The New Hip - Now With A Picture!

I'm officially part titanium and part ceramic, now with pictorial proof.

The doctor took off the dressing, examined the incision, and was happy with what he saw. 

The incision looks good, no signs of infection or other issues.  He covered it with a steri-strip and gave some more instructions for caring for it.

The area around the incision is rather raw and has razor burn from them shaving the area.Also still rather swollen, which is to be expected.

X-rays taken shows everything is in the right spot and the surgery was a great success.

The spike into the leg bone is titanium and was press-fit into the bone during the surgery. It has a rough-textured matrix on the outside designed for the bone to grow and attach to the spike, further securing it and cementing the two parts together.

The ball is ceramic.

The cup at the hip bone is titanium with a slippery smooth plastic insert.   The cup, like the spike, has a rough-textured matrix on the outside. It also will have the bone grow and attach itself to the cup and, like the spike, the cup will be cemented to the bone and the screw will become a backup rather than primary attachment point.

Yes, that is a titanium screw at the top securing the cup to my hip bone.

I can now honestly and 100% accurately say I've been screwed.

The titanium is actually stronger than the bones it now holds together.  The worry from falling is dislocating it as everything settles in, or breaking the bones around it. So falling is highly undesirable and contra-indicated at this point.

Theoretically, I can have a normal and full range of movement in all directions as the leg will no longer be impinged by the arthritic hip.  Pretty impressive what modern medicine can do.

Looking forward to making that full range of motion happen.

Got discharged from at-home physio and had my first out-patient PT session today.

Started with a warm up and then we got right to it.  I had walked in with a cane.

They put a belt around my waist for safety, with the therapist holding an end and then had me walk unsupported for the first time since January 13.  

A very strange feeling. I walked essentially unsupported: forward, tip-toe, heel-toe, sideways, and backward and then marching in place.  

Then onto a balance board which was fun.  Then lying down doing all sorts of exercises.  Finally the exercises were done and I got a heat-wrap around the hip, and then a special ultra-sound machine designed to relax the muscles and break up some of the swelling and scar tissue.

A rather intense hour and I'm definitely feeling it now. This is going to be a lot of effort but it's going to be good.