THR Up, up & away!'

[doopy]

Well, here I am on the other side, & so far, so good. I had my LTHR & right hip injection & manipulation last evening, was in theatre around 2 hours, & after a spinal with sedation was in recovery for about 30mins.
The spinal was fine - not too keen on it going in, but quickly had sedation & never even felt myself lying down.

So far have survived 100% pain-free on ibuprofen & paracétamol every 4-5 hours, taken with a stomach protector. Have asked not to have oral morphine, but with it on reserve if needed.

Went down for X-ray this morning, & it was sore on the wound when I got squashed in between poles on a lifting sheet, but only for a few seconds whilst pressure was on it. The X rays confirmed everything in the right place.

I'm waggling my feet as instructed, & got up an hour ago for a short walk with the physios. Didn't like the feeling that my legs were of different lengths - like if you wear odd shoes! But no real pain at all, either during or after. However, I admit to being v scared & demanding lots of reassurance from the PT. I've had a catheter (bliss! - can drink gallons - as instructed - with no bathroom panics!), but sadly that's coming out soon (shame!).

The food is fab here, & ive just hoovered up a Ceasar salad followed by salmon with tarragon potatoes. However, not impressed by gardeners arriving under my window at 7.30am to do an hour's v noisy leaf-blowing! Or village church clock striking the hour, every hour throughout the night! What with that & chirpy staff coming to do obs every 2 hours, sleep was patchy.

So, afternoon TV with a good book & a snooze, I think!

Will report back when anything interesting happens!!

 

[gertie]

Glad to hear that things are going so well--and good food is an added bonus! I too find the leg length thing a bit odd and disconcerting but am getting used to it--and continue to be told it will settle down eventually (I'm a little over 2 weeks out).

 

[SwimGirl]

@doopy. Welcome to the other side! Had to laugh about hoovering up lunch like a vacuum cleaner! Too funny!
Good luck on your recovery!

 

[Tweetybrd]

Yay! So glad to hear your surgery is over and went well.

 

[Jaycey]

Welcome to the other side! Easy does it and don't do anything for PT if it doesn't feel right. You have plenty of time to get mobile.

I'll leave your articles here for you to refer to throughout this process.
First are the BoneSmart mantras ....
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
- be active as much as you need to be but not more than is necessary, meaning so much that you end up being in pain, exhausted or desperate to sit down or lay down!

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
Activity progression for THRs
Home physio (PT)
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?

 

[Miss Muffet]

@doopy - wonderful news!
100% pain free is what you wanted and am so happy for you.
We all feel protective of our new hip but the Physios are there to reassure you and show you how to handle things. You'll soon get the hang of loo trips with help from the nurses. Enjoy the food and catch up on sleep whenever you can. Well done!

 

[Josephine]

Didn't like the feeling that my legs were of different lengths - like if you wear odd shoes!

That's more like an optical illusion. You only feel that because things have been adjusted a little and when it comes to leg lengths, your body is extremely sensitive and perceives a millimetre as being two inches! Ultimately your body will adjust.

 

[Sunny girl]

@doopy, great that all is going well and you're pain free without the the heavy stuff. Wishing you a continued happy recovery!

 

[doopy]

Hi all,
Went offline as nurse broke my phone charger, so out of touch with the world!

Up & dressed today, sitting in chair for meals but this made me feel tired, pained, cold (window open!) & a bit shaky. Now eating fruit salad on my bed, much happier. Definitely overdid the shuffling about & after zero pain until now I've been taken by surprise by the aching in my leg. But it's ok, & im sticking with just the paracetamol & ibuprofen. I didn't bring ice packs into hospital (stupid, after all I've read here!), & they don't have them, so will be keen to see how they help when I go home on Friday.
The food continues to be stunning - I chomped through the lightest & best profiteroles at lunchtime! Little things are keeping my spirits up!!
Thanks for all the lovely & helpful comments!!

 

[kaz43]

the best feeling in the world when you realize the old pain has gone and the current discomfit and pain will disappear with time.
take it easy and rest when you need it. xx

 

[SwimGirl]

@doopy Glad you are getting relief from the meds. The best anti inflammatory however is ice packs for you hip and leg. I would have best friend or anyone you know to get ice packs as soon as possible! The hospital doesn't 'to have them for postop patients? Find that hard to believe. I would not have gone without them! Can someone get them for you? The sooner the better! This is a bone smart essential!

 

[Miss Muffet]

We get tired just getting out of bed, washing and sitting in a chair. All seems exhausting and we cannot fathom why. Just the body reminding us it has been through a little bit of upheaval and demands rest. Remember not to put up with pain. Discuss alternatives if you are feeling achey, as you may not quite have the right mix just yet. It is very early days just now, and things can be tinkered with later on to suit how you feel. Personally I think profiteroles would halt my pain in its tracks (cannot resist them if they're on the menu!)

Keep us posted. Things will ease and you're doing well.

 

[doopy]

Hi again all!
Well, am ready to run for the hills now, my 5th night here. I really haven't had much pain at all, except for immediately after exercising (walking). Unfortunately I went to the bathroom 4 times during the night & got v scared as it felt like the "old" pain had returned. I bothered everybody I met, asking for their opinion - the final physio I saw told me that bodies have memory in muscles, ligaments etc, & that when you have walked badly & been in pain for years you can't expect such feelings to always disappear just like that. I'd missed a dose of ibuprofen, & found that after getting back on track with the meds, the scary pain diminished.

Have had loads of conflicting advice as different nursing shifts change, but have been so well looked after I can't complain about anything at all (except for maybe those well-meaning souls who come in, tidy up my room & leave me stranded by putting my crutches out of reach!).
My surgeon tells me that nothing short of a fall or a car crash will dislocate my hip - apparently they do some kind of stress test whilst you are still under the anaesthetic to check it. He doesn't go for the 90 degree rule, & says I can sleep on my side whenever I feel comfortable! However, he is absolutely rigid about continuing to use both crutches for a full 4 weeks post-op. I won't dare disobey him! He explained it was about muscles not over-stretching. Isn't it interesting that there are so many differing opinions everywhere??!

For anyone who read my post pre-op, I just want to say that even only 5 days out, I can't believe I'm the same person who was so fearful of going to my son's graduation: of course I'm a bit sore, very tired after any effort, & v cautious about how I move, but it is just sooo different! I am prepared for possible set-backs & the blues, but at the moment that awful feeling that life was pointless has passed - I genuinely believe I might have a better quality of life!!
For info, i peeked at my surgeon's letter to the physio clinic I'll be attending: apparently I had Grade 4 OA (the worst), but "the bone quality is good for her age" - well, that's a plus!!
So, home tomorrow, to a new set of challenges. I live in a 3 storey Victorian townhouse with a million stairs, but thankfully they are quite shallow, with lots of landings at the turns to pause on. The physios tell me that if I can do 3 steps (I can), then 33 is no different - hmm!! We will see! But for the next few days I will stay put on one floor & let people wait on me!
But it will be an end to the great food (profiteroles, slow-cooked belly of pork - just no wine to go with it sadly), but is feels like it is time to go.
I'll report again, thanks to everyone here for being magnificent - funny, supportive & friendly, just like the wonderful nursing team & staff here!!

Aren't people great???

 

[Tweetybrd]

You sound so chipper and upbeat!! Loved your post and report! So glad you are getting to head home. Good luck with the stairs. You can do them!

 

[SwimGirl]

@doopy Have been thinking about you since last post I sent. Did you ever get ice packs? I couldn't imagine
Going without. I have to agree about the memory in muscles. Strange thing huh? Also I agree about the life being pointless part. With OA you sit on the sidelines and watch other people's lives go by and wonder why you are slowing down. Happens gradually at first and then you say what is going on here? Why me? So Good Luck at
home. Sounds like lots of stairs. They should have you practicing stairs in PT before you go home.
Have to ask you....what are profiteroles? Don't have those here.

 

[Miss Muffet]

Everything is going in the right direction. Those achey muscles are familiar and I guess are also unused ones which are being pressed into action. The misplaced crutches are annoying - they are our initial lifeline! I would feel stranded like a turtle on its back if I couldn't locate the call button or bed mover and quickly became adept at a systems check before allowing any nurses to leave the room after that.

I do agree about different surgeons' rules (mine has slightly different ones to yours) - I suppose it may vary from patients to patient - and guess you just need to follow his instructions for your mutual satisfaction.

Don't worry about the stairs - just take it steady and have someone behind you going up, and in front of you going down just for reassurance till you feel confident. But staying on one level initially is a good plan - and have them running around after your every whim.

 

[doopy]

@SwimGirl
Hi there - "what are profiteroles"??? - you mean life is possible on this planet without them??!
I'm sure they must exist there but maybe with a transatlantic new name?: they are little choux pastry puffs (size of a golf ball, or tennis ball if you're lucky!!) filled with whipped double cream (think that is "heavy" cream your side?), then piled up (high, please!) & drizzled with melted chocolate sauce. You might imagine they brightened hospital life!! And I don't know how, but on the admittedly v small ward I was on, these were the lightest, freshest I'd ever eaten. Yum.

Back to boring life - yes, I agree with not realising that your life & world are slowly shrinking as you struggle to cope with OA: I suddenly realised I couldn't face getting the train into London to meet my husband to go to the theatre or a gallery - I had so many bad & painful experiences jumping onto tube trains etc or dealing with big flights of steps in stations or some of our ancient OA-unfriendly theatres here. So I began to makes excuses and then just stopped going unless I could drive right into central London (parking a nightmare!).

Now, oddly, I still haven't tried an ice pack - I don't have any pain anywhere except when I move awkwardly. I had the odd ache after movement in the first 4 days but nothing at all since. As per my hospital & Bonesnart recommendations, I take paracetamol & ibuprofen every 6 hours (sorry, don't know US equivalents - Tylenol? but they are just the regular everyday over-the counter painkillers here). I didn't have anything else, no morphine etc. Are the ice packs meant for the wound or the general aches? I guess I should try - but I have no swelling & just about 2 sq inches of bruising. In fact, I have more bruising on my inner arm from the blasted blood pressure cuff - my worst enemy in hospital!!

 

[doopy]

Well, I'm home after 5 days in my lovely little hospital in the fields of Hampshire/Surrey borders.
I was terrified of leaving the safety of my little room where there was a nurse, physio or helper on hand to get me anything (not that I asked much - felt too guilty as everyone was working so hard) or to advise on how to move, get up etc.
Home looked big and rather dusty & messy after the bright hospital- after a week with my husband alone with the cat, that's exactly what it was!!
Had a quiet afternoon on an appallingly low squashy sofa - lovely & comfy, but seriously thought I'd dislocated when I tried to stand. Gradually felt at home (literally), tried to keep big soppy cat from jumping onto my legs , & rested. Then at bedtime (i.e. Just now) had a major meltdown & crying fit with the utter exhaustion of needing 20 actions to do one simple task - stand (whew!), crutches on, walk 2 steps, crutches off whilst I pick something up, crutches back on again etc etc. So exhausting & physically tiring. Really struggled to get off sofa without killing myself or feeling leg would just fall off, then went to new bed set-up & discovered it was so low I could never get up again. Burst into tears whilst (very tired) husband trailed up to the next floor & hauled down another huge mattress to make the bed higher whilst I stood sobbing pathetically on the landing. I'm now tucked up in it like the Princess & the Pea with banks of pillows (thanks, Bonesmart buddies), & v comfortable.
But I'm posting all this to maybe help others who look forward to going home post-op & then get a bit of a shock at how different life is: my pain is so much better than this time last week, the night before my op, but mentally it takes its toll too. @Miss Muffet so rightly described it as an "adrenaline dump". Tears are good, even if husband feels we've taken a few steps backwards.
Ok, I'm now beyond shattered & am going to see how my new hip likes its new surroundings ! Night night all!

 

[Miss Muffet]

Ah @doopy - that's almost a carbon copy of my first nights home after both my Ops. The contrast after the order and routine at hospital to arriving back and gradually discovering that my needs weren't immediately obvious really upset me. And bedtime, as you describe, was an exhausting marathon. I snapped, found fault, complained and eventually dissolved into tears. The indignity of not being able to carry out seemingly simple things for myself incensed me.

Your post is really very useful to others and serves as a recommendation to test things out before hospital so they don't come as a shock when arriving home. The higher bed and chair are dead certs for starters. Luckily my bed is very high and I'm very short. In fact as I had to purchase a shower step (because the climb into my shower is about a foot high) it was moved at night beside the bed otherwise I wouldn't manage to line up my derriere with the mattress. I was so nervous preOp that I would practise getting in and out of bed with my legs clamped together to see if I would manage. Likewise I did the getting in and out of chairs and cars too as I had a mental picture of being perpetually stuck and abandoned - it became my own personal neurosis! I think our US Smarties are generally given more guidance on leg lengths versus beds/chairs and this is something we over here could do with more help with in terms of preparation. I certainly didn't have any advice in this area.

I hope that recliner chair has arrived now and the squashy sofa is something to be gazed at rather then flopped in to?

None of this is going to come easy immediately. Everything will take a bit longer and you'll need some assistance till you evolve a routine. But communication is vital. You know what you need, and when, but this needs to be shared information and life will become sweeter as a result. I think I struggled through my first couple of days to progress past the weepy patch, and the sobs would take me by surprise, often out of personal frustration but sometimes after I had picked fault over something minor which endied in self loathing (ha ha!). Just be reassured that things will get easier. When I was given the nod to leave hospital I sent a text to Mr M saying he could come and fetch me and the new baby (our new hip) home. There are similarities. It needs specific attention and care because it has special needs and is dependant on you to be considered first before anything else. It causes some tears and tiredness. But, like any new baby you know that this new addition to the family is one which will change your life and give you a lot more happiness.

But at least you won't have to fund it through university.

 

[doopy]

@Miss Muffet, just adore this post!! It is so incredibly true! That's exactly it - the best nurses anticipate your every need and even more, know what you will want /need before you do, & a bewildered, probably slightly apprehensive & tired husband just doesn't cut the mustard! And then one feels so awfully ungrateful for snapping at him - even though he can see my struggle in front of him he can't possibly know how it feels.

And love the "new baby" analogy- the tendency to keep a constant watch on its progress & its needs, popping meds at certain hours reminding me of feeds (I have some other regular stuff to take, apart from the blood thinner, stomach protector & basic analgesia). And the fact that, as per one of the Bonesmart info pages, that new hip is going to take just what it needs from you in terms of energy.

I had a good night - 5.5 hours of rather bouncy sleep on my double mattress, woke for an hour t 6am till 7, then slept until 9, still following my hospital routine, when I got woken for meds & obs at 6am. Breakfast & papers in bed, feel quite normal. Sharing a rather depressing but maybe helpful fact - I borrowed (from the Red Cross service in the U.K.) a commode, as the bathroom is along a long hallway (creaky old Victorian house!), & I just valued it so much last night! Grim, I know, but so useful, & maybe also safer than struggling with crutches etc in the middle of the night! I'm ordering my very own from Amazon right now!!

Have a good peaceful Sunday all you new Hippies,