THR An Opportunity to Enjoy Life Again

[Sukuma]

@Sukuma, my nurse friend put me on to Bio Oil as being “the” stuff to lessen scarring and even out bumpiness. Obviously, you don’t apply until it’s safe to do so, as @Layla said. Honestly, it’s reduced my skin cancer scars to nothing, and one of those was a monster on my right shoulder at 3-4 inches long. You can barely see it and it was done in October of last year. I’m using it on my anterior approach scar now and it’s looking great.

Great feedback thankyou, - I will try this when the time is right.

 

[Sukuma]

Day 13 Post-Op

Almost 2 weeks Post-Op Hooray!!

Yesterday, I practiced my walking, concentrating on Heel to Toe and lift after watching a couple of videos about the walking gait. Moving is slow due to concentrating on where various body parts are, even so, the movement felt alot more stable. The exercise made me realise that I had been learning towards my non-operated side despite using two crutches. This morning, I went for another stroll, finding the gait easier to do, though still have to concentrate, but not as hard as yesterday. I will be seeing the physio person tomorrow, so can ask questions about it.

I received the surgeon procedure notes today that records that the inserted neck is a slightly longer one, chosen as it provided improved stability and if I could feel a discrepancy this would be corrected when my right hip is replaced. I was rather relieved that the leg length had been considered and I wasn't completely barmy in thinking that there is a discrepancy, but it is a minor one. My right hip already gives me pain, I am careful in moving it, so I know it needs to be done in the not to distant future.

 

[PolarIce]

This is so exciting to read. So happy for you, you will notice big jumps every week now for the next little while before things start to level off. The worst part is over now, just make sure you don't over do it!

Super thrilled for you!

 

[Sukuma]

Day 19 Post Op

Local walkers have been getting used to seeing me on my regular daily walks on the bridle path near my home. The crutches invites people to stop and chat, most are curious to find out why I am using them, usually followed by a tale of their own recovery experience of some malady or other, ranging from falling down stairs, DVT in the lungs, their own hip operations, brain cancer and other maladies. It's been a great way to meet local people and it probably also helps that before this, I would have been accompanied by my two large dogs that most people would prefer to avoid if they had a dog with them.

I now have a slightly different set of daily exercises. The challenging ones relate to building up the glute muscles, that are not particularly interested in being activated. The clam is really hard to do, limited movement in lifting the knee - something to work on and see how it progresses. Its also interesting to see how standing on a step and dropping the operated leg off the side , then lifting it up using the hip is also hard work, with limited success when compared to the un operated hip that will quite happily bounce up and down.

I still use a crutch around the house, though a couple of times forgot about it, but it doesn't take long as I the inflexible operated hip soon makes its presence felt, as it still feels like its so much more longer and needs alot more help with balance.

It's tough being stuck at home, as I am unable to drive and my partner cannot drive for medical reasons. It's a bit frustrating, as I am so used to being able to leap into the car and go out. I really miss my regular swims and feel a little frustrated that I can't really walk as far as I would like to be able to. I keep reminding myself that this is not a race and should be approaching this as a huge lesson in patience, so give myself time to heal.

 

[Jaycey]

The clam is really hard to do, limited movement in lifting the knee - something to work on and see how it progresses.

Who has given you these exercises? I am very concerned that only days out of major surgery you are doing clams. This exercise is for building strength. Your hip is recovering from trauma. It does not need training in these early days. Training can come later. Clams and that step dropping are really counterproductive at this point.

 

[Sukuma]

The clam is really hard to do, limited movement in lifting the knee - something to work on and see how it progresses.

Who has given you these exercises? I am very concerned that only days out of major surgery you are doing clams. This exercise is for building strength. Your hip is recovering from trauma. It does not need training in these early days. Training can come later. Clams and that step dropping are really counterproductive at this point.

Interesting that you say this and I will look into it.

This is from the physio therapy person from the hospital where I had the surgery, so it's following a standard programme as I understand it. The hip rotation has been included in the standard literature of exercises Week 2 to 6 and the PT person did talk about strength building. I will phone them up and check the other one.

 

[Sukuma]

The clam is really hard to do, limited movement in lifting the knee - something to work on and see how it progresses.

Who has given you these exercises? I am very concerned that only days out of major surgery you are doing clams. This exercise is for building strength. Your hip is recovering from trauma. It does not need training in these early days. Training can come later. Clams and that step dropping are really counterproductive at this point.

Interesting that you say this and I will look into it.

This is from the physio therapy person from the hospital where I had the surgery, so it's following a standard programme as I understand it. The hip rotation has been included in the standard literature of exercises Week 2 to 6 and the PT person did talk about strength building. I will phone them up and check the other one.

The step dropping is incorrect, so I will leave that one. The other ones are listed as follows, though I was told not to lie prone.

Hip & Knee | Side Lying Hip Rotation

hipandknee.tv

Hip & Knee | Hip – Weeks 2 – 6 Post Op Exercises

hipandknee.tv

 

[Jaycey]

This is from the physio therapy person from the hospital where I had the surgery, so it's following a standard programme as I understand it.

Yes, it is standard PT that everyone gets unfortunately. But "one size fits all" is just not a good approach for someone in early recovery.

The decision is up to you. If these exercises are not causing you pain then go for it. But please listen to that hip. It's pretty early to try any strengthening exercises.

 

[Sukuma]

If these exercises are not causing you pain then go for it. But please listen to that hip. It's pretty early to try any strengthening exercises.

Thanks for the sound advise. No it doesn't cause me pain, I just don't have any strength to do it.

 

[Eman85]

Your choice but I'd pass on many in the second video link. Side lying abductions and bridges aren't something I'd want to do especially in the first 3-6 mos of recovery. I know I tried some of those after my first THR believing some of the PT mantra, skipped all of it with my second. 3 weeks in a nice slow walk using good form was my PT. That was mostly my end goal anyway I had no ambition for sports any more.

 

[Layla]

Happy One Month Anniversary, Sukuma!
I hope you have a wonderful week.
@Sukuma

 

[Sukuma]

4.5week Post Op Update

It's another beautiful day here in Hampshire, UK. I have just returned from taking a short walk in my local woods, initially joined by my partner and my two very bouncy dogs. They went off for a longer walk while I trundled back to my car with my crutches. I have an automatic and as its my left leg that was operated on, I just need my right leg to drive. Normally I would walk to the woods from my house, but its a bit to far for me to walk at the moment, so I did the a short drive from my house. Getting in and out the car is a task, as the seat forward/backward is manual , a lever under the seat which I am unable to reach without breaking the 90 degree rule while sitting on the seat. After a bit of fiddling about, I discovered I could tilt the back of the seat backwards, to enable my to get into the car without breaking the 90 degree rule and then using an automated botton to lift the back seat up again. - What a performance! Then when you get to your destination, it's important to park such that you can open the car door fully to get in and out - so many car parking places do not allow this.

Healing is progressing well. I am managing to get out of the house at least twice a day, sometimes three times and each time I can feel an improvement with my walking gait. The muscles around my operated hip need more time to strengthen around the joint, so I am still using both my crutches, though they are more to ensure I keep a smooth balance rather than having to leant on them for support which I was doing a week ago. Last week, I still had minor pain in my operated leg after walks/exercise and my other arthritic hip was complaining - just to remind me the arthritis is still lurking around, objecting to the extra work it is having to do to support the operated leg. In the past couple of days, the both hip/legs are just stiff with no pain. I no longer wake up every hour during the night with both legs stiff and aching, such that I have to get up to walk about to ease the uncomfortable stiffness - I am rather pleased about this. It is rather forfilling to see a little positive progress each day.

I am disappointed with leg length discrepancy. I thought perhaps the difference was just my perception and it would even off, perhaps I had pelvic tilt that needed resolving, some swelling impacting the joint position, muscles still not strong enough to be working properly and so on. There is a note from the operation that the leg length may be slightly longer due to the stem chosen to ensure stability, but having looked this up, this really should be minor and not to extent that it appears. I sought advise from a very experienced PT, who looked at my body posture in various different ways, including my movement and concluded that there is a discrepancy, but to confirm with my surgeon as to what may be causing it. I am have my follow up with my surgeon tomorrow, so have compiled a list of questions about this.

Other than the above, rehabilitation is going really well.

 

[Layla]

It seems you're doing well and making steady progress. Happy One Month Anniversary!
I will be curious to see what your surgeon has to say about the LLD when you meet in person tomorrow.
Please let us know how it goes, if you don't mind sharing. I wish you all the best.
@Sukuma

 

[Sukuma]

I will be curious to see what your surgeon has to say about the LLD when you meet in person tomorrow.
Please let us know how it goes, if you don't mind sharing. I wish you all the best.

I had a long list of questions for my surgeon , consequently we ran out of time to go through them, so some items will need to be picked up in a future catch-up. Alot of information was provided, so please bear in mind, I may have missed some points while my brain processed understanding a specific peice of information, plus with the time limit, I still had some unanswered questions - its difficult in limited time to understand the full picture, partcularly when I lack basic knowledge.

LLD -
From the pelvic x-ray measurements the operated leg is 6mm longer, due to the implants. My perceived difference is something like 17mm. I have arthritis in my unoperated leg, so reduced cartledge there. My surgeon advised that my unoperated leg is not working as it should with reduced movement in the hip and most likely has a pelvis tilt that is pushing my unoperated leg joint slightly backwards,so when walking the leg is at a slight angle (which I don't notice) bringing in a reduced leg length perception (excluding the 6mm difference), whereas the operated one is now straight.

The surgeon wants me to walk without a shoe lift right now, to determine whether the walking gait sorts itself out as the hip muscles on both sides adjust. We had a debate about this, as walking without one , really means that I need to continue using the crutches as I am so unbalanced and it's impacting my ability to be able to go for a walk outside as its so uncomfortable. My operated hip is higher than the non operated one and when walking, I have to push it out to the left which is causing a twist in my back. If I walk without a crutch, I lurch from one side to the other as my centre of gravity is all wrong as I try to keep my operated leg straight and at times I can fall into just walking with a bended knee on my operated side, just so I can walk without lurching or twisting my body. When I put a lift in the shoe, I can walk properly, therefore will exercise more. We came to a comprimise on this, as I just wasn't convinced walking without a shoe lift was a good idea as I felt it could introduce other issues, so agreed to use a shoe life when walking outside, but a low one, and not to use one at home, then to review in a couple of months.

I am not comfortable with the explanation, although it is logical - I am not sure that it is the complete picture. When young I had operations on my knees to straighten them from knock-knees, so bone growth impacting and I have always suspected that my leg lengths were slightly difference from that anyway, due to the wear on my shoes, the operated leg being the longer one, though it would have been minor. I want to get to the bottom of this, for when I do have the right hip done, I need to have absolute certainty that everything will even up fully. We ran out of time, for me to raise this particular point.

 

[myglasshalffull]

It's annoying when you have a list of questions and can't get to all of them.
Sounds like you are getting out and about which is good. I'm sure the leg discrepancy is a concern for sure.
Mine did sort itself out but I've read where some did need the lift in the shoe.
I've mentioned here we need to really advocate for ourselves, especially once we are older, I feel once over 65 the medical profession has little to no use for many of us. You are much younger so get your answers now.

 

[Sukuma]

I've mentioned here we need to really advocate for ourselves, especially once we are older

Historically, medical staff are not used to being questioned by their patients, though that is starting to change, such that we get presented with options to choose from, even though from the doctor/surgeon's perspective the way forward is clear (options can be really confusing for us who know nothing!). Even so, I think culturely there is still a tendancy to limit what is said when possible. To be fair, some patients don't want to know, they would rather just leave to the professionals to sort out whereas young people will ask lots of questions and the questions generally will not change the outcome, so whilst the patient wants to know what is going on, it takes alot of time that is not of any value from a medical person's point of view. My late mom was a doctor (complete with the dreadful handwriting) so I have no reservations in asking about things.

 

[Sukuma]

Almost 6 weeks Post-Op

I have just had my 6 week post Op catch up with my PT at the hospital. 90 degree restriction has now been removed. It felt a little strange to bend down to put my shoes on "are you sure?" I mumbled to the PT, as I leaned down, my glutes complaining. It really feels strange to have more movements, to lie on the bed, to lift and bend my knee over 90 degrees.

I can now walk around the house without a crutch, though I tend to use it due to my leg length descrepancy as I don't want to develop any bad habits with the gait. I have been using both crutches outside, but for the first time today, went for a little walk with just one crutch. The PT recommended that I use a shoe lift - which is different to what the surgeon said. My gait is so much better with the lift and it's so much more comfortable walking, alot less effort, plus feel more stable. It is confusing getting different messages from the same health centre practice. I know that if I didn't have a shoe lift, I would have to continue using both crutches outside/one crutch inside, would walk alot less, plus end up with ankle and shin pain.

I am now driving without any problems.

I would love to get back in the swimming pool, so building up the confidence to go, even if its just to walk in the shallow end. Now the 90 degree rule gone, I have a bit more confidence about getting my custome on/off, drying etc., but still a little uncertain about walking to the pool without shoes and the uncomfortable leg difference/balance. I need to select a quiet time with only a few people there, as its still early days, so feel a little vulnerable. Before surgery I swam 3 times a week, a passion of mine, so it's going to be a bit strange at first, particularly as I will need to be careful with what movements I do. With all these things, it takes time to build up the confidence.

I am looking forward to my afternoon walk!

 

[Gloucestergal65]

I bought some swimming shoes with a grip on the bottom to give me confidence around the edge of the pool. They are quite tricky to get on though so I have to take a long-handled shoe horn with me. I did wonder how socks would work, especially the ones with the little rubber grips on.

 

[Eman85]

Pool walking is great but it's real easy to overdo as it's easy to move. I had to be careful not to slip or pivot when pool walking also. I had to sneak up on my feet to start with the first times tying my shoes or washing my feet, the muscles were tight and didn't want to stretch.

 

[thepuckhead]

I just finished my first adventure out to the pool today at 6 weeks post op. Was quite a production, but I'm glad I went. I swam for about 20 minutes, alternating crawl/backstroke and walking laps. The walking was great; the laps were not as great (not painful, just my muscles letting me know in no uncertain terms that they were TIRED and had been through kind of a thing, so no way were they ready to resume the usual 30 minute workout, thankyouverymuch).

I wore plastic sandals and strolled right out there on my walker with my cane for good measure. Walkered over the the steps; folded walker and left it on the deck, then descended the steps into the pool. Stepped out of the sandals and caught them as they floated up and put them on the deck. Did a few kicks hanging on to the side of the pool, then swam very slowly. 20 minutes flew by. My upper body could have kept going forever; the rest of me (including my little old anxious head) could not.

Walkered myself back to the locker room and collected assorted shower stuff and managed a shower in the accessible stall.

So, it IS a big adventure, but you sound very ready to try it. It's also a real confidence booster to realize what you're capable of in terms of just getting around independently!

Let us know how it goes!