THR Pre-op, anxious and alone

Bevelina

junior member
Joined
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i just found this forum and was very encouraged to write for a little help please...
I have a 1st THR due next Tuesday, i’m having to go alone and suffering quite bad now with my anxiety/depression, which is heightening.
My recovery will have to be at my elders as my home is upstairs. (I’m worried too about putting pressure on them). I’m so worried about afterwards, all the possible problems, dislocations etc.. i guess i’m so engrained in pain for a lonnng time now.
I am trying to hold the ‘reigns on the brains’ and using meditation to try and stay calm.
But i am hoping people can perhaps give me reassurances, encouragements, on their experience and how much improved life can be... i’ve been suffering 2yrs with severe OA both hips and on crutches for 1.
I have no friends to lean on unfortunately, so i would really appreciate some genuine friendly help here. As i feel alone in all this, so’s not to worry my beloved parents, i keep my anxieties under my hat.
Thank you fo reading my post
 
Hello, I’m glad that you found us because now you aren’t alone, we’ll be with you all the way.

I know the worry about complications afterwards and it’s easy to let those thoughts take over but really I have found this surgery so amazing. For me the discomfort afterwards wasn’t on the same level, or anywhere near, the pain that I had before. I still find it so overwhelming to think how much better I feel now.
 
Thank you for your encouragement Ocean, it is good to hear your success, i SO hope i can write the same in the coming weeks. This has really robbed me of any life at all! Many cancelled plans and holidays as i’m so immobile. So i am praying i’ll be ok in the end, bcoz its so intolerable now. I’m sure everyone on here knows the pain.
 
Hi @Bevelina
Good to hear that you are having hip replacement to relieve you from the pain of chronic osteoarthritis. I think you will find that very few people on here have any regrets about their surgery, other than perhaps wishing that they had had it done sooner!
Yes there is some pain afterwards but it is nothing like the arthritic pain and yes the first few weeks are difficult because of the unavoidable soft tissue damage (whichever surgical approach is used). You will likely need some assistance and TLC for the first few days but many members on this forum live alone and with good planning have managed well. Perhaps you can use the search on the forum for 'live alone' and see what you can find.
Best wishes, trust your surgeon and try to stay positive.
 
thank you for those encouraging words and i sure will do a little more searching as you suggest we need all the help we can get!
 
PS Post-op restrictions vary from hospital to hospital and surgeon to surgeon but many, like mine, impose no specific restrictions - just take it easy and stop if it hurts!
Dislocation is rare and with improved surgical technique and better implants the risk these days is low.
 
@Bevelina Plenty of us recovered on our own - it is very doable.

You will be fully mobile before leaving the hospital including going up and down stairs. Just have items you use daily within reach and you should be fine. Freeze some small meals so that you can easily prepare them yourself. Have snacks and food you enjoy within reach.

It's nice that you can stay at your parents in the early day. But I'll bet you will be moving home within days.
 
Thank you Jaycey, my first op is 25th april, does that mean i’m now in the april rainbow bunch? please add me to the list.
I was originally scheduled for 28th March, at a hospital 70miles away, nightmare journey in itself, alas after being in hospital for 4hrs, labelled up and all tests/consent forms done, anaesthetics chat, i was sent back home in a taxi due to theatre staff shortages. I must admit the exhaustion of all that lead up/disappointment has taken its toll. I am glad i found this forum today, i think it’s going to be helpful. I do feel i’m running on empty, i’m so tired out, so i am appreciating the encouragement My thanks
 
I was originally scheduled for 28th March, at a hospital 70miles away, nightmare journey in itself, alas after being in hospital for 4hrs, labelled up and all tests/consent forms done, anaesthetics chat, i was sent back home in a taxi due to theatre staff shortages
This is horrible! You poor thing! So sorry this happened to you. It's happened to other hospitals too.. but still so jarring. I hope they paid for your taxi!
I was so happy to have my hip surgery, scared to death beforehand, but ecstatic afterwards.. lol I posted quite a bit while still in the hospital.. it was fun to read the replies after I posted the surgery was finished. .
I hope you have a smart phone or something else so you can communicate with the forum.

Can you tell me which hip is getting surgery? We will get a signature made up for you. If you look below my post here, you will see mine and we all have them. Am I correct in thinking your THR is on April 25?
And yes, you will be in the recovery group for April.

Then, lastly, here is some reading material to help you prepare for your upcoming surgery.

Pre op for Hips.


If you are at the stage where you are planning to have surgery but are looking for information so you can be better prepared for what is to come, take a look at these links:

And if you want to picture what your life might be like with a replaced hip, take a look at the posts and threads from other BoneSmarties provided in this link:
 
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@Bevelina It's so hard not to have "monkey brain" pre-op. If you are anything like me, afterward you'll wonder why you took the little energy you had worrying so much and being so anxious. It's human but staying busy with prep and like you said, meditating, will help. Journaling was my go-to. It didn't eliminate everything but it made it more manageable. I suffered for about the same amount of time that you have. Post-op, any pain is so much different than what you are dealing with now. It is manageable, treatable, and there will be steady improvement and then an end to it. If you take it slow and steady, don't try to do too much too soon, rest, elevate and ice, ice, ice, you will do better than you might imagine. The best thing of all-you will be on the road to getting your life back and returning to the things you love and have been missing. Just like I and so many others did. It sounds like you'll have another surgery in the wings but you'll already know what to expect and should be a bit better in the anticipation anxiety.

It looks like @CricketHip is taking care of your signature for you. Since you are so close to surgery, I will also leave you with Post-op guidelines to read and perhaps that will give you some info to help you get a handle on how you can prepare for after your surgery, as well. Take a deep breath! You're so close to your new lease on life. You've got this and you're not all alone! We'll be here cheering you on.

HIP RECOVERY 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.

If you want to use something to assist with healing and scar management, BoneSmart recommends hypochlorous solution. Members in the US can purchase ACTIVE Antimicrobial Hydrogelthrough BoneSmart at a discount. Similar products should be available in the UK and other countries.

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

The recovery articles
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 that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Can you tell me which hip is getting surgery? We will get a signature made up for you. If you look below my post here, you will see mine and we all have them. Am I correct in thinking your THR is on April 25?
Thank you, and for your great messages all, i am so very very grateful for the positive input i’ve so far had. I do wish i’d found this earlier, It’s been a lonely few years and alot to deal with besides...
Yes crickethip It’s the right hip first, on 25th april. They are both very bad, and i’m not the lightest of feathers, i’ve lost 3stone which took a couple of years to shift as so immobile, could do with another 2 stubborn stone off yet, but i’m hoping my left hip can survive the extra demand it’s going to have soon
I have to be ready by 6am for private taxi pickup on tuesday morning to get to the hospital 70miles away for 7.30am.
Trying to not panic
 
@Bevelina I'll get you added to our April hip group. It's nice to share your journey with others who are going through the same experience.

Early op is the best. The team is fresh and ready to greet you. By lunch time you will be done and dusted.
 
Ahh @Bevelina , welcome! I think pre-op anxiety is pretty common. I certainly had it. In fact, it’s probably more accurate to call it pre-op terror! I’m prone to anxiety anyway, and I had every possible fear about dying, infection, dislocation, and all kinds of other problems… This was back in 2014 when I had my own right hip replacement, but I can honestly say the moment I woke up from surgery, I knew I’d made the right decision. And although the recovery process can be tough at times, if you’ve had a long period of pain and immobility, it is unlikely to be as tough as that. I found that there is a huge mental difference between pain and difficulties that get worse every day, and ones that get better every day, as your hip will after surgery. My mood lifted enormously as I felt myself recovering, and emotions that had become very rare like hope, and enthusiasm started to come back again.

My advice for what’s left of your pre-op period is to be kind to yourself. Kinda comfort and reassure yourself, as you would a small, frightened child. It IS a scary thing; you ARE being brave… but it’s gonna be worth it! Very best wishes with it all
 
your support and positivity helps me no end! It resonates - the part about the mental difference between pain endured for so long before and then such improvement after .

I can’t be grateful enough for the messages i’ve had here, it really is invaluable to me. I sincerely appreciate people taking the time to support across the miles, i’m in UK, where in the world are you guys scattered?
 
I'm in the UK. But we are a worldwide forum. If you look at a members avatar to the left of their post you will usually see where they are located. This time of day we Brits share the forum. My US colleagues will soon be along!
 
In the end one of the things that really helped me with pre op anxiety was reminding myself that the surgical team are professionals and they also want the best possible outcome. Plus the fact that I finally accepted that I couldn’t go on with an ever worsening hip and I needed to do something to avoid being in a wheelchair. It seemed that once I’d had those taps with myself, the anxiety abated to some extent.
 
You're right Gloucestergal about acceptance. i am trying to work on that acceptance as you did.
(there’s been alot to accept these last couple of years, i do believe emotion has a big connection to OA pain. I know there have been studies into it.
My hip OA pain absolutely shot up immediately after a very bad relationship simply had to end a couple of years ago).
So the ‘plate’s been full ‘ so to speak.
I worry my resilience is so low having dealt with so much amidst my OA agony, family illnesses and a big breakup.
....But i am trying to be a Lion! i must!
 
P.s. I’m on the east coast of UK
 
I’m in the UK too - Yorkshire

Obviously, everyone is different, but I have dealt with a huge amount in the past year or two, and I was utterly miserable, low, ill, depressed and stressed before I had my 1st knee replacement last week (I’m day 9 post op). 3 vertebrae and then my knees collapsed quite suddenly about 18-14 months ago; then I had a stroke in September, alone in Greece, and had to be ‘rescued’ and cancel my plans to spend autumn there; then my (only) brother died unexpectedly in January… It really has been an awful time!

But I’m honestly quite cheerful now. OK, so the pain meds are probably boosting my mood! But I genuinely think that people who’ve had a really tough time before surgery have an *advantage* in the recovery period, at least mentally, because the improvement is more significant, and often our hopes and expectations are so very low. The pain hurts, yes, but it hurts differently - it’s kind of *positive pain* compared with what went before. And the hope you lost starts creeping back, which of course doesn’t happen to people who never lost theirs in the first place… And if you do your exercises, even when it’s just bed exercises in the early days, you can feel your muscles getting a little bit stronger literally every day. It’s hard work and maybe slower progress than other people, but it’s *progress*! Personally, that gives me such a mental boost! I bet you’ll find it does you, too.
 

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