1 year post bilatiral THR
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hi guys, just want to share my experience of getting both my hips replaced at the same time, hopefully it will help someone))
I am 30 yers old, have RA that damaged my hip joints so badly that a few months before my surgery I literally couldn't walk for more than 10 min per day. Horribl pain, and after sitting down it would usually take about 5 min to get up and straighten my body.
I had my bilatiral THR done on 21/09/2016. The result is amazing, I can walk without any pain! Wahoooo!!!
It was a difficult desicion for me to get both my hips replaced at the same time as most surgeons don't want to take such risk. If something goes wrong with bilateral replacement the recovery can be a nighmare. However, for me it was important to get my life back as soon as possible and I didn't want to go through two seperate operations and two seperate stays in the hospital etc. Plus everytime you have an operation it is a risk of infection etc. Anywhere there are obviouosly pros and cons. So after stressing out for a while I made the decision to do both hips at the same time.
The surgery went really well, done by Sarah Muirhead Allwood, she is a very experienced surgeon. She is not the soft kind that would wipe your tears and answer all your questions, sometimes she comes across a little bit rudish but she is damn good at what she does.
Before coming to her I went to see 3 different surgeons, talked to each of them about what type of prostetic hip they want to use, what type of surgery they would go for, type of fixation etc. It is important to do extensive research of everything involved in THR in the Internet, and know really well are the options you have and pros and cons of each option. Don't let surgeons make desicions for you. It is your hip after all. Doctors obviously know more than you might read in forums and some articles, but still ask questions and let them explain why they think something is the best option for you. I found the article about best THR surgeons in the UK in the daily mail [b]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1303615/Britains-surgeons-hip-replacement-surgery--voted-specialists-themselves[b].html
I spoke to a few surgeons from that list and some of them offered really outdated options for me that I knew where not the best for my specific case. So when it comes to surgeons my tip is deffinately "shop around".
A few words about my recovery - thank God it went better than I thought. I lost a lot of blood during the surgery so couldn't get up from bed for 3 days as would just start fainting. On day 4 after the surgery they gave me blood and I managed to get up straight after. First week was diffinutely tough. I stopped taking strong pain killers after 10 days and went on iboprafen/paracetomol combo as it was enough for me. It took me about 3 months to recover to the point I could walk outside without aid, obviously would get tired easily and if walked too far would end up having pretty bad pain. A few times I had strange night time pains so horrible that we went to A&E but aparently it was my muscle tissue causing pain. My abduction and addaction muscles were not used for literally 10 years before the surgery! So my muscle tissues were a bit shocked when I started moving them
6 months after the surgery no pain after longish walks but after the gym I would have sometimes horrible pains that could last for a 2 days. Now 12 months post operation I feel I have no noticable restrictions.
Anyway all this recovery was less painful than my condition before the surgery so I am glad I did it! I hope everyone a successful THR surgeries and speedy recoveries. Please do ask questions if you have any and I will try to response.
P.S. I still have my crutches, walking frame, special supporting pillows, raised toilet seat etc. I would like to pass all these stuff to someone who needs it now
If you live in London, you can collect it.
2 likes, 22 replies
gloriajoy Guest
Posted
My surgery will be at KIng Edward VII hospital.
One worry is that I live alone and am rather ancient (just had 80th birthday) but pretty acive until the wretched hip slowed me down.
Anxious to get back to normal as I am a very keen traveller.
So encouraging that you now have no restrictions.
What can we do and at what stage? is a recurring concern on the forum.
Best regards
Joy
Guest gloriajoy
Posted
Hi Joy! I wrote a looong comment below and it should answer some of your questions too. I think you are in good hands, Sarah Muirhead is very good
I will try to think and remember if there are any tips I can give you regarding the surgery and post surgery recovery. I will definitely come back and write more in a comment for you. Feel free to ask anything you might want to know
Guest gloriajoy
Posted
Hi Joy! I wrote a looong comment below and it should answer some of your questions too. I think you are in good hands, Sarah Muirhead is very good
I will try to think and remember if there are any tips I can give you regarding the surgery and post surgery recovery. I will definitely come back and write more in a comment for you. Feel free to ask anything you might want to know
Guest
Posted
Hey guys, thanks you so much for all your support and positive posts! This was my first post in the THR community and I am so happy to see how great you are guys.
I would like add a bit more info in case it will be usefull for someone and I think it will also answer some of the questions you asked.
1. I don't remember what approach was officially called, but I have cuts around 15 cm long on the sides of my hips. The cuts were glued so they look not bad at all, just like nit lines.
2. New hips are ceramic hips on short stems (so don't go deep inside the bone). Uncemented fixation, as recommened to everyone getting THR at young age.
3. Range of movement before the surgery: hip abduction didn't work at all. My hips wouldn't go apart even for the width of a palm. So I would say roughly 5 cm at best. I could walk but not move my legs sideways if that makes sense.
4. Range of movement now. Similar to people without any joint proglems, the main problem tight muscles and ligaments. So massaging tight muscles did help (but only after the surgen said it was ok to do so).
5. What physical activity I can do now. I can walk long distances (up to 15 km I tried) without any pain in my hip. I work out in the gym 3-4 times a week doing some cycling, treadmil walking (not running), and some other machines without any problem. I tried playing bandminton and it is ok too. I am sure I can do more but since I have my surgery at relatevely young age (29 yrs old) and I will require a revision surgery in maybe 15-20 years, I am trying to preserve my new joints so I don't do any running or jumping motions.
6. The worst part. Sleeping on my back for 2 months!!! Sounds silly but it was actually very tough!!! And not being able to shower for the first 2 weeks as we had a bath and I was only allowed to use walk in shower.
7. As I previously said you should talk to more than 1 surgeon. Ideally 3 or even 4 surgeons. One of the first surgeons who said that I MUST go for bilateral was David Nunn (Guy's Hospital). He seemed extremely knowledgable to me, he gave me quite a legitimate explanation why I needed bilateral, basically both my joints where in such bad condition that if I did only one side first, the other joint wouldn't cope with the pressure pluse there was something with pressure on my spine etc. So it all sounded like good reaosons and of course as I said I wanted to get my life back asap. But why I am saying it all just to make my point how important it is to hear different opinions as other surgeons said they wouldn't do bilateral on me. Dr Muirhead Allwood was the second surgeon who said it was possible to do both at the same time. So initially I was on a waiting list for the surgery with David Nunn but it was on NHS and waiting list was sooo long and I was suffering a lot, so in the end I got it done with Sarah Muirhead Allwood privately but I am happy with the result so I guess money was well spent.
7. One important thing I would recommend for people with RA doing THR: if you were on immine surpressing medications for a long time, make sure you ask your surgeon to give you prolonged antibiotic treatment to avoid infection.
8. All bilatirals consider giving your own blood before the surgery so that you can get it back after as most likely you will loose a lot of blood and feeling weak and not being able to get up from bed is not fun. So good if you can just get your own blood transfused back.
9. For those of you who won't have much help arround or if you live alone, just make sure you prepare in advance. Like get your food sorted (setup online account to get groceries delivered to your door step, freez some meails etc), place everything in the way you can reach it easiry after operation, get someone (even a neighbourne) to come and check on you every now and then, buy independent living help aid tools to help you dress yourself and pick up stuff from the floor etc.
10. If you are going to travel after the surgery in the car/bus/train, make sure you make your sit high enough. I had to take a car ride home after staying in the hospital for a week and got some yoga blocks and pillows to make my seat quite high. It worked out pretty well.
I hope this info covers most of the questions I have seen in comments. Good luck to all of you guys! Take care xx
linda38528 Guest
Posted
This is a superb update with a clearly superb outcome which wI'll en courage all of us. Congratulations for doing your research so thoroughly and choosing wisely. I think if we all invested so wisely upfront, the bad surgeons would fall out of the ORs.
Thank you for writing your story and best wishes.
Linda