan or be a bit ahead of it. I’m also able to do things with my new hip that I wasn’t able to do with the old one, and while the swelling reduces, my waking stride still has a limp to it, it is slowly getting smoother. I will probably not try to run until the spring, and I will try to limit my runs, unless races, to track work. But for now, I will be shooting for 100 miles a week on the trainer or if it is nice outside. Currently in Allentown, PA it is snowing, so it looks like this weekend I will be on the trainer.