THR 5 weeks post op

Cmoon

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Hello, I’m new here and stumbled upon this forum and thought it was a good idea to reach out.
I am 32, I had my left THR posterior, on june 21. I’ve been having set backs like no other it seems.
The hospital wasn’t the greatest, 4 hours after surgery I did well for PT, walking to the doorway and back, then OT came and pushed me past where I was comfortable. I do have an autoimmune disease, lupus to be exact that I easily fatigue. The OT forced me to stand, after not having to strength and so I heard a pop to which he responded to have me sit back down and try to do strength testing. I was not in pain until then, he finally left and a few hours later I had agonizing pain. I couldn’t walk the next day, my PT was furious about the OT incident and requested an X-ray, thankfully everything was fine. I ended up staying 3 nights instead of one due to this incident and my lupus causing some slow down.
I’ve been having home PT twice a week, my first week I discovered my groin pain was still present and lifting my leg was not an option. I worked and worked, walking was always fine. My second week, I had a new PT come and made me do about 7 exercises and walk in a 40 minute period which resulting in my overdoing it. The next PT that week was more gentle and understanding. My third week the PT that overworked me, said she was bored of the normal exercises and I should start knee exercises. Within 3 leg lifts, the one where you stand with your arms on the counter and you bring your leg back to an angle, all of a sudden I felt a pull and pop at the back of my knee. She figured it was my calf and to just go lie back down and ice it. The second Pt for the week came and we determined it was my hamstring, that once again I was overworked and now a strain happened. Only scissor and leg lifts, walking encouraged for the next 3 weeks. I feel depressed that for a whole year prior I couldn’t do much since my lupus, I started limping and having nothing but pain since oct and it took until April to find out why and that I need a THR.
I’m currently at 5 weeks post op, my hip feels very sore, I think because I have COVID and I’m stuck in my bed longer. I’m just hoping I’m not falling behind on recovery.
I can still walk fine, I have more movement with my leg scissors and lifts, although I have to calculate it prior.
My date to return to work is mid sept and I don’t see that happening. I work a very stressful job. I am a locomotive engineer, it takes a lot of movement and I’m stressing I’ll be forced to return by September. I feel my set backs and my lupus have delayed things and I should be happy to be in recovery but I have mixed emotions.
My first post op appointment was 2 weeks ago, the doctor said my incision healed great, my walking was great but I’ll be close to 6 months to a year for full recovery. Which is why I’m a little stressed my paperwork states sept. Anyway.

Has any one had any similar issues or perhaps illness that aligns with mine? How has your recovery been?
 
Wow, you've been run through the wringer sounds like.
Scroll through some of the reports here, recent and otherwise, I'm no doctor or PT but I think you are getting pushed too hard and if it hurts you shouldn't be doing it.
I'm a little over 5 months post op and only exercise I've done is walking. And when I'm tired I stop, sit, rest, ice.
Many here have opted to just use walking as their primary PT in recovery.
I'm sure if you aren't ready to work in September you can ask for a note from your doctor saying you aren't ready to do your job just yet.
All my best and you will receive amazing encouragement and help here, you've come to the right place.
 
Hi @Cmoon and:welome:

Oh my, I sure wish these surgeons would specify No PT for the first 6 weeks and let people heal.
An OT, occupational therapist, in my opinion, should only be showing you how to safely attend to ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) and all of those exercises, particularly done in a supine position, with a traumatized "log leg " are certainly likely to cause groin pain and other unnecessary discomfort.

Walking is all that is needed right now ... and with Lupus and Covid, your rest is important.

I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative.
Following these guidelines can help you have a less painful recovery.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

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. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website


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.
 
I am a locomotive engineer,
To me, This is the coolest job ever... :loveshwr:
I can still walk fine, I have more movement with my leg scissors and lifts, although I have to calculate it prior.
At 5 weeks out, walking fine is the goal... all the other exercises for strengthening and toning can come later as they are likely just too soon and hindering more than helping.
Ice, ice :ice:and stroll about when you can.
I'm guessing Covid is keeping the PT away, so drop all that extra (we won't tell!)
Hope your symptoms with the virus are mild and you feel better soon.
 
Please don't stress about PT or exercising. Right now your body is using all it's energy to heal. And add Covid to the mix - wow! Mega energy drain. Rest, ice, elevate, medication and repeat. Plenty of time for strengthening and building stamina later.

Read the Big Tip at the end of the recovery guidelines Mojo left for you.
 
Sounds like your biggest problem is the OT' and PT's. I'd take a vacation from all of them and just concentrate on recovering and walking. 6 mos to a year for full recovery is about right for all of us, but 3 mos to return to work is pretty normal. You might have some restrictions at that point like heavy lifting and jumping down from ahigh step but standing and moving should be OK.
 
Thank you everyone for the replies, makes me feel better. I’m not sure why I’ve been having to do PT right out of surgery, maybe I’ll cancel the last week and just walk. That sounds so much better anyway.
Last night was the first night my hip started to bother me, felt really sore and heavy again. I haven’t touched pain pills in a few weeks so I took one to be able to sleep. I feel good today, I think Covid is about gone.
Definitely reading over a bunch of tips and it’s so helpful, I’m sad I found this forum so late haha
 
but 3 mos to return to work is pretty normal. You might have some restrictions at that point like heavy lifting and jumping down from ahigh step but standing and moving should be OK.
That definitely wouldn’t work for me. I’m constantly walking on uneven terrain and even jumping down from 2-3ft into ballast that can shift as soon as I touch the ground. Lifting is mostly my body weight in climbing up ladders. The sitting itself with the movement of the track terrifies me, you can get thrown around pretty good.
Hopefully I can heal more before being forced back ha ha.
 
I understand what your job is and you might struggle some. Ladders were a problem for me at 3 mos and I didn't have to work, I did it on my own at home and a step ladder really set me back! THR's don't like jumping down 2-3 ft., took a while before I'd jump out of my pickup bed and I wouldn't do it often. THR's don't like uneven terrain for a while too. I see you're much younger which is in your favor, but it also makes you think you can do more than you should.
 
I understand what your job is and you might struggle some. Ladders were a problem for me at 3 mos and I didn't have to work, I did it on my own at home and a step ladder really set me back! THR's don't like jumping down 2-3 ft., took a while before I'd jump out of my pickup bed and I wouldn't do it often. THR's don't like uneven terrain for a while too. I see you're much younger which is in your favor, but it also makes you think you can do more than you should.
Just stepping in and out of the bath tub is hard for my left leg. I kinda drag it over the side. Hopefully can get full range in a couple months. Just taking it easy
 
I'm nearly 4 months and my hip flexor is still sore at times when I lift the leg. At 6 weeks my OS told me that i was still early in recovery and my quest was to walk, just don't overdo it. You'll be truly amazed at where you'll be in another month or two.
 
Just from my experience pushing doesn't make the recovery go any faster. That's what gets most of us no matter how much we want it faster it doesn't happen. And it seems the more you do it causes setbacks early on. When I say early I mean in the first months. At 3 months I figured I was done with recovery since I felt I could do anything. I did some chores on an 8' step ladder and it set me back for 3 weeks in pain and on ice resting.
 
Well, I was doing great at 3.5 weeks then got covid! Pushed through that & yesterday I fainted while on a 3 mile walk 2 miles in. BP 80/50 ride to hospital in ambulance to ED & they discovered a blood clot in my left lung!
On Eliquis now and paranoid to to much.
 
duke51690 - what a scary story! Lucky it was discovered and best wishes moving ahead!


Cmoon - Ten days after my surgery I tested positive for Covid. Mild symptoms and ostensibly over it pretty quickly, except for the fatigue. Add that to the usual post surgery fatigue and you've had a lot to cope with! I figured I would be about a week" behind" on whatever timetable I had in my mind, and then decided it really didn't matter - my hip would be better when my hip was better. Still need an afternoon nap, but it's down to 45 minutes instead of 3 hours! Still using a cane for the most part (although I can limp along without it), but happy with my overall progress. My OS is of the the "all you need to do is walk" school, so I don't have the added pressure of a structured PT program. I figure it took a lot more than 5 weeks for my hip to deteriorate to the point where it had to be replaced, so my shiny new hip is certainly entitled to the time it needs to feel at home!

For now, focus on rest and recovery. September and work is still a while away. Take it week by week and I think you'll be surprised at just how far you've come!
 
I took some time to myself and rested up as much as my body let me. Some sleepless night and some nights I slept 10 hrs.
No more Covid, I lost some much needed weight so I’ve been pretty happy.
This weekend I went to a sit down restaurant and of course the seat wasn’t to comfortable, I sat on a pillow. No shame. Anyway, since I’ve had this deep pain in what feels like the middle of my left cheek, is butt pain normal? I had it prior to surgery and haven’t felt too much of it since because I’m normally sitting on something comfy. I know my incision was cut into the muscles and I already have had a indent it seems.

Hope it goes away, I’d hate to have problems where I have to carry a pillow at all times.
 
:wave:@Cmoon
Buttock pain certainly is normal and a common complaint for many new hippies.:oyvey:

Our gluteal muscles surround our hip and I assume they get traumatized during surgery along with a lot of other soft tissue.
Here is a helpful post left by my fellow staffer to another member recently.
I'm catching up on your recovery thread and noticed you have mentioned pain in "the middle of your butt" I had that and found that taking several socks and rolling them into a ball helped immensely when I put it under the offending gluteal muscles while seated, if you can tolerate it, maybe try rolling around on it, also.
The sock ball is softer then using a massage ball and you can ease into the sore spots so much easier.
 
Pain in the butt is very common. I always carried my wallet in my left rear pocket, post op with my left it took a long time before I could carry it there again. With my right I carry a handkerchief in my right rear pocket and I couldn't stand that in my pocket especially sitting. Further in my recovery I was able to do stretches and that helped a lot with the butt pain.
 
@Cmoon I am sorry you’ve had such a rough time. I totally understand your fatigue since I have psoriatic arthritis and fatigue is a well known problem for me too. Are you on any biologics? I‘m on Tremfya a self injection every 8 weeks. I was pretty nervous about surgery since biologics can raise your risk of infection.
 
Wow @Cmoon
It sounds like you've been through the ringer! I'm so sorry.
I stumbled on this group after my surgery and it really helps to read what others are going through and to know that this is not just a simple procedure we had done. It was major surgery and it will take time, a LOT of time, to heal and recover. I need to be reminded of that because I get impatient. I'm at 5 weeks 4 days post surgery and having major swelling and some pain. I've been icing all day and it's not helping so I'm feeling discouraged. I finally took a pain pill and 2 Tylenol and that took the edge off. I'm actually starting to have pain in my non surgery hip and I think it's from putting on my weight on that leg when I stand or walk. It's so frustrating. And I am bored and lonely. Thanks for listening to me whine. I hope you are on the mend since your original post.
Barbara
 
Wow @Cmoon
It sounds like you've been through the ringer! I'm so sorry.
I stumbled on this group after my surgery and it really helps to read what others are going through and to know that this is not just a simple procedure we had done. It was major surgery and it will take time, a LOT of time, to heal and recover. I need to be reminded of that because I get impatient. I'm at 5 weeks 4 days post surgery and having major swelling and some pain. I've been icing all day and it's not helping so I'm feeling discouraged. I finally took a pain pill and 2 Tylenol and that took the edge off. I'm actually starting to have pain in my non surgery hip and I think it's from putting on my weight on that leg when I stand or walk. It's so frustrating. And I am bored and lonely. Thanks for listening to me whine. I hope you are on the mend since your original post.
Barbara
Oh no, keep taking your pain meds and icing it 20 minutes on and letting it get back to normal warmth then ice again. I’m moved home finally, I was with my parents during the first month and a half after. I’ve been having soreness and pain through my whole pelvic area, so today I’m just going to do the same and stay in bed. I’ve been overdoing it, definitely. I graduated from a walker to a cane barely a week ago, my hip finally feels stable enough and I regained my upper body strength. My last PT told me the reason why my non operated side hurt in my upper thigh was because I was still favoring weight on that side. I have to concentrate and make sure I’m moving my hip flexor, and almost march like movement to heel to toe while I walk, it’s helped so maybe try that! It feels funny but helps.
 

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