Some tips before and after your surgery (July 9 2018 replacement date)

As someone who is on the other side of a hip replacement I'd like to suggest some tips that will help you in your quest to find a good doctor, overcome fears about whether you should commit, pain control, hospital choice, etc. If you don't mind, at the very least, hearing my experience, I would like to share some things I have noticed throughout this journey. If you want to just get the tips, they are highlighted in red.

First off, I'm 46 years old, young by many standards for a hip replacement. If you are looking at a hip replacement due to OA, make sure it's really necessary. I had AVN stage 3 and I was putting it off for as long as I could. Once the hip head collapsed I was going to be doomed. I really had no choice. I broke it 12 years ago, had the pins removed about 7 years ago, had a core decompression done and finally replaced this last Monday. If your doctor immediately screams out replacement, just be a little wary. He/she might only see you as a number, an inanimate object that they can bank off of. This surgery in the US runs about $45k as a charge to insurance. The docs make a good living off this. My doc did 11 surgeries the day he did mine so a little math...$495K

I see a bunch of fearful posts from folks about the process. My doctor is shooting to do 1000 hips this year! Find a doctor who can do this in his/her sleep. Mine was Stefan Kreuzer in Houston. If you need reference information reach out to me. I will be more than happy to help. There is nothing for you to fear with this process unless you've chosen a crummy doctor. Tip 1: DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE. Choose a doctor not because he/she is in your hometown. Pick a doc that will give you confidence. If you live in New Orleans for instance, you don't have to have surgery there if no one makes you feel confident; this is a big surgery so pick the best person for you and don't blow this very necessary step of preparation.

I didn't have a choice of my hospital but that was arranged with the world class doctor I chose. I was operated on at Memorial Hermann Hospital/Memorial City in Houston, Texas. Some things they did with me that you should ask your hospital/doctor about pre-op...Tip 2: I had a Pre-Op blood draw/health check one month prior to the surgery and a class about how to deal with a new hip following surgery and what to expect. They spoke extensively about infection and how to prevent it. They asked who was diabetic and/or who smoked. I didn't know that the chance of infection as one of these types of people increases 400%! They suggested that if you were a smoker to start the patch that day. They won't operate on you at this hospital if you are a smoker and they are proud of their less than 1% rate of post-op infection and that's for all surgeries not just hips. Diabetics, are a whole other category because of wound healing. Wound healing is delayed in smokers as well. I have no pity on smokers, you are idiotic to keep that habit up so quit today. I quit ten years ago, it takes willpower just do it. I cannot speak to diabetics but I can speak to type 2s who are growing at an alarming rate across the world. Watch "The Magic Pill", maybe that will instill some incentive for you to lose drastic weight and lose the diabetes tag. I lost 22 pounds before surgery to insure I would recover quickest. I also hit the weight room even though it was painful to walk. I figured at the very least to make my upper body strong enough to help me move around with my walker.

Further about infection...my hospital sent me home with a CHG Exidine (sp?) surgical scrub that I was told to wash with the night before. It is a detailed process, was told to wear clean under clothes and climb into a bed with fresh linens. The next morning I scrubbed with the same CHG soap and put on new clothes and went to the hospital. When I was admitted they took me back to the pre-op prep area where I was asked to strip naked and wipe myself down with more wipes with the cleaner and they left the soap on me as a barrier against infection. They then put the gown on me and shaved me for surgery and then applied more antibacterial agent. Five minutes before they wheeled me into the operating room I was given IV antibiotics they said would kill anything in my body before surgery. Talk about overkill so really ask questions. Ask them if they have a protocol like what I experienced. I was operated on July 9 this last Monday. I'm non weight bearing for 6 weeks due to an earlier surgery that compromised some bone structure. This brings me to another tip.

Tip 3: most people will be partial weight bearing following surgery so confirm this if you can prior. This will make your life so much easier than mine right now. We had a gentle post op PT class the morning following surgery and many if not all walked in with a 60/40 weight split. It was super cool to see people who were limping in my pre-op class a month ago, walking with zero pain. My doc had no clue I would be non weight bearing following surgery because he couldn't see the previous surgeon's mistake. This should make your recovery so much better and you should be driving in 2 weeks so don't worry about recovery times and missing a lot of work. I'm in outside sales and will have to have a walker and crutches for the next 1.5 months. You will most likely only need a cane as you strengthen so don't worry too much about recovery.

Tip 4: Get your house prepped and in order in case you have non-weight bearing orders prior to surgery. I had to have my wife go out and buy a bunch of stuff to make me comfortable last minute like a tv tray for eating in bed, a raised toilet because I'm 6'5", etc... Most supermarkets have a home delivery service. Use it and make your life easier. If you've never used it, look up to see if your store brand has an app. Learn it and have your coach/spouse/sig other help with food prep. Tip 5: Download a super useful app called Medisafe. It will help you plan out your meds and will alert you day or night when you need to take your pills. I have now been pain free due to this super useful tool. It's like having a nurse walk into your room to bring you your meds. Tip 6: if you can get your meds ready in the hospital before you leave do it! Chasing around your meds after you are discharged is not fun. Our hospital dropped the ball here but it was partly my fault because I was starting to feel pain once the spinal block wore off and I panicked and asked for Oxycodone. That screwed up my order so we had to pursue outside of the hospital. I ended up not needing it as I took one and it made no dent in my pain like my Tramadol did.

I also was in a pain study paid for by the hospital to get the populace off opiates. I took Tramadol every 4 hours and along with the spinal block I was just fine. Once the block wore off there was no way to not feel aside from taking Morphine. I got everything under control though in about 6 hours and have been in great shape since, even sleeping great now. The appetite never left me. Our hospital had world class food. I had salmon with veggies for dinner that evening even though I was a little nauseous. The flood of drugs they put in your body before and during surgery made me nauseous when I took an afternoon dose of Tramadol. I just laid back my head and felt better after about 20 minutes as I fought the nausea.

From the time I arrived at the hospital on Monday July 9 at 10am to when I left the next day at 4pm that was a total of 30 hours in the hospital. I loved the efficiency of the entire procedure.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate reply to this post. I have been lucid during the entire 4 days so I even remember them putting in the spinal block and when they asked me to countdown backwards. I remember the recovery area and I have a good recall of conversations with my docs. so don't hesitate to reach out. I love to help others.

I hope this was helpful to any one with fears or questions. Best to you all.

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