Surgical Repair

For those who have been following along, my hip surgery was complete last Tuesday, March 2nd.  As far as I know, it was a success.  The surgeon told my girlfriend after the procedure he was able to complete a repair.  I will see him for my first follow up next week and ultimately won’t know the long term outcome until about six months from now.

In all I was under general anesthesia for around 4 hours with the surgery itself lasting 2+ hours.  In the surgery he stitched a torn flap of cartilage back into place with permanent stitches which will remain in the joint, removed loose cartilage, and cut out a portion of my femur bone to reshape it.  The bone reshaping is why I have 4-6 weeks of non-weight bearing on my right leg.

The first week home has been rough.  I’ve barely moved off the couch other than to go the bathroom.  The day after surgery at maximum dosage of Oxycodone and Tramadol, I called the doc and was instructed to double the normal dosage limits.  This turned into a double edge sword.  It worked wonders in eliminating pain while putting me in a floating euphoric state and causing some severe side effects.  24 hours after remaining on the increased dosage constipation became apparent as is normal on opiates, however more severe was my inability to urinate and while my other pain was relieved I could feel a full aching bladder.  Concern set in when my penis started to turn purple, resulting in another call to the doc.  Stop the meds now was the order and if it gets worse get to the doc for a catheter.  Fortunately, by the next morning normal color was restored and finally I was able to relieve myself.

Just shy of a week from the surgery, the pain has subsided dramatically. I can get comfortable laying on the couch without any pain meds.  Moving or getting up using a walker is still fairly painful and manageable without meds for very short distances.  If I need to be up for more than a few minutes I have to prepare by taking meds in advance.  Overall, the swelling is down and is being replaced by a large bruise on my hip and the sutures are beginning to itch.  I expect as the bone heals in several more weeks I will move onto physical therapy for a couple months.

On an odd side note, while I lay here recuperating from surgery caused by the accident which ended my trip around the world, I noticed, had I not been injured and had I stuck to my original flight itinerary, I would have had the pleasure of arriving in Santiago Chile just before the earthquake struck.   Hmmm…… maybe it’s better I’m home on the couch.