As I write this post, I am exactly two weeks out from my hip replacement.
Although it’s a big surgery (and no surgery, let alone a big one, is an enjoyable experience) the post-op course has been smooth. I’ve needed no pain medicines other than the occasional Tylenol, I am able to stand pain free, and with a little support of a cane, I can do all of my normal activism of daily living without any problems. My next step is to wean off of my cane completely and get back to a normal walking program, and in a week or two I hope to be able to walk a quarter of a mile without my cane.
I did have a few advantages. First, I had the “Holy Trinity of Surgery”: an excellent surgeon, excellent staff, and an excellent system. And second, I had home field advantage: a very supportive wife who both pushed me and nursed me through every step at home.
But it’s also appropriate to appreciate how far medicine has come in the past few decades. My hip was replaced in a procedure that lasted less than two hours. I check in the hospital at 6:30 am and was at home, walking down the hallway, at 4:30 pm, relatively pain free. And by the next morning, I was able to stand—without any support—pain free, something I had been unable to do for over two years.
Healthcare, like all complicated systems, has its share of challenges, but when it works, it can do amazing things.