THR Grasstuft's RTHR (22 July 2022) Recovery Journey in UK

Day 18 evening
Monday 8th August 2022
The heat is on

20.37 pm

I finished my antibiotics today, so hopefully my appetite will return tomorrow. I'm no longer a slave to the clock.:loveshwr:

Physio went well this morning, despite an incident in the car on the way there. Within a couple of minutes of starting off, it felt like my bum was on fire. I mentioned it to my wife, and she looked at the dashboard and realised that my heated seat was on full blast. Somehow it must have been turned on by accident. It was not a pleasant experience, like getting burning leg pain in the day, as well as burning bum.

I have some new exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in my operated leg. I was expecting to have another physio session in a couple of weeks, but instead I've been signed up for a joint rehab class on 31st August. I also successfully managed to refill my Codeine prescription at the hospital. Not sure how long I will need them, but I have enough for another week.

As I don't need to take antibiotics overnight anymore, I'm not going to set any alarms tonight. I have another dose of painkillers lined up for 2.30am or later if needed. It would be nice to think I could get a good night's sleep for once we shall see.
 
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Day 19 early hours
Tuesday 9th August 2022
3.47 am

The ice pack worked well enough to numb the pain that it allowed me about another 3 hours sleep. When I took my pain meds, I was nearly an hour overdue.

I got up and went to the loo, and returned to find my doggy laying right beneath my pillow. Usually she moves pretty quickly if I hint at coming back to bed. Not today, I had to nudge her gently, she's so out of it.
 
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Day 19 evening
Tuesday 9th August 2022

10.36 pm

Today was a good day, and I actually got things done instead of wanting a nap after being up for an hour or two. I got a fairly decent amount of sleep last night, 6 hours com

I received two letters today regarding my visits to the hospital last week to see the stand-in orthopedic surgeon, and the second confirmed that I did have cellulitis (deep tissue infection), which thankfully has cleared up after taking antibiotics for a week. I am hopefully seeing my surgeon on Thursday or Friday, now he's back from holiday to follow up.

I was going to say hopefully I will get a good night's sleep, before I realised that the burning leg pain has just started. I've taken the Codeine half an hour early, and hope it kicks in soon, so that I can get some sleep.
 
Day 20 early hours
Wednesday 10th August 2022
1.11am

Woke up at 1am, removed warm ice pack, and realised that I am not in pain.
:wowspring:

Now to get back to sleep.

1.42 am
Still awake, and the pain has returned (burning and some RLS), it's about a 5.

Before I forget, water now tastes as it should do once more without the nasty metallic taste. I'm not sure what caused this; it started the day after I was released from hospital (day 3), subsided for a few hours on day 10 following the removal of half my surgical clips, and then subsided again for a few hours on day 13 when the rest of my surgical clips were removed. That's why I think it was related to the clips. It can't have been the antibiotics as I didn't start them until day 10.

I received the USB-powered device that is supposed to help with RLS, which I found and ordered online in the early hours of Monday morning. It is the only device that is recognised to help with RLS, and was designed by an orthopedic surgeon. You are supposed to use it for 3 x 10 minute sessions, I only had time for two sessions last night, but am going to try it while the pain is ongoing to see if it helps. [Edited to add: I think it did help, as I had no more pain last night.]
 
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Day 20 early hours
Wednesday 10th August 2022
5.42 am

Awake after just under 4 hours of sleep. Time for some more sleep still!

I forgot to add that I wasn't in pain, and I did actually manage to get another hour.
 
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I hope you got some more sleep. And wake to enjoy a beautiful morning. Or even afternoon, depending on your sleep :SUNsmile:
 
Morning, thank you for writing about your experiences. I am following your posts with interest.
I am waiting for a THR on my right side. I am abroad at the moment at a resort with a lot of steps. I'm exercising in the pool and sea so Im hopefully doing the right things to build up my hip muscles
I wish you well
Take care...
 
I hope you got some more sleep. And wake to enjoy a beautiful morning. Or even afternoon, depending on your sleep :SUNsmile:
Thank you so much. I actually woke up at 7am and ended up staying up, as I didn't feel like going back to bed, and had things to do. It probably is a beautiful day out there but in England it's the start of a 5 day heatwave, so all the blinds and curtains are closed with strategically closed windows (on the hot side).
Hope you're having a lovely day.
 
Morning, thank you for writing about your experiences.
You are most welcome. I find that posting helps to keep my mind off the pain when I'm experiencing it, and it is so useful to record what is actually happening because I have a lousy memory, especially when I am in pain or haven't had enough sleep. I am seeing my surgeon again on Friday, a month early because of the cellulitis. I will be able to make some notes from my posts here to take with me. The final reason is as a personal record, because I know there is a left TSR in my future.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday.
I am following your posts with interest.
I am waiting for a THR on my right side.
I wish you luck with your THR and hope you will post about your experiences too.
I am abroad at the moment at a resort with a lot of steps.
Oh dear for the steps, but it's good exercise even if there's pain involved.
I'm exercising in the pool and sea so Im hopefully doing the right things to build up my hip muscles
I wish you well
Take care...
Sounds like you are indeed. I am a firm believer in being as prepared as possible, and that includes doing everything the doc/physio says.
 
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Just want to echo all the advice about ankle swelling, it is quite normal and in my case it took a few months to resolve. Sitting for long periods of time made it worse, and generally I was swollen at day’s especially after a lot of walking around. My leg swelling lasted about three weeks but the ankle was pesky. Ice, elevate, and try to reduce the salt in your diet, that will help as well. Happy to see you are being a great patient advocate for yourself, best thing you can do in recovery.
 
Hello @Shadowstar1951!
Welcome to BoneSmart. Thanks for joining us! I am wondering about your surgery date and which hip you'll have replaced? We'd love for you to start a thread so we can support you on your journey. After all, that's one of the main purposes of the forum, supporting others. There is a lot of great info to be found here along with the encouragement you'll receive from those healing ahead of and right along with you. Please join us!

Starting a new thread and posting
 
Day 20 afternoon
Wednesday 10th August 2022

Overdoing it (part 1)

I got a reasonable amount of sleep (about 5-6 hours) and had a pretty active morning from 7-12 am mainly doing household chores, although I did watch half an hour of TV after breakfast. I realise now that 7-12 am is actually five whole hours, and it's way longer than I intended. So maybe I overdid it a little, okay, I admit it I overdid it a lot. I did stop for a break every now and again, honest, but knowing me probably not enough times. Thankfully, I feel fine this afternoon after about an hour's nap (elevated legs with hip iced).

I was going to have breakfast when I got up at 7 am, do a few chores including putting the dry laundry away, call the GP and then go back to sleep for a bit, but it didn't work out that way.

Prescription and allergy woes
At 8 am I called my GP to try to get a doctor to call back me back, so I can finally get my prescription for a sugar free laxative and itchy pills (Piriton). As it turned out, I got through at 8 am but there was a recorded message saying there was some kind of incident at the surgery, so it would take them longer than usual to answer, and to call back later if it was not urgent. Well, potential constipation and itching up a storm are both urgent for me, but I decided not to bother, as I couldn't deal with the stress of being told "No" again. Last week it took them 4 days to refuse my request because they had no proof I still needed this medication, and yesterday when despite having the proof as confirmed by the lady on the phone, I was told that I probably wouldn't get a prescription for over the counter medication. I replied that was not true, as I had got a prescription for a month's supply of Paracetamol the week before. I was then told to call in the morning to make an appointment with a doctor. As for the Piriton, I can raid my doggy's supply, although if she sees me do it she gets all excited because she thinks it's for her and she's going to get some ham. We buy Piriton in bulk (500 pills at a time), because she has to have a half pill every 12 hours for a dust allergy. If we go over she sneezes, and does what we call 'carpet swimming' where she rolls around the floor and tries to scratch that itch. I sympathise, as I'm also allergic to the house dust mite (and feathers), but since my adult years has thankfully become only an occasional annoyance. When I was a kid, I had a nasal spray for when I had an attack, after finally being diagnosed with a skin pin prick allergy test. When it was bad I used to attempt to rub my nose off my face. One time I was staying at my grandparents in a bed with both feather pillows, and a vacuum cleaner (full of dust no doubt) underneath the bed. That was not a pleasant experience, I can tell you.

Overdoing it (part 2)
Crikey, where was I? I got sidetracked again. That's another thing I'm really good at. Ah, yes I'd had breakfast, and watched a bit of TV, fed and watered the dog, and then noticed the roll of foil tape sitting on the bathroom window ledge that my wife bought last summer for heatwaves, and forgot about. I didn't even know that it existed until yesterday, as I'd mentioned we needed to do something about the bathroom window as the sun streamed in there in the afternoon, and heated up the place. So I then spent the next several hours (who knew it would take so long?) cutting pieces of tape to size and fixing them to both panes of the bathroom window to stop the sun from coming in. It really needs a pull down blind, but we are moving soon so it won't be our problem any longer.

Before (one window) at 8.42 am
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After

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Exercise time

Next I was going to have a shower, so got all ready before I realised that it would be sensible to do my morning set of hip rehab exercises before showering instead of after. It was too hot in the lounge, which receives the morning sun, so I decided to do them in the study. My desk chair was in the lounge, so I came up with the ingenious plan of raising my height adjustable desk and grabbing hold of that instead of a chair, which worked so well I am now always going to do it this way.

I was half way through my exercises when my wife entered to hang some washing up on the airer, laughed at me doing my exercises in the nude and said "What are you doing?" Well, wasn't it obvious? I was naked because I had just been about to get into the shower, and why dress again to exercise, especially on a hot day. :running:

They are standing exercises mainly, which is fine by me. There's one laying down exercise (gluteal, the last one in the picture below), but I haven't got around to incorporating it yet, as it requires laying on the sofa in the lounge and I can only do that first thing currently as it's too hot after 10am. I know that I can't do it on the bed because it doesn't work on memory foam (I had to do the same exercise for the physio rehab when I strained my right groin last year), so I need to do it on a hard surface. The only one that hurts every time so far is number 3 (Hamstring exercises/knee flexion). I'm hoping it will get better over time, and isn't a sign that the OA in my right knee is flaring up again. My favourite is 4 (calf raises/heel raises), as I find it the easiest. My least favourite is 5 (mini squats) because I'm not very good at sticking my bum out, for some reason.

I am able to sit on the sofa now to watch TV, as I can easily get up using one hand on the arm or by pressing both hands down on the sofa below me. Last night I was conscious of making sure I got up every 30 minutes at least, to ensure my operated leg did not get too stiff. I managed to watch two whole episodes of the awesome new Netflix show The Sandman, before feeling tired and wanting to go to bed just before 10pm. However, after about 45 minutes in I noticed my operated leg feeling stranger than normal, with a tingling feeling. As soon as I did this afternoon's new exercises my leg started tingling again. I now realise that yesterday was the first full day of doing these exercises (3 times a day 3x10 repetitions each), so it seems this is not something to worry about but is part of my recovery journey.

These are my pre-op/0-2 weeks post-op exercises.

IMG_20220810_161357k.jpg IMG_20220810_161423k.jpg
I prefer the new standing ones, as some of the others above were a right pain to do because they required sliding my foot on a plastic bag, which would invariably decide to move after a few reps, so I had to reposition it. Once my log leg disappeared and my right operated leg decided I could control it again, they became easy enough to do on silk sheets without a plastic bag.

A lucky escape from a possible hip dislocation
If you've been reading my journey, then you may remember that I leant my exercise bike to my sister a few days before my op, so she could try it out and see if she enjoyed it. Her chiropractor (grrrrr!) recommended that she try biking, as it's not weight bearing and she suffers with a bad knee (she has osteoarthritis in her knee like me, but is newly diagnosed). She goes for daily 1 hour walks (weight bearing) in a local park, and does not want to give that up and bike instead, but she thought she would try to see if it would help her knee.

Anyway, my 21-year old nephew picked up the bike, and to his mum and dad's surprise he tried it and took to it like a duck to water. He needs to lose some Covid lockdown weight, as he's put on quite a lot in the last couple of years, and has also been suffering from depression, so hasn't been working for over a year now. He spends his days sleeping, and his nights playing video games mainly. So this turned out to be a lucky turn of events. When I heard how it was helping him, I told him that I would buy him the same bike as an early birthday present, as soon as I was given the all clear by the physio to use my bike again. That day came on Monday (the all clear), so yesterday I had a new bike delivered to him, and told him I didn't need mine back in a hurry, as it's going to be too hot to do much until early next week. Plus I can only do 10 revoltutions x 3 in each of my 3 daily exercise sessions. So, it was delivered yesterday and then I got a call from my sister this morning, who sounded rather anxious. It turns out that my nephew had been riding the bike last night, while watching TV, and it suddenly collapsed and he ended up on the floor with the bike on top of him. Thankfully, he was okay and didn't suffer any injury. He was mortified that he had broken my bike, but when his dad inspected it there was a pin missing, hence it was only a matter of time before it would collapse.
IMG-20220810-WA0000.jpg

My sister told me that he said it was glad it happened to him, and not me, as it would surely have dislocated my new hip for sure. Luckily it is less than a year old, so I should be able to get my money back under the 1 year warranty.

Appointment news
I got the call I was waiting for this morning at 9.41 am from my surgeon's secretary, asking me if I could come in for a follow-appointment on Friday at 1 pm (following my recent redness/infection/cellulitis episode). I confirmed, and she told me that he (Mr Nice Guy) has extended his Friday morning clinic to ensure that he sees me this week. That made me feel special, in a more positive way than being the 1 in 100 who gets a wound infection after THR! I know he's concerned about me, as he was willing to return early from his holiday to see me last week, that is until he found out that Mr Old Guy was doing a fine job of following up in his absence.

I don't think I mentioned previously that before my surgery, he asked for my email address once I had confirmed that I would be happy to take part in surveys before and after my surgery to include in a study. I have had about 3 surveys so far, which I have responded to pretty quickly. The last one I received and answered while I was in the waiting room on Friday last week, waiting to see Mr Old Guy for my follow up. The questions were all about Mr Nice Guy, and whether I would recommend him, what I thought of him etc. I gave him a glowing review, because he is honestly one of the nicest medical professionals I have ever been treated by. I don't blame him for the infection, as it is a risk with any surgery. I don't suppose I will find out why it happened as it was a deep tissue infection, not surface, and there was nothing to swab when my dressing was taken off as the wound was dry. I did follow the decolonisation advice before my operation of showering my body/hair with a special soap and also used a nasal gel daily to kill anything unpleasant in my nose. The only advice I didn't follow was to change the sheets every day, as I thought that was rather excessive and it was the week of the extreme heatwave so we only changed the bed twice instead of five times. This is my third major surgery, and I've not had a problem with infection before. The only time I have had an infection caused by the bacteria that live on the skin was about 15 years ago, while giving myself a beta interferon shot in the stomach (for MS), and developed an ulcer that eventually healed with the help of antibiotics. I must remember to mention that to Mr Nice Guy on Friday.

So, tomorrow I need to go through all my recovery posts and create a timeline to share with him, and give him some insight on what happened, as he was away on holiday last week and missed all the drama. I must also prepare a list of questions for him, including 'Is this going to set my recovery/return to work back?'

Afternoon with/without my doggy
My early nap today was just before midday, and wasn't as good as normal simply because my doggy was out having a furcut, and I missed her cuddling up to me. She has a new sleek fur-do, and her groomer said she was great and didn't exhibit any mobility problems, so that confirms again that her rehab is working.

When she returned with my wife (who then disappeared off to the gym), Piper and I shared a homemade ice lolly (popsicle), which she adores. However, she won't eat one by herself, but if I eat one she always wants some. Apparently hooman food is always better than doggo food!
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Just want to echo all the advice about ankle swelling, it is quite normal and in my case it took a few months to resolve. Sitting for long periods of time made it worse, and generally I was swollen at day’s especially after a lot of walking around. My leg swelling lasted about three weeks but the ankle was pesky. Ice, elevate, and try to reduce the salt in your diet, that will help as well.
Thanks, I'm pleased to report that it has gone down to such a degree that it is no longer painful. Hopefully a few more days and a bit more elevation, it will have gone. As for salt, because I follow the keto diet (I don't eat processed food, refined carb, guten etc.) I don't really get enough salt in my diet, and generally supplement it with a teaspoon of pink himalayan salt per day in gelatine capsules, as recommended. I have run out/been too lazy to make more, so have not been taking them for a few days, also probably because I'm conscious of the fact that salt is a factor in swollen ankles. Before I resume, I will run it past my ortho surgeon on Friday, and get his opinion.
Happy to see you are being a great patient advocate for yourself, best thing you can do in recovery.
Thanks, it's all a learning process, and I'm trying my best to learn from my mistakes and successes.

Hope your day is treating you well.
 
I love the way you and your adorable little doggy share medication and treats!

I am in UK too and also have everything battened down against the heat. I am setting my alarm for 5 am tomorrow, way before my normal getting up time, so that I can catch the few cool hours to air the house and get some outdoor exercise. I can understand why you were doing your exercises in the nude. I haven’t quite got to that stage, but it’s tempting.

BTW, my apologies but I haven’t read your whole thread, and probably you have been warned many times not to overdo the exercises. But just to add to the chorus, please be careful. Just because the booklet has pictures of X Y Z at weeks 3 to 5 doesn’t mean that there is any scientific basis for doing them. I did the recommended exercises for Hip 1. By the time of Hip 2 I had heard enough from this forum that I avoided all exercises for the first couple of months, to let the soft tissues heal. Hip 2 had less ongoing pain and a faster recovery overall, despite being a more disruptive surgery. I know that is just one anecdotal example, but there are plenty of similar stories on here.

I am glad that you escaped disaster on the exercise bike, and your nephew wasn’t hurt. That is a scary story!
 
Day 20 evening
Wednesday 20th August 2022
10.23 pm

Tonight was a bit of a bust, as I attempted to nap before dinner, but couldn't fall asleep. So I ended up getting up, eating dinner and then had to give up on watching another episode of The Sandman, as I was too tired. Thankfully I did my 3rd and final lot of exercises straight after dinner.

I'm going to leave the Codeine tonight until I wake up and find myself in pain.

I am falling asleep while typing this, so it's time to hit Post reply.
 
Day 21 early hours
Thursday 11th August 2022
0.06 am

I am pleased to say that I managed just under 1.5 hours sleep and woke up pain free just before midnight. I only used my RLS USB device once before bed, so I wouldn't have thought that could have made the difference, as you're supposed to use it 3 times a day but I forgot about it until tonight. Maybe I should incorporate it into my post-exercise routine, and see if it helps with the tingling.

I've now taken night-time cocktail #1 (Codeine, Paracetamol & Piriton) with #2 due at 3.44 am, but won't set an alarm. I will take it when I wake up, providing it's later than 3.44 am. I also had another 10 minute session with my USB RLS device. Tomorrow, well that's later on today actually, but it feels like tomorrow to me now, I can start experimenting with different modes that give higher levels of vibration. Maybe I'll find one that works, so I don't get RLS any more I only got RLS because of the infection (cellulitis), which should be gone now. I will see what Mr Nice Guy (my surgeon) says on Friday..
1.55 am
I am relatively pain free at the moment, and have just finished typing a list of questions for my surgeon tomorrow. Now for a new ice pack, and some more sleep.
3.44 am
I just woke up at 3.40 am and was about to get out of bed, when I received a reminder on my smartwatch to take my meds. When I checked my med reminder app, I am now due for cocktail #2. Wow, you can't get more precise than that!
 
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I love the way you and your adorable little doggy share medication and treats!
Thank you. Unfortunately although she looks zilky smooth and cuddly after her furcut today, she smells like a bottle of perfume. My wife forgot to say "No" to the spray they use, as we all hate it (humans and dog). I have a very sensitive nose, and had to move away from her earlier when she got too close. Also they must have given her treats, which we don't allow as she has doggy IBS and can only eat hydrolyzed dog food. Now (at 2 am) she has a funny tummy and it's a good job I was up at that time, so I could wake up my poor wife to clear it up.
I am in UK too and also have everything battened down against the heat.
At least this time although it will last longer (until Sunday) the temperature is not going as high as last time and should be dropping to below 20 at night, so there will be a few hours to cool our houses.
I am setting my alarm for 5 am tomorrow, way before my normal getting up time, so that I can catch the few cool hours to air the house and get some outdoor exercise.
That's a good idea. I've been awake at 5am lately due to overnight pain, but the earliest I have got up is 7am.

BTW, my apologies but I haven’t read your whole thread, and probably you have been warned many times not to overdo the exercises.
Not really, but I've been told that have been told that they are not essential for THR recovery.
But just to add to the chorus, please be careful. Just because the booklet has pictures of X Y Z at weeks 3 to 5 doesn’t mean that there is any scientific basis for doing them. I did the recommended exercises for Hip 1. By the time of Hip 2 I had heard enough from this forum that I avoided all exercises for the first couple of months, to let the soft tissues heal. Hip 2 had less ongoing pain and a faster recovery overall, despite being a more disruptive surgery. I know that is just one anecdotal example, but there are plenty of similar stories on here.
Sorry to disagree, especially with a fellow Brit but I won't be following this advice because I am a firm believer in physio and exercising. Google supports this, and I doubt there is an orthopedic surgeon out there who disagrees. Muscles and nerves are damaged during surgery, so the sooner that we help them along their road to recovery the better IMHO. I have plenty of experience of recovering from injury and OA with osteopathic treatment or physiotherapy together with exercises.
I am glad that you escaped disaster on the exercise bike, and your nephew wasn’t hurt. That is a scary story!
Thanks, it makes me think twice about getting a replacement and using it now.

Hope your week is treating you well.
 
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Google supports this, and I doubt there is an orthopedic surgeon out there who disagrees.
I mean no disrespect, but saying "Google" supports this is too vague. If we care to, we can find support for pretty much any topic we choose through a google search.

If you will spend some time here reading others threads you will find that your assumption is wrong as there are many who's orthopedic surgeons do not recommend PT and agree that walking is the only therapy needed for THR recovery.

Yes, muscle, soft tissue and nerves all can be damaged during the controlled "trauma" of joint replacement and need to heal, not put through the stress of exercising early on. We read stories daily of members struggling through a stalled recovery due to pain resulting from an injury suffered through PT. Many never returning. On the other hand there are those that thrive and do very well with Physical Therapy. It is your body and your recovery. I do hope you make the best choice for yourself and wish you well as you continue healing.
 
Thanks Layla, I meant no disrespect. I am sure there's evidence to back the general stance here, but I respectfully decline to follow it, and will go along with what my orthopedic surgeon and physio recommend.

I hope we can agree to disagree. :flwrysmile:
 
I hope we can agree to disagree
Of course we can agree to disagree and I hope you thrive in Physio. I will caution you to avoid forcing movement though and hopefully you will refrain from any movement in physical therapy that causes you pain. That is the only advice I'd like to share as we don't want to see anyone in pain if its avoidable.
Have a nice Thursday and good luck with your appointment with the surgeon tomorrow.
 

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