THR Feeling discouraged

[hhhooray]

I’m a day past 4 weeks anterior LTHR. I used a walker for about 3 weeks (my doctor said 2 weeks were required for me) and then moved to a cane.

Now I’m still using the cane and my physical therapists are telling me I should have already been off it at this point.
I’ve been walking with the cane about 4-5000 steps a day and just trying to slowly increase if it felt good.

I guess I’m questioning myself now.. I felt like I’ve been improving decently since surgery, I could feel my walking was improving pretty well and I felt really positive but they’re saying I’m not locking out my left knee when I walk and that’s my issue causing me to still use the cane - I felt that I still had a limp, so I didn’t want to rush myself off the cane.

I also feel like some of the therapists are pressuring me to do exercises I’m not comfortable with and now I’m questioning if I should have just been sucking it up and doing it despite the pain and swelling it would cause? They’re saying I’m where I’m at with the recovery because I’ve not been pushing myself enough since I’ve been focusing more on walking and not some of the exercises they’ve been prescribing. I don’t know, I have been doing the exercises that weren’t too hard, like the glute and thigh squeezes for instance.

I’m feeling very discouraged about my recovery now.

Hey there, I saw your concern about the cane. I had to go back and look, and I used mine until week 11. Your recovery takes what it takes and I'm sure everyone here will tell you, this is not a competition, it's not race. It's your body, it's going to heal as it heals and there is no one timeline for everyone. Less is more, tell the PT people you won't stand to be pressured, you've enough to deal with.

Listen to the people here, they're exceptional.

 

[Victorialast]

Small update:

I’m still using the cane when I go on walks or go out, but I’m able to walk around my house without any aids about half the day without a limp!

I still use it when I just wake up or after sitting for a little while or if I just feel like I need it.

I haven’t gone back to PT since the visit I mentioned originally and didn’t do the exercises they said I needed to do in order to walk.

I’m walking about 5000 steps a day now (maybe only 5-6 days a week) walking correctly!

Thank you all for the encouragement, I definitely needed it and I’m feeling a lot better now!

 

[mendogal]

Oh you're doing great!!! Thank you for updating us!

 

[myglasshalffull]

Sounds great, feels good to get back to walking doesn't it???
I kept cane near my bed long after I really needed it for late night bathroom trips. Just FYI.
Thanks for very positive update!

 

[Victorialast]

Not really an update:
I got the breakdown of the cost of my hip replacement and it was just under $215,000! I think the hardware by itself was $100k.
Is that a normal price to see? I always saw like maybe 5 figures for the replacement cost from googling.
I mean, I’m not having to pay all that, but I was definitely surprised to see that number.
Im curious to know what other people’s surgeries cost (if you feel comfortable sharing that).

 

[AlanInAZ]

Im curious to know what other people’s surgeries cost

I have not yet received all the bills for my THR in March. My the surgeon's fee is a Medicare agreed fee of $1,028. The surgical center bill I have not yet received but I expect the agreed fee to be in the range of $10,000 and anesthesia another $700 and PT another $300. These costs are not my cost but rather fees agreed by Medicare. My own cost is much smaller depending how much my insurances will cover. Fees for people without insurances can be an order of magnitude higher.

From the Medicare website national average for hip arthroplasty.

 

[djklaugh]

@Victorialast My BTHR was done about 12.5 years ago so I can't really say what today's prices would be. Also I have really excellent retiree (retired FROM my HMO!) HMO benefits plus Medicare. So even back then my out-of-pocket was very low. I seem to remember I got a statement of what insurance paid and what Medicare paid and as I recall for 2 new hips plus 5 days stay in hospital the total was something like $80,000. I do not recall what the price of the implants was. Given inflation I'd guess your costs are about the norm these days *SIGH*

 

[Victorialast]

I should also say my surgery was done at a private hospital, so idk if that’s a big factor. I do have insurance and so far I’ve paid probably about $3.5k out of pocket and I’m still waiting on the anesthesia bill.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though! I had a motorcycle accident years ago (no broken bones, thankfully!) while I had no health insurance and incurred a hospital bill of $20k from a 1.5 hour stay plus scans!
Maybe it’s the area I’m in driving the cost?

 

[AlanInAZ]

cost of my hip replacement and it was just under $215,000

I believe this is the published cost before the private insurance company agreed discount. The insurance company does not pay $215,000. The average agreed fees for hip replacements covered by private insurance companies is between $25,000 and $35,000 depending on location.

 

[Victorialast]

@AlanInAZ that makes sense! That’s some discount lol

 

[myglasshalffull]

Mine was about $35K, 3 nights in hospital, semi private room.

 

[Sohowarrior]

All my costs were covered by Medicare except the following: my surgeon no longer takes Medicare but I wanted him to do my revision so I decided to bite the bullet and pay his fee which was $7500. I believe that was a discounted rate but not sure. I also paid for a private room for the one night I stayed at the hospital and a CNA for a 12 hour shift, from 7:30 PM to 7:30 AM. That was another $2000 and was worth every penny.

 

[Freyagirl]

In Minnesota, St. Francis Hospital my surgery bill was $40,214. The implant was $14,700 of that cost. I stayed overnight one night. I’m on Medicare and Medica Advantage Plan through my former work . Medica was only charged $12,500. My deductible to Medica was much smaller.

 

[Cedar Gal]

Hello @Victorialast.The advice you have received here totally helped me post-op. I sometimes think PT is prescribed to make the prescriber feel like they are offering you something (just my opinion - please no hate responses). My surgeon gave me forms for free PT if I wanted but suggested I would likely be ok on my own and make my own decision if I wanted to go but not to go until I was doing pretty good on my own. Everything I read here supported me working on my own recovery at my own pace and I'm glad I listened. I'm one to "power through" which would have done me no good. Slow and steady wins the race. I iced regulary and got up regularly. My "walk" at the start was maybe 2-5min every hr or so around the kitchen island using one crutch/cane and one hand on the counter. A month post-op and I took slightly longer walks (maybe 10 min or so and outside) at reg intervals 10am, 12pm, 3pm and 6pm (schedules and a plan helped me mentally and physically). Then with time, less frequent and slightly longer as I felt ready. And that heal toe walking thing is real. And like Mom always says stand up straight.

 

[Layla]

Happy Two Month Anniversary, Victoria!
I hope all is going well for you.
Enjoy the week and stay in touch!
@Victorialast