Birmingham Hip Resurfacing - Patient Journal

My name is Curt Witte and my BHR resurfacing procedure occurred on September 24, 2007 with Dr. Rogerson in Madison.

My team includes myself (age 54), Dr Rogerson and his staff, the nursing staff at Meriter Hospital, the PT staff at Meriter Heights (HipHab) and my wife (personal helper). Each member supplies a significant function in the success of the program.

Saturday, the 4th day at HipHab, was a beautiful day. I walked along the countertops in the kitchen without crutches. I had tightness in the quad muscles of my operative (left) leg but no pain. With PT completed, I am waiting to get staples removed and send home tomorrow. My appetite was low the whole time in the hospital. It probably was from the meds, and probably delayed the bowel movement until Saturday.

Looking back at the week, I had the surgery on Monday morning. I was late coming out of recovery by more than at hour and had no recall of anything until after arriving in my room (9 Tower). The nursing staff at Meriter Hospital was great. Monday night they had me place my feet on the floor for the first time. Oh, the pain. The patient in the bed next to me made several calls to nurses and with the lights going on and off, I got very little sleep. A private room would have been nice.

The Tuesday morning PT session was tough. It must have taken 5-10 minutes to get me from bed to the wheelchair. Every movement hurt. The PT staff continually reassured me that there was method to their madness and things would get better. The afternoon session was much better and I had better mobility. I finally accepted that the PT staff knew what they were doing and stopped fighting them. (I think I was the weak member of the team that day.)

Tuesday afternoon Dr. Rogerson stopped in to talk about the rehab process again. The point I remember was when he said I would not harm the operative leg by placing more weight on it. Understanding that, I went for a walk in the hallway later that night and made a point of stopping and standing, placing more weight on the operative leg. This reassured me that the Dr. was correct. I was not in pain doing it.
Overcoming my personal fear is my job in the process.

My wife was also reassured once PT started at HipHab. Seeing my condition from Surgery to Tuesday afternoon, she thought that taking me home Wednesday and having to transport me to PT sessions would have been very difficult for us both. In her mind, going home after surgery and not staying at HipHab would have produced significantly slower results.

PT sessions in the pool take the energy out of you. I would come back to my room and ice and elevate for about two hours. Rest is as important as exercise. Beads of sweat would run down my forehead from the slightest effort.

I was told I did not bleed significantly and am not bruised as much as some patients. I am tight in my groin and quad muscles but had little pain in those areas.

Friday afternoon after PT, my wife and I walked up to the Capitol and back. Then we walked over to Paisan's later for pizza.

I would rest, ice and elevate after each walk.

Later on Friday Dr . Rogerson called and asked to stop in to see me at Hip Hab. I told him I was doing fine and that stopping was not necessary. Saturday, Joanna called and also asked how I was doing. I told her unless she was intending to remove the staples, I saw no reason for her to stop in either. I was having no issues.

Saturday, my wife drove me down toward campus to where my son was working that morning and then to our house for about an hour. I got into the house and tested getting around, into and out of our bed and into the shower stall. I relayed my success to Joanna on Sunday.

My hip also survived a very intense Badger football win against Michigan State.

Joanna took the staples out by 9 AM Sunday morning and my wife and I were on our way home a few minutes later.

Final Note: People at work have also mentioned I now have a more positive attitude and even an occasional smile that may have disappeared over the last year (as my hip pain was increasing).

Thank you so much.
Curt Witte

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12/6/2007

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