THR At home from outpatient THR surgery today!

Joe33426

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Hi Everyone,

I had surgery this morning and I’m home now. Reported to hospital at 5:30 a.m. and was released around 12:30 p.m. Based on the great advice on the pre-op board, we decided not to do the hotel overnight last night or tonight. And so glad we stayed at home last night.

Sitting here in my recliner and going to put some ice on my hip. Pain is under control right now and I’m feeling pretty good thanks to all the great advice on this website!!!

Joe
 
Great news! Glad to hear your safely home and resting comfortably. We’ll be here for support and appreciate your kind sentiment. Please stay in touch, we’d love to follow your progress.
Happy Healing!

As you begin healing, please keep in mind that each recovery is unique. While the BoneSmart philosophy successfully works for many, there will be exceptions. Between the recommendations found here, your surgeon's recovery protocol and any physical therapy you may engage in, the key is to find what works best for you.

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. Here is a week-by-week guide

6. Access to these pages on the website

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask the at each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Hi, it’s great to hear that you are home and comfortable, keep posting to let us know how your recovery is going.
 
@Joe33426 Welcome to the other side! Hope your recovery is going well. Please update when you feel up to it. Many of our members are heading for outpatient surgery and will really benefit from hearing about your experience.
 
@Joe33426 Welcome to the other side! Hope your recovery is going well. Please update when you feel up to it. Many of our members are heading for outpatient surgery and will really benefit from hearing about your experience.

Hi @Jaycey thanks for the message! At this point, I’m so glad I decided and stuck with having outpatient surgery. I felt so good the day of surgery. When I came out of surgery my head was so clear and by the time I was back in the recovery room, I was in very little pain and felt fantastic. Someone in my pre-op questions mentioned that with the pain block on the day of surgery that I’d feel pretty good. I didn’t realize how good I would feel. Getting out of the hospital, getting into the car, and getting home (1.25 hour drive) was a breeze. My original plan was to stay in a hotel near the hospital and not do the drive home the day of surgery. I’m so glad we left the hospital and went directly home. Yesterday would have been much tougher to make that trip.

By later in the night after surgery, my surgery leg started to feel sore and stiff. It wasn’t unbearable, but definitely not as good as I felt leaving the hospital. I didn’t sleep a bit on the night after surgery. I think it was because I tried to sleep on my back, which isn’t something I do, and perhaps having the leg flat. It was miserable. I did some research using the recovery post that @Layla posted, and order a pillow thing to put under my legs and last night was 100% better than having my legs straight.

When I’m sitting in my recliner, my pain is at a very low level, but when I move or stand up, it’s really sore and painful. I have a lot of swelling, so I’ve been icing 20 or so minutes every hour, but it’s really swollen. I’m thinking that I probably should be elevating in my recliner too. I’m still using the walker and don’t feel confident at this point to use just a cane. I’m thinking that this is all normal based on the recovery advice thread.

I’m supposed to go to PT tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m., but that should be interesting. One OS (not the one who ultimately performed my surgery) told me after a couple of weeks no more PT, just walking. His approach is a lot like what is described here about PT almost being a negative thing if the therapist pushes too hard and you get more pain from PT than better.

I’m going to try to shower today, but I didn’t fix that situation as good as I did the rest of the house. I ordered a non-skid mat that should be arriving this morning, so I think that I’ll wait for that. I only have a step down into the shower and the shower has a built in bench which is about the same height as most of the shower benches, so I never ordered a bench. I think I will be fine just standing. I think I’ll feel better after showering.

I can see that recovery is going to be a long and slow process. I’d definitely do the outpatient option again when I have to do my left hip at some point. The information on these forums has been vital in preparing for and knowing that I’m progressing in my recovery. Thanks again for the post!
 
I have a lot of swelling, so I’ve been icing 20 or so minutes every hour
Try icing 45-60 minutes per session several times per day. A 20 minute session really doesn't address that internal swelling.
I’m still using the walker and don’t feel confident at this point to use just a cane.
Use the walker as long as you need it. There is no rush to transition to a cane. You an even take the walker into the shower if it fits. It's all about staying secure at this stage - no falling allowed!
 
Hi @Joe33426
Congratulations on your shiny new hip.
Your poor traumatized leg will appreciate you babying it and keeping it stable with the walker.
That first shower, for me, was glorious... exhausting and a bit scary...but glorious.:) :-) (:
Power naps in my recliner were common for me as bed sleeping was a bit difficult the first weeks... actually I was usually up within a few hours to go to bathroom and spent the rest of the night in my chair.
All temporary, but will be well worth it in the end!:tada:
 
At only two days post op, you sound…normal! Thanks for updating.
I agree with, Jaycey, on the icing. I was an icing fanatic and iced almost non-stop in the very early days and first couple weeks. Please don’t do anything that hurts at PT tomorrow. I hope you have a PT that is gentle and easy to say NO to, if necessary.
I think I will be fine just standing. I think I’ll feel better after showering.
You will feel great after showering, especially once you’re back in your recliner. You're wise to wait for the delivery of your non skid mat for safety. Also, I’d advise you have someone within ear shot for the first couple showers until you establish a routine and feel steadier on your feet. Personally, I felt just a tad weak during my first shower, could have been nerves, so it was quick, but efficient. I actually hauled my walker into the shower, for support, just in case. I don’t have a built in shower bench as you do in case you feel the need to sit. That would be quite a hard surface though, you may want to place a big bath towel down for some cushion if you plan to sit. Obviously it will become saturated, but at least you’d be more comfortable.
Hope today is a good one!
 
congratulations! You had your hip done the same day as me. My story sounds like yours except that I spent two nights in hospital. For some reason my blood pressure wouldn’t cooperate and come up. Another was they couldn’t get my pain under control . By Sat late afternoon the tried me on another med and bingo it worked. I went home yesterday. I have very little pain unless I walk too much but other than that I’m fine. Best wishes for your continuing progress
 
I showered the day after I got home from THR. I did have a handle in the shower to hold as I stood. One thing I paid attention to was not pivoting on my OP leg to turn around in the shower. Of course all I could do was look at my feet and use a sponge on a stick to wash them.
 
Good morning! I’m 5 days out and have a lot of swelling and stiffness in my hip. I’m icing, elevating, and don’t think I’m overdoing it. I’ve read a bunch of recovery posts and it seems that I’m progressing as expected, but I’m just wondering about all this stiffness and swelling in my surgery leg. The upper portion of my hip is quite large and very firm. I’m wondering if it would be good for me to do some mild stretching? I can’t lift my surgery leg only a couple of inches off the floor, so I was thinking I could work on that. I also can’t bend my surgery leg at the knee. It goes back a little bit, but not as much as my “good” knee. Or, should I just take it easy and let the healing progress. I’m thinking the later, and that I’m probably just being impatient. My surgery leg is also quite black-and-blue and at this point I think has stabilized, but for days it was getting bigger and bigger.
 
Hello Joe,
At 5 days post op I wouldn't advise doing anything strenuous. I had lots of bruising and it went away over a period of maybe 10 days.
My operated side was also quite a bit larger than non operated. I remember going to nurses station and asking why it was so swollen. They must have thought I was nuts. But I didn't have time to learn or prepare for my surgery, knew nothing about hip replacement or recovery. Fell, broke hip and in OR, so thank goodness for this forum because I learned so much and have enjoyed the journey with so many others going through recovery.
You are young so you have that going for you. Right now relax, ice, take your meds, use bathroom, grab a snack and maybe walk around the house a few times a day. It gets better, believe me it does.
I wish you the best.
 
Hi @Joe33426
Yessir, I think you may be impatient.
I had the uncooperative "log leg" and things are just really traumatized and trying to heal.
You certainly can work on trying to lift your leg higher when you are up, but this is mostly a time thing and you needn't worry this early out.
Considering they have to make an incision, tease muscles apart, cut off the top of our femur, ream out space for a stem, place a liner in for the ball...you get the picture...
we needn't be surprised that at 5 days out...there is a lot of trauma still settling.
Ice and rest is your best tools right now.
All Temporary my friend.
Stay Chilled:ice:
 
Hi @Joe33426
Yessir, I think you may be impatient.
I had the uncooperative "log leg" and things are just really traumatized and trying to heal.
You certainly can work on trying to lift your leg higher when you are up, but this is mostly a time thing and you needn't worry this early out.
Considering they have to make an incision, tease muscles apart, cut off the top of our femur, ream out space for a stem, place a liner in for the ball...you get the picture...
we needn't be surprised that at 5 days out...there is a lot of trauma still settling.
Ice and rest is your best tools right now.
All Temporary my friend.
Stay Chilled:ice:

Thanks @Mojo333 ! I had a feeling that I am just being a little impatient.
 
Hello and congrats on that shiny new hip! So happy to read your update and see you were able to get home on the first day. There's really no place like home.

As others have advised, I wouldn't be doing any stretching. I think walking will help your stiffness and ease some of the swelling.
I was advised to walk about 50 steps with each bathroom break for the first couple of days then increase to 100 steps and so on.

Maybe you would like to try some simple techniques to move some edema? It's a manual lymphatic technique and can be quite helpful, especially if you do it a couple times a day.

I found that getting comfortable, with my legs elevated was most effective. I also added a link to take you to an article for proper elevating of the legs.. I hope this helps!

****
Take deep breaths.. deep, as in breathing in to a count of 3 or 4, whatever is best for you. hold it for another count of 3-4, then blow out completely, still using the count that's comfortable for you. A series of at least 6 of these could help get your excess swelling to move. To ensure you are taking proper deep breaths, place your hand on your naval and watch while taking in your breath, if doing this properly you should see your hand move up.

Then, as you slowly breath out, to the same count of either 3, 4 or 5 gently press down and slightly upwards with the palm of your hand.
Do this whenever you feel up to it during the day or night. The more supine that you can get in the recliner or bed, the more effective this can be.. you have lymph nodes located in your groin and sitting up too much can cause a restriction of the lymph flow.

You can, after the breathing, place your hands lightly on your upper thigh, right where the crease is in your groin and lightly stroke upwards towards your naval.
I did this quite a bit post op and while it takes a while for the body to wake up and respond, it will and it will help get the swelling moving.
The reason this can help is because many of our lymph nodes are located in our abdomen. Our breathing combined with moderate pressure over our naval can help to "prime" our lymph system.
****


https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/elevation-the-dos-and-donts.7602/
 
Are you icing long enough? I iced continually and it helped the swelling and bruising. While you're resting if you can stand it watch a video of the surgery, if not there are animation videos also. The big thing is to understand what was actually done to our bodies. If you dislocated your shoulder they would immobilize it and stretching and exercising would not be recommended. It's absolutely amazing that we can walk immediately post op.
 
Hello and Happy Wednesday, Joe!
Not only does, CricketHip, share this very useful technique and walk you through the process, but Jamie from Admin also shared some info I was unaware of, as I’m sure many others are also. Jamie shared that It is our lymph system that rids the body of fluid (swelling). So you want to get the fluid to the lymph nodes in your torso area so your body can more quickly process it. The lymph system works rather slowly on its own and much more efficiently with the assistance of gravity. The fluid isn’t draining into the hips, but contained with the lymph system and moving to the torso and lymph nodes located there.

Also, I read this recently - After a sports injury or surgery, lymph vessels can become overwhelmed with the demand placed on them. When tissues are swollen, deep tissue techniques may actually cause damage to the lymph vessels and surrounding structures. Lymphatic massage is often the treatment of choice, because it helps the body remove proteins and waste products from the affected area and reduce the swelling. This helps reduce pressure on cells and allows them to reproduce faster to heal the body. I encourage you to try the technique, CricketHip, shared above.

I hope today is a good one!
@Joe33426
 
@CricketHip and @Layla Thank you both so much! This is awesome information. I'm doing some internet searching on lymphatic massaging and I think that this could definitely help me. The swelling in my leg kind of looks like lymphedema and it's very firm to the touch. It's not hot to the touch, so I don't think it's an infection or DVT.
 
No, please don’t be troubling yourself worrying about infection or blood clots without symptoms pointing in that direction. Swelling is normal to varying degrees, now and for weeks and even months to come for some. Relax and get busy icing, elevating and massaging as CricketHip shared. You’re only 5 days post op.
 
Will be interested in how you fare with the MLD Techniques.
Just remember that it only requires a light touch.
The swelling will ebb and flow for a while but it should give you some relief.
 

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