Hi. I had a hip replacement about 5 months ago because I had severe
osteoarthritis caused by a fracture and dislocation of my left hip years
ago. Being able to walk again has been so wonderful that I have started a
website detailing my experience. Check it out at
http://sigridsrecovery.blogspot.com/ . I update it every few weeks and
appreciate feedback. Hope that it is helpful to anyone preparing for hip
surgery.

Sigrid

Hip surgery about 10:30 AM Tuesday 8/12, came home Friday 8/15 about 11AM.
All crappy pieces, gone replaced by gleaming cobalt steel. I'm frikken
bionic.

Hurts, I'm still doing the percocet regimen, it takes 15 mg of oxycodone
every 5 hours,
sometimes it's 3Xday, sometimes 4. I was trying to wean off but the
first home nurse
shook the bottle at me and said "as needed for pain. You're obviously in
pain."
So I'll accept the haze a while longer.

The pain through the nerve and the bone is gone, the pain now is muscle and
joint soreness,
more sore after I exercise, but I gotta exercise so gotta manage the pain.
It is imperative that
my left leg becomes strong quickly since the other hip is scheduled for 10/7

Doc's said it's in there real stable, had my leg every which way in the OR,
doesn't mean I can ignore the
rules for the next six to 8 months, but the end result should be nearly
invisible.
Surgery was about 1 1/2 hours, incision is neat and dry, staples should
come out in two weeks.

JP

"JP" <vze2wx8p@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:mvhqk.162$Ro1.15@trnddc04...
I had mine resurfaced in 1/06 by a leader in the field. No pain meds after
the operation. Had it done on a Tuesday. Flew home on Friday. Back at
work in home office on Monday. Since then I have gone to presentations by
Surgeons who are now sold on the idea. When I tell them who did mine they
are impressed - many attended lectures by him. I thought it was a good idea
to go to the teacher rather than the pupil.

Thanks info...I'm looking in on this thread with 2 hips in need of this .
Been told I can have them (in UK.. NHS) But I am on my own & the prospect
(with little to no details at all from Doctors) is really frightening.

I note the difference posts here between JP's replacement & grinder's
resurface.
The re surface sounds a lot easier.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse

On Aug 19, 3:11*pm, "Trimble Bracegirdle" <no-s...@never.spam> wrote:
I'm curious about all of you who have posted. How old are you? My
osteo doc has told me, "lets hold off for as long as we can for hip
replacement because it eventually has to be replaced....and a second
one isn't so great." I'm currently taking vicodin and when I have
spasms in my back (due to my hip) I take a muscle relaxor. They've
also given me anti-inflammatories (a TON) that come with the black box
warning that scared me half to death. Why would I take a med that
talks about bleeding ulcers, death? I'd rather become addicted to
vicodin!

Any input? My age is 55 BTW and I limp due to hip and groin issues.
Doc said lets try to wait at least 5 years. Ewww to waiting and Ewww
to having a hip replacement!

"lisa_smith" <lisa.shellseeker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4b9a40c6-45b7-4999-9b1b-1fb108758d44@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 19, 3:11 pm, "Trimble Bracegirdle" <no-s...@never.spam> wrote:
I'm curious about all of you who have posted. How old are you? My
osteo doc has told me, "lets hold off for as long as we can for hip
replacement because it eventually has to be replaced....and a second
one isn't so great." I'm currently taking vicodin and when I have
spasms in my back (due to my hip) I take a muscle relaxor. They've
also given me anti-inflammatories (a TON) that come with the black box
warning that scared me half to death. Why would I take a med that
talks about bleeding ulcers, death? I'd rather become addicted to
vicodin!

Any input? My age is 55 BTW and I limp due to hip and groin issues.
Doc said lets try to wait at least 5 years. Ewww to waiting and Ewww
to having a hip replacement!

If you are going to have it resurfaced there is no need to wait since the
procedure needs good bone quality. One of the benefits of a resurfacing is
the revision is a THP and not a revision to a THP. If you wait too long a
THP would be required. It's true a revision to a THP can be problematic
because they have to remove the old prostesis. The new prosthesis can go
all the way down to the knee. Complications regarding leg length, blood
clots and infections can occur. Plus you will have it done later in life.

Given that, the new metal on metal THP prothesis can last 20 years. Do you
want to spend your time limping now or when you are older? I would strongly
suggest getting a phone consult with Dr. Amstutz at the Joint Replacement
Institute in Los Angeles. http://www.jri-docs.com/index.html Send him your
x-rays and for a couple of hundred bucks he will give you the real deal.
He has been doing this for years and is a leader in the field.

"lisa_smith" <lisa.shellseeker@gmail.com> wrote in message news:4b9a40c6-45b7-4999-9b1b-1fb108758d44@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 19, 3:11 pm, "Trimble Bracegirdle" <no-s...@never.spam> wrote:
I'm curious about all of you who have posted. How old are you? My
osteo doc has told me, "lets hold off for as long as we can for hip
replacement because it eventually has to be replaced....and a second
one isn't so great." I'm currently taking vicodin and when I have
spasms in my back (due to my hip) I take a muscle relaxor. They've
also given me anti-inflammatories (a TON) that come with the black box
warning that scared me half to death. Why would I take a med that
talks about bleeding ulcers, death? I'd rather become addicted to
vicodin!

Any input? My age is 55 BTW and I limp due to hip and groin issues.
Doc said lets try to wait at least 5 years. Ewww to waiting and Ewww
to having a hip replacement!

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 8888888888888888

I'm 58. Symptoms appeared at age 52 and I held out until the pain
stopped the rest of my life.

My doc will not do resurfacing. He considers it a stopgap measure at best,
anticipated to last about ten years and then it's total replacement time.
It's an interim measure for those with very specific profile of damage.

With luck the metal on metal should last twenty to thirty years.
Barring infection it should last the rest of my life, and if not replacing the
hardware is relatively simple, the bone work is already done.

From talking to docs, nurses, PT people etc, it seems that 60 is the magic age that
separates easy recovery from less so.

While the joint still hurts it's muscle and tissue pain. That nerve jolt that has kept me
company for the last few years is gone. So is the knee and back pain that was caused by
the nerve inflammation from the hip.

When the pain reached the point that I didn't care if I survived the operation I acted.
I'm working as hard as I can to strengthen my leg so that it will be ready to take over as my
"good" leg for my next surgery Oct 7.

Staples came out today.
Not cleared to drive yet.
The overall intensity of postop pain is starting to fade a bit.

Vicodin didn't really help me much, Percocet does better for me.
Depending on painkillers for pain relief is not the same as addiction.


JP

"lisa_smith" <lisa.shellseeker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4b9a40c6-45b7-4999-9b1b-1fb108758d44@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 19, 3:11 pm, "Trimble Bracegirdle" <no-s...@never.spam> wrote:
I'm curious about all of you who have posted. How old are you? My
osteo doc has told me, "lets hold off for as long as we can for hip
replacement because it eventually has to be replaced....and a second
one isn't so great." I'm currently taking vicodin and when I have
spasms in my back (due to my hip) I take a muscle relaxor. They've
also given me anti-inflammatories (a TON) that come with the black box
warning that scared me half to death. Why would I take a med that
talks about bleeding ulcers, death? I'd rather become addicted to
vicodin!

Any input? My age is 55 BTW and I limp due to hip and groin issues.
Doc said lets try to wait at least 5 years. Ewww to waiting and Ewww
to having a hip replacement!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would get another surgeon. Ask if he ever heard of Dr. Harlan Amstutz.

I interviewed 7 surgeons before I made my selection. Most ranged from
100-500 operations. Amstutz has done over 2800!!

I was 52 when I had a resurfacing and was the oldest of the three patients
who had their's done that day (one was in his 20s, the other in his 40s).
Your doctor probably doesn't want to do a resurfacing because he does not
know how. It is NOT a stopgap measure and has been done in Europe and Asia
for over a decade.

http://www.jri-docs.com/JRI_Lib_DurabilityOfMM.html
Between November 1996 and September 2006, 1000 hips in 838 patients received
a hybrid metal-on-metal resurfacing (Conserve Plus) implanted by the author
at our institution. The average age of the patients was 49.9 years and 73%
of the study group was male.

http://www.jri-docs.com/JRI_Prospective_FAQ3.html#21
However the comprehensive follow-up the Conserve®Plus procedures have
enabled us to carefully follow up patients beyond 11 years and their
survivorship data, even with the earliest technique and most seriously
affected hip with severe cystic disease, is better than 90.5%. Now with
improved techniques we would be disappointed if that figure did not reach
98%. We also have identified signs of impending failure and in the absence
of any of these signs, very long-term survivorship is possible.

I don't care for surface hippy because they are advocates and don't really
consider the downside. But http://www.surfacehippy.info/index.php

Also look at http://www.meriter.com/mhs/HOSPITAL/hip/index.htm

"JP" <vze2wx8p@verizon.net> wrote in message news:E2Esk.801$Ro1.175@trnddc04...


"lisa_smith" <lisa.shellseeker@gmail.com> wrote in message news:4b9a40c6-45b7-4999-9b1b-1fb108758d44@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 19, 3:11 pm, "Trimble Bracegirdle" <no-s...@never.spam> wrote:
I'm curious about all of you who have posted. How old are you? My
osteo doc has told me, "lets hold off for as long as we can for hip
replacement because it eventually has to be replaced....and a second
one isn't so great." I'm currently taking vicodin and when I have
spasms in my back (due to my hip) I take a muscle relaxor. They've
also given me anti-inflammatories (a TON) that come with the black box
warning that scared me half to death. Why would I take a med that
talks about bleeding ulcers, death? I'd rather become addicted to
vicodin!

Any input? My age is 55 BTW and I limp due to hip and groin issues.
Doc said lets try to wait at least 5 years. Ewww to waiting and Ewww
to having a hip replacement!

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 8888888888888888

My guess your doctor doesn't know how to do resurfacings.

http://www.jri-docs.com/JRI_Prospective_FAQ3.html#21
However the comprehensive follow-up the Conserve®Plus procedures have enabled us to carefully follow up patients beyond 11 years and their survivorship data, even with the earliest technique and most seriously affected hip with severe cystic disease, is better than 90.5%. Now with improved techniques we would be disappointed if that figure did not reach 98% We also have identified signs of impending failure and in the absence of any of these signs, very long-term survivorship is possible.

Not true

Resurfacings are metal on metal.