Just a note: Even when told you no longer need the walker or cane, be wary of where you will be when leaving to house or even at home. Even though some may see a cane or walker, many do not pay attention and disturb your space or intended path. Pets and children are often oblivious to a walking aid and/or do not understand why you may be using it.

In public, I carried my cane long past the time I was ready to put it away. More than a few time it came in handy blocking a playful child from running into me. Sad part is when I blocked the child, only once did the parent respond with a mild admonishment to the child to be careful of others. On the other half-dozen or so instances, I got a nasty glare from the parent for having the audacity to protect myself from their uncontrolled child.

Even though you may be walking with confidence, it only takes one relatively simple slip/nudge to put you back in the hospital.

Be careful and follow all the rehab directions.

Thanx, all good advice. Given the time of year, I likely won't be venturing out from the homestead too often excepting appointments and such.

All this puts a lot of extra work on my better half and I need to remember to tell her how much I appreciate it.

That's why she is your better half

That is a fact and cannot be disputed.

It has been exactly 1 month since I was discharged from the hospital following the procedure.

I had a 1-month follow-up today at the doctor's office.

I was asked to fill out an questionnaire regarding my opinions on my overall health, procedure specific health, and mental health. I was then taken to have some X-rays taken. Two pictures were taken: one straight on as I lay on a table and another from the side as I lay on my side.

The PA that I saw showed me copies of the X-rays and said everything looked great. Alignment was excellent and everything was in its proper place (although he used more doctor-speak language than I can remember to explain).

Incision looked excellent and was actually flaking off some of the surgical tape they used. He said cocoa butter would help that.

I had finished the oxycodone that I was originally given, and later got a script for Vicodin which I tolerate better. The oxy gives me weird dreams. For a few days now I had been trying to wean myself off the Vicodin and just use the acetaminophen. I was trying to gauge how much pain and where it was the last couple of days by not taking anything. That led me to discover that I still had some pain in my quad as well as along the upper buttock area. Also, my knees were very sore.

It was recommended that I continue on the pain meds taking each of the Vicodin and acetaminophen 3X daily spaced out. (Vicodin is 5 mg of Hydrocodone and 325 mg of acetaminophen.) Don't want to exceed 3k mg of acetaminophen in a day. So I will try that for a while. Obviously, with a goal of being able to drive a vehicle, the Vicodin has to be eliminated. Although I don't have enough strength in the leg to be able to lift it to the brake pedal yet, I need to continue to do the exercises that will help me to do that.

I will not need to go to outpatient physical therapy, but just continue to work on the exercises I've been given. I also no longer need to wear the dreaded T.E.D. compression stockings. While I still have some swelling on the operative leg, it is within reason and will continue to subside slowly.

I need to continue taking a drug called Gabapentin which helps the damaged nerve that was disrupted during the surgery. My entire outer thigh is numb to the touch, much like if I had a major shot of novocaine there. It will also help with "restless leg" syndrome.

I need to practice stairs, not just the one-at-a-time procedure that I do now. I only need to negotiate 2 steps to get from my garage into my house, and I haven't done that all that often anyway. So that will be a bit of a challenge.

I mentioned that on occasion that as I'm walking, I feel a "clunking" sensation in the hip. He said that was normal and things over the next 2-3 weeks would start firming up. In fact, he stated that within that 2 or 3 week period that I'd get to a point where I'd feel like I had "turned the corner" and things would start feeling a whole lot better.

I have follow-up appointments scheduled at 1 and 3 months.

Bonus for today's visit was that I was able to get injections in both knees to help alleviate the pain. Normally I wait until early April which is just prior to our HS softball season to get that done. Good news is that it's done for now; bad news is I'll have to see how long it remains effective.

Good to see you are improving! :D :cool:

You are taking some risky drugs, seem to be minimizing them, but be careful.

Not sure how you have personally reacted to Gabapentin, but it is a drug I would be very leery of. I know of a few doctors personally that will not prescribe it for anything.

My mother was on a large dose for years. After a change of doctors and conversations with him about her lethargy, lack of balance and mental confusion he suggested we take her off of it. It took almost 3 months to slowly taper off the drug and when we finally eliminated it she was much more sharp mentally, was not as lethargic and her balance improved.

My sister's doctor prescribed it to her for neuropathy. She took it for 3 days and said the entire time she was scatter brained, could not keep a train of thought to save her life and had no balance. She stopped taking it because the side effects were worse than the condition.

Hope it is working in your case, but something to watch out for.

Little skeptical over the lack of continuing rehab. But whatever works for you....

Thank you for the inputs. I'm not sure what you consider to be "a large dose". I am taking 300 mg before bedtime. How does that compare to what your Mom was taking?

I've taken it starting right after surgery while still in the hospital. I haven't exhibited any of the aforementioned side effects, knock on wood. Well, except for maybe the scatter brain aspect. ;)

I'm supposed to get a refill as my first script is almost out.

My Physical Therapist who comes to my house is of a similar opinion. She will be here tomorrow and I will discuss that further with her.

I have 2 ump buddies that have had the same procedure recently. One friend is 75 years old, bless him. He had an issue during his procedure where the insert cracked the bone into which it was being positioned. So he ended up being in the hospital for 3 weeks and then spent another 3 weeks in a rehab facility. He says he was able to drive following being discharged from the rehab.

My other buddy is 54 and has done extremely well. He was using a cane to get around mere days after his procedure. He's returned to work as a HS administrator and doesn't use his cane (which I admonished him about). He claims to have had excellent pain reduction. This guy had his procedure done 1 week before mine using the same surgeon. He was not advised to do any outpatient PT either.

Since I also have a 1 month follow-up with the surgeon, I will bring this up at that time again. I'll see how the next few weeks go and take under advisement any suggestions that my in-house therapist recommends.

Obviously, like discussing case plays in this forum (which I love) different opinions abound. Some surgeons have different ideas about medications, therapies, and the use of T.E.D. stockings. (During a pre-operation clinic, the nurse giving the overview mentioned that some doctors swear by them and others don't require them at all.)

Thanx again for any and all suggestions and thoughts. Never a bad idea to have as much information as possible.

I think my sister was on the same dose you are taking. My mom was on a HUGE dose. As I recall it was 500 or 600 MG 3 times a day. We were told the withdrawals can be horrendous so the doctor told us to break one oill in half, give that a couple of weeks, then another etc with 2 week intervals on each. It took about 3 months to finally eliminate it all together.

Glad to see you are progressing well.

Everyone is different and maybe you really don't need the additional therapy. The therapy for my knees were not the same since there were different conditions But for the same reason, don't let anyone talk you out of it if you and your present therapists believe it is necessary. Your surgeon should have a final report from your therapist before making a recommendation

My therapist's suggestions today were along the line of the differences between getting me able to perform normal day-to-day stuff like getting around my house, getting myself dressed, bathed, in and out of bed, doing the food shopping, etc., to the next level of getting out on the field doing "umpiring stuff".

I will admit that at this point, only 1 month removed from the surgery, that I'd be concerned about sufficiently and acceptably able to perform on the field coming out from behind the catcher, being in a proper set position, and on the bases to be able to pivot and chase down plays. That may be the next step where the outpatient activities would be necessary. So I'll have about a month to assess progress and then bring up the suggestion with the surgeon at my next meeting.

Make sure you don't lose any insurance coverage if there is a break in treatment/rehab.

My next follow up visit with the doc is on the 24th. In general, I'd say things are progressing well. I no longer feel the occasional "clunk" that I mentioned earlier. Not to say that I won't ever again, but it feels more comfortable.

I'm totally off the Vicodin at this point. I take Tylenol more for my back than for the hip at this point. And that is sporadic. Still on the Gabapentin with no obvious issues.

I've been practicing going up/down stairs in my house. Still a little weak when stepping up on the operative leg. I use both the railing and my cane when negotiating the stairs. After the first couple of days of doing the stairs I was surprised at how sore my calf muscles were. Apparently they weren't being used enough in that month following surgery. The soreness has subsided meaning the muscles must be strengthening.

I meander around the house often without the use of the cane. Especially in the kitchen area, there are plenty of things to reach out for if I need a little extra support.

Last Thursday I drove myself to the grocery store and did our food shopping. Driving was fine, no issues from gas to brake. I have a Fitbit One and that day I managed to record over 5k steps, the highest since surgery. I'm usually around 2k to 2.5k daily. I will say that by the end of the day my legs were very tired. If the weather improves, I may try walking up and down the street a bit. But it was 7 degrees this morning with a wind chill of -7, so I'm in no hurry to get out there other than taking the dog out for a quick piddle. If my dog poops, I can't bend over to pick it up, so I have to stay in my immediate yard area. She doesn't like the cold either!

I have a few appointments and errands coming up that I'll be able to drive myself to so that takes some of the burden off my wife. She's back to her regular work schedule as of last week.

While I can mostly dress/undress myself, I still need help with getting a sock on my right foot. I can now get a sock off, but need the sock aid to get it partially on. Then it needs adjusting around the toes and heel. But I'm making progress. Still thinking about being able to get plate shoes on! :eek: