THR Onward, forward for NextStep

NextStep

member
Joined
May 17, 2022
Messages
128
Age
62
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
Just a few hours remaining till my next 'big step', trading in original equipment for a brand new hip. I'm finishing up a few details like packing an overnight bag 'just in case,' per instructions. I'm a little nervous, somewhat excited, and...plenty tired! Hoping to get a few hours of sleep tonight. See you on the recovery side.
 
Just a few hours remaining till my next 'big step', trading in original equipment for a brand new hip. I'm finishing up a few details like packing an overnight bag 'just in case,' per instructions. I'm a little nervous, somewhat excited, and...plenty tired! Hoping to get a few hours of sleep tonight. See you on the recovery side.
I hope you get a good nights sleep! Good luck tomorrow!
 
All the best and healing hugs in advance @NextStep :friends:
I was nervous but so ready to lose that horrid hip pain.

I remember someone on the forum reassuring me before my BTHR...
"Its just another day at the office for your care team"
That caught me in a weird way...like hey! my body here, but it was also reassuring in that IT is what they do and they want all to go well as we do!
Still so Grateful 5 Years out!

See you on the recovery side!:happyfeet:
 
Best Wishes! I hope your recovery is easy breezy! Here are the BoneSmart Recovery Guidleines -

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.
 
Well, all went well at the hospital yesterday, and I was discharged about 10 hours after arrival, less than 9 hours after being taken to the operating room itself. Wow.
Stopped by pharmacy to get meds, got to bedtime and found they'd not yet filled the pain med nor mentioned its absence. I was not happy to have to ask someone to go back out for it, yet also could not imagine doing without it from discharge before 6pm till morning.
Today's a new day! I was able to sleep in 2 to 4 hour chunks. Only got sick to my stomach once (pain?) around 5 this morning. Walking is okay with walker, though somewhat painful for now. Sure is nice to have family around to help out.
 
9 hours after being taken to the operating room itself. Wow.
Wow is right! Drive-thru THR.
It sounds like your off to a great start. Hopefully it’s all smooth sailing. :)
 
Today has been tough. Nausea, from anesthesia they think. First time I remember that. Pain higher than I expected. Diarrhea probably from the Antibiotics they said. Swelling, which was to be expected. "This too will pass."
 
@NextStep good to see you on the healing side. Sorry its starting out a bit bumpy. The nausea could be a combination of the anesthesia and whatever pain meds they gave you at the hospital, that's what mine was from. Once I got home and on the correct meds my loopy feeling and nausea went away. If nausea continues you may want to ask for an anti nausea med.

Don't know if you've had time yet to read the guidelines that Layla left. There's good information there, especially the icing and elevating, both help with pain and swelling. The swelling can actually be part of the cause of the pain. I was never a fan of icing until I had my THR, now I'm a convert, great pain management.
 
@NextStep I hope you're feeling better today.
Pain meds caused me a ton of nausea; I asked the OS for a change and it worked great - pain relief and no feeling sick.
 
Look at the bright side, most have constipation post op
 
It seems like I could bear more weight, more confidently, immediately after surgery than I could today. Is this normal?
 
Not surprising. My surgeon injected a non opioid analgesic into the area before closing which gradually wore off over the following 72 hrs. Possibly that’s the case with you and you’re feeling pain more now. Best advice would be to rest, elevate and ice, ice, ice.
You‘re three days post op and only need to be up walking for 5 minutes or so, every hour or two. That’s usually accomplished in a trip to the bathroom or kitchen to get a drink or snack. Take your meds on schedule and hopefully you’ll be able to rest comfortably. Stay in touch and let us know how you’re doing.
@NextStep
 
You probably had a joint drug cocktail injected into your joint during your surgery. I know I did and had no pain afterwards. A few days later, that definitely wore off, plus with increased walking around the house, I did have more joint pain. It went away but will come back after too much activity.
 
The lowest my pain has been at any point since waking up from surgery has been 4 on 10 point scale.
 
Here I'm hearing rest, yet elsewhere I'm hearing 'you have to push, to move through the pain or ligaments will freeze up and you will be sorry. These first 5-10 days you really have to move.' And my body craves rest. With gentle movement now and then.
 
Not to sound catty, but do yourself a big favor... Listen to us and your body.
you have to push, to move through the pain or ligaments will freeze up and you will be sorry.
This is just nonsense.
Whether you rest alot (which is exactly what you should do) or force yourself to move more, you are going to be stiff and sore...more sore if you push!

Tightness is to be expected with hip surgery due to swelling and traumatized soft tissue.
And my body craves rest. With gentle movement now and then.
This is listening to your body.
Stay iced up while resting:ice:and small trips to the bathroom and around the room for the next week is plenty.
You can do ankle pumps while icing and elevating to help with circulation.
All Temporary, my friend.
Healing hugs coming your way.:friends:
 
I don't know where you're hearing about pushing through and pain. I don't think we have any "professionals" on this board but everyone that answers you has one thing in common. We have all had a THR or 2 at least so we can give you real world experiences. I don't think anyone has frozen up from rest after a severe injury, what we go through is a traumatic experience in an operating room. You'll have plenty of time to slowly progress if you give yourself time to rest and heal now.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,180
Messages
1,597,058
BoneSmarties
39,364
Latest member
All2Gd88
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom