Bilateral (simultaneous) anterior approach thp . . . I'm 34.

"...just hit me, though, how scary the whole thing is.  Has anyone else been through this, regardless of age?  What am I in for?  How long do you think I'll be down?  School begins again late August; will I be healed enough to endure it?..."

Hi Jgmurrayaf-

 You have bitten off a lot, and are right to be concerned.  Your sunny-day scenario at this point has you undergoing major surgery to weight-bearing joints. Bilateral. Simultaneous. (!) The procedure will leave you exhausted for weeks. You will not be able to take care of anyone--you will be the one needing care. Figure a couple of weeks of full-time; a couple of months of part-time, nursing. Slowly and gradually, your physical therapist will get you up and around. At first, a few minutes will be all you can bear. With a chair or walker, you can extend your active time, according to what you can tolerate. 

As for pain, it depends. The anesthesia folks are great these days; surgery itself won't be so bad. If you take your post-op pain meds (Do it. Don't be a hero. It's part of your treatment.), day-to-day pain will be tolerable; night-time will be rough for a while.

You will need help taking care of your family this Summer. A live-in cook/housekeeper for a month would be a luxury I realize. Whatever you can afford, do it. 

As for returning to work, I would try to take the remainder of 2018 off. Seriously. Eight weeks from major surgery to a roomful of 5 year olds--hate to contemplate. Late August will see you able to take care of yourself, and stay awake for 4 hours at a stretch. Nap, repeat. Stay away from sources of frustration and contagion, at least until November. At that juncture, may as well wait for the 2019 session.

Not trying to be gloom-and-doomish about this. Just that this is your chance, your one chance, really, at repairing a lifetime of damaged hips, odd walking, twisted spine, who-knows-whatelse. You gotta plan for an extended, and full, recovery. Rushing things would be shortchanging yourself and those who depend on you. 

Good luck. Come Christmas time, hope to get a fine report from you.

 

Just one piece of advise get yourself the very best specialist hip replacement surgeon you can find based on number of successful hip replacement procedures. Bedside manner should not influence your choice though of course a nice manner is a bonus.

In my opinion you will be safer if you go for the posterior approach rather than one of the alternatives. It is very well tried and tested with no limitations for the surgeon.

Good luck. Richard

Hi I think your awesome, at least you will only have to go through it once and because your young fit and healthy it will be a breeze, ok so that's the BS out the way LOL but seriously theirs loads on here who do the same as you say their glad they went that way, don't worry about how soon you can get back to work just concentrate on recovering at your own speed not someone elses, PS the awesome bit is totally true

Remember everyone is different. Be prepared for the unexpected. I’m old,almost 72 so no comparison and only 1 hip. I did super until Sciatica made it’s appearance. Didn’t even know that was possible.

Get the advice of a good surgeon who has double hip replacements at same time. 

jgmurrayaf-

I'm waiting to schedule surgery myself and the surgeon doesn't do bilateral preferring to space them out several weeks but 40% of his THR patients have both hips done.  There was a gentleman here earlier this year, in his mid 60s, an avid surfer who had bilateral THR and in our conversations recommended it as the fastest course for recovery, as in, just get them done.  In most ways it makes sense to me but isn't an option.  Scary?  Yeah, to me at least, but I know at this point there is no avoiding it as I'm sure is the case with you.  Rockerman, a forum user, has some very good links for pre and post op surgical preparations if you can locate them they will help orient you.  Your youth may well be one of your best allies- you'll tend to heal faster.  Primary consideration for most informed people considering this procedure is the skill and experience of the surgeon.  You want someone with a minimum of 250 THR surgeries under their belt with a very good success rate and minimal complications post surgery.  Second consideration is surgical approach- lots of opinions on that subject, but most surgeons I've researched indicate it is the skill of the surgeon that makes any particular approach successful.  This forum can be daunting- the majority of contributors are people with surgical complications that gives a negative impression of the surgery, however there are many positive stories as well and a wealth of information from those who have undergone THR for better or for worse.  Statistically THR is considered the most successful major orthopedic surgery being done these days.  Best wishes and hope you find the site helpful.

Jim

Good luck, I must admit having both done at the same thing is pretty incredible although several people on this board have had bilateral replacements. What really helps is being fit, being young and your weight, do your exercises after the op, also your attitude, positive people seem to do better than the glass half empty people. After ten weeks you should be pretty good, I was driving a manual car after six weeks and felt that it actually helped me exercise! I would have driven earlier but was told to wait six weeks. 

Hi I had my hip replaced on July 19th, and I was back teaching my 4 and 5 year olds by the end of September. (I went in for a few meetings with my new class at week 7.) So it’s a similar length of time, but I only had 1 hip done, and I was also only working 3 days a week. Perhaps you could have a phased return to work?We all heal differently, I wish you all the best, Judith 

I am seven weeks post op one hip, back at work and feeling good. A friend had bilateral hips done ( posterior) and she did well. I think she had three months of work. Your blood loss will be a bit higher doing two at once but at least you will only have one recovery period and the pain killers will work on both sides at once. She said her biggest problem was having to sleep on her back. She spent some of the time in a recliner chair at night. Nights were worse for me I got stiff and noticed pain worse at night. You are young and will do well good luck

I did both knees at once, but I can’t imagine doing both hips at once when you have children even if your husband isn’t deployed. I had my left hip replaced as a mini-posterior and was back good as new in 6 weeks but I didn’t have any complications. I’m having my right hip replaced as an anterior in May and expect to be good as new 6 weeks after that. I’m 65 and as you can see I’ve replaced both knees and now both hips and have had arthroscopic surgery on both shoulders. Should have called myself BionicBeans. The question would be whether your skeletal dysplasia or other medical conditions might cause any complications which might lengthen your recovery. And whether your family will allow you to have the rest you will need to physically recover.

Hello jgmurrayaf,

I had both of mine done at the same time 11/15/16. All went well and I'm doing fine.  As some have said, everyone's recuperation is different.  I'm sure you've seen that by reading the posts on this wonderful website. The bilateral was right for me.  I was 51 years old at the time.  I still need to work for another 15 years or so.  I could not afford to do it in the more common two stages that most people do, and my doctor even recommended it..  For me the actual operation was not that big a deal.  The pain levels were quite manageable.  I was on my feet the next day.  I didn't have any severe complications.  The biggest being that I think I have acetabular impingement on my left hip replacement.  It causes discomfort in certain circumstances, but nothing like the arthritis pain I had before the operation. My wife stayed home to help for a month, but she could have probably went back to work after two weeks.  It took me about a month to go from a walker to crutches, to walking unassisted. However, I didn't feel strong enough to go back to work for 4 months, and I went back slowly.  I gradually picked up the pace and was back to "normal" after 8 or 10 months.  I still am slower than before the operation, but a attribute some of that to getting older.  I'm still noticing gradual improvement, 18 months later.

   In my opinion, your age is a big plus.  If you are in good shape and, most importantly, you have the right attitude you will probably recuperate rather quickly.  With that said, you will need a lot of help for the first couple of months.  With such an active family, i'm sure it takes a lot of energy and everyone depends on you.  You'll have to depend on others for at least a few months, maybe even more. And going back to work after two months could be a tall order, but everything depends on your individual recovery.  Once you are past the critical first stages, I really think you will be glad you did it.

   If I can answer any questions please let me know.  I wish you the best of luck!

Jim