It sounds like it may be more involved than a "standard" hip replacement, where the muscles and soft tissues are more or less intact.
Hubby had a total hip replacement in March of 2014. His was due to an untreated hip fracture when he fell 40 feet off a silo 35 years earlier- he pretty much destroyed his right foot and ankle (31 fractures/dislocations) plus had three severe compression fractures of vertebra in his lumbar spine. Apparently, it didn't occur to anyone to xray the OTHER side of his body- with the result that he was walking around on a broken left hip while using crutches to stay off the healing right side. Oops!
We discovered that about 15 years later, when he was having severe hip pain- the xrays showed an old fracture, plus bone spurs, etc.
At that time, he was only in his early 40's, and was told he "would need a hip replacement within 5 years", but that because he was so young, and because it "would put an end to him being able to farm or work physically", he was to go home, take Vioxx and live with it until he couldn't stand it any longer.
We dumped the Vioxx (thank God, because that was before it ended up getting yanked from the market due to causing severe heart damage in a lot of people) and I put him on glucosamine and chondroitin, which was then being used by Thoroughbred race horse trainers with much success, but wasn't in common use for humans at that point. Within 6 months, he no longer had heat and inflammation in the hip, wasn't limping any longer, and x-rays about 5 years later showed that the cartilage had rebuilt and he had normal joint spacing. That lasted about 10 more years, but for some reason, around 2010, it all started to collapse.
He spent most of the year of 2013 on crutches, while we wound down our dairy operation and tried to obtain health insurance so he could afford to get a replacement.
Fortunately, the local doctors who do the "old style" posterior replacement methods wouldn't take our insurance. After some serious prayer, I was guided to the best orthopedic practice in the state (the one all the professional and college athletes in NY go to) and the best hip doctor there does the newer, anterior method of replacement.
The one local doctor we saw said he'd do the replacement, and hubby would no longer be able to squat, cross his legs, or raise that leg above a 90° angle- EVER again (at risk of dislocating the artificial joint), but remarked "but at your age, that doesn't matter". I looked at him and asked him if HE was working 14 hours a day in a physical job!!
The surgeon who did the surgery said "in your physical condition, you're in better shape than men 30 years younger. Once you heal from the surgery, you will have NO limitations- except we ask you don't run marathons, as the practice runs (10-15 miles a day, 5x a week) wear the joint out too fast!"
He had the surgery on a Tuesday morning. He was walking to the bathroom with my help by 4 pm, and could have gone home the next day. We were in the middle of a blizzard, though, and he wasn't real confident about the idea, though, so he stayed another night. The IV pain meds were discontinued by midnight of the first night, and the little pain (MUCH less than he had been suffering from for a couple years) was controlled by Vicodin...
A physical therapist came to the house every day for 3 days, and then was planning on coming 3x a week for "4-6 weeks". Hubby was approved for full weight bearing at 7 days post surgery, so when the PT brought him a "new, better" walker that afternoon, we told him to take it back! We discontinued the formal PT at 10 days post surgery. However, hubby did the exercises *religiously*- he's a bit OCD about some things, and in this case, it stood him in good stead. Since he's been working a full time (physical) job plus working our beef farm/homestead with me after work and on weekends, he hasn't had time to do the daily stretches, weight lifting, etc he had done for several months, but it's not hurting him at all.
He doesn't limp AT ALL, and while it took him nearly a full year to rebuild the gluteal muscles as well as the muscles in his thigh and lower back which had atrophied badly through lack of use, he is 62... a younger person would tend to recover faster.
He wrestles cows, does all the heavy work the Highway Department job requires, and is currently finishing off cutting, splitting and stacking the 30 cords of wood we'll need for this winter. He does hire help for the heavy pieces, as well as for jobs that require using a bar or heavy maul- but that's due to serious spinal stenosis in his neck, not anything to do with his hip. I've noticed that lately he's running again... the one residual effect for several months was that he could walk fine, but his normally effortless run was more of an awkward jog.
Truly, it's like he's 30 years younger again. Even has regained most of his stamina, which as anyone knows who has been seriously ill or laid up for a long period of time, can be one of the hardest things to get back. I'm back to having to warn him to take some time off, and not push himself on a daily basis. It's one thing to work a very long day when something breaks down or the weather is pressing... but at 62, I think he's earned the right to quit for supper before dark on normal days!
It truly can be a miracle surgery.
On the other side of the coin, a beloved "honorary" family member (hubby's mother's "boyfriend" of 15 years) who is 89, fell a year ago on Christmas, trying to catch Mom when she slipped on some icy steps. He saved her, but broke his hip. They did a partial replacement, using the older methods (replaced the head of the femur, but didn't line the pelvis with an artificial socket) and he's pretty well had to use a walker ever since. It's awful for him, because before the fall, he was very active, kept his own vegetable garden and house, drove everywhere, went on long and extensive vacations, and in general, had the physique and lifestyle of a man 30 years younger. But then, the statistics show that men over 70 who break a hip fare much worse than women the same age- close to 50% DIE within a year. But it's awful to see him in constant pain (and the doctors don't seem to be very responsive or helpful, which is aggravating) The prejudice against "older folks" in the medical community is very strong, it seems.
Essentially, every one is an individual, and there is no "one size fits all". We went to a "patient education" session when we were still thinking we were going to be forced to get the older surgery done locally (not getting it done wasn't an option- even on heavy doses of very strong pain meds, hubby was barely functioning, and his quality of life was terrible), and when we got done with that fiasco, hubby was discouraged enough to be considering suicide. No, he wouldn't have done it, but he was saying "i'd rather be dead". The problem was, they were saying things like "you probably won't be in the ICU for more than a few days, and can expect to be out of the hospital within a week... you likely will be transferred to a therapy center for 6 weeks of inpatient physical therapy"... blah, blah, blah blah.
NONE of what they said ended up applying to him, and while I understand that they have to tell people the potential "worst case scenario", what they were saying was applicable mostly to someone in their 80's with serious health issues. And all four of the potential patients and their wives at the session were in their 50's! It was BAD... and reinforced why I hate most of what passes for "medicine" in America these days.
May I suggest that you get a book called "Pain Erasure" by Bonnie Prudden? It's about "trigger point" therapy, which we've found to be very useful in dealing with old injuries and their sequelae, but she also specifically addresses her own hip replacement, and how she used her methods to alleviate pain and speed/improve recovery. Hers was done many years ago, using much older methods, and her recovery was amazing.
I should mention that they have several newer ways of relieving pain, including using long acting local anesthetic agents in the surgery site during the surgery itself, circulating ice machines, etc, so that even for the pain you do have, you need a LOT lower doses of narcotics, for a lot shorter time than previously. The advances in medicine, despite my distaste for too much of the "touchy feely" crap that gets pushed (patient education is important- mis information and treating everyone like children or imbeciles (a MANDATORY "tour" of a hospital room and bathroom? REALLY?!! is ridiculous), the truth is, we now have the ability to correct and often cure conditions which would have been permanently disabling- and even life shortening- 50 years ago.
Summerthyme
