Hi,
Butterfly ... I'm very sorry I haven't logged on for a few days and didn't see your "S.O.S" about the bloated leg. It looks like Josephine has come to the rescue with sane advice. As I think I might have told you, I was able to contact my surgeon's office via emails and phone calls. (I hope you have this option, too, as it was a life-saver for me.) I looked up some old emails between me and the surgeon's nurse and had to laugh at the "memories." I was wanting to see what I could find about my swollen leg. Here is what I wrote NINE days after surgery:
I got a tape measure and measured my elephantine-size ankle and leg. Frightening. It looks like a balloon all blown up. Hideous.
I don't remember when it finally went down in size, but that's the last I wrote about it. It was always better in the a.m., when I first woke up, and at its worst when I went to bed at night.
I also saw where the PT who was making home visits didn't allow me to leave the apartment building and go out onto the sidewalk for two whole weeks, and I had to go with her the first time. The entrance to my building is on a street that goes downhill somewhat and she was worried about that. She also worried about me taking the walker into the elevator. I can't believe I'd forgotten how housebound I was for so long.
I hope you are feeling a little better about things. This is all so foreign. It's not just the pain. It's the restrictions and awkwardness.
Please don't talk about yourself as a worrywart. EVERYONE worries about this stuff. How could they not? They all do, trust me. And it's understandable.
On a lighter note, I could completely relate to what you've written about the home nurse and PT. I actually did tell off the nurse on his first visit. He was supposed to come the day after I got released, but instead showed up maybe as soon as an hour after I first got home. We tried to reschdule him for the next day, but he would NOT change his course. And he and the PT would never, ever commit to a solid time for their visits. It was always a "range" and sometimes they didn't show up, or would call at the last minute to reschedule. I was told that this is standard operating procedure for most of these agency employees. No choice but to sit around all day and wonder when they'd come.
Anyway, back to this nurse. He was a real piece of work. On that first day I got home, when I was shaky and not turning cartwheels, he immediately pounced on me, by telling me I'd purchased the "wrong" walker (it was the hospital's PT staff who picked out the walker for me in the first place). He said I should have bought one with a seat on it, since I would be taking it out on the streets the very next week and taking it on the bus or subway, to go to outpatient PT. I was just horrified at this notion and questioned him about it, telling him there was no way I'd be able to go on a subway or bus as soon as the very next week. He was very taken aback and kept insisting I'd feel like a million bucks the very next week, able to go out and about, etc. I don't think he was used to someone challenging him. Anyway, the PT visited me the next day and she said he was wrong to tell me all of that. And she didn't even release me to start going on the city busses for I think a month.
This nurse had all kinds of wacky topics. He kept pestering me about a low-sodium diet, even though I don't have high blood pressure. Then he pestered me for not having track lighting. And he pestered my cousin about building bookshelves on my walls. Mr. Home Decorator. He had all kinds of pronouncements. He created a big problem for me regarding my bandage, too, which I will save for another time (stay tuned for the next installment).
I too was very embarrassed to have him and the PT see my small, crowded, messy apartment. But I just had to say, to hell with it, they'll think what they think. And it turned out they said they'd seen much worse. In fact, my PT asked to use my bathroom, and she said she doesn't frequently want to ask to use a patient's bathroom because she'd seen such horribly dirty ones. So that made me feel pretty good. Because my bathroom was not "so clean you can eat off the floor."
The nurse, for all of the trauma and drama he created, was at least useful for checking my BP, which was important, and checking my elephantine leg. And he had a great digital camera, so he could take photos of my scar for me to email to my surgeon's nurse since my skin developed irritation from the bandage and they wanted to monitor it. He also provided great comic relief, as my cousin who was staying with me for the first few days and I made (still make) lots of jokes about all the dopey things he said to us.
The PT was really delightful, and was very helpful about "occupational therapy" things; helped me determine right off the bat that it would be a waste of money to buy a shower seat since my tub is so old and oddly shaped. Also, it's too high for me to have put my operated leg over it to stand inside it and take a shower, so she immediately just told me to forget all that and take sponge baths standing at the sink. She then taught me a simple exercise to strengthen my leg and after a couple of weeks, I think it was, I got my leg over the tub! She helped reassure me when I thought I was violating a restriction and she was just a good egg to come by and check on me. I was grateful to her. She didn't put me through the wringer regarding PT exercises; though she did show me many and made suggestions for how to modify everyday activities. She was by my side practicing stairway steps and walking on the street and monitored my gait and gave helpful feedback.
I hope things have sorted out okay with your at-home people. I think it's luck of the draw if you get good ones or not. Try not to let them stress you out. They are temporary visitors and you don't have to obey them. In fact, make sure you verify anything they say that doesn't seem right by running it by your surgeon.
I hope you are feeling a little better. I admire how brave you are, scheduling your next hip for November.
You hang in there, okay? Just remember, it's really a wacky ride on the wild side, this recovery thing. But all the twists and turns really are universal for all of us.
United Kingdom
I do have a birthday coming up, so that's subject to change. 
You're gonna be doing the Merengue! Work those hips girl! 
(By the way, I just made that up, but you can use it free of charge. 
)
