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THR April 12 - Second THR

I don’t even pay attention to my steps. I wear it to monitor my sleep.
 
Yesterday was a mixed bag. Cutting down on painkillers was an excellent decision—I was so much more alert and felt better overall. I felt steadier on my feet and had more energy. I didn’t nap all day even though I only slept 4.5 hours the night before. Food tasted good again.

But here’s where the trouble starts. I tried my cane a couple times and that was a bad idea. Terrible thigh, knee, and shin pain. I tried sitting up in my recliner more (vs lying in my rented hospital bed with my feet on a wedge). I stood a little more by cleaning up after myself in the kitchen instead of leaving it for my husband to do after work.

By early evening, my foot, ankle, and leg swelled to alarming proportions.

I got in bed with my feet up. Hubby wrapped ice packs around my foot, ankle and shin. After about 30 minutes, he gave it a good massage. I spent the rest of the evening doing circles and ankle pumps scared I might get a blood clot.

At around 7 pm, I had hubby shut the door to the office I am sleeping in. I had a short pity party for one. Then I turned on Insight Timer and did an amazing meditation for handling pain. Interestingly, when I lay in bed with my feet propped up, the pain from surgery resolves in minutes. It’s the pain of inactivity, lying on my back, neck and upper body strains from using a walker that persist.

I fell asleep at around 8 pm, exhausted both physically and emotionally. I woke up for an hour at around 11 pm and slept until 4:30 am. My health app hasn’t updated so I can see how much actual sleep I got but I have my fingers crossed for at least 7. I feel refreshed today.

About my health app, I want to address the comment about step trackers having no place in recovery. I wear an Apple Watch, which provides a lot more data than just steps. I absolutely do not have any step goals or even pay attention to what my steps are on any given day. My goal for waking every day is to get to the bathroom without peeing my pants. So far, so good. But I am a data person. I will probably look back on my steps later with interest—especially to see how far I have come. It was interesting with my last recovery to see my walking speed increase from < 1 mph to my normal speed again when I really started walking with purpose. That took months. I take things as my body can handle it. I use the watch for data, not motivation. Although of course I have goals and use it for motivation outside of recovery!

Anyway, I don’t mean to over explain that but I do feel very vulnerable right now, especially sharing such personal information about my recovery.

Learned a lot by testing some boundaries yesterday. That’s what I am going to chalk yesterday up as. :loll:So for today’s agenda: < pain medication and activity and > bed rest and foot elevation.

Happy Thursday (?wth day is it?), everyone!
 
Happy Friday @MissFanny :)

I have never been one for step counting, but I have to say that after the surgery it crossed my mind to get one. I probably still won't, as I feel it would be one of those things that I buy out of post-surgery dopamine deficiency and boredom ;D

For me it would be more so for having goals. Of course, if it hurts, let's not push it. But some of us (ekhem... me) could live happily ever after being completely sedentary. Unfortunately decades of pain have conditioned me to not seek out pleasure in being active. And I would like to change that now that I have my new hip and am slowly working towards being pain free.

I think tracking can be helpful and done in a healthy way :)
 
One of my worst nights of sleep yet. I am so tired of sleeping in my lumpy rented hospital bed. My lower back is killing me from lying in it most of the day with my feet propped up, but even sitting in the recliner exacerbates my swelling. I have got to work on getting up those attic steps to my comfy bed! To do that, I will need to be walking on my cane and I am still not quite there.

In an interesting twist, my hip hurts! I think everything but my hip has hurt up to now. This might sound strange but hip pain doesn’t bother me as much because it’s so familiar.

Looking forward to a weekend with my husband and not sitting around alone all the time. I have had friends and family offer to visit, but as lonely as I am, I also don’t feel up to socializing (if that makes any sense at all!). It’s been nice to have this page to connect with people in similar circumstances. This is pretty much all I have to talk about for now. This and what I’m watching on Netflix. :loll:
 
@MissFanny You posted earlier that you cut down on your pain medication. Have you replaced it with Tylenol? If your hip in hurting you need something to ease the pain and help you to increase your mobility. Still very early days for you!
 
@Jaycey good morning! Yes, Tylenol and half the dose of Tramadol I was taking, so I’m still using prescription pain meds, too. It’s not excruciating pain in my hip—it’s tolerable—but I didn’t notice anything in my hip before. I honestly think it’s related to my unfortunate sleeping circumstances. Once I got out of bed and moving around, all my pain eased up.
 
Wonderful! That does feel amazing for sure. You're wise to take it slow through previous experience.
I didn't take it slow and in my excitement walked circles through my home on the first day of using the cane and ended up in the ODIC for a day. :ice:Live and Learn! :hissy:
Have a nice weekend! @MissFanny
 
MissFanny said:
But I am a data person. I will probably look back on my steps later with interest—especially to see how far I have come
Click to expand...

Hiya, fellow data geek!

I use a plain old timer/lap counter when I walk on the walking track. Not because I care one iota about how far I walk or how fast I walk, but because, like you, it's very helpful information to have. Having an idea of how far I can go before I start to fatigue/get sloppy with gait and form is useful for planning outdoor walks and, eventually, hikes on camping trips. If I know I can go about a mile before I need a rest, I know how far I can probably go outdoors, accounting for uneven surfaces, etc. and I can plan a route that accounts for both out and return treks.

It's also interesting to note that the laps I do that I feel like I'm deliberately doing slower to concentrate and use proper form don't end up being that much slower than laps I do when I'm not really paying attention and just zoning out to music and daydreaming or whatever. That's helpful to give perspective on how fast/slow I *think* I'm walking versus how I fast/slow I actually *am* walking.

Lap counting is helpful because well, the aforementioned daydreaming makes me lose count and I like to vary the number of laps before taking a rest so I can get information on recovery as well as walking. It's really exciting to see progress in number of laps I can do before I feel like I should rest.

I read somewhere that part of dealing with anxiety is learning to seek clarity instead of control and data/information definitely helps with that. Instead of trying to control what I can and can't do, I'm getting information about how my body is recovering that particular day. It's one way to develop the mind-body connection that *is* a goal of mine during recovery.

Cheers to plenty of data mining during recovery!
 
@thepuckhead what a great way to use that data, especially when I get more active again! I live by a track and I know when I get comfortable with one loop (1/3 mile), I can do the easy trail at one of my favorite parks. When I have mastered that, I am ready for a slightly hillier, longer trail at another park, etc.

I can’t wait to get back out in nature!

Thanks for the good ideas for how to use some of that data. Will be helpful when we plan outings in the earlier weeks of my recovery.
 
My steps are on my phone and I have found it useful to set targets and to see how far places are. It also gives my asymmetry details, step length, speed, double support time. It’s interesting to see some of these creeping up and some of them creeping down. My walking asymmetry is a bit up and down (ie I am still limping) but earlier this week after a lovely Italian meal and a glass of wine it was down to 6%, probably the lowest it had ever been since I got this phone five years ago. So clearly that’s the solution to the limping, more wine. :rotfl:
 
Slept 5 hours 38 minutes but I napped a lot yesterday, so I don’t feel dreadful. I took 3 laps around the house on my cane yesterday—morning, mid day, and early evening. I am walking pretty well, but I get knee pain.

I didn’t have any knee pain with my last surgery that I can remember. I’ve noticed my first surgery is super hazy, though. The morning of my second surgery, the staff at the surgery center were asking me questions about my previous surgery and I couldn’t remember anything. They joked it was like having a baby. You forget so that you can do it again! I have been more deliberate/intentional about remembering things this time around.

Did I ever share that when I was coming out of anesthesia, I let out an “oh, ****!!” :loll:Idk where that came from. Maybe my subconscious remembered something about my surgery! Anyway, I wouldn’t have probably remembered that except the nurse in recovery was really nice, we hit it off and talked the whole time. I remember the recovery so much more because my brain was immediately engaged afterwards.

We watched the Judy Blume documentary “Forever” last night. I was a Judy Blume super fan (and voracious reader generally) as a child in the 1970s. It was good and talk about an inspiration: at 83, she is still beautiful, active, and bright. She should write a book on her secrets to aging well! I hope having my hips replaced will be a turning point for me. I was active even with the excruciating pain that accompanied my activity, but I think I can do even better. I am excited for my healing and healthy life.
 
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@MissFanny We are a family show! :heehee:
You're sleeping great for so early in your recovery! I'm happy for you, if not a bit jealous. It took me weeks and some pharmaceutical intervention before I got "reset." We always say around here that no two recoveries are the same even with the same person. I was amazed at how the pains came and went and moved around. It will be interesting to hear how the recoveries differ, at least what you remember from the first one. I journaled like crazy so I have that to refer to if I want to remember more precisely. Fading memories about the hip, especially the more unpleasant ones, aren't the worst things to happen, I guess. I loved the reference about forgetting about having a baby. Yep! Forgot 3 times. (4 children :) )

Blessings for continued good healing and recovery. You'll be back to all those active things you love before you know it.
 
@Hip4life good to know the sleep isn’t as bad as I thought for early recovery! Journaling was an inspired idea. I think I will remember this recovery better because I am posting here. Also, the painkillers didn’t hit me as hard this time. I was a zombie with my first recovery. I lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. This time, I have a fairly healthy appetite and I am not as loopy.
 
@MissFanny I'm catching up on your thread, loved to read that you do meditation. That and also practising gratitude helped me immensely through the tough days.

For the swelling I hope you don't mind my giving you some reading to do on this? It can be very helpful in moving some of the excess fluids. Maybe the photo was at an angle that didn't show correctly the height of your elevated legs but I would think having a bit more elevation would be helpful, too.
No worries if that isn't possible, we will just "go with the flow".

You are doing so well and your recovery thread is a good read, your honesty and humor are so refreshing!!
Here's my little Manual Lymphatic Drainage tips:

****
Take deep breaths.. deep, as in breathing in to a count of 3 or 4, whatever is best for you. hold it for another count of 3-4, then blow out completely, still using the count that's comfortable for you. A series of at least 6 of these could help get your excess swelling to move. To ensure you are taking proper deep breaths, place your hand on your naval and watch while taking in your breath, if doing this properly you should see your hand move up.

Then, as you slowly breath out, to the same count of either 3, 4 or 5 gently press down and slightly upwards with the palm of your hand.
Do this whenever you feel up to it during the day or night. The more supine that you can get in the recliner or bed, the more effective this can be.. you have lymph nodes located in your groin and sitting up too much can cause a restriction of the lymph flow.

You can, after the breathing, place your hands lightly on your upper thigh, right where the crease is in your groin and lightly stroke upwards towards your naval.
I did this quite a bit post op and while it takes a while for the body to wake up and respond, it will and it will help get the swelling moving.
The reason this can help is because many of our lymph nodes are located in our abdomen. Our breathing combined with moderate pressure over our naval can help to "prime" our lymph system.

***********

Additional notes: you can reach down to your knee and lightly stroke upwards your groin after doing the steps above. Then lastly, gently pump the back of your knee in a rolling, upward motion towards the trunk of your body, using all 4 fingers of your hand and NO fingertips pressing in..

This can be effective if done daily.. use light pressure, no deep pushing. This isn't a no pain no gain thing.

I hope this helps!!

****

I noticed you mentioned dry brushing, so this would be perfect after you do the deep breathing. :thumb:
 
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