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THR Aloha From The Other Side

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A couple of nerve wracking days, but husband is done with colonoscopy and all is well. Great load off of our minds. I'm not doing as well with the cane as I'd hoped I would, at least not consistently. The longer I'm up and walking, the better it feels, but right when I start feeling like I can put more weight on new hip and get going, I start feeling pooped! Just gotta go with it, though, and continue to do my PT and walk around as much as I can, even if it is with the brace. My 6-week post-op is next Thursday, and I'm pretty sure my doc will prescribe some outpatient PT for me, hopefully at a place that has hydrotherapy along with traditional. Pretty sure he'll okay going to the pool for some walking and gentle (non-restriction-breaking) exercise. Back to work on 7/23! Planning on full time, but we'll see if I've got the energy for that. Sorta have to, as I don't have any sick time left :-)
 
Hey there Debcakes,
Thank goodness your husband passed his colonoscopy! You know, I had underestimated the toll this whole drama took on my husband (although the past two years in chronic pain was substantially harder on him than the THR) and your husband probaby had a lot of the same stress. Sometimes men don't process the stress as well and it goes to their gut (or other places). I hope he is feeling better.
You sound like you are having some good times there, Debcakes, going out for artistic sessions and eating sushi! Good for you!
I hope your 6 week post op has you stamped with flying colors and you can get the PT hydrotherapy you want.
You mentioned on my thread (thank you visiting!) that you are thinking of yoga. I cannot recommend yoga highly enough, but you have to make sure you get the kind that is most suitable for you. You also have to have a teacher who is well trained and understand THR. I wish I could zip over there and practice with you!
You are right that you are getting a lot of exercise just by working around the house.
Take gentle care,
Elle
 
Hi Deb, good news about your husband :thumb:

Going onto just one crutch starts the tiredness process off again ( that doesn't sound right but I'm sure you know what I mean) methinks, then using no crutch, our bodies just need time to adjust with the little less help. You will get there in the end in the meantime, try to rest up when necessary, give your body some TLC before getting back to work. I hope it goes okay

Take care

Ann
 
I would like to share this. The first thing this morning I saw a picture I took visiting your Island and felt so free. What a wonderful place to live and be able to recover. Welcome to the site. I have not be able to read all your site, so how are you doing? The cane is good and bad. It feels good to use it so I know I am getting better but it is tiring to put so much weight on one side. But you will get stronger and also this means you are moving in the right direction. Take care and have a good weekend with your husband and celebrate your good news. :puppysmooze:Tashia:bicycle1:
 
Great news about your husband Deb, that certainly will be a load off your minds.

I am sure a lot of the having to go through your husband's procedure would have unsettled you also, but you are strong you will bounce back

I understand how you feel about going back to work. Make sure if you can that you take some ice packs with you. I found it invaluable to have a couple in the freezer at work.

Also, stay ahead of your pain meds, don't wait until the last minute to take them otherwise you have break through pain and then you play catch up.

I also found that I forced myself to get up every 20 mins and just stood at the back of my chair and did some basic exercises.

I also, took a pillow in with me, it became my 'charlie Brown' carry around because of all the different low chairs.

You will be fine, tired when you get home so make sure you rest up :) it is the sudden draw on your stamina that you will most likely feel.
 
Six-week post-op went as well as expected, and I have a beautiful xray of my new hip! I got a scrip for PT and hydrotherapy, and I am SOOOOO grateful for my Cadillac insurance - unlimited visits will be covered as long as they are deemed "medically necessary." You can bet I'm going to play that card as long as I can!

On the downside, PA told me to stop with the oxycodone. I took her too literally and just stopped, but realized a couple of nights later that that is a really bad idea, since withdrawal symptoms made it really hard to rest or sleep. So I am cutting back from 3-4 5mg/day to just one before bed until my current scrip runs out; also taking a nibble of an Ambien (2.5mg) before bed as well. I'm taking extra strength Tylenol during the day. I have to say, I am noticing the pain quite a bit more since cutting back the oxy, but it's nothing too horrible.

Using a cane most of the day now, and have put the walker away, really this time. Using the brace at night, though, as even under the best of circumstances I'm bleary for the 3AM trip to the loo. I'll definitely use a cane at work, but am taking a brace with me, since I suspect toward the end of the day my energy will be flagging.

Thanks to you all for your great support! I haven't been on the forum much this past week, so have a lot of catching up to do!
 
Wow, Debcakes, sounds like you passed the 6 week post op with flying colors-good for you!

That seems wise to not go cold turkey off the pain meds. Who needs pain if it is easily avoided.

GREAT that you can have hydro and that your insurance is the "good" kind! YAY!

You keep up keeping up, girl. Sounds like you are going steady and reasonably.

Now, do you have to go back to work soon? Oh, dear. Yes, do take the brace!

Warmest,
Elle
 
Hi Dekakes,
I am just a week behind you and I too am just getting off OxyContin. I was taking two a day, then three days of just one before bed, then no more after last Friday. I have to say it feels "different". May be just that my head is clearer? Having a bit of backlash digestively, swung from constant constipation on the oxy to loose for two days now. Hope you don't get that also, but I wanted to warn you that it is a possible withdrawal along with agitation and irritability. Also having a bit of trouble sleeping. It almost feels like restless leg or something. Not really painful, but uncomfortable. I'm taking Advil three times a day and just took a Benadryl to see if it will help me sleep (as well as help my allergies).

Hang in there, seems each day things get different but we are getting better.

Nancy
 
Hi Deb, you sound like you are doing well! I think your medication plan is wise. No reason to go cold turkey. I'm sure I'd have a terrible time if I tried going off chocolate cold turkey, lol. Seriously, the narcotic meds do cause problems if we dump them suddenly.

I'm so glad you have great medical insurance and can get some extra nice hydrotherapy. Nice!!

Dorothy
 
Hi Deb. Your six weeker sounds great. Now that your doing PT, I'm sure you will start seeing some real improvement. Won't be long you will be saying good bye to the cane. I'm a week behind you and started my PT my first week home. Strange how every doc set their own time table for PT. Did you loose any of your restrictions at your six week visit? I too have trouble sleeping and the ambien sounds like a good idea.Keep up the good improvement.
 
trkkoa, all of those things! I had what I refer to as "restless body syndrome"! And yup, diarrhea. Tonight I'm going to go down to 1/2 of a 5mg pill and see how that goes. I really, really hate sleeplessness. If it was simply pain, I could deal with that. I'm planning on trying herbal Valerian pills to see if that works.

My first PT session was very, very revealing. I've been so bummed by the inability to walk without assistance. Now I know it's because of adherence issue, scar tissue attached to my muscle. So he's doing fascia massage and e-stim on my scar (and does not believe we will have a problem loosening the adherence -- hoooray!). We didn't do too much the first session, as he was testing my ROM (which is very good) and getting my history. My first hydro session is tomorrow. Also: my gait is all over the place. So now I have to be more mindful of not leaning into the cane or brace too much and shifting as much weight as possible onto my surgery leg. I can tell a difference even today.

The ironic thing is, about three weeks ago when I started walking with the cane, I was SO pleased that I was able to put so much pain-free weight on my surgery leg. The adherence must have started just after that. I wonder how much of my current situation I can blame on myself, as I don't think I was doing my lifting and ROM exercises as much as I should have. But it is what it is, and now I've gotta work a little harder at it.
 
Well, here I am awake again in the middle of the night. Feeling agitated and restless. Let me know how the valerian worked out. I tried aleve and melatonin and managed only 3.5 hours before waking at 2 am and now can't go back to sleep. Hope you are faring better.
Nancy
 
I have been weaning away from the oxycodone, down to 2.5mg only at night. Some nights are better than others. But I have a question for y'all (yeah yeah, I could ask my doctors, but this is more fun!). My GP prescribed a LOT of 50mg tabs of tramadol for me pre-surgery, and I happen to have a fair amount left over. From what I think I know, tramadol is quite a bit less serious of a drug than oxycodone, and it was the only thing that kept the pain at bay even a little pre-surgery. I'm thinking to replace the oxy with tramadol, which I feel I could take a couple more of a day. Since I lightened up on the oxycodone, I have been in a noticeable amount of pain due the adhesion issue. My reasoning for shifting to tramadol is that I seem to walk much better, straighter, and with more weight on my surgery leg, if I'm not feeling pain. Stands to reason, right? Am I just trading one dependency for another? Or should I not even worry about it at this stage (7 weeks post-surgery)?
 
I should add that I've tried extra strength tylenol and tylenol PM, and it seems to have NO effect on my pain, at least not that I can discern.
 
Hi Deb, I think that especially because of the adhesion, you shouldn't worry about the pain meds. From all I've read 'round here, it's better to focus on building strength and a normal gait. And it would be difficult to do that with a lot of pain. Listen to your body, and it will let you know what it needs. Hope things continue to improve with the PT. :)
 
Deb, what are the reasons you have for dropping the oxy? I had to. I wanted to be able to drive and it caused severe constipation. If one drug better controls your pain vs the other and doesn't have the adverse side effects, that would seem to be the clear choice.

I had a week of agitation and loose bowels after quitting oxy. I'm now taking naproxen twice a day and Tylenol in between if needed and I am happier.

Bottom line is to make sure you are getting the pain adequately controlled.

Nancy
 
Deb

I vote you not worry about dependency. Take the pain meds as prescribed. Walk better, straighter and easier....FYI, I used Tramadol 37.5/325 pretty regularly before my revision, for various OA aches and pains for a number of years. It worked really well. I haven't been able to go back to it yet, due to back and knee issues post injury. Still need Norco 10/325 most nights and even several days during the week. Usually can cope with 1 during day but often require 2 at night. I tried replacing this with the Tramadol, but it just isn't cutting it for me right now.

Best wishes for continued recovery
Suki
 
I had concerns about taking co-codamol( high strength) for the last 7 weeks. So I stopped them last Sat. But consequently had loose bowels and have been in pain since. So I'm back on them and can manage my days much better with pain relief. With taking the tablets I can function as normally as I want. I do think it's a general worry with long term medication but I can see many on here also had these concerns and have been advised to keep taking them. It is so lovely to be able to move freely and confidently. I also found not taking the tablets rendered me back into bed and exhaustion set in.

Keep up the good work you are doing and remember that another day done is another day of recovery.
 
Deb, seven weeks of medication for legitimate pain does not turn you into an addict. Unless you've had issues of dependency on drugs before, you're not likely to become addicted now, even if you need the meds for another several months. I said months....not weeks. Yes, there are people who abuse painkillers, but with appropriate medical supervision, I can't picture that happening to you.

Tramadol works very well for me. Currently I am taking two vicodin at night. I'm sleeping well, thank goodness, so I'm in no rush to cut this out. I take two Tramadol first thing in the morning. On physical therapy days, I take two more Tramadol in the early afternoon, and two Tylenol at 6PM. On non-PT days, I take Tylenol in the early afternoon and at 6PM.

For my first THR, it was at this stage that I was doing so well, I cut way back on all my meds. One vicodin at night; 1 tramadol in the morning, tylenol sometime later in the day. Well...that didn't work at all. So, I regrouped...went back to a very consistent and adequate amount. And learned a lesson that is serving me well this time around.

So why not keep taking the Oxy just at night...and enough to help you sleep. Then take Tramadol during the day. It's really important to take it on consistent schedule, and not to skip it because you're feeling fine at the moment. Once the pain slams back, it takes longer to bring it back under control.

In another 3-4 weeks, you will be that much stronger and more healed. So then, you see if you can cut back gradually. Gradually means slowly. :)

If I'm wrong, we can all go to rehab together and have fun while we work through our addictions. :)

Sharon
 
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