Hips

[Ed'n Lauky]

Great to hear things went well. Trust that there will be many, happy trails in the future.

 

[rup]

I confess I am somewhat self conscious announcing in public forom, but hopefully sharing my experience will help others so thougt I would reactivate this thread with my own THP on my left hip on Sept 27 at Newton Wellesley Hospital . Surgery went very well thanks to great great surgical team and great recovry team. I'm in very good hands. Going home this afternoon. I wonder if Rup made it to Baxter this year?

***
I made it, but it rained like hell the entire time I was there. Rematch coming.

Good to hear that you had a good experience. The surgical pain will pass in a week, and then a few more weeks to get 'stretched' again. Keep doing those adductor exercises, etc, every day - even 2-3x / day. After 6 months, I was pretty satisfied that I had hit full recovery. Lift weights 3x / week, and walk 4 miles / day 4x / week. It was 5 months before I decided to hit the woods - just conservative. Unless I seriously hit the weights like Arnold, I don't think I'll get much better.

Keep stretching!!

ps - I followed the route you described here to 'back door' Abraham in ME a few years ago. Wierd road approach.

 

[CaptCaper]

I confess I am somewhat self conscious announcing in public forom, but hopefully sharing my experience will help others so thougt I would reactivate this thread with my own THP on my left hip on Sept 27 at Newton Wellesley Hospital . Surgery went very well thanks to great great surgical team and great recovry team. I'm in very good hands. Going home this afternoon. I wonder if Rup made it to Baxter this year?

Hope all is fine.... make sure you do your Therapy...but don't push it too hard to the point of much pain... slow and steady is the key... It will get healed and be fantastic but it takes so much time..months and months...my knees too at least a year each. knees are the most complicated joint in the body.. hips may not be quite that but again probably..

 

[Stan]

Thanks to those who do share these orthopedic ... adventures ... you provide experience and encouragement to those who will certaily follow as they age and seek to continue their passion in the outdoors. Newton Wellesley Hospital is a great place for such treks and, based upon the orthopedic care of some friends and my wife, it ranks quite high. And, the bedside manner of these skilled surgeons is uncharacteristically supportive of their patients. Choosing your doctor(s) and institution right is every but as important as preparing yourself properly for a lengthy exposed hike above treeline.

 

[Jazzbo]

I'm 1 week post surgery and was cleared by my home PT to walk single crutch. Food was definitely good at NWH. Rup Sorry to hear it rained during your visit to Baxter. Hard to believe it rained anywhere in New England this year. There is always round 2. I still need Fort and Coe in Baxter for my NEHH. That's been on hold for some time hopefully it will get done next year. That road to Abraham was pretty rough. We were large group piled in back of high clearance 4wd pickup. We had a blast.

 

[Jazzbo]

I'm 16 days post-op. I can walk with cane or even without anything for short distances. I did small amount of raking and mowed our tiny back yard lawn yesterday afternoon. I'm walking around the neighborhood approximately 1/2 mile using single crutch 2-3 times/day. I'm also cleared for driving as of this morning. I had my first out-patient PT this morning. Mike, my PT, went easy on me this morning. He says I am ahead of the recovery curve. All PT's have said my being in good condition prior to surgery is great advantage.

 

[Jazzbo]

Yesterday at bit over 4 weeks post-op I did a 4.0 mile hike in Walden Woods in Lincoln/Concord MA which included a circuit around Walden Pond. I picked this route due to good footing of the trails and minor elevation gains. It felt great be out. Walden Pond is 65 acre geological oddity. It is kettle pond not fed by any brook nor does any brook drain from it. The surrounding area is a maze of eskers and glacial out-wash features. There is a chain of ponds that lead away from Walden where the water table surfaces and drains into Sudbury River Fairhaven Bay.

The water level is extremely low. This part of the pond normally doesnt have a beach. The water table is very low and will take a long time to recharge.

I'm going to head up to NH this weekend to try out Mount Prospect in Holderness NH. Mount Prospect has fairly mellow trails. It has fairly good 1000' or so elevation gain. Should be suitable for me at this stage. My physical therapist says I'm tracking ahead of the curve for THR.

 

[CaptCaper]

Great stuff... there is a law called "Wolfs" that will work for you by getting back on your feet and working it. I'd had both knees done and having talked to others they still have issues with balance or pain... bottom line on talking at lengths with them is they didn't have a heavy therapy schedule and didn't get out into the woods or whatever.. I myself got out early ( 3 weeks) and did Artist's Bluff and so on to longer and more elevation hikes... I was doing so well this last year or so then I broke my foot...heading out to Glacier... back to square one.... just got out of the cast and now have to learn to walk all over again.. and with caution as the "Jones" fracture takes a long time to heal ...months and years... been only 8 weeks since... had my first 3/4 mile walk yesterday in shoes in 9 weeks..

 

[rup]

Jazz - great to hear you are doing well. As for me, hard to believe, but I'm 1 year (11/10) from the surgery. Go for my 1 yr follow-up next week. Still walking 2-4 miles / day say 3-4x / week depending on weather, and lifting weights. Keep doing those adductor stretches. I've noticed, lately, that if I ignore them for even a week, the hips stiffen.

I've noticed that my other (R) hip has shown signs of pull back, and limits my range-of-motion a bit. But since it's not chronic / constant, it may be only an occasional 'ping', or 'wishful' thinking. When the surgeon viewed the x-rays last year, he thought both hips were bad and didn't know where to start. I told him that since the L gave me MAJOR problems, we go there. Perhaps I'm too sensitive to the other 'shoe' falling, but, I'm not alarmed - yet.

 

[Jazzbo]

11/17/2016
Last Tuesday (11/16) was 7 weeks post-op. Last Sunday I hiked up 2557' Mount Pemigewasset in Woodstock NH. Good choice for recovering hiker with 3.8 miles out & back distance and 1300' elevation gain. I took it easy and stepped carefully. It was good to see snow again at upper elevations. I hiked this peak some 10 years ago and recall it having some fine view ledges offered views to west towards Moosilauke and south to Rt 93. Summit ledges also featured some very fine views of Franconia Range, but currently you only get a obstructed view of Flume and Liberty and Lafayette is almost totally obscured. The terrain drops away rapidly so it wouldn't take much cutting say 10-15 trees and you'd have the view back. Given current policy USFS you can bet that will never happen. I had plenty of company. This peak is very popular for families with young kids not to mention one fellow I saw who had lost both legs with prosthetic limbs. These folks and this gentleman in particular deserve the full Monty for their efforts.

I was fine getting up top, but my legs started feeling bit wobbly on the descent. Initially thought I would visit Flume Gorge, but I was done for the day. I had PT appointment yesterday. He started me doing front, side, backwards lunges which caused me to work up pretty good sweat. My legs felt really wobbly after doing those. I've been working hard on PT in spite of being back at work. PT says I'm ahead of the curve for THR. Surgeon advised me to restrict my activities until 8 weeks post-op which works out to Thanksgiving weekend when I will attempt something more challenging. Not sure what that will be just yet.

Something else I’ve noticed recently is I am no longer kept awake tossing and turning with arthritis pain or post-surgical pain. Now the only thing keeping me awake is my overly active mental state usual things like work and wondering about where I might hike T-Day Weekend.

 

[Jazzbo]

Update on my recovery. I put W48 list on far back burner due to hip problems. I haven't been doing any big mountain hikes this winter much exceeding 2000' elevation gain, but I have been getting out steadily. I'd mostly written off bagging the Presidential peaks I have left to do, but I decided to try Washington on Sunday when weather window opened up. I was able to do the whole 10 mile slightly under 4000' elevation gain enchilada to chalk up one more peak to my winter 4K list. Beautiful feeling 6 months post-surgery. Thanks to Daylight Savings time change I took my time, stopped frequently to rest and take in the views and thank the lord for a second chances. I had some knee pain a month or 2 ago, but it resolved itself when I dropped doing the deep lunge exercises the PT gave me. Perhaps I was a bit too zealous. I still don't have range of motion of the good hip (which also shows arthritis in x-rays) but all is well here.

 

[jniehof]

Did I bump into you? I went up Ammo to Monroe, over to Washington, down the cog to around Westside, then Gulfside to Jewell. From Washington down I was wearing a bright orange shell and a red pack (with a pad in a bright yellow stuff sack); my opposite number was carrying a pack as big as her.

What a day to be out.

 

[Jazzbo]

Did I bump into you? I went up Ammo to Monroe, over to Washington, down the cog to around Westside, then Gulfside to Jewell. From Washington down I was wearing a bright orange shell and a red pack (with a pad in a bright yellow stuff sack); my opposite number was carrying a pack as big as her.

What a day to be out.

I encountered a number of happy couples. You may have been one of them. My GPS track shows I arrived at summit 1:45 and departed summit 2:20. I stopped at one of Clay spurs to chill for another 30-45 mins because it offers nice view of summit and head wall of Great Gulf. I didn't start back down Jewell until 4 or so. I was carrying a red pack with matching red MSR's strapped to the side. I definitely enjoyed the televators on climb up, but wore Hillsounds rest of the time. I was happy to find the trail in good shape not trashed by post-holers.

Was your opposite number with the big pack carrying the emergency gear? Sounds like good example of Norman Chivalry.

 

[jniehof]

My GPS track shows I arrived at summit 1:45 and departed summit 2:20.

We came off the summit about 1:15 so I'm pretty sure we bumped into you coming up the cog; we switched from the summit side to the Gulf side of the tracks just before talking to you. I was carrying all the emergency gear that I knew of but the lady 1) only has a summer day pack or a winter overnight pack, nothing in between 2) probably snuck some stuff in that she didn't let me know about lest I insist on carrying it. I was still in full goggles since I kept on expected to hit the wind on that side of the mountain.

Looked like you were moving at a relentlessly steady pace.

 

[CaptCaper]

Update on my recovery. I put W48 list on far back burner due to hip problems. I haven't been doing any big mountain hikes this winter much exceeding 2000' elevation gain, but I have been getting out steadily. I'd mostly written off bagging the Presidential peaks I have left to do, but I decided to try Washington on Sunday when weather window opened up. I was able to do the whole 10 mile slightly under 4000' elevation gain enchilada to chalk up one more peak to my winter 4K list. Beautiful feeling 6 months post-surgery. Thanks to Daylight Savings time change I took my time, stopped frequently to rest and take in the views and thank the lord for a second chances. I had some knee pain a month or 2 ago, but it resolved itself when I dropped doing the deep lunge exercises the PT gave me. Perhaps I was a bit too zealous. I still don't have range of motion of the good hip (which also shows arthritis in x-rays) but all is well here.

6 months is still early for total recovery as far as I'm concerend.. as you might remember I had TKR's two years apart.. and I found it takes at least a year from post op to feel at a point it has worked out.. Hips they say are not as bad as TKR's but still... major surgery. I think once spring comes and you get out this summer by next fall you should be good for next winter.. Spring Summer temps etc make it so much easier to move about during the week ..hiking,etc. coupled with 1/2 of your healing behind you ..

My knees have been great.. should of did it years before instead of dealing with pain and losing a quality of life I like. With the science of revision surgery progressed far ahead these days no need to wait until one is old a frail.

On a side note I need my shoulder done but due to my work lifting heavy pieces my surgeon said he'd advise against it.. don't understand how or why yet but for now it's on hold.. lot's of pain I get there in the right shoulder bond on bone..

 

[rup]

I may be looking at a second (this time R hip) sooner than I had planned. Wooppie.

However, have had NO issues with the L, and that was 1.5 years ago.