THR 15 year old has first new hip

[zauberflöte]

Hurrayyy! Messing with bro's mind yet-- that's quite something ;)
Independence getting into bed: back up to bed, get rear on it. Wriggle gently back, using hands as needed, until firmly seated. Hook good leg under op leg and swing legs into bed together. Wriggle some more until in position to lie down. Call for a glass of water and a bedtime story ;) if women in their 50's and 60's can do it, I'll bet he can. Or there's always the belt or strap you can sling under your foot to help leg up. He will soon complain of what we call "log leg". The sensation goes away in a week or two!
Shower's a different story, for me anyway. Last hip, I had a tiny stall shower with a 4" lip, and was still terrified of falling. This time round we have a tub shower, and there is no way I can use that without a shower stool for a while. They do say that the commode chair can be used in the shower, but mine is a generous chair and a very stingy narrow tub. Hmmm.
He is apt to start craving animal protein any day now. I craved eggs, cheese, chicken, and salmon. Ice cream too... I think the protein helps with healing.
I had a two-week followup, and asked if I could remove my knee highs then. Since I'd walked in under my own steam, I guess he felt safe in telling me I could do without them. Mine were never tight to begin with! Snug, but not strangling.
And... sitting down at toilet can give great independence! Not dignified, but hey. A guy's gotta do what a gut's gotta do...
Keep up the great work, dad!!!


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[Cynthia777]

I used the good foot under the op side heel and swung them both into bed after my first THR too @zauberflöte and it worked well. After my second THR it didn't work so well, so I tied a loop at the end of a bathrobe belt and used it to get my leg log into bed. Matthew is young and will probably find his young muscles will aid him with this endeavor.

How's he doing today dad?

 

[tbatt9]

Today has been good so far. He passed milestone in that he's able to use bathroom unassisted. Glad I got him a grabber he uses to help reach his shorts.

Energy seems to be better. Been up and eating, watching TV, and playing video games. Only issue at moment is now that constipation seems to have left the opposite is starting. Our discharge instructions said to give him one Senokot with each narcotic pain med he took then if became loose to hold it. So that's the plan. For what it's worth he'd rather have that issue to manage then the very painful constipation he had. I told him it was part of his therapy designed to see how quick he can move to get to the bathroom.



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[Wrknitout]

I am glad to hear of Matthew's progress.

 

[Hip Hip Hooray!]

It sounds like he's over the hump. I'm glad he's no longer constipated. I wrote on my thread that the constipation was worse than the bilateral hip replacement. It really scared me. I hope he continue to improve, and that you are both doing well. Congratulations. You did it.

 

[jasminesmom]

Read all your posts and was like stepping back in time for us. In particular my heart skipped a few beats when I read this posted by you.

"But then I think about how he has already been affected by this and what the next couple of years may look like with him not wanting to participate in any social activities and just sitting around.
The problem I have with that is it creates a situation where it seems that we are just waiting for him to slowly get worse and worse as his youth passes by with him sitting on the couch. "

Jaz's personality was deeply affected by what she was going through and it was a tough battle from start to finish. But there has been a finish. She's now 17months post op and I watched my darling sweet girl return and proudly watched her grow into a fantastic young woman. She had zero pain now, she's come to terms with some of her lifetime limitations (which aren't many) wearing ridiculously high heals is one of them. That, you don't have to worry about.

I've taken as many positives from her and my sons similar problems as I could. When Jaz is dealing with normal teenage problems and gets a little down I remind her how strong she is, that she can get through anything after having such a horrible time with her hips. I know we are closer than we should be because of what's she gone through and she takes every opportunity she gets in life knowing she was so restricted for so long. I watched her go off to her school prom looking gorgeous, able to stand, walk properly without a limp, able to dance the night away with her peers with self confidence.

I know that feeling of desperation and heart ache for your children and equally the relief when they get their lives back. You will know this too very quickly as he fully recovers and in 17months time you will notice the little things and smile to yourself and realise that so much worry has lifted from your shoulders. Wishing you all a very speedy recovery.
Much much love and so glad you found this site.
Kirsty - jasmine and Sams mom xxx



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[tbatt9]

Jasminesmom, thanks so much for your kind words. I read your children's stories carefully several times as we debated what to do for Matthew. Thank you for sharing your experiences as I don't know that I could handle going thru this without this on line resource of wonderful caring people who know what they are talking about having lived it.

I still am very anxious and afraid for him in particular when I think of the long difficult road ahead. While it's only day 8 post op for his right and he is making progress, I find myself starting to worry about how we will manage and get thru doing this all over in just 5 weeks on his left. I am much more confident that it has to be done knowing what was found by the surgeon on the right but the thought of going thru this all over while also having to have him miss a good amount of time from school in the very beginning of the school year seems overwhelming at the moment. I thought about maybe delaying the left until next summer but that would cause him a lot of issues in that the right side is much longer now and even with a lift in his left shoe his left hip pain will likely be much worse. He wants to get it over with also so for now we plan to keep the left set for 8/23.


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[jasminesmom]

Jasminesmom, thanks so much for your kind words. I read your children's stories carefully several times as we debated what to do for Matthew. Thank you for sharing your experiences as I don't know that I could handle going thru this without this on line resource of wonderful caring people who know what they are talking about having lived it.

I still am very anxious and afraid for him in particular when I think of the long difficult road ahead. While it's only day 8 post op for his right and he is making progress, I find myself starting to worry about how we will manage and get thru doing this all over in just 5 weeks on his left. I am much more confident that it has to be done knowing what was found by the surgeon on the right but the thought of going thru this all over while also having to have him miss a good amount of time from school in the very beginning of the school year seems overwhelming at the moment. I thought about maybe delaying the left until next summer but that would cause him a lot of issues in that the right side is much longer now and even with a lift in his left shoe his left hip pain will likely be much worse. He wants to get it over with also so for now we plan to keep the left set for 8/23.


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Jaz was off school nearly 50% of the time over three years. Here we were entitled to a home tutor which really helped Jaz get through her exams. She's done really well and actually had some excellent pass marks already and the rest will be posted in late August. School work can be caught up with even without a home tutor.


At 15 they are quite grown up and know their own minds well. If he wants to get over and done with, go with that. Perhaps the thought of waiting, making a recovery in one side then going through it all again while still in pain in the other side is too much. Because Jaz had so much pain she overcompensated and for a long time walked wth barely putting any weight in her bad side. The way she walked took a long time of Physio to correct and she loathed wearing a shoe lift.

I was shocked how quickly Jaz recovered and was back on her feet again and pain free. The quicker it's out of the way the sooner he can start living a normal teenager door slamming life.

Keep us posted

Kirst


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[Hip Hip Hooray!]

I think the second one will be easier for both of you. You know how important it is to stay on schedule with the meds. You have figured out which ones his system can and can't handle. You've gotten through the constipation phase. You have the raised toilet seat, grabber, etc. There are some inspiring stories on here by people who have had the second hip done, and they all are so happy that they did.

As you improve, you get more excited. People notice the difference in you, and you are able to do things you haven't done in years. I had mine done together because I didn't think I could go through the surgery twice. Now that I've healed, I see how worth it the experience was.

 

[OUCH!]

I have been following along on. Your son's story and am so glad you made the decision to get his hip done. I am so glad to hear of his improvement. If he wants to do it, I think you should go for it as far as the second one. I've been dealing with hip pain since my early 20s. I I lost so much of my 20s and 30s to pain. I wouldn't wish this on any teenager.

If you haven't all ready, I would contact his guidance counselor about home instruction. My son (also a Matthew) was out of school due to illness for 6-8 weeks. The school district sent a teacher from each subject once a week to try to keep him caught up. Luckily it was only middle school and his teachers really worked with us, but his school should work with you.

Hang in there!

 

[tbatt9]

I have yet another question for the community. As he is doing better and better with the meds on the clock we have been following how do we judge when to space out doses to tapper down the narcotics? I realize it's only day 8 but I am trying to figure out the next few steps. I don't want to fall behind again but also want to get him off these drugs as soon as it is wise to do so.


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[msmo]

@tbatt around day 10 I started to stretch out the hours between doses. I also started to cut the pills in half to reduce the dosage and supplemented with extra strength Tylenol (not exceeding 4000mg totai daily dosage). After a few days of that I was only needing the stronger meds at bed time and sometimes a small dose in the morning. I was pretty much off all narcotics by day 20 (with the exception of as required(small dose) at bedtime, if I had extra pain for a week or two).

 

[Krista]

I was on my full dose of opioids for 4 weeks, tapering off during the 5th week. I did NOT want to feel any sharp pains or hamper the basic walking that I was doing because of bad pain. Taking opioids for even a few days in a row causes physical dependence, that is a given with these meds. That is not the same thing as addiction. I had no desire to stay on those meds any longer than I needed them. I was easily able to taper down at 5 weeks. Yes, I felt a bit irritable and yucky during the tapering, but that happens whether you are on them for one week or 5. It was totally worth it to me because of the wonderful pain relief I received from them. I wouldn't even think about lowering your son's dose at this point. If he starts tapering prematurely, his pain levels will go up and interfere with his recovery. That's my 2¢! Here are articles from the BS library on pain. There are more!: Pain management during TKR surgery (this applies to THR, too), and Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

 

[tbatt9]

Makes sense. We will just keep doing what we're doing as he seems to be progressing well. I have read the articles on activity progression and pain management but am wondering if given his age if we might be able to hope his progress is a little quicker than the norm.

I'm really not trying to rush him I just am trying to aline my expectations appropriately. Given where we were just a couple days ago I am thrilled with where he's at. He even got out of bed on his own today. We will have to see where he's at trying to get back in it tonight. I am also eager to see when he'll be able to sit on our couches again. Right now they are a little too low for him. But one day at a time I guess.



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[msmo]

@Krista everyone has different tolerance. I would have continued with the stronger meds for pain, but I hated the way they made me feel. I almost always passed out shortly after taking them, and after 10 days of that, I was ready to taper down. My pain was managed well enough on a lighter dosage to get around to do the things I needed to tend to. @tbatt9 , let your son be the guide, he may need them for longer or not. He should be able to tell on his own after these first few brutal days of recovery. He is over the worst part and now comes the waiting for things to heal.

 

[Krista]

@msmo, we are all different, for sure! I definitely needed mine for that long, as I was barely on the edge of getting what I needed. I would just hate for her son to feel unnecessary pain in a trial while taking less of them so soon. To me, the pain was so much worse than feeling out of it. I didn't pass out when taking them, indeed, they didn't even make me sleepy. I didn't sleep well at all, only 5 - 6 hours per day for 6 weeks, and that was broken into 4 or 5 different sleeps throughout the day. If you were passing out after taking them each time, that is a serious problem, and perhaps that drug wasn't good for you. I had nothing like that experience. The surgeon can also be her guide about how to manage her son's pain meds.

 

[zauberflöte]

@tbatt9 I was delighted with your post yesterday
Weaning off meds may come naturally. I kept up my every-6-hours as prescribed, for at least 4 weeks, but at about day 14 or so I Experimented with substituting 1/2 of a 325 tylenol for 1/2 of one of my 5-325 oxycodones. If once a day worked with that, I got brave and tried it twice a day. If that worked, good. If not, I backed up. So as the days went on, I'd try less and less narcotic and more and more tylenol. The nighttime dose was the last to taper and the last to disappear.
Matt is taking different pills, but my theory would be usable. For me, stretching out the dosing schedule just wasn't going to work.
I expect the next one won't be so bad-- you already know what to do! He will have it over with once for all, and by September 2017 he will have forgotten hips!
You are doing such a great job!! I can't say that enough! The worst thing I've dealt with was wisdom teeth in a 19 yr old, and that was about all I could handle. You are my hero


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[Hip Hip Hooray!]

I asked my surgeon's asst. about going off the pain meds. She suggested that I wean myself very gradually off the Percoset first. I remember reacting negatively, because I felt like I needed that one. It helped me so much. I didn't feel anything from the Tramadol, but I took it on schedule. She said to cut the pill in half, and then in quarters. I had to go back to it, because I had pain. If I took a half dose, I only slept half as long, and woke up wanting the pain pill. So, I gave it more time. I can't remember how long, exactly. It's on my thread. It's still early days for your son. The pain is usually worse at night. I remember having to get up and ice at 3:00 a.m. It worked, though.

 

[Krista]

@tbatt9, if your couches are low, would that mean he would be breaking the 90 degree rule to get in and out of them? If he does have that 90 degree restriction, it probably wouldn't be lifted for 6 weeks, which is standard. I didn't sit on a couch for 6 weeks while I had that rule, but used regular chairs and my bed during that time. Now I have an electric lift recliner which makes it much easier, and will be very helpful for me after my next surgery.

 

[Michegon]

@tbatt9 Hi, Bilateral Jim here! Following your story with your son shows what a caring parent you are. Great job on you all getting this done. His attitude to get the next one out of the way will make it easier. Keep up the good work and let him heal.