Dairy
of a dancer's hip
Steve Morrall travelled
to Clinique Sainte
Isabelle on July 19 2006 for an operation to replace his right hip
joint with a titanium cobalt prosthesis (Birmingham hip) due to
osteoarthritis. His hip replacement was undertaken by Docteur Phillipe
Renaux on Friday 21 July after which he spent the next 12 days in
hospital under the superb care of the nursing staff at Ste Isabelle. |
Friday
July 21 |
Surgery at 9am , back in bed
at 10.30. The epidural anaesthetic is still in effect and I have a
booster button to manage pain when needed. I am clear-headed and
comfortable. I call Debbie to let her know I am OK and enjoy lunch.
Easily fatigued, I sleep most of the afternoon. Dr Renaux makes his
daily check in the evening. |
Saturday
July 22 |
My right leg is held in
position by a leg-shaped bolster which makes me lay on my back all the
time. My buttock muscles are the first to complain when the epidural
wears off. Regular blood pressure and drip monitoring visits during the
day. When I sleep, I feel an anaesthetic induced numbness come back to
my lower torso and legs |
Sunday
July 23 |
I realise during Saturday
night that I am not sleeping normally. I wake instantly from a deep
nothingness and then cannot get back to sleep. Tonight I will try to
sleep without a sleeping pill. I am allowed out of bed to sit. The days
become a welcome routine of breakfast at 8.15, lunch at 12 and supper
at 5. The drain is removed from the wound and I see the incision for
the first time. There is no bruising - the two week course of arnica
paid off. |
Monday
July 24 |
I walk! OK its with a zimmer
frame and only for a few steps. A least I can stop using the bedpan and
have a proper pee! The smallest effect causes great lethargy. I ask Dr
Renaux if I lost a lot a blood as any effort makes me light-headed. He
shows me my charts and assures me I am not anaemic. |
Tuesday
July 25 |
I progress from zimmer to 2
elbow crutches and walk a little 2 or 3 times a day. The dressing is
changed every two days. I try to keep awake during the day so I sleep
better at night. Every day we are given an injection in the stomach to
reduce the risk of blood clots. |
Wednesday
July 26 |
1 week down, 1 to go! I
realise I don't need painkillers, and accept the pills (just in case)
and manage without them. Walking with 1 elbow crutch and visiting other
patients. Every time I walk, I get a severe headache. The french
analgesics don't seem to treat it. I ask Debbie to post some
Paracetamol. |
Thursday
July 27 |
1 week down, 1 to go! I
realise I don't need painkillers, and accept the pills (just in case)
and manage without them. Walking with 1 elbow crutch and visiting other
patients. I venture down to reception for a coffee. |
Saturday
July 29 |
Arnauld the physiotherapist
gives me 5 exercises to do 5 times a day. Two are particularly
difficult but that gives me a benchmark for improvement. Pain au
choclat for breakfast! Paracetamols arrive with chocolate. I am in
heaven. |
Wednesday
August 2 |
Debbie meets me on the UK side
of the channel tunnel after a hours drive and a 30 minute train ride
through the tunnel. The 2 hour drive home is uncomfortable and needs a
lot of fidgetting around. |
| Week 3 |
Some days I feel full of
energy and can 'push' my body. Other days, I have no energy and take
long siestas. I attend one of our events on the Saturday after I get
back home and enjoy seeing friends. Sunday I spend mostly horizontal. |
| Week 4 |
The wound is massaged daily
with vitamin E oil to promote healing. Some days it is very itchy. I
walk daily but still get tired easily. Will I ever be able to put my
right sock on? |
| Week 5 |
I see a
physio who works with
post hip op patients as I suspect I am starting to compensate with
other muscles as i walk and do not want to get into bad habits. I am
given more exercises and assured that my recovery is excellent. With
energy levels returning I co-host a late night event without feeling
completely drained. Saturday 26 August, I try dancing a tango and
realise that muscles that hold my pelvis in axis are too weak making my
pelvis collapse mid-step. These muscles feel much deeper than the
ones that are being worked with my physio. I shall have to emulate
dance steps in my exercises to strengthen them. |
| Week 6 |
I try a dancing a tango and
notice that making a axis on my new hip is difficult. Muscles holding
my pelvis in balance are still collapsing. For the rest of the week I
add a
'marching on the spot' exercise to my routine and increase the time I
stay on each left and right axis. On the following Sunday, I am able to
dance with better pelvic control. |
| Six months |
Our
Christmas dance party was a real milestone in mobility and energy. My
limp has almost completely gone (unless I am tired). I danced from 8pm
until midnight, with breaks for meeting and greeting, and I am really
starting to feel my old self. I now have confidence to lead a party of
60 dancers for a weeks tango holiday on the Nile in March. |
| One Year |
Looking
back over the last six months, I can see a pattern of recuperation that
goes up and down. It seems that the strength and recovery of one set of
muscles reveals the weakness of a deeper muscle. I listen to my body
more and rest when I need to. I can put my socks on. I can dance and
teach and move normally. I have put on several pounds as I am not
as active as normal. I find bike rides a good way to let off steam and
get very aerobic without stressing my new hip joint. |
| Sixteen months |
I am
now back to full time, teaching, dancing, and organising events. Most
days
I don't even think about being bionic. Ocassionally, I get a twinge of
muscle ache or the scar itches. Sometimes when I dance by hip joint
'grates' and, to me. it sounds very loud. Apparently it will take 2
years for the joint to seat itself and polish the surfaces so this
should disappear. Its no problem - it often happens in a slow quiet
move
in the dance and is a bit of a shock. Earlier this month, I taught 9
days in a row and danced most days until midnight. I am very relieved
and grateful to have recovered this superb level of energy and mobility
compared to my pre-op condition. |
|
Tango
improves balance, mobility in patients with Parkinson's
disease
Read a summary of a study by an American University on using tango to treat patients with Parkinson's disease. MORE
Steve
Morrall dancing
Tango after a titanium hip resurfacing.
Almost two years have gone by
since my new hip was installed and most
days I don't
even think about being bionic. I am incredibly relieved and happy to be
back teaching and dancing without any pain and feel I have regained
most of my dance stamina and flexibility. I am indebted to you all for
your support and kind wishes during this period and know that my
recovery has been speeded and eased by the raft of support you have
provided.
Hip
resurfacing and bionic dancing
The
technological and medical marvel is pictured above. This is my new
titanium cobalt french hip as installed by Dr Philippe Renaux at
Clinique Ste. Isabelle in Abbeville, France and arranged by People
Logistics in the UK. The strange vertical lines above left of the joint
are metal staples (stitches).
Pictured above (l) Steve and
Georgie (r) .
Below:
Anche Francaise
Read
other articles about dancers who have undergone THR or hip resurfacing.
CLICK
HERE
Performing onstage in March 2008
|
