Post op recovery after MANY yrs w/ OA

[Guest guest]

I'd love to get more info from you Jude re: your ROM pre/post

surgery. I'm going to be 38 y/o this year and and have lived w/ OA

since my early/mid teens - progressively its gotten to the point

where I barely have ROM, my leg's turned out quite a bit (Roach?), of

course I limp...and my dreams? To sit indian style, ride a bike,

cut/paint my OWN damn toenails (instead of depending on pedicure

people who are sometimes - believe it or not - RUDE to me 'cuz my leg

just doesn't make it convenient for them to do their job!) My OA

side (left) is much smaller than my right thigh (holy over-

compensation batman)...and my left calf is much bigger than the

right. My back's been compensating...everything...bottom line - the

body's just all-round OFF/imbalanced to the max!

Was your pre ROM this bad? I would love to hear back from you and

any other of you hippies with your pre/post ROM stories. THANKS!

Beaule - JRI - sometime in the next month of two

Once they get insurance exhausted (3 weeks?) I'm-a-schedulin'!

> Yes it is true. If a resurfacing fails then a THR is still

possible. Also it is much less invasive in that you retain the head

of your femur. The bio-engineering also makes sense in that it more

closely resembles your natural hip joint. What makes your surgeon

think the new cross linked polyethylene will be any better than the

old one?? It has only been out a few years. What long term data is

he giving you to support a high activity level with his method??!

Hip resurfacing has been around much longer than that cross linked

stuff! You should definitely check out the files in the surface

hippy site. There is much good information for you there Also-

there is NO chance of dislocation with a resurf, therefore you would

have no restrictions. We have world class martial artists who have

had this procedure as well as triathletes that compete in Iron man.

I am sorry, but a plastic hip just doesn't stack up to resurfacing.

>

> I don't know if there are any kiwi docs that do resurfacing. (No

offense intended-my best friends live in Kakoura! There are some

fine surgeons in Oz. You owe it to yourself to do the research.

Most of us on this site have had surgeons who have tried to dissuade

us from resurfacing- probably because it is something that they

themselves do not do. But the bottom line is that it is your hip and

your life that you must consider.

>

> I am sure that you will receive many more replies. Most of us on

this site are success stories. I myself have been able to return to

a high level of rock climbing as well as cycling, cross country

skiing, snowboarding and kick boxing. I have no restrictions

whatsoever and never think about this hip of mine. Before my resurf I

could barely walk. It was as though I was pulled from an abyss-- I

have my life back. That is a phrase you will hear a lot from this

group.

>

> Incidentally my range of motion exceeds what it was prior to my

surgery. I am from Washington State and traveled to Belgium for my

procedure. My orthopaedic surgeon, Koen De Smet told me that I would

be better off with my BHR and he was right. I have hip dysplasia and

like many females with this disorder danced classical ballet for many

years. I am in tune with my body and knew what my limitations were

on my left side. I had lived with it for all of my life.

>

> Good luck to you and your choice. As I said before you owe it to

yourself to get all of the facts.

>

> Kind regards,

>

> Rock climbin' Jude

> LBHR De Smet 09/11/02

>

> New Heippy Young Sportman looking for Veiws

>

> I am 40 years old from New Zealand and wish to get some advice. I

am

> not yet ready for hip replacement yet but my surgeon tells me I

will

> likely need one in 2-5 years. Down to 6 out of 10 not bone on bone

> yet for my right hip.

>

> I have played squash from a young age and in the last 10 years

done

> martial arts and became an instructor 2 years ago, also am a keen

> skier and have had been into sports all my life. I was able to do

> full splits about 7 years ago since then my flexibility has

> decreased by 20% (and in some areas more)and though my surgeon

tells

> me I have excellent range of movement for my wear I guess I am

keen

> to know if I can get that back to full splits once surguey is

> complete. I noticed that it was getting harder to maintain

> flexibility and I was starting to limp about 3-4 years ago.

Actually

> it was my friends who noticed the limp, I was doing it without

> knowing till it was pointed out. I thought it was from karate

> training too many shots to the legs.

>

> While I have decided to give up Karate to minimise my wear(though

I

> do miss it) I would like to get some feedback on BHR versus THR.

My

> first surgeon (going to get other opinions)reckons that the new

> materials for THR are a better prospect than resurfacing. He says

> the new materials will last almost 10 times longer (crosslinked

> polyetheline and Tantalinium Tribetulium I think he called it)

> having 10 times less particles that cause loosening of the implant

> etc.

>

> I saw resurfacing on Discovery (young girl 21) channel and asked

him

> his thoughs and he tried to steer me away from it to the emerging

> material around THR technology. He said resurfacing is too new to

> provide long term data on effectivenes for people my age and level

> of activity.

>

> I would be interested in your veiws etc and any data supporting

> resurfacing versus my surgeons views. It seems to me logically

that

> resurfacing looks lower risk and that if it does not work a THR

can

> happen later... is that true?

>

>

>

> Thanks Rick Dry

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

At 06:28 AM 5/14/2004 +0000, you wrote:

> I would love to hear back from you and

>any other of you hippies with your pre/post ROM stories. THANKS!

My pre-op condition was absolutely awful. I could barely walk to my next

door neighbors without my cane. I could spread my legs apart about 1 1/2

feet with a great deal of pain (you don't even want to know how we got the

last pap test done pre-op!). I wore out two sock helpers since I used them

for at least a year, probably closer to two years pre-op as I couldn't get

socks on any more. I could still tie my right shoe, but had to have help

with the left. I NEVER went anywhere that would involve a change of

clothes or shoes unless I knew there would be a chair nearby and someone to

help me. I had trained my German Shepherd puppy to be a service dog for

me, thinking at the time that it was fun and might come in handy. He was

nine when he died two years ago, so that tells you just how long I needed

his help! I was able to mow half of either the front or back lawn--there

was NO WAY I could finish the entire lawn in one day. I had a 2.5 cm leg

length difference and walked with the classic (although far worse than

most) Igor lurch. I could stand for no more than about ten minutes with

great pain, and my lower back often went into spasms after a long rehearsal

or concert. It had been years since I had been able to walk up stairs

without using the rail (hauling myself up it was more like it) and using

alternate legs.

Post-op, I was pain free immediately. Multiple staples in my backside and

I'm complaining about a tightness at the side of my knee. I can now walk

several blocks (I still have lower back issues that stop me from walking

marathons), can do the " splits " from the bathroom door to the tub (which is

the combined space of the toilet and vanity), can mow both the front and

back lawns in the same day and trim trees besides, walk up stairs

alternating feet without the handrail (which is an improvement from even a

year ago), and on and on.

Cindy

C+ 5/25/01 and 6/28/01