Finally getting around to the operation and post op blow by blow.

Day 0: Surgery day. Wake up in recovery room feeling pretty good and pretty hungry. Problem is I can't even wiggle my toes. I do take a look under the covers to make sure that the leg is still attached. Couple of hours later, with movement returning, I return to my room. After proving that I can hold down ice chips I get to order some food. Hospital eggs and toast never tasted so good. Later that evening, I do some exercises and then try to walk. About 5 steps into it, I break out into a cold sweat and have to lay down before fainting. There goes my goal of walking without assistance on the day of surgery. Oh well.

Day 1 and 2. Post op days in the hospital. Start my PT and OT and (at Swedish) my group PT. I feel great. Leg and butt are sore and tight but I am up and tooling around on crutches, no problem with my exercises and thinking in a week I will be walking without assistance. Only problem is the fever at night, but it's not that bad and all in all I am feeling good about the whole thing. The dressing is changed today and I am neither bleeding or draining. And Dr Pritchett uses suture strips (I have friends who had THR and ended up with staples).

Day 3: Going home. Did a half mile around the hospital floor before leaving and am still feeling good. A long (90 mile) ride home is uncomfortable but not unbearable. The fun begins that night. I am sitting in my chair on Thurs eve and get up to go to bed. As I look down at my leg I realize somehow it was replaced with someone elses. It's at least doubled in size. And so begins the real post op recovery. Because for the next week the swelling comes and goes. It is not painful, but it is uncomfortable and even gets in the way of my exercises. And for the first time I also experience some pain.

I am now 12 days post surgery. I was able to start showering 5 days out. I go on 2 half mile walks every day and do my series of exercises 3 times daily. I walk with one crutch and can limp around the house without any. I had my first post op exam and placement of the BHR parts are perfect. I begin physical therapy next week. While I did not know just what to expect, I guess I'd have to say that this has been less painful than I had feared. I do believe that by the end of week 3 I will be walking unassisted all the time and will probably be returning to work. Not to downplay the stiffness and soreness, just that all things considered, I am doing pretty good for not even being 2 weeks removed from surgery.

And I am so glad that I went to see Dr Pritchett and had the surgery at Swedish Orthepedic Center. It is definitely the place to go in the PNW.