Any Downside to Postponing Hip Surgery? - Knee & Hip Problems Message Board

omaggi · 06-01-2005, 10:34 PM

My left hip has severe OA with no virtually cartilege visible on x-rays. My orthopedic surgeon strongly recommended I have a total hip replacement this summer. He has already successfully operated on me five times (2 carpel tunnel releases, arthritis-related thumb fusion, ganglion, and rotator cuff tear) and has an excellent reputation.

However, when he told me all the things I would NEVER be able to do again after the hip replacement ... such as: cross my leg, sleep on my side with my knees drawn up, sit on the floor, sit in the bath, lift my knee to tie my shoe, and so on, these restrictions seem so limiting that I am having second thoughts.

My current symptoms are not that awful -- practically no hip pain although I do have nagging pain from around my knee and running down the front of my leg toward my ankle. I walk with a limp, mainly because my leg is shorter from the loss of cartilege (I wear a shoe lift but I can't get the height quite right) but otherwise I have no difficulty getting from Point A to Point B.

I think I would rather manage the pain I now have (which I do semi-successfully with prescribed pain medications) than lose my ability to garden, to play on the floor with my dog, to dress myself in socks and shoes, to clip my toenails, to take a bath, to turn when swimming laps, and to do probably many other things that probably haven't occurred to me yet.

Would I be foolish to cancel the surgery until I have more symptoms? Am I risking greater problems in the future by putting it off? Does anybody have any experience either way?

FYI, the surgeon only does non-cement replacements.

Thanks for any guidance

balleteach · 06-02-2005, 07:57 AM

Welcome to our board, omaggi. If you follow the thread with 5 stars named 6 months after hip replacement, you will discover a wealth of info on THR and recovery spanning several months. There are alot of posts, but you can skim along and read what interests you. I was a ballet teacher when I had my hip-replacement 10yrs ago. I was back to teaching at 11 eleven weeks and eventually back to all normal activities. Your Dr sounds like he is being way too negative. I do anything I want from bike riding, hiking, swimming, etc. You do have to be very careful the first year for the body to heal and the implant to totally stabilize, but as time goes by, you will be able to do so much more. The bad hip will NEVER get better and you will be dealing with pain. After the THR, if all goes well, the hip pain will be gone. You will just be dealing with recuperation. There are certain angles and movements that you have to be careful about, but as time goes on, you will get stronger and adjust. Read that thread and you will learn alot. Good luck and keep us updated....balleteach

silver515 · 06-02-2005, 05:14 PM

HI...and welcome to the board omaggi. I had my THR in January and it was one of the best things I ever did. I know you said you aren't really in pain, but if it is arthritis it will just get worse and worse. ONce you do get that pain it becomes totally unbearable and the surgery will become something to look forward to. I am really happy that I did do it...the pain is gone and I am on with my life. I have posted alot and as balleteach said, you can go back and also check my posts. I am back at the gym, also do lots of walking and I am looking forward to an Italy/Greece vacation with no worries. Last summer I went on vacation and was miserable the whole time and was constantly looking for someplace to sit down. I am now 56 and I felt like I was 90 years old. Good luck with whatever you decide...and don't forget to visit here often and ask lots of questions. There is always someone here who can answer your questions...and you will be surprised how helpful this can be....we have all gone through similar things...

MrsLinda · 06-03-2005, 01:33 PM

Hi all and welcome omaggi!!! I don't have much time but I did want to say that I sit in the tub and on the floor!!! Don't sit with my leg crossed or cross legged on the floor however, but couldn't do it before the THR!!

Took me 8 months to get down into the tub and floor, but my Physical Therepist showed me how to do it.

I will definately come back to this thread this evening.....

Ripanco · 06-03-2005, 03:27 PM

Hey omaggi,

Well now I can finally post with some experience. I have only been here to ask lots and lots of questions, but now that I have had my surgery, I can tell you how I feel about it.

Like you, I had practically no cartilage in both my hips. For 2 years I have tried just about everything to delay surgery. Now I think it was foolish.

I just had both my hips replaced at the same time 11 days ago. One thing that the dr told me was there was a lot of bone loss also, which does not show on mri as much. As it was, he had to use a screw on the left socket since there was not enough bone left. So waiting ended up costing me that way. There were also a lot of bone spurs that had to be removed. All this meant a much longer surgery (over 4 hrs).

The only restriction that is lifetime according to my hospital is sitting with your legs crossed, which is a bad thing anyhow. The rest comes back slowly. And as we have all learned from balleteach, we must have patience

My dr even is ok with me running again in the future.

After bilateral replacement, I was home in 2 days and recovering wonderfully. I did have a huge setback when the hospital found that the wrong ball was used in the second hip and I had to go back the following week to have it changed. Fortuantly that surgery was much faster and easier.

All that said, at 11 days from surgery #1 and 3 days from #2, I can not believe what I am already doing! With no pain, mostly just some stiffness. I am really looking forward to what I can do again now. And if I had waited much longer, there may not have been enough bone to have this good a result.

Do some research online. You may even need to find a different sugeon. I can highly recommend finding one that can do a minimally invasive procedure. There is a big difference in the skill levels of surgeons for hip replacement and the outcome can be very influenced by that.

Only you can decide what is right for you, but for me, I sure wish I had done this 2 years ago!! Good luck!