Comments: My hip replacement surgery experience was much better than expected!
I choose to have minimally invasive, anterior-cut, total hip replacement surgery performed because i wanted to recover quickly. It was just more intuitive to me that this method would do the least harm to my muscles and nerves and that i would recover quicker. Also since I work in the research & development field, I was intrigued with the use of the HANA table to perform the surgery. I imagined that this table would enable the surgeon to perform the surgery with more precision and would make the operation less stressful to the surgeon as well as the patient.
The Outcome was great. The hospital experience (my first!) was better than expected. The staff was professional and catered to all of my needs. In that time I spent at the hospital for Joint Disease, I only felt the onset of pain once and this was due to the staff being very busy and not being able to provide my meds as per schedule. This was not a problem. Throughout my stay, the pain management doctor worked with me to satisfy my needs and we were able to downgrade the pain meds before I left the hospital because I did not feel the need for it. The physical therapists at the hospital had me up walking immediately and I was climbing stairs the next day. The only suggestion that I would make is that the hospital should have more “walkers” available as they were in great demand by the patients.
The post surgery recovery went well because this type of surgery does not come with any restrictions. I did not have to take precautions with crossing my legs or bending down, etc. The other patients that were going through physical therapy with me did not progress as quickly as I did and they complained about the restrictions that they had since they had a different type of surgery. I concentrated on the exercises that my physical therapist showed me and I did these exercises faithfully many times per day. It paid off. I was back to work in six weeks without a cane and with no pain!
For those considering total hip replacement surgery, I would suggest that they familiarize themselves with the whole process from understanding the disease that caused the problem and how it affects the muscles, the surgical procedure, the hospital stay, and the post surgical recovery. I would suggest that they choose the right doctor and hospital carefully like I did and ask as many questions as possible to fully understand the process. This will alleviate the surprises. Also, there are books and articles on the process that may help.
I choose to have minimally invasive, anterior-cut, total hip replacement surgery performed because i wanted to recover quickly. It was just more intuitive to me that this method would do the least harm to my muscles and nerves and that i would recover quicker. Also since I work in the research & development field, I was intrigued with the use of the HANA table to perform the surgery. I imagined that this table would enable the surgeon to perform the surgery with more precision and would make the operation less stressful to the surgeon as well as the patient.
The Outcome was great. The hospital experience (my first!) was better than expected. The staff was professional and catered to all of my needs. In that time I spent at the hospital for Joint Disease, I only felt the onset of pain once and this was due to the staff being very busy and not being able to provide my meds as per schedule. This was not a problem. Throughout my stay, the pain management doctor worked with me to satisfy my needs and we were able to downgrade the pain meds before I left the hospital because I did not feel the need for it. The physical therapists at the hospital had me up walking immediately and I was climbing stairs the next day. The only suggestion that I would make is that the hospital should have more “walkers” available as they were in great demand by the patients.
The post surgery recovery went well because this type of surgery does not come with any restrictions. I did not have to take precautions with crossing my legs or bending down, etc. The other patients that were going through physical therapy with me did not progress as quickly as I did and they complained about the restrictions that they had since they had a different type of surgery. I concentrated on the exercises that my physical therapist showed me and I did these exercises faithfully many times per day. It paid off. I was back to work in six weeks without a cane and with no pain!
For those considering total hip replacement surgery, I would suggest that they familiarize themselves with the whole process from understanding the disease that caused the problem and how it affects the muscles, the surgical procedure, the hospital stay, and the post surgical recovery. I would suggest that they choose the right doctor and hospital carefully like I did and ask as many questions as possible to fully understand the process. This will alleviate the surprises. Also, there are books and articles on the process that may help.