THR 1st Surgery has 2nd Surgery

I am glad you got pain under control...I had a day of confusion and unsuccessful meds, and it certainly can be intense.
Hoping you and hubby are also keeping you on ice! :ice:
Double Hippy Done!
No comparing recoveries, remember?
Hope today is restful and you are comfy (as one can be at this stage of the game)
Hugs...:roseshwr:
 
It's 4:30 am and as opposed to being aggravated I'm not asleep (just woke up to some strange shouting sounds in canyon) ....I'm exhilarated at my progress. I woke up and "wheeled" out of bed to try to hear where these bizarre shouts were coming from outside - also heard coyote yelps, not good for pets... But I see I can now walk with full weight on right leg, using Walker of course, but that's amazing progress from last night sobbing in the middle of the room, unable to put any weight on it!

Today i also regained the ability to raise the knee in bed which had all been long gone in last night's agony. So fast! I'm excited. And astonished that just taking the pain meds allowed this to happen. I guess. So I also did - very gently - some in bed exercises and isometrics today, because I could. Just enough to feel some muscle in there. You're right @lovesstars, i think the tramadol has helped with the overall inflammation lowering and thus the strengthening. I feel an actual LEG in there now, that can WALK! Without severe pain. Even fork lifting the log leg back into bed on the mount move has become more a work of two-step choreography than a perilous pain act. I've got it down using the leg lifter and one hand under the knee to brace everything and avoid sharp pains. This all goes on to a small step stool first, then up -whoop- to the high bed!

I feel a new lease on life in 24 hrs! What a difference. You were right @An54, that may have been the worst of it, the first night back. Today will be day 3 - the reputed Bad Day- but I'm not thinking it can compete with day 1 for Bad to the Bone-ness. (Sorry @SurreyGirl!)

And in keeping with menu and food fluff talk...relevant to hip healing ...hubby made Alaskan wild salmon and black rice for dinner and a salad of heirloom tomatoes, romaine and fresh parmesan, brought it all down the 15 steps on a bed tray! That too may have helped the recovery speed! Oddly I don't lose my appetite with the meds like I read some do.

But the biggest news may be in the TMI file (but not TMI for hippys)... Went to the bathroom and the eagle has landed! Thanks to a breakfast with coffee, prune juice, banana and pumpkin purée!

One happy hippy here. :loveshwr::happydance::yay:
 
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Thanks @Mojo333 --see you just popped in at the witching hour! I thought I might be the only one up but out west it's very early. I like the pre sunrise hours, so peaceful, except the brief coyote ruckus earlier! I'm almost too happy to go back to sleep! And even sleep has been of course in fits and starts but good. Comfortable. Ok I'll get back to it now. It's 4:44 am. Sleep well all sleeping hippies! :sleep::sleep:
 
:yes!:Yay...that always makes the day better!
Rest all you can, friend.
:friends:
 
Thanks guys, Yes I know, second rodeo, and the road has detours and turns... but I'm like a five year old when I get excited about something getting better! Especially something so bad (to the bone...) The kind of pain I was in last night - trying to just make it 25 steps to the bathroom - was inconceivable. In intensity. But because I was tolerating it the day after surgery with no pain meds! Made me truly appreciate the depth and gravity of the injuries we sustain with this surgery. THR. Not for sissies! :)

Now back to sleep for me! Hugs and thanks for being there!
 
Yes I have turned a corner, a hairpin curve, @SurreyGirl ...thank you! Slept 5am - 7:45 after checking in here. Walking so much better today. I realized there are two different "T" drugs. I'm on Toradol which is an NSAID. The other, Tramadol is a more opioid-like painkiller. Toradol you take only 3 days post op - it seems to be helping quite a bit. Oddly I have no diminished appetite even with the Oxycodone. Breakfast is on its way down! My right knee has a set of chipmunk cheeks added to it at the side. Kind of cute... Lefty is holding up great now, acting as the official managerial hip of the entire operation. He's doing a fine job in his promotion. The 2-step whoop into the bed is very well down now and easy to do pain free, well, almost pain free. All on track for the allegedly dreaded Day Three thus far. Sun just poked out of the haze and it looks to be a beautiful day here!

Cannot thank you all enough for being here at my party and for the worst first day home!
 
@1stSurgery I love love LOVED tramadol it got me through the bad times and really was my best friend. So glad you are now taking it and things are getting better. This hip was worse than your last one by all accounts which will affect recovery so don't compare! My first was absolutely awful and so was that hip. First op was 2 1/2 hours second was just under 2 so that proves it was slightly easier this time which explains my recovery was better. Had no appetite with the first but hell yeah with this one which is a good thing as you need food to recover. So so happy you sound more like your lovely humorous self xx
 
Thanks @Bevlah but mine is the OTHER T-drug, Toradol. Whatever, it certainly does seem helpful! I will continue with that, the oxy as needed, and aspirin. Seems a good regime for now!

It is interesting about the degree of how bad the OA hip was relative to the difficulty level of the recovery. Unfortunately I didn't get any pix or video ...or even short films on the left hip, but I went with it first due to worse pain and Labral tear, even though Righty always showed worse OA on X-ray. (Which she never forgave me for) So lefty was whipped in within 50 minutes and heals beautifully... and righty surgery was an hour and a half and is proving much harder, taking into consideration though my stupid forgetting to take any meds on day one!

I'd be interested to hear from other 2-hipped hippies if their harder recovery side was the more arthritic ally damaged one. Makes sense, but hardly anything in THR world makes all that much sense...
 
I'd be interested to hear from other 2-hipped hippies if their harder recovery side was the more arthritic ally damaged one.
This was the case for me. My left hip collapsed before it was diagnosed. I had to limp around for 6 months waiting for surgery. That recovery took over one year. As soon as the right hip started to complain I ran to the surgeon and had it replaced. That recovery was measured in weeks.

Early days for you @1stSurgery ! Patience is prescribed in very high doses.
 
Very helpful information @Jaycey thank you! Just what I had suspected but it made too much sense .. Lol

My left was very bad but did great, the right collapsed while rehabbing the left and then had to wait an extra few more months due to OS schedule so, like you, was in very bad state until surgery date, largely immobile even. Poor beat up femoral head!! I am SO HAPPY TO BE A DOUBLE HIPPY!! It's like I can relax after recovery for the next few decades anyways. Most likely. Thanks again!
Would like to hear from other double hippies about healing time versus deterioration levels.
 
Hey 1st thank you- the ankle and foot pain has improved here as I begin week 5. Fingers crossed!

Glad to hear Tramadol is working for you. I had a really scary thing happen yesterday- I won't rehash what I already put in my own thread, but short story is my doctor switched me this weekend from Dilaudid to Tramadol. I took a single Tramadol 50mg yesterday morning and within 30 minutes I couldn't swallow and was having difficulty breathing. I'm okay now- yes yes I know I should have called 911. But the good news is that anyone who takes Tramadol will know with the first dose if they have an intolerance- trust me! :sick:

Get well fast 1st! And I'm loving the posts here encouraging plans for something really fun to look forward to!
 
I saw that @Ausman, how scarey! Its really a nightmare when it's on a weekend or holiday (which these things always are!) But there are 2 different "T" drugs prescribed for post THR.. and I'm on the OTHER one, Toradol. Sounds like Tramadol but mine is an NSAID anti inflammatory, not an opioid. Plus I'm on Oxycodone which is an opioid of course. I'm so glad you got that straightened out before anything worse occurred and were able to pinpoint the cause by looking it up. Do you happen to have other allergies or asthma? I'd read somewhere when I thought mine was Tramadol that those patients might be the ones more inclined to respond poorly to Tramadol. Happy to hear the ankle / foot issue is improving too. And yep, looking forward to a fun event in the recovery end days is very helpful I think in our healing / goal setting timetable. I've picked "holidays" loosely so we can do Christmas or New Years depending on how things look look and feel by then. My goal is a holiday party involving at least some dancing, maybe not a triple pirouette yet. Maybe we can stage a bonfire of the canes, grabbers, shoehorns, sock pullers! Although I know they'd be better served donated to a retirement or rehab facility.
 
Hi 1st. Ahhh okay gotcha- Toradol vs. Tramadol. Unfortunately Oxycodone was out for me before I ever left the hospital. I simply could not keep one down. :sick:

No Asthma here. And no allergies as such, though there are other meds that I don't tolerate well. But no connection I can see to the Tramadol.

I love your idea of burning the hip kits! Though remember, this is only my first hip. I think I'm saving the box to put it all up in the attic just in case! But very much hoping not to need it! :fingersx:
 
@1stSurgery I believe Toradol is commonly used in the NFL to help injured players finish the game - not surprised it helps!

I also tend to wake up at an unreasonable hour, check my phone and read for a while, then try to get some more sleep - I'll drop in here if that happens again tonight, haha.
 
@1stSurgery I believe Toradol is commonly used in the NFL to help injured players finish the game - not surprised it helps!

I also tend to wake up at an unreasonable hour, check my phone and read for a while, then try to get some more sleep - I'll drop in here if that happens again tonight, haha.
Well isn't that an apt analogy?! Because it certainly helped me to finish the game Saturday night at home when I was collapsing on my walker in hysterics! I was on my first down when my husband headed over to me and passed the Toradol with a chaser of oxy at about the 30 yd line. Just in time too. Cannot believe how dumb I was to forget meds day one. Everything excellent now compared to Saturday. Yes, feel free to drop in anytime, we are a 24/7 establishment here. :) You can even catch the occasional one legged tap dance by @Bionic if you're lucky!
 
Yep, it's 4am and here I am... Stretching a little further every day though. 4 had always been my least favorite hour to wake up too - if it's 5, I just head to work (not now obviously, pre-surgery). 3 I know I need to sleep more. But 4 is a weird gray area.
 
@JoeKnows
Sorry you are too late for the one legged tap dance today. I have already entertained the dog and cat. Although come to think of it they weren't very entertained either. Ah well, thats life
 
Aww sorry @JoeKnows ...you wandered all the way over here in the dark at 4 am...and all you find is an empty room and some half full wine bottles left over from my recovery party! Not even anyone here to make you a decent espresso or do a promised one legged tap dance!

I actually slept from midnight till 7:30 - straight through! Took the oxy and the football drug both together at bedtime and whoosh. That was it! Pretty lucky for post op sleep cycle. Even was comfortable in bed. If this keeps up I'm afraid my husband won't feel sorry for me anymore and bring meals!! :)
 

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