I had my first post op follow up with the surgeon yesterday afternoon. He said everything was looking good and there was no need for more physical therapy.

No more physical therapy after just 1 month?! Why didn't I get a new hip years ago instead of just sucking it up and limping around for a full decade? WTF?! Awesome news for you though!

Did surgery number 2 yesterday. To be honest, if my first one had gone this way I would not have done the second one. It was horrible. I was scheduled for 11:00am check in and 1:00PM surgery. No food after midnight the night before, so I was starving when we started. They finally wheeled me back about 1:30. This surgery usually takes about an hour. My first one took 2 hours and this one took 3 hours. I woke up about 5 or 5:30. They asked me what my pain level was and I told them a 10. I was wrong. I think I ended up at a 15 or 16 before they did anything. The muscles in my leg were extremely traumatized. I have never in my life been in that much pain. It was time for a shift change, so none of the nurses there would give me anything because they had to stay 30 minutes after they give their last medication and nobody wanted to stay late. It took those assholes until 9:00 to give me anything for the pain. By then the kitchen was closed and I couldn't get anything to eat. My wife was scared to leave me there, so she couldn't go get me anything. I ended up going almost two full days without eating. They sent me home today and things are much better, but last night was the most horrible 3-4 hours of my life.

Why are you not able to use a cane as much? Is it a balance thing? Is it more painful? My surgery is coming up in just under a week, and they're telling me I'll be in a walker for a while, but I don't understand why I couldn't use crutches or a cane instead.

Had a full hip replacement yesterday evening and am eager for any useful information or short cuts.

Just got my last sets of squats/deadlifts for a few weeks. Looking forward to getting this thing over with tomorrow! There are so many restrictions on what you can/should/can't/shouldn't consume/do leading up to the surgery, I really hope I didn't jack it up. Got bit by an ant on Saturday. Hope they don't turn me away because of that for whatever reason. These are the things I'm most worried about...

I strongly discourage shortcuts. Your best bet is a serious discussion with your surgeon about paths to recovery. You will know a lot more about how things are going at your first follow up. My initial follow ups were/will be 3 weeks after surgery. At that point I was able to show the surgeon how seriously I was taking the recovery process and I believe it made him more comfortable in allowing me a little latitude in things I was doing to improve. I know I was often tempted on good days to do more than I should, which if I wasn't careful would lead to not being able to do what I was supposed to do the next day. For example, I'm just under two weeks out from my second surgery which did not go well and the recovery has not been as quick. I had worked my way up to about 4,000 steps per day by Friday (two days ago). But my wife and I have a Memorial Day tradition at the cemetery that I insisted we follow through with this year, pain be damned. Even being careful to minimize my steps prior to and at the cemetery I still ended up doing over 7,000 steps, much of it on less than ideal surfaces. I'm still paying for that today, and probably tomorrow as well. I made the choice and I'd do it again, but be aware of what overdoing it might mean for you. My surgeon put me on an app that gives me exercises every week that I'm supposed to do 3 times daily. They are usually pretty easy, so I up the reps or sets until it becomes a challenge. I feel like I've made significant progress by doing so instead of just doing the bare minimum. If you are going to have the other hip done in the not too distant future I recommend doing the physical therapy on that leg as well so it will already know how to do them when the time comes. I did that while rehabbing my first hip 3 months ago and I believe it made PT on the second leg much easier to do. I wish there was a magic pill, but there isn't. Listen to your surgeon and listen to your body. It will take some time to figure out how hard you can push without being counterproductive, but I think finding that out is key to recovery.

I don't know if it's the difference or not, but before my first one I was barely walking before surgery; maybe averaging 3k steps per day.

Honestly, I think that's a really good point. My hip was "good enough" that I could walk for miles. I probably averaged something like 11k steps a day, prior to surgery. I will admit I feel kinda worn out today, so maybe 8k+ steps in a day doesn't need to be an everyday goal. I really hate the walker as well. It's really horrible trying to navigate around the house and all the uneven terrain outside. I continue to be amazed by my ability level so soon after surgery, considering they cut out a fairly centralized joint, a major joint, and then just glued and sewed me back up and somehow it supports all my weight.