Re: how long was your hospital stay, and how long on crutches?

June 6, 2004

> Hi I'm Sonya. I'm 14 and just waiting for a date for surgery. I'm

> having a metal replacement I was just wondering how long of a hospital

> stay I should be considering? How long was your recovery time on

> crutches? Thanx again,

> Sonya

Hi, Sonya. I'm 48 and had metal replacements in *both* my hips a

little over 6 weeks ago. I was in the hospital for 5 days total (

really 4 1/2: operation on Tuesday morning, released the evening of

the following Saturday). I'm not sure which country you're posting

from. I'm in the United States, and the resurfacing surgeons here are

a lot more cautious than European surgeons, because metal resurfacing

is very new here and is still not a " standard " procedure. As a result,

they tend to keep patients on crutches a little longer than surgeons

in countries where this procedure has been done longer. Most surgeons

here tell their patients to use crutches until they've had X-rays

taken at 6 weeks after the operation to see how well the bone has

grown into the replacement.

I was impatient and had my X-rays taken at a little less than 5 weeks.

My doctor (Dr. Amstutz in Los Angeles) told me it was okay for me to

stop using crutches at that point (although I'd stopped using them

around the house a few days earlier). Anyway, I had a very nice 3 mile

hike yesterday. I took one crutch with me in case my hips got tired,

but I didn't use it at all.

Steve (bilateral C+ 4/20/04, Amstutz)

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