Mr. Markets

The beauty of being lighter is you get to do some things I still cannot. I am 'walking' on a treadmill
now as if I had a cane, though my muscles are still howling at me. I will be walking with a cane by the
end of the week. I have also been doing a little 'spinning' on a spin cycle with almost no drag. They
are putting the bubble on the local pool, so I can get in there as well in a few days.

hey Gerald, I am curious about what you found most useful from all the stuff I originally put up here...

geraldatwork

Before I forget, if there is an elliptical trainer somewhere you might like to try that. It is mostly non weight bearing especially if you hold the rails.

I found your blog very helpful. There is a lot of information on the internet. Most of it is either from the companies that manufacture the devices or from the doctors or hospitals giving instructions to patients (in pdf form). They never tell how much pain someone might be in. Or suggestions about the hospital or how to get in and out of bed. I also tend to get dizzy eventhough my BP is high enough to take corrective medicine. So I stopped taking the BP medicine about a week before. Also your descriptions what it was like at home and your walks helped a lot. There was a ton of information. This blog is a great source of info what to expect and when. Hopefully my and information from others only adds to the threads.

Mr. Markets

actually hit an ellipse today as well!

Did my mile walk but did it by three blocks to the local club, 10 minutes on the treadmill, 15 minutes
on the ellipse, and 20+ minutes on a spin cycle. then another block walk to the grocery store, and
a return walk home of a half mile. I was tired (plus I did not sleep much the night before) so I slept
the early evening away. feels good though!

geraldatwork

That is a pretty good workout there. In all it probably took you about 2 hours. If you can do that a few times a week it is better than my once a week bike ride.

Mr. Markets

another two hour deal today:

1/2 mile walk to store, 30 minutes on treadmill walking as if i had a cane, 30 minutes on a spinning bike,
and another half mile home again. only now I am walking on the crutches with them "opposite" each
other and not together. so left leg right crutch forward, then right leg and left crutch forward. I
can pretty much just walk on one crutch now but i keep the other for stability as I walk faster. by
walking thsi way, i have an almost normal walking speed. Tuesday is the target day to bag the
crutches in general and just be on a cane... That would be five weeks.

geraldatwork

Another good workout on your part. 30 minutes on a spinning bike is equal to about 7-8 miles depending on your typical average speed. You could ask your doctor to see if he is comfortable with you riding your bike. My doctor may be a little crazy but he was OK with me riding at 3 weeks.

geraldatwork

I took my 4th bike ride yesterday of 25 miles. I am still doing pretty flat rides as at this point as I still can't put enough pressure on my legs to go up anything more than a roller. I averaged 15.5 mph which is a tenth faster than last week with a slightly longer distance. I am satisfied with the speed as the wind was pretty strong at 19 mph with gusts up to 25 and were swirling and always seemed to be in my face. I am most proud as my average HR was 165 as I was working pretty hard the entire ride. I have to start going up some hills as I have a 50 mile commitment with 2000 feet of climbing Nov 21st.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/15810119

I have been walking without any aid of a cane or crutch for about a week now although I am limping. Sleeping is still somewhat of a problem as I am probably a week away from sleeping on the surgical side and no matter how I arrange the pillows after a few hours on the other side the hip aches somewhat. Tomorrow I have my 2nd session with outside physical therapy.

Mr. Markets

I ride a LWB bent, so I would be violating the 60 degree restriction the doc still has me on for a few more
weeks. I sit upright on the spinner, and was pretty close to 90 on the bent at the club when i gave it a try.
I may take a bike at home and put it on the trainer to ride.

geraldatwork

I forgot you ride a bent.

Exercise and activity wise you are doing very well. In anticipation of the surgery I picked up a used trainer/stand on ebay. A week or so before the surgery I figured I'd check it out. I found the stand a little difficult, almost dangerous to mount, hip wise, and haven't used it. Just be careful when you try to mount it to try not to put any stress on the joint. You are doing so well it might make sense to wait until the doctor gives the OK to use the bent. With another couple of weeks you should be able to get on the bike and get in a decent ride first time out. Just curious why you ride a bent instead of a regular bike?

Mr. Markets

first off a correction I am on an 80 degree restriction -- fat fingered that big time above...

as to the bent, kept getting numb hands, stiff neck and a stiff back on the DF bikes. i considered a
'upright', but the USS bents caught my eye so I sprang for a Longbikes Slipstream.



I really love that bent a lot, it is much like riding a healthclub recumbent only more comfy, and of
course the scenery keeeps changing! I had never been on a bent before I ordered it but knew I
would love it and I do. Needless to say, you won't find me in any pace lines, but I am solely a
rec rider anyway.

geraldatwork

That is a beautiful machine. Looks very light and fast. There are a few bents in our club that on occasion joins the group. They usually stay at the back. Amazingly fast on the flats.

Usually a stiff back and neck and numb hands are a fit problem. However I can see you will never go back, which is cool.
https://geraldatwork.blogspot.com/

Mr. Markets

I wouldn't call it light at all, but comfy is the operative word.

Just an update on how I am doing compared to my last surgery.

On Tuesday of this past week I hit 5 weeks post-surgery. I moved to a cane, and only use
crutches late at night if I get out of bed half-asleep to hit the john. At the persent time if
it sit upright for any time, I get a lot of stiffness in the groin area, just like the last surgery.
However, I can walk pretty well on the cane, and at times I can walk without the cane as
well, but I have to already be 'warmed up' for a while. From a 'cold start' I must have the
cane.

I have been doing a lot more walking in the treadmill at the club (weather has sucked) but not
too much other stuff. My milage has gone down, but I am using the muscles more so I expected
it to drop a bit. General pain now is more like a groin pull than anything else. I can also sleep on
my surgical side now for long periods of times.

Compared to my first surgery, this one is really a breeze.

geraldatwork

It is good to hear you are doing better this time. It helps when you know what to expect. As I mentioned a few times going over your experiences has helped me even though it is my first time. I get stiffness if I sit in a position for any length of time, or even if I am lying down when I get up I feel stiffness in the area. My PT tells me this is normal and expected but should lessen as time passes. I am probably a few days behind you as far as sleeping on my surgical side. I can lie or sleep on it for about an hour then it starts to ache.
My hip replacement blog; https://geraldatwork.blogspot.com/

Mr. Markets

popped in on your latest blog post -- you are doing very well!


I hit a cane at week 5, and am still on it at week 6.2. I will prolly be on it another week or so.
I still have that same stiffness as you, but have not hit my bike yet. I am doing one mile walks
pretty much every day, some ellipse every few days, some spinning at little drag ever other few
days, and faster walking on a stationary treadmill. I hope to bag the can in about another week
but I am still pretty pronouced limp-wise at present. As I said before, if I weighed less I would be
doing quite a bit better, so the extra lbs are a drag on recovery... BUT... I have now dropped
NINETEEN poiunds since surgery. Now I only have another 40 or so to go...

geraldatwork

Good to hear about your weight loss. 19 pounds is quite an accomplishment. I would think once you start riding you will feel the difference going up hills. After THR everyone advances at their own pace. I do believe because we are afraid most of us could advance a little faster but we are afraid we will injure ourselves.

About two weeks ago at my first physical therapy session one of the exersizes required me to put all of my weight (plus the weight in the machine) on the operated leg while I lifted the weight with the good leg. I was afraid and put most of the weight on my arms on the rails. The therapist insisted it was alright and after some back and fourth I finally did it. Nothing bad happened and as soon as I got home could now walk up the stairs, one foot in front of the other without holding any handrails.

Blog https://geraldatwork.blogspot.com/

Daspydyr 

I had both mine replaced last year. Should have done it sooner!

It has allowed me to start riding again as I can get my leg over the seat. I'm 6'3" and used to be 245. I'm down to 212, thanks to the bike.

You will have so much of your life back in your control. I took a hard fall last weekend, stitches in the knee, air splint on the ankle, but the hips are still like new.

You won't remember the pain, get over it. Get a good physical therapist and be honest in exercise and diet. You have a lot of living in front of you.

geraldatwork

Finishing up my 7th week post surgery I had my longest and hardest ride so far yesterday. This was the first time I rode with my group at the club since about 2 months before the surgery. As they generally ride 60 miles with about 3000 feet of climbing, I knew I couldn't finish with the group. My goal was to go as hard and fast as long as I could trying to keep up hopefully increasing the length each week.

I wound up keeping up with the group for about 35 miles and headed back with two other riders. I finished with 46 miles with over 2100 feet of climbing. The last two miles were tough as my surgical leg was cramping all over. This was 6 miles longer and 500 feet more than last week. I am a little sore today but nothing out of the ordinary. Wednesday I go for my 8 week check with the surgeon.
https://geraldatwork.blogspot.com/

CCFISH81

I guess Hipcycler isn't on these boards anymore? I'm surprised he hasn't chimed in...

Mr. Markets

Gerald was kind enough to remind me to chime in here, as I have been occupied with my mother who became rather ill a week and a half ago. Anyway...

It will be eight(?) weeks (i think) as of Tuesday. So far so good I guess. the whole mom thing threw me
off my exercise a bit, so I think I am paying the price somewhat.

At present, I am mostly off the cane, though I keep it handy if I am gonna sit anywhere for any period
of time. Like I mentioned the first time around, and Gerald has mentioned, you get a lot of stiffness
in the crease area int he front of your leg when you first get up. Those first few steps can be a bit
gingerly at that point.

The not-s0-good thing about doing two hips back to back with 5 months in between is that you never
really heal up the first leg before you trash the second. So while I can 'do the basics' like walking
(still with a limp of course -- in fact I sorta waddle a bit at present), there is not a snowballs chance
in hell I could do a squat for the life of me. There are other movements that, 10 weeks past, I cannot
do on the later leg, but that is to be expected. I plan on hitting the gym this coming week now that
things have stabilized out for my mom and starting to do machine squats again.

In general at this point my energy level is pretty much all back, and I can easily walk a mile with
no cane or crutches, and probably more though my usual walk is about a mile.

I have NOT been on my bike at all. The two good days we had here weatherwise where I might
have gone for a ride I was just tied up with my mom's stuff, and lately it has been raining (it seems
like) all the time. I am a wuss, I don't like to ride in the rain!

I now do a full half hour ellipse with no issues and I no longer have to support any of the weight
on the most recent hip. The first hip, now at 7+ months, only suffers from the lack of squat
ability and probably some flexibility as well, but I was never all that highly flexible to begin with...

Maybe the BEST thing is, the first hip 'evened me out' where I used to be taller on my right side. It
feels like the 2nd hip made me a little uneven again, so I no longer feel like one hip is taller than
the other. Never addressed this with the doc as frankly, if I am a little taller on the right now (2nd
hip) I am closer to how I walked for some 34 years of my life, and I think my back was used to that
as well.

geraldatwork

Dan,
Hopefully your mother recovers quickly.You seem to be progressing very well. I wouldn't want to even think about having two hips done in a relatively short period of time.
For whatever reason I am probably the exception, although I think outside physical therapy helps a lot. I completed my first ride over 50 miles last Saturday of almost 53, 8 weeks and 5 days post surgery.

the ride https://connect.garmin.com/activity/18285978

hip replacement blog https://geraldatwork.blogspot.com/

Mr. Markets

mom is coming back around, but it is gonna be a lot of work ahead of me as her only living relative
and son, that's for sure...

geraldatwork

Glad to hear that. Appreciate her while she is here.

geraldatwork

Finally hit the 60 mile mark going just over 61 miles with almost 2500 feet of climbing at nine weeks + THR post surgery. I know it sounds like I am bragging but I have worked very hard and been consistant with increasing my mileage every week no matter how I feel. Although my mileage will probably decrease as it is starting to get cold here in the NY area. In addition I also have been doing tough physical therapy sessions twice a week of almost 90 minutes each just working the legs which has helped my riding.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/18870513

Mr. Markets

i'm impressed. every day the weather is good i end up busy lately (mostly with my mom) and on the
sucky weather days i just do not even want to ride. so lots of ellipse work and some weightlifting
and walking the dog. you are to be commended!

Jay Andriot

What a timely post for me. I am 2 weeks post surgery for a acetabulum repair, I fell off of a ladder. I'm doing great, walking with a walker and crutches. BigTea has been in contact with me and has given me some great heads up on the differences between breaking the femur and the socket (acetabulum) I work as an X-Ray tech and have seen lots and lots of hip replacements but I can't remember all that many like BigTea's and mine. Most of the acetabulum repairs are for car accidents where the dashboard is driven in to the knee and the femur in pushed through the hip socket, busting it out. Most involve pelvis fractures as well, making life much more complicated. Mine was a fairly simple fracture. I'm non weight bearing/toe touch which ends up meaning that I can use a walking motion but I'm not to put any weight on it while I do it. I am the star patient at PT and will continue to push PT just as hard as I can. I went back for x-rays for my 2 week follow-up/staple removal and everyone including the Radiologist were amazed at how well I am doing. I think it is the fact that I put Colnago stickers on my walker, made it much faster. Maybe I should put a bracket on my walker/crutches for my Garmin 705, that way I could document my progress. hummmm