I had one done a couple of years ago. Besides a little pain once in a while and that leg being longer, causing me to waddle back and forth when I walk, I'm all good. Recovery was not bad at all.
Total hip replacement twice
- Thread starter _Snake_
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Thanks for the well wishes all. It means a lot. And Kirk, thank you for sharing your expertise. It was very reassuring to have an independent opinion from someone so qualified and it relieved my wife and I quite a bit.
The accident happened Saturday and I had an ambulance ride to Sarasota where I then had to wait 24 hours for surgery (my surgeon was on vacation and his backup wasn’t available). My six week old prosthetic hip was cracked as was my femur……in two places. It was essentially split open like a log. You can see one obvious fracture facing left (the duck bill) and a second fracture to the right of the stem running parallel to it.
Post-op my hemoglobin levels were in the 5’s if I remember correctly and I needed two units of blood. I finally came home today - sore, bruised, and swollen. But I’m home and I’m grateful.
Have I mentioned I love this place?
Or is that just the Oxy talking?
The accident happened Saturday and I had an ambulance ride to Sarasota where I then had to wait 24 hours for surgery (my surgeon was on vacation and his backup wasn’t available). My six week old prosthetic hip was cracked as was my femur……in two places. It was essentially split open like a log. You can see one obvious fracture facing left (the duck bill) and a second fracture to the right of the stem running parallel to it.
Post-op my hemoglobin levels were in the 5’s if I remember correctly and I needed two units of blood. I finally came home today - sore, bruised, and swollen. But I’m home and I’m grateful.
Have I mentioned I love this place?
Or is that just the Oxy talking?
How old are you? If you don't want to answer, that's fine.
Your hemoglobin was in the 5's and only 2 units of blood? I'm assuming it was just to get you in the 7's or 8's?
It’s all good. I’ll be 50 this month and already thinking about how long they’re supposed to last.
Exactly. They let me leave after the second unit and I was in the 8’s. My wife is a nurse so we’re checking again tomorrow morning and Friday morning.
Edited to add that we weren’t happy with two units of blood, especially since they were spaced 24 hours apart. The first bag took me to the low 7’s but the level eventually dropped into the 6’s - hence the second bag.
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Thanks man!
It’s not unusual for us to do hips in people in their 40’s and 50’s. Avoid heavy impact exercising and it could last 25-30 years, at which point hopefully only the bearing surface (ceramic on plastic) needs swapped out. Biking, walking, etc—you can do those activities at whatever level you want, and it shouldn’t affect the longevity of the implant.
The most vulnerable time period after the surgery is the first couple months, before your bone has integrated into the prosthesis. Be careful over the next 3-4 months, and once the bone grows into the implant, don’t treat this as a weak point of your body.
Not too unusual to wait a couple days before surgery, to make sure the hospital has the implant in house, and the surgery is done by someone comfortable doing it with the A-team. You don’t want the guy “covering call on the weekend” doing this case. You want to do it during normal business hours with a fresh surgical team. And not too unusual to need a blood transfusion a day or two after surgery. I could have told you that you’d need two units based on your hemoglobin. But many hospitals including mine, won’t allow two units to be transfused unless it’s some insane trauma scenario. Doesn’t make sense, but it is what it is.
Either way, it sucks having two major surgeries in a short period of time. It’s normal for this surgery to hurt a fair amount more. And the recovery will be slower. But should be a full recovery similar to as if this never happened.
I'm guessing that your next pretrip inspection will include a check for wasp nest under goosneck?
Preferably using a mirror on a long pole!
Get well soon my friend.
Preferably using a mirror on a long pole!
Get well soon my friend.
Eight and above is usually what you need for being released but even at that, I bet you're not feeling the best.
Best wishes.
If you don't mind, what was the reason you needed the hip replaced originally? Old injury?? Just curious. I'm gonna be 50 in October and this hits home. lol. I thought we were too young for this.
If you don't mind, what was the reason you needed the hip replaced originally? Old injury?? Just curious. I'm gonna be 50 in October and this hits home. lol. I thought we were too young for this.
Indeed...of the 5 orthopods i work with we may do 12 a year...and these guys are doin numbers inline with yours...roughly 600 total joints a year each...between hips and knees
Last one i was in on the fracrure was very distal like mid femur...we got it done but man it was a rough one.
Hopefully he's just out-of-commission and not something worse.
100% this is a good outcome so far. Just needs to make sure it doesn’t get infected and he follows weight bearing restrictions while the bone incorporates into the stem. Bearing too much weight too early can cause the stem to subside or the bone to not incorporate into the metal.
Yeah it looks real good in the film
Ironically im about to to scrub in with the Doc for a troch nail lol...its not even troch nail season lol
Your advice parallels what my own surgeon told me when I had my right hip replaced 5 years ago. Question (don't answer if you're not comfortable answering). I was told by my surgeon (excellent, by the way) that I would need to be certain that I didn't over-extend the angle of my hip. I think it was 45 degrees. Now 5 years later, I am still mindful of the angle when tying my shoe. Should I still be concerned about the angle, or is that not necessary 5 years later?
There are universal ‘hip precautions’ post replacement that you should always try to follow because a dislocated hip prosthesis is bad news.
Bob I’m a PM&R doc and I’d tell you if you’re at the 5yr mark your bone is solid and outside of accidents/trauma like this you’ll probably never have an issue. I also usually tell my pts to listen to their body and if you’re questioning if you should, then don’t.
Hope OP is doing well.
-J
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