Bending Over

[Nana40]

How long after surgery before I can pick up something off floor. I have a dog and am concerned about how to take care of her food and water dishes.
I should add that I live alone. I am 76 years old.

I will be having the surgery on Feb 1. I am wanting to get everything "ready."

 

[Josephine]

Hello, Nana and welcome to BoneSmart! Glad you were able to figure it all out in the end.
Please just say if you need any more help. Staff will be pleased to help but so will lots of the other members.

Before your question can be answered, we really need to know if you've already had surgery and if so, when it was. If you give me the date I'll put it in your signature. You will soon notice that everyone has their surgery dates in their signature. Take a look at mine! (just below this post)

 

[Jaycey]

@Nana40 Welcome to BoneSmart! When I had my THRs I had cats to feed (sadly both now gone to old age). I used plastic food bowls that had a little cutout in the front part of the bowl. I could easily pick each bowl up with a grabber, fill them and then replace with a grabber.

To fill water bowls, get yourself a non spill watering can. The link is to a UK site but I a sure you can get something like this in the US.

 

[Cas]

@Nana40 Hi and welcome to the forum. Hope you are feeling ok today.

 

[Nana40]

Thank you for the welcome and the suggestion for the watering can.

 

[Nana40]

I also wonder about walking...I understand that walking is an essential part of recuperation. But, it is February and I won't be able to walk outside. My house is small. So, walking back and forth from room to room .. is that enough???

 

[Jaycey]

So, walking back and forth from room to room .. is that enough???

In the early days walking around your house is just fine. Once you gain confidence you will be able to venture out if the weather cooperates. Hips don't need much exercise.

When is your surgery date?

 

[Josephine]

@Nana40 did you read my previous post? I asked if you've already had surgery and if so, when it was. Can you give me the date?

 

[chatterz]

I believe in the first post, she says she will have surgery Feb. 1st?

@Nana40, I'd practice with that grabber now! There is a learning curve. LOL After a few weeks, leaning over and placing the operated leg out behind you to keep the 90 degree restriction, will be okay to do. I wonder if you could place these bowls higher up? Don't know how large your dog is, but could she perhaps climb a few stairs up to a low table for her food/water for a short time?

 

[Jamie]

@Nana40 ... I've moved your thread from the Post Op forum to the Pre Op since you have not had your THR yet. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like here in Pre Op. You can either post them in this thread or start a new one for each subject....it's your choice.

We're glad you're here and we'll be around to answer any questions you have!

 

[Jaycey]

@chatterz thanks for your sharp eye. Not sure why both Jo and I missed Nana's surgery date! Great tips about practicing with tools prior to needing to use them.

 

[gertie]

I have a dog and am concerned about how to take care of her food and water dishes.

I have a cat and had the same concern. I found a long-handled pet food caddy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VI0IX2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The link is for the cat food caddy but I bet you can find something similar for dog dishes. (And that is not a picture of me!) Although this is an expense I imagine I'll continue to use it even after my hip loosens up because I have bad knees and sometimes have some back issues. Took a couple of days for the cat to accept the dish but she's fine with it now.

 

[chatterz]

@gertie, great find! Amazon sells almost anything you can imagine! Here's a link to a dog dish caddy for @Nana40:
https://www.amazon.com/Bend-Pet-Bow...rd_wg=Cz4xc&psc=1&refRID=W9WCNV7NRB9RG4K6YNAA

 

[kaliella]

Look up the golfer's reach method of bending down to pick something up. Basically you put your operated leg back behind you to keep a large angle between your thigh and torso when you bend your other knee to reach down to the ground. We also have a dog and I was able to carefully take care of her that way as needed.

 

[Celle]

There is an illustration of the golfer's reach about half way through this article:
Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule

 

[Jaycey]

Here's an illustration of what the above 2 posts are talking about:

 

[Hope56]

This solves a lot of my worries! Thank you