Six months ago, I underwent a total hip replacement. Recovery took some time, but I’m about 90% back. My physical therapy (PT) appointments ended some months ago, but I get plenty of exercise going up and down stairways in parking garages as I go to various casinos.
When I travel to out-of-town casinos, I’ll usually take a walker, both for use in the casino and also for “working” in the airport. If it’s a short trip, my only ‘luggage’ is a backpack. Vegas has a pretty sizeable airport, and for someone like me it takes two hours to check all the slot machines in all of the terminals. Having a walker to carry the backpack is very handy.
If the out-of-town casino is fairly large, using the walker to carry beverages, snacks, and other things is useful. I don’t ‘need’ the walker, but it has advantages I appreciate. I don’t walk up and down staircases when I have it, but I usually walk more than if I didn’t have the walker so that makes up for it somewhat.
Now that the hip is fixed, it’s time to take care of my left shoulder. I had arthroscopic surgery on my rotator cuff on June 18th. I also had pain in the bicep area on the same side. My orthopedist said he’d evaluate that when he had me opened up and would fix it if it needed repair it. Recovery would be longer and more painful if he had to sew up a bicep tear.
Turns out it was ‘only’ a bone spur irritating the bicep, so he fixed that while he was in there. I got lucky.
I’m writing the first draft of this blog about 24 hours after I was released. So far, so good. I need to take hydrocodone-acetaminophen for pain if needed for several weeks and also an antibiotic every six hours for three days. I took the first three doses of the narcotic and skipped the fourth because the pain was manageable, and these drugs have side effects. I still took the amount of Tylenol that was mixed with the narcotic because that’s supposed to help reduce swelling.
They gave me an interscalene nerve block which is supposed to help post-surgical pain. The average length of relief for someone my age/weight/severity of surgery is 12 hours or so, but each patient reacts differently. It might be that the nerve block was still working 20 hours after surgery when I skipped the hydrocodone. If the pain kicks back in, I’ll take a pill. It’ll take 30-60 minutes for the relief to begin. It won’t be a lot of fun, but using the minimum amount of narcotics is a goal that makes tolerating a bit of pain along the way acceptable.
Bonnie was a registered nurse for 40 years and is willing and able to help me with icing the shoulder and whatever else is needed. I won’t shower until 48 hours after the operation, and she’ll need to help me with that and getting dressed afterwards.
My first PT session is 12 hours after that shower, and I’ll be going 3x weekly for some time. Friends who’ve been through this tell me that the diligence required for shoulder PT is more important than for hip PT. I’m planning to do that, but I also realize that I don’t have a perfect track record on keeping with the plan.
I might do a follow-up blog about my shoulder if I feel there’s something interesting to say. Part of this will depend on what responses I get – if any.
Even after I heal as well as I’m going to, I won’t be done. I have arthritis in both thumbs and will see a different orthopedist in early August. I might get out of there with a steroid shot in each hand. It might be more serious. We’ll see.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Bob. Make sure you keep following the orders of your doctors (important) and Bonnie (extremely important!).
wish you well on your recovery process and all the pt you will go thru nut listens to them as they know what they are doing.
it seems the older you get the more problems there are.
take care and keep us updated
All the best stay strong
Forgive this not-for-dinner table suggestion:
My husband has chronic constipation, seemingly forever. He’s also had a lot of those ‘joint’ pains and procedures. And pain meds only make things worse.
HINT: There is a laxative pill which is specific for “opioid constipation.” I’m a retired RN and never had heard of it, but probably because it is in the ‘realm’ of pain management practice, not your ordinary primary care or even orthopedics, because mostly they don’t prescribe pain meds a lot I can email the name of the med to you or somebody if interested.
Also, Icy Hot Pain Pro rub on, OTC, advertised by Shaq, is helpful. OT/PT will help also.
Good luck and God bless with your recovery.
Bob, any chance some of your ailments are from the many hours you’ve played video poker?
Best wishes of a speedy recovery.
Probably many if not most of them are. Thats the price you pay.
Thank you for your informed response. I’m sure it was heavily researched and supported by authentic medical studies done on video poker and its players.
I, literally, feel your pain. Those long stints at high, sometimes-backless stools have not done my knees any favors. My only decision is when and which one to get replaced first. All the best for a speedy and comprehensive recovery.
Dam Bob I’m coming out to Las Vegas in August and was considering getting my hip done figuring I;d be good in 45 days glad I read this hope your feeling better
Dam Bob I’m coming out to Las Vegas in August and was considering getting my hip done figuring I;d be good in 45 days glad I read this hope your feeling better
Bob, glad to hear you are coming along. Do you plan on getting back to square dancing.
Bob, glad to see you are coming along. Do you plan on getting back to square dancing?
Bob, its been well over 40 years since you personally showed me where the full pay $1 deuces wild machine was at the Fiesta Rancho after one of your clinics there. Times sure do fly. Best of luck on your recovery.
John Skandalis