RTHR set for June 14th and scared!!!

[Poppet]

Hi David

Ditto Jamie... Your team will be well prepared if you have briefed them on your allergies. I had a similar situation due to a diagnosis of deteriorating kidney function found just days before my surgery.. Mine was due to NSAIDs. My husband also stopped the ICU specialist trying to put an outline in after many, many attempts, so stand on your dig (Aussie term for stay strong buddie) and remember you are the client.

Pre surgery anxiety is worse than the surgery and recovery in most cases.. So you are nearly there, hang in

p.s. so sorry about the car accident, do hope everyone is ok ?

 

[davidjb]

Good to know Sandy. Thank you. Ive heard from time to time that people sometimes find out some troubling things during their pre-op. I feel badly that you went through all the anxiety and extensive research before your surgery only to be hit with this a few days before. Hopefully you will regain your normal kidney function back again in short order. Yeah those NSAIDs are tough on the body. I knew about the GI irritation but I didn't know they stressed the kidneys so much. I even read somewhere that they can be associated with AVN.
I like your and Jamie's advice, and others: I am a big catstrophizer so I'm gonna work on "standing on my dig"?, ask for my back to be numbed before the spinal, tell em I'm a "tough stick", and request the "happy juice". Hopefully then everything will be manageable. Geez, Im such a whiner! They probably deal with 5 year-olds on a regular basis with more resilience than me.:th_heehee:

 

[forbesy]

David

You really don't have anything to worry about you are about to get a major surgeon to carry out a special piece of surgery on yourself to rlieve the constant pain you have been experiancing.
The clock is ticking all the best for your op.

Billy

 

[davidjb]

Thanks Billy. Point well taken, and a nice way to think about it. I'm trying to get a handle on all this stuff, and in keeping with your and Jamie's advice do it sooner rather than later, with a surgery date now for June 21.

 

[Jamie]

Don't think of it as "whining." Think of it as knowledgeable requests.....after all, that's what it is. You are wiser now that you're a BoneSmartie.

 

[Poppet]

Wahoo! David you will be on the road to a new quality of life after your THR on 21 June, you vent all you want, we are here to support you.. you will be fine David

and, thanks for the comments to me personally, I appreciate it

 

[davidjb]

RTHR in two days (June 21). The day is almost upon me. I am at peace (kind of). We'll see that morning. Was told by my OS on my pre-op that he prefers general anesthesia and thats how his team does these. I didn't argue, o.k. guess I don't have to worry about that spinal. But other concerns arise. I'm very concerned about "anesthesia awareness". I know its rare, but so is AVN in both hips, so is a cephelasporin allergy...etc. I've heard there is some kind of monitor that can be used to show brain activity in one who is supposedly "sedated" or in "deep sleep". Does anyone know the name of this device or what to request? I haven't spoken with the anesthesia nurse yet, but I hope they will use about five of these monitors with me. Phew! Thanks to everyone who has so kindly offered support.

 

[TracyW]

Hi David, I was also concerned about anesthesia awareness. I have had both with good success, but I know the machine you’re speaking of, it focuses on your pupils to detect changes and many of the larger hospitals have them up here. There are other ways the Anesthesia doc monitors you (heart beat, brain wave), I would just ask if they will be with you the entire surgery and to please make sure your comfy and sound asleep.

Good luck on your surgery, I am excited once healed, you'll have a better quality of life! Can't wait to read your posts on the other side!
Tracy

 

[bottomshollow]

David, with GA you should be out cold for the entire procedure. You won't know a thing until you wake up in the recovery room. You're going through the hardest part right now----the WAITING. You'll be asleep during the surgery, and when you wake up, it's recovery time. As long as your surgical pain is well managed, you should have no problems. My hip pain for 10 years was totally gone---and what surgical pain I had was nothing by comparison. And it should be the same for you. And you'll be wondering why you worried about all the little things you are fretting about now. Looking forward to your posts on the "other side". Take care, keep us posted, we care.

 

[debkakes]

Ah, David, you are in the nerves zone now! That's where I was 2 weeks ago. I hope you are able to take at least the day before your surgery off. Have a relaxing day, go to movie and DEFINITELY out for a nice dinner before you have to fast. Of all the options, GA is the one most certain that you will not know a thing until your surgery is done. The happy juice they give you as they wheel you into the theater will calm your nerves a lot. I remember the "pressure" of my spinal, but it lasted just a second or less. Oh, and what Judy says above? Absolutely true. The post-surgical pain is as nothing compared with what you went through before. It is a constructive, mending pain; not a destructive, debilitating pain. Good luck! and looking forward to keeping up with you in the Recovery area on the other side!

 

[sharonslp]

Are cephalosporin allergies rare? I thought they were right up there with penicillin allergies....I have both, sigh. I worry a bit about having lost two useful antibiotics. In last year's surgery, they gave me clindamycin instead, and I had no problem with it. But back in February of this year, I took clindamycin before a dental appointment, and had very unpleasant side effects for the next two weeks....the kind that require staying close to a bathroom at all times! Then I read about the concern with the c.difficile organism, and now I'm worried about taking it again.

We could worry ourselves right into never getting out of bed in the morning, so I just shove these worries to the junk drawer in my head and go about enjoying life. You will too, David, in a few weeks when the worst of this stuff is all over and you can start to marvel at your wonderful new hip. Best of luck on Thursday. I'll be watching for you on the other side.

Sharon

 

[davidjb]

Thank you all so much. You are really a god-send. This site and its wonderful members has changed my life and helped me through such a tough time. Phoooow, deep breaths...I got a little spooked because the UCLA pre-op materials indicated that opiate treatment for chronic pain can be a risk factor for experiencing anesthesia awareness. Geeeez, that's like 99% of us on this site in one form or another! Hopefully the anesthesiologist can allay some more of my fears. I hope he come packing a pupil detector, brain wave monitor, heart rate monitor and anything else there is!

Actually I'm really curious to see what the actual experience is like. I kind of just want to get there, to not only get it done, but to reconcile my fears and preconceptions with reality. All these months of anticipation and I'm just kind of anxious to see if my imaginations are even close. I'm anxious to get rid of the pain, but I think I've almost gotten used to it and hobbling around slowly like I'm 90. My mind is not really able to embrace that yet, I'm too caught up with the other stuff. I'll have to feel it to believe it. Maybe I haven't suffered as severely as some here too or for as long. My left hip is to follow shortly after, so unfortunately, I cannot completely say goodbye yet to hip pain. But yes, come Thursday I will be on the other side, with my trajectory moving toward recovery as opposed to decay.

Sharon, as far as 2nd generation cephalosporin allergies, a site I visited recently indicated it was a .001 % of the population kind of thing, but maybe it was in error, or I misread it. Its my understanding that one can be put on an antibiotic they are allergic to if they are pre-treated with IV steroids, antihestimine and adrenaline. So if really necessary, from my understanding, its still possible they could be used in a hospital environment but its obviously a very delicate procedure (don't try this at home).

Bilateral AVN of Hips 12/2011 age 38
DAA RTHR June 21, 2012

 

[sharonslp]

David, I don't know anything about "generations" in reference to drug allergies. I just know that after safely using Keflex a couple of different times, I suddenly broke out in hives. Goodby cephalosporins, according to my physician. So that's what I put down on all my records for drug allergies. I hope I am never in need of an antibiotic badly enough to require IV steroids!