THR 8 weeks out and not happy

[sharonslp]

Hello everyone,
I was very active, in the gym constantly, and in the garden. I really thought I would be further along than I am since I am so young and thought I was in good shape.

Dogmom, this really sums up the issue. I think people who like to be extremely active and have been able to remain fairly active up until surgery often have the hardest time with recovery. As soon as you start to feel a little bit better, there is a big push to return to normal way too soon. And that can easily trigger a downward spiral. No matter what, after a major biggie surgery, the body requires a lot of rest. At four weeks, when you were returning to work, your body was thinking more along the lines of maybe 45 minutes of activity and then a nice nap. And then maybe lunch and a few exercises, and sit down with a good book. And then maybe a short walk...just a little bit longer than the day before....and then another snooze. And so on. There is a huge amount of both physical and mental fatigue after THR...I think all of us are surprised by it.

And it's so easy to overdo. One day you feel just great. And you do your short walk, and it feels like you have a good stride, and it's lovely out, so you turn it into a long walk. And later that day, you feel like you got hit with a sledgehammer. The body always wins.

So the short answer is: even if patience isn't in your nature, even if inactivity worsens your mood, you have to find a balance and a way to make it work for you. If you are back to work full time now, your body is doing all it can to manage that. Coming home to do housework just adds to the workload. Let it go. Hire someone to clean, or don't look closely. It's just plain too early to work all day, do housework, run errands, etc. You are tired all the time because you really do need a lot more rest. I found it took a full four months before the waves of overwhelming fatigue stopped rolling over me several times a day. And I didn't have to go to work.

Is there any way to go on half days at work for a couple of weeks? Or work fewer days a week. By fall you will have crossed a lot of healing hurdles. Please remember that your soft tissue will take a much longer time to reach full healing. My surgeon said up to two years, and he was right. Punish that soft tissue with too much too soon, and it will respond with tendonitis in some choice spot....and then you will be here asking for help with intractable pain instead of just tiredness.

I don't want this to sound like I am discounting any of your difficulty. You are telling a story that we see here all too often. It's hard to let go of that active energetic person you can't wait to be again. I'm just telling you to let go for a little while longer....for real let go....and you're the only one who can give yourself permission to do that. As long as you have that voice in your head saying....but I SHOULD feel better, feel stronger, feel great NOW, then you are going to fight what needs to happen. Reprogram the voice to say...I should rest a while; I should stop now; I should just do a little bit of this: I should stop and smell a lot of flowers. I should read a good book...hey this is a good book...I should read a little longer. Oh yawn, time for bed.

Good luck. In a few months this will be history. But you have to find a way to be at peace with yourself till then. I'm looking forward to reading about your progress with this. You obviously have a lot of determination. Make it work for you instead of against you. Rooting for you.

Sharon

 

[dogmom1960]

I just want to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who has replied to my posts. I had breast cancer 10 years ago(I was lucky and caught it early), and I never needed the support that have needed now. So again, thanks everyone. This is trying to teach me patience. Why this late in life, not so sure.

 

[zauberflöte]

@dogmom1960 you are definitely a survivor then! Your grit and determination will see you through this! You have no idea how many of us find patience, patience with ourselves that we never thought we had, during this recovery process-- you are in very good company!
Sharon's post put everything so very well, and she knows whereof she speaks. Looking forward to your wonderful recovery!

 

[dougie0216]

Howdy dogmom. I felt the exact same way. I tried to will myself back to normalcy, and it just did not work for me.

Earlier in life, I spent a ton of money on an advanced degree in education only to learn that all people learn differently. Guess what? All people heal differently as well. It will get better.

As a displaced Texan, I know how you folks in the Metroplex like to zip around, and it is probably frustrating as heck for you. It will get better, and one day you will be in traffic on LBJ wondering if the person in front of you ever had driver education, and you will realize you weren't thinking about your hip.

Did you know if you have OK tags, you can drive on GBT and never have to pay toll? Son #2 lives in Garland.

Hang in there and don't get frustrated. it will happen for you.

 

[Josephine]

RB/D and E

That's an incomplete reference. Did you not look at the smaller image explaining how to do this?

I don't have a lot of faith in Tylenol. I have pretty bad headaches from time to time and it does nothing for those

And I bet you take either one or two regular strength Tylenol, yes? Well an effective dose is 1,000mgs so anything less will most definitely be ineffective.

I am also keenly aware of the overdose issues with Tylenol as well.

I'll never downplay the overdose issues of acetaminophen but these only apply if a person exceeds 4,000mg per 24hrs.

 

[dogmom1960]

sorry I misread the chart. I have 2 areas that seem to be hanging on. R2FD, and RB5D.
As far as Tylenol. I only use extra strength, and have never taken less than 1000 at one time.
I only recently heard of over dosing. I have always suffered from on going sinus headaches. Tylenol never worked no matter how much I used. I am really lucky that I did not hurt myself.
it never helped was the swelling/sinus pressure. One positive I can say about my surgery, is that I was housebound during the really high pollen counts, and I cannot cut my grass, so one blessing is that I have not had any sinus headaches this spring.
I have started the Tylenol as you suggested, however, that is not helping me at night. I am more comfortable during the day. However, sleep seems to be an ongoing issue. I know that seems to happen for all of us post surgery. I am no different. I have yet to sleep thru the night. I have a sleep disorder similar to RLS, so this has added to it.

 

[dogmom1960]

the more I read everyone's threads, I wish I had found this months ago. I don't understand why they don't give you more info prior to your surgery. My doctor gave the "clinical" of what he was going to do, and I was given a pamphlet. The hospital had a pre-surgery class which was great for what to expect while I was there, but no one really tells you what to expect when you leave. I think if I had a better understanding of what was going to happen I might not have been so thrown. If I have anyone else in my life that will be going through this, I am going to be sure and let them know about the site, and hope I can help them get through to the other side.

 

[LadyJune]

@dogmom1960 I agree about the lack of information. At the time of my surgery I only knew one other person who had a thr. His dr and surgery was different from mine and that made it hard to determine if what I was doing was right. I was so glad to find this forum...it kept me from going nuts!!

 

[RVega]

I had THR on my right hip 6 weeks ago today. I'm a 55 year old male 178lbs. I have a 4inch scar, was walking on crutches the same day, went home and had dinner with my family the same evening. I was on crutches and pain meds for 2 days. I have relatively no pain in my hip anymore, I still have some soreness. I realize it's going to take months...maybe a year before I'm healed. No more high impact sports for me (who needs it); however, I'm still very active, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week. I feel great overall. I think it really helps in your recovery if you're optimistic and positive. Don't let yourself sink in self pity and depression. I just keep remembering how much pain I was having every time I would step. Not no more.. this makes me feel great! I don't miss my diseased arthritic hip.

 

[Josephine]

As far as Tylenol. I only use extra strength, and have never taken less than 1000 at one time. I have always suffered from on going sinus headaches. Tylenol never worked no matter how much I used.
it never helped was the swelling/sinus pressure.

Ah I see - well it won't hurt with sinus pressure. Almost nothing will.

I have started the Tylenol as you suggested, however, that is not helping me at night. I am more comfortable during the day.

That's usual - most of us are. It's a strange thing, but pain is always worse at night and thus far, nobody knows why.

However, sleep seems to be an ongoing issue

That too. It's mostly because of untreated pain though. Even low grade pain will do it.

I don't understand why they don't give you more info prior to your surgery

Well I think if they did, they'd almost only be able to see one or two patients a day! Don't you think?

 

[dogmom1960]

thanks Josephine. going to keep taking Tylenol like clockwork during the day. I am not feeling as much pain, but by the end of the day I am pretty achy/sore. it's funny, before I had the procedure I was so positive, I literally annoyed some people. I am looking forward to getting that back. Sitting on the couch right now with an ice pack.
pain is down to a 1-2, so going in the right direction. thanks for the advice.
I think I tried to push my way thru this just like I have all of my life. Not to offend anyone, but I am very much "mind over matter". Mind over "hip" didn't work.