Alexrd
junior member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2020
- Messages
- 34
- Age
- 56
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Gender
- Male
A quick update for you on my surgery and first few days post-op.
Admission to the hospital all went smoothly and I was very relieved that I was to be first on my surgeon’s list for the afternoon - no hanging about, no starving & dehydration to make the wait even more uncomfortable. Also, very pleased to be offered a spinal nerve block automatically as well as the general anaesthetic, as I’d heard this appeared to be the best way to go. Surgery itself was very speedy and I was coming round in just under 90 minutes in the recovery room. Swiftly moved back to my room and transferred back onto my bed - a bit clumsy, but since I still had no sensation below the waist, it didn’t bother me, though I was just surprised that I didn’t get to stay in the bed I was on in recovery; no doubt I missed something about the different types of beds!
It was a new and disconcerting experience as the nerve block gradually began to wear off, but sadly the rapid increase in pain quickly overtook all other impressions and sensations. Although I was given many different analgesics to help to control the pain, I’m sorry to say this aspect of my care was pretty poorly managed by the hospital in the first 12 - 24 hours post-op. It was also exacerbated for me by the fact I couldn’t pass urine without the aid of a catheter, which was particularly uncomfortable, perhaps all the more so because the staff were not on top of my pain management at that stage. Needless to say this was the single most uncomfortable and painful night of my 53 years and not something I would wish on anyone. I didn’t manage any sleep at all until 36 hours post-op, and only when I’d managed to talk to one of the staff to get them properly to address the pain management issue - it turned out my anaesthetist had prescribed oral morphine as and when required, but nobody appeared willing to offer this. And they only did when I specifically requested it quite forcefully, as I had to, once I discovered that this had been prescribed for me but never actually provided.
Things improved rapidly after this on day 2 post-op and the further rounds of bed exercises and walking practices with the frame supported by my physio all went very well.
I was very sceptical when I saw my consultant again on the second morning (after he’d sent me for an X-ray the previous evening to check the prosthetics were all in the right place) and he suggested I’d probably be ready to go home later that day, as I still hadn’t been exercising with the crutches at that point. But the physio reintroduced me to walking with crutches that morning, and it was so much easier when my pain was finally under proper control. We resumed with the crutches after lunch and I demonstrated easily that I could manage stairs, getting in and out of bed, chairs etc. without breaking any of the restrictions. My physio signed me off as ready for discharge and I was back home by 6pm the same day, courtesy of my sister.
I was so glad to be home and I was pretty exhausted after the simple exertion of getting in and out of the car, so sleep was not a problem that night!
Since then I’ve been icing very regularly, taking lots of pain killers, doing my exercises and generally trying to find a comfortable balance between sitting, pottering about, walking laps of the patio outside and bed rest.
So far so good, things are generally improving, all be it very gradually. My pain is well controlled and the stiffness is under control. Perhaps the only thing I’m struggling with is increasing swelling down my thigh and knee and around the scar on my bottom, which can make it tricky to get comfortable in a chair or in bed at first.
I’ll continue to ice very regularly in the hope this will now help to get the swelling down.
Admission to the hospital all went smoothly and I was very relieved that I was to be first on my surgeon’s list for the afternoon - no hanging about, no starving & dehydration to make the wait even more uncomfortable. Also, very pleased to be offered a spinal nerve block automatically as well as the general anaesthetic, as I’d heard this appeared to be the best way to go. Surgery itself was very speedy and I was coming round in just under 90 minutes in the recovery room. Swiftly moved back to my room and transferred back onto my bed - a bit clumsy, but since I still had no sensation below the waist, it didn’t bother me, though I was just surprised that I didn’t get to stay in the bed I was on in recovery; no doubt I missed something about the different types of beds!
It was a new and disconcerting experience as the nerve block gradually began to wear off, but sadly the rapid increase in pain quickly overtook all other impressions and sensations. Although I was given many different analgesics to help to control the pain, I’m sorry to say this aspect of my care was pretty poorly managed by the hospital in the first 12 - 24 hours post-op. It was also exacerbated for me by the fact I couldn’t pass urine without the aid of a catheter, which was particularly uncomfortable, perhaps all the more so because the staff were not on top of my pain management at that stage. Needless to say this was the single most uncomfortable and painful night of my 53 years and not something I would wish on anyone. I didn’t manage any sleep at all until 36 hours post-op, and only when I’d managed to talk to one of the staff to get them properly to address the pain management issue - it turned out my anaesthetist had prescribed oral morphine as and when required, but nobody appeared willing to offer this. And they only did when I specifically requested it quite forcefully, as I had to, once I discovered that this had been prescribed for me but never actually provided.
Things improved rapidly after this on day 2 post-op and the further rounds of bed exercises and walking practices with the frame supported by my physio all went very well.
I was very sceptical when I saw my consultant again on the second morning (after he’d sent me for an X-ray the previous evening to check the prosthetics were all in the right place) and he suggested I’d probably be ready to go home later that day, as I still hadn’t been exercising with the crutches at that point. But the physio reintroduced me to walking with crutches that morning, and it was so much easier when my pain was finally under proper control. We resumed with the crutches after lunch and I demonstrated easily that I could manage stairs, getting in and out of bed, chairs etc. without breaking any of the restrictions. My physio signed me off as ready for discharge and I was back home by 6pm the same day, courtesy of my sister.
I was so glad to be home and I was pretty exhausted after the simple exertion of getting in and out of the car, so sleep was not a problem that night!
Since then I’ve been icing very regularly, taking lots of pain killers, doing my exercises and generally trying to find a comfortable balance between sitting, pottering about, walking laps of the patio outside and bed rest.
So far so good, things are generally improving, all be it very gradually. My pain is well controlled and the stiffness is under control. Perhaps the only thing I’m struggling with is increasing swelling down my thigh and knee and around the scar on my bottom, which can make it tricky to get comfortable in a chair or in bed at first.
I’ll continue to ice very regularly in the hope this will now help to get the swelling down.