Waiter, make it a double.

What about doing both at once?

If you’re in relatively good shape and thus getting the anterior or superior approach, and you are going to need them both done eventually, I strongly recommend getting the two-for-one special. Of course, this assumes:

• your surgeon believes you to be a good candidate for a double.
• your surgeon does double hip replacements.
• you can take more time off work. My surgeon said that recovery from a double is not twice as long but just 50% longer.
• you can have someone helping you for longer- At least two weeks full time help… maybe three weeks if you are more debilitated going into it.
• you can wait for a surgical date. If you are really debilitated and on a waiting list, it could be weeks longer you’ll be suffering.

Q: does it actually feel less cold if you inch your way into a cold pool?

• My friend Lonnie had chosen to do one at a time and was she was very anxious going into the surgery. She also had some other challenges, all of which resolved favorably, but it has left her dreading the second surgery every time she thinks of it.  Going for both is basically fully committing to this decision, and it could catalyze your motivation to do the preparation and work ahead of time to stack the deck in your favor.

Q: but don’t you need one good leg while the other one is healing?

• Is one of your hips worse than the other, presently?  That one will be squawking more during your recovery, but you will totally be able to walk around on both legs from Day One.  The ‘better’ leg going in will be a help when you go up and down stairs (I had three steps to get out of bedroom, but I found I could manage them from Day Three with crutches).

Q: It seems daunting… won’t there be twice as much discomfort, and the recovery twice as hard?  Or 50% harder?

• The key is have the right mindset going in and a plan for how to sustain your motivation and spirits.
• Then you have a set of tools for managing pain and inflammation that you know how and when to deploy. As long as you have options to control the discomfort and support the healing process, why not get this over all at once?

Q: You haven’t convinced me.

• Noodle around this site some more. Learn more about assembling your toolkit (heat, cold, Rx, somatics, essential oils/balms, pain reduction mind training)
• Observe how much you are chewing over the decision and how much of a distraction it is, and will be, after the first surgery and until the second. There is a liberation in committing fully and stepping forward into the (restored) life you are envisioning.