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6.5 hours from surgery

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teejay

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I'm officially a hippie!

The surgery went well in about 2 hours. A couple of hours at the PACU, and I'm now resting in my beautiful private room with my darling wife. Not too much pain.

I guess the fun starts tomorrow.

Thank you all for your support.

More later ...
 
Hi I am so glad your are done and resting well.......take care of yourself we are all pulling for you.........yes pt tomorrow just do your best.........)post anytime
 
WOWn Tee jay!! Happy Recup! The BEST is yet to come!!!! ((:0)
 
9.5 hours ... I walked a little and have now been sitting on a chair for an hour. I actually asked for the RN to prove to me that a surgery indeed was done. I'm certain the reality will set in due time, but I'm going to enjoy the moment as long as possible.

Everybody is real nice. Thank God for nurses!

It's about 9:30 pm and time for a nap. I've to get up 5 am tomorrow.

Thank you all for the support.

My wife is indeed the best thing that ever happened me. I'm a lucky bionic man.
 
Its 3:30 am, and had a nice four-hour sleep. I went six hours without pain meds sleeping in my chair, but now, suddenly, my body is catching up. I got 1mg Dilaudid IV and it helps a bit. I’ve got two hours left before my official day starts.

The nurses are from heaven. Although one made the mistake of not reposition the catheter tube after raising my legs up, and after awhile I was so full that it hurt. The nice night RN changed the flow and I drained 1100ml - what a relief.

My anesthesiologist wanted to go with spinal block, but I chose the general anesthesia. The torture device at the OR looked quite scary. The last thing I remember was talking with an Indian RN; nobody told me that they are going to start. Woke up at the PACU.

There were a lot of problems with information flow, starting with the registration. I was told that nobody with my name was scheduled for surgery. I can’t even recall how many times I have gone through my medications and other info with several people, and somewhere along the line the computers messed everything up.

I can’t wait to get started with my PT.

I feel very sorry for my wife. She left the hospital at 11 pm and is planning to return in the morning. Somewhere in the middle she is supposed to eat breakfast, prepare my lunch (I can get a decent vegetarian meal here ever. The kitchens idea of veg meal is salad with bacon strips), take the dogs for a walk, and deal with all other daily chores. Women are special people.

The Dilaudid appears not to work. I’ve got this weird referred pain in my knee and leg. Sometimes positioning the leg properly takes the pain away, but now I’m not so lucky. My hip does not hurt at all. I can feel the muscles of my thigh real tight. I’m doing the exercises all the time. I’m hoping that this day will resemble yesterday regarding pain .

The walking yesterday was totally painless, and I did not recognize any difference in the strength either. I’m trying to stay positive for shugaplums sake.

In an hour I’ll get the catheter removed and the show hits the road.

More later.
 
Thats fabulous!! And good that you're feeling so well! Especially after going under general-I get really sick! Welcome to the other side!

The tightness is normal and it will slowly go away over the course of weeks...but the more you move the faster it heals-jsut don't overdo it! You just had surgery!

And I know that lovely Jo will be along to talk to you about pain meds. There's no need to try to keep a super low dose. I hate being medicated and feeling loopy but those first few days I went with it. Later when you're more physical and on no narcotics is the time to be pushing yourself.

It sounds like your surgery went great! So now enjoy your new hip and all that wonderful extra time you get to spend with your wife.:thmb:
 
Top of the morning, shugaplum,

I love to be on this side.

Josephine convinced me with her med/pain chart to go along with the prescribed medication regime. I’m going to follow instructions to the letter, However, last night I felt no pain at all and did not see the need to take any meds.

However, the regular pain med regime will commence in 30 minutes. I’m a weird Homo Sapiens in that pain meds don’t work with me. For example, they regularly start people off here with 0.5 Dilaudid IV. Moi it was 2.0. I hate meds of any kind, but I’m convinced that this is the situation to take whatever they give me.

I still love that photo of yours. It makes me warm and smile
 
Wow I'm always so impressed with anyone that posts from the hospital. You really did a great job. I'm so glad things are going so well for you.
New hips are the best
judy
 
Judy,
I was really fine yesterday, no pain, no worries. Today they are talking sending me home tomorrow – in two days! I’m not certain that is a great idea, Well, my wife is coming and she’ll talk with the docs.

I’m really starting to feel the tightening of the muscles and the pain. I think I walked too much. Walking felt fantastic, though. Noticed a weird thing: my operated leg is rotating inwards a bit. I wonder if that is due to the surgery, or maybe being used to walking that manner to avoid pain? Josephine, where are you when teejay needs you?

Time will tell, and I’m writing that in very positive set of mind
 
Teejay, I am 3 weeks post op and I still feel like my leg is turning out sometimes. I know at this point that it is because the muscles are weak still and I did walk this way for some time prior to surgery. It helps me to lean a pillow against my foot so it doesn't roll outward and when I do this it seems to give the muscles on the inside an easier time of learning to work again. Also sometimes it 'feels' like it is turned one way or the other but when I look at the foot it is actually straight up and down. I think it is just my memory playing tricks on me.
Over the next few weeks & months your muscles will be showing you all their strengths and weaknesses!
I think for everyone it is an interesting time figuring out how to do enough exercise and activity without doing too much.
My quads were so tight post op and so about 5 days out I started sitting back on my heels with a pillow under my butt(I had the ANTERIOR approach so this was allowed) and that has helped me immensely to get rid of the thigh pain. I am still experiencing pain in my knee and calf & some sciatica from time to time.
I know what you mean about going home. It feels too soon. But you will be glad when you get there. The hospital staff is great but they don't love you like your family does.

Many blessings to you on your return home,
Sheri
 
teejay, you're doing great! I'm proud of you!

But .... you knew there had to be one, didn't you! ... you do need to take those meds. Stiffness and aching is pain and needs medicating. Why suffer when you can get on with you recovery pain-free?

And that odd foot position - that's most likely due to the pre-op conditioning and will take some effort on your part to correct. The PTs should help you with that.
 
Sheri,

Thank you Sheri for sharing your experience, it does make some much sense. When I walked to the PT this morning, I first time saw my right foot hitting the floor in an odd way, and that was kind of scary. Despite all the promises that I was ready for this surgery, I guess I wasn’t totally. It is enlightening to read other people’s stories and reassurances. Thank you for that.

I think you’re correct; it’s better to be at home. If I’m allowed, I’ll go back home. I’m able to do all the exercises, I’ve got the medications, no need really to stay any longer.


Josephine,

I must defend myself in that I did not want to take 2mg Dilaudid every hour, because I did not really need it. Now I’m taking MScontin and Percoset, and I will take my meds as prescribed. Like I mentioned earlier, your chart on pain and time opened my eyes to the facts of post surgery life.

I asked my PT this afternoon about the weird angle, and she too thinks that it’s due to the combination of surgery aftereffects and habituation. Long road ahead.

Thank you for being there. I’m beginning to realize that I’ll be visiting BoneSmart for a long time.
 
I had the strange rotational drift in as well...which is made even weirder by the fact that I'm a dancer and have spent over 20 years turning it out! I was losing my rotational range leading into the surgery though and now its vastly improved to what it was even 3 months ago. I just had to be very conscious of the inward drifting for the first few weeks and work to keep it in line.
 
shugaplum,

The difference between a fine-tuned dancer and a guy is that the previous has “strange rotational drifts” and the latter “weird angles.”

(This hospital surely was not designed to provide any environment for nurturing sleep.)

It is interesting that when I began consciously placing the foot on the floor correctly, both anatomical structures began pointing to the same general direction. This could actually work out fine!

The recovery must be so much easier for you due to your total knowledge of your body. I recall when I was younger (I’m about 50 now), I spent years first studying and then teaching Yoga. The sensitivity! I could literally feel my body through my breath. I’m doing my entire PT applying the breathing techniques I learned years back. The movements are much more relaxed, slower, and stretching than without, and the benefits are numerous. The lady next to me finished her routine while I was still performing the number 3 out of 10.

In addition, your body was in better position to start with regarding the surgery and recovery than mine. Good for you taking care of yourself and bringing people the joy of dancing.

I’m very, very positive that with the support I’m receiving at home and here the sky is the limit.

Percocet time.
 
Teejay, so glad to hear you are doing this well with your surgery and the first few days of recovery. You have received great advice from everyone, so I really have nothing to add except to say keep on truckin'!!!
 
You’re absolutely correct, Jamie, what a great bunch of people. I can’t imagine a question the Hippies would be unable to provide a remedy for. So many things can “go wrong” and getting your questions answered and having your worries taken care of promptly is fantastic. Even with the best relationship with one’s physician, I can’t keep on calling him every day asking stupid questions. Here nobody seems to care (yet) how ridiculous my concerns are. I’m finally starting to get the true purpose of the forum.

</p>I need to start regulating my consumption of the bandwidth and your time and stick only to the most pertinent problems.

I’m on Day II. A potential predicament came about that can necessitate for me to stay one more day: hypotension. The lowest it went was 83/40. My normal is 120/70. I‘m getting plenty of fluids, and we need to be careful with the meds.

The muscles are getting even more tight, but I think I’m experiencing less actual pain - the ups and downs.

Percocet time.

Thank you for being there for me, Jamie.
 
One last post, it appears that I’m going home today. Happy me. My BP is getting normal. I’m out of here immediately after the afternoon PT - 48 hours from my surgery.

Thanks to all for your support
 
Teejay, so glad to hear things stabilized and you get to go home. It is the best place to be, of course!!! Hospitals are for SICK people!! :rotfl::rotfl:

And hooray for you that you understand the purpose of BoneSmart....you GOT it! It is to provide a safe and unbiased environment where people can come for support and to get all those crazy questions answered. Cuz....quite frankly, no one here thinks ANY question is crazy. We've all been right where you are and know how the little things can be the most bothersome. So please NEVER, EVER hesitate to post with a question or concern. They are all important to us. Just like you are important.

Can't wait to hear from you again...hope it will be from the comforts of home.
 
Hey Tj im a few days before you just checking to see how you were doing........you were able to post faster then i was and when i did what a mess............lol.............hope your doing well....take care.......)
 
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