THR SoKnotKidding is in recovery

[SoKnotKidding]

Thank you Layla and mojo!
Seemed to go well, they were about to give me a spinal and i have no memory of it or anything else til I was waking up.
Waking up didn't go well at all, crying shaking thrashing about and hyperventilating no idea why just out of my control. 6 people standing there trying to calm me down and finally gave me something in the iv and it worked pretty quickly.
I slept good with minimal pain just up for bathroom several times I am going to blame it on the iv fluids lol.
Hoping this other side goes well!

 

[Layla]

Welcome to Recovery and Congrats on your new hip!
I’m sorry you had a bit of a rough start. Thankfully that initial blip is behind you. I’ll leave the Recovery Guidelines with wishes for your comfort as you begin healing. Stop back often, we’ll be here.
I hope your night is a peaceful one.

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​

elevate​

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

BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Activity progression for THRs​

6. Access to these pages on the website

Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Closure​

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.
@SoKnotKidding

 

[Woodstockhip]

Congratulations on your shiny new hip. Sounds like waking up was fraught, but they got a handle on it pretty quickly. Hopefully, you'll soon be home, resting in your own nest, surrounded by pillows and enjoying the ice!

 

[Schaargi]

Yay! So glad you are on the other side of this surgery! Keep us posted!

 

[Mojo333]

Hope your pain is being managed and things are levelling off.
All temporary, new hippy friend.
And worth it in the end.
Healing hugs...

 

[hopnfox]

I woke up from my surgery shaking as well....the nurse said it was all the meds from surgery. After about an hour or so, it went away. Today is my day 4 and feeling pretty good. I'm sure in a few days, we will all feel pretty close to normal and I'm happy I don't have that nagging thigh pain any longer!! wishing you uneventful healing, and take care of yourself!

 

[Celle]

I woke up from my surgery shaking as well

One of the contributing reasons for the shaking is that they keep the operating theatres quite cold, so your body does tend to get cold, especially if you have a surgery that takes a little longer.

I woke up shaking after having a general anaesthetic and they put an electric blanket on me. As I warmed up, the shaking stopped.

 

[SoKnotKidding]

lol at shiny new hip! today it is purple and bruised up yuck...
I was very sleepy today in the hospital and began to worry if I how I was gonna make it at home, but once my friend arrived I perked up and things went well.
So she got me settled in at home, I have tried getting on and off the bed, the couch and toilet, so I think I'm good.
PT is coming at 10am tomorrow morning. and some family will be checking in on me sunday. so far, so good.
I'm just not sure how to get these ted socks on and off by myself, the hosp pharmacy didn't have any more of the sock aides so they told me to order from amazon : (

 

[Mojo333]

I was very nervous about managing when I got kicked out of the hospital ( I actually cried and said I needed to stay longer) but home was definitely easier place to get comfy and get on with recovery.
I was on an aspirin regimen and did ankle pumps and lots of short up and down trips to bathroom and kitchen, so I was able to ditch the TED hose after a few days...I had to have help with them and they were a real pain.

Hopefully someone can assist you when they come to check on you?

@Eman85 shared a tip about putting a plastic bag on to help with the TEDS...I believe he said he found a YouTube video on it.
Maybe he will pop by and comment.

Hope today is a healing restful day....all temporary and your mood sounds good which is always a help.

 

[Eman85]

If you google and check Youtube there are videos on putting them on using a plastic bag to help them slide on. The ones I saw were for someone else putting them on you. If you just had THR I don't see how you could even attempt it by yourself. I didn't have to wear them, I took aspirin and did ankle pumps to prevent clots. I did use a sock aid for my regular socks and got pretty good with it. I have the type with ropes. I found that a little baby powder sprinkled on it made it work easier.

 

[SoKnotKidding]

Thanks I will look for those vids, the hospital pharmacy didn't have any more sock aids in stock : (
I am also taking aspirin daily, and doing ankle pumps but they said to wear the ted socks too.

My incision has a ton of drainage today, so I am glad the nurse called -she is coming tomorrow morning. The PT intake today took note of it and said the nurse would check tomorrow.

I am going to take a percoset now and try to for sleep several hours.

 

[Jaycey]

@SoKnotKidding please don't try taking off or putting on TEDs yourself. It is basically impossible - even with a sock aid. Ask the nurse when she comes what she recommends.

Hope you have a restful Sunday.

 

[ForumUser]

Congrats!

Elevate and ice!
Walk.
Elevate and ice!
Walk.

Light stretching! IMO, limit PT to things like supine ankle slides - nothing aggressive - no matter what PT says.

Tylenol at 4 g per day allowed me to avoid narcotics - much clearer head.

 

[SoKnotKidding]

ughhh, I wish I had showered before the nurse got here today, the bandage from surgery was waterproof, but now that she had to change it now its dry gauze, not waterproof : (

so the bandage was totally saturated, and we found no orders about changing it, so she called the surgeon's office to get orders. it didn't look too terrible once we uncovered it, but lots of ugly staples : (

looks like I'll have pt alternating days with a visiting nurse for 2 weeks, so I will have someone always checking in on me.

and as for the ted hose- she said maybe someone could help me take them off and I wash them, then schedule either pt or nurse for morning to help me put them back on, so that's one idea.

I just feel tired, not much pain, I'm just dealing with a leg that needs to learn how to move again, so I guess thats progress.

yes I need to do ice- thanks for the push

 

[Layla]

Good Morning @SoKnotKidding
Such early days on only Day Four post op. Hang in there it gets better. You may even be surprised by how much better you feel a week from now.

Try to read through the Recovery Guidelines, if you haven’t already. I found it difficult to concentrate and don’t think I could absorb the information totally for the first couple weeks. The articles are short which helps.

Icing and Elevating will help with pain. The Activity Progression For THR assists in guiding you through a safe level of activity in the early weeks, avoiding the ODIC (Over Did It Club) as we refer to it here. As for the fatigue, just go with it. Our body does its best healing as we sleep.

Wishing you comfort and a peaceful Sunday!

 

[Eman85]

I bought my sock aid on ebay, I did get it pre surgery so I could try it first. It's not hard to do but to get the sock on all of the way I'd use my grabbers or lay down and do a heel slide so I could reach the sock.
Ice felt so good I did it all of the time!

 

[leejaa]

Just a quick hello to see how you are doing today. It does get easier and better as we go through recovery. The first couple of weeks are an adjustment. Keep on icing and elevating and it will help a lot. I iced all the time that I was sitting, reclining or lying down. I even took a small cooler to the bedroom (bedroom is upstairs) with extra ice packs so I could apply fresh in the middle of the night. I hope you have a peaceful day.

 

[SoKnotKidding]

@leejaa @Layla thank you!
thank you @ForumUser

so its been a few days now, I guess I've had some of the usual ups and downs.
First of all on Monday I got hit with a bout of Vertigo ughhhh, so I spent most of the day sitting upright on my couch keeping my eyes closed.
I've had it twice before so I recognized it and pretty much nothing to do for it but ride it out.
Finally able to text a friend in the afternoon and by the time she came after work I was already much better, so she took me out to the store for some bandages/tape for the incision and Verticalm which helps me at times. Was so nice to be out! we made sure it was a quick trip and I used the motorized scooter in the store.
I did shower Tuesday, 6 days post-op (against all advice I know but I had to do it!), I wrapped my thigh in plastic wrap and used the hand held shower head sitting on a shower seat in the tub/shower.
PT is going pretty well, I don't have much pain at all in the hip area. Mostly I have muscle pain like front of the thigh above my knee, and also tightness near the groin in the front of the thigh.
I also feel that tightness when trying to lay flat to sleep- so I've been propped up on some pillows instead, and it also keeps me from being tempted to sleep on my side.
PT had hoped to get me outside to walk but it's been raining here all week.
My next big hurdle is the post-op dr appt on Monday, as of now I don't have anyone to drive me, and uber or lyft will be $35-40, so I might jsut drive myself.

@Eman85 @Mojo333 I did get a sock aid now, but I haven't been wearing socks! lol

@Jaycey I ended up taking off the ted hose Monday night in the middle of the night they were hurting me sooo much from where they rolled up above my knees,so I pushed them down with the dressing stick, and managed to get them off. so I washed them and hung them up- I mentioned it to the PT but he didn't volunteer to help me get them back on, I am taking the aspirin daily and making sure i keep the legs moving, with ankle pumps and etc

 

[Eman85]

Don't know which side you had done but with my left driving at 2 weeks was no problem, not with my right. Took longer for me to feel like I could safely move my right foot fast enough.
As for pain your hip won't hurt, you don't have one anymore. It's all about the soft tissue hurting.
The only thing I had on my incision was some amazing clear plastic tape. I showered the day after I got home and every day after and still couldn't get that tape to come off.

 

[Layla]

Well...it was a month yesterday. Happy One Month Anniversary!
How are you doing? We’d love to hear from you. When you have time, tell us something good. We’d love to cheer on your progress.
Wishing you a lovely Thanksgiving!
@SoKnotKidding