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THR CatLady1 - recovery thread

Just read your recovery thread and you seem to be doing great! You also have such a wonderful attitude, which I'm sure helps with recovery. I'm a bit worried about my two cats. One wants to be next to me every moment (I'll be recovering in a separate part of the house, so hope she's okay) and the other always wants me to carry him. He must walk right in front of me and then stop in his tracks, so I'll pick him up! Yikes!
Wishing you a continued great recovery! :-)
 
Both cats wanted to walk all over my legs / hip right after surgery and I didn't want them pressing on me. I had to hold my arms out to block off the area, and say over and over: "no, No, NO -- you can't jump here (which - if they heard those words, went in one ear and back out the other). Our cats really are quiet spoiled... they do what they want, when they want. Hubby (who works out of the house) will often tell me he didn't get xyz chore done today because one of the cats was taking a nap in his lap and he couldn't get up! :nah:

After about 4-5 days post surgery, their walking on me didn't seem to bother me at all. The only problem with them now is that without warning, one of them might try to launch off the floor and get it my lap - and dig their claws in.
@Cynthia777 - you'll get them out of your way, just roll the walker at them and you'll see how quickly they decide blocking the pathway isn't a good idea. :heehee: Having them around really has been comforting.
 
Not so sure my little Milo will heed my warnings, as he has no fear of the walker (I experimented)! We must live in the same household. You described my habitat exactly! :heehee:
 
Hi Catlady 1, we are right on the edge of the storm and only have about 1/2 inch with tons of slush! Just about 10 miles north my girlfriend has 2 inches of the white stuff. Made for a quiet day today! No visitors at all. :).


RTHR 1/15/2016. Posterior approach. Due to AVN. LTHR in my future.
 
Finally! I'm at 3.5 weeks into hip recovery, and today, for the 1st time, felt like I could walk off without my cane! I've had a very tight hamstring on my operated leg - walking makes me feel that tight muscle, below my butt area. It doesn't hurt so much as feels tight, and I've continued using a cane when I do any walking (beyond a few steps in the house) so I don't get a new limping habit. Today was the first day that the hamstring tightness went away, I felt like I had a longer stride, and could possibly just walk off without a cane. It's also the first day I feel like my pants aren't super tight over the incision area.
As for the rest of my recovery? I quit taking pain meds last Sunday, and am currently only taking aspirin as a blood thinner. I've been released to go to "work" for 2 hours a day - which consists mostly of taking a 10 minute ride to the office, and making phone calls for our HOA Association, opening a bit of mail, and then calling it a day. I was reminded I have restrictions that need to be followed. (Some of those same office activities I've been able to do from the recliner in our house. :heehee:)
I guess recovery does come in spurts - takes a week to get to one point, then a while, and ding, another milestone. :yes!:
 
Great report! I find it so amazing after such an extensive surgery, 30 days later and you're off walking without a cane! Crazy good! So happy for you! :wowspring:
 
Thanks for the good comments, @Cynthia777 . This is my first joint replacement surgery -- like most everyone here, probably put it off for way too long for fear of the unknown -- and certainly had no idea of what recovery could be like, since everyone's story here is so different. Would I want to do it again? No. But knowing what I'm up against, if I needed it, wouldn't hesitate to go ahead and schedule rather than drag my feet and put up with pain. It's true what they all say: the arthritis pain is now gone. The biggest annoyance for me has been the immobility after surgery, and the related restrictions which cause the immobility. Cheers to all the January Jackpots here in recovery mode. WE DID IT! :wowspring:
 
@CatLady1

One of my biggest dreads I have is when I think about the insomnia that goes hand and hand with recovery. Having been an insomniac since my 20's and having conquered it for many years now (via Xanax and Trazadone at bedtime), just the thought of being awake during those lonely hours of the wee morning, gives me the shivers. :groan: In fact, I get more excited when I read someone slept through the night than I do when someone posts that they had no pain that day! :heehee:

Btw, did I read somewhere that you're a blanket snatcher? My hubby drives me absolutely loony when I wake up in the morn to find my left side is barely covered...what the! :snork:
 
Oh, I'm definitely a blanket snatcher!! Pre-surgery, I was constantly turning over (pretty circular, from what I'm told), and the blanket would stick with me as I went round and round. It would never wrap up on me, but in the morning, most of it would be hanging off my side of the bed. And of course, that would start an argument about who had frozen to death in the night, and who wasn't responsible for what happened during their sleep. :rotfl: It's going to be hard to tell what I'll sleep like when I'm unrestricted. Right now, I'm sleeping pretty solidly through the night, but I'm still on my back, in a recliner. I've never been much of a back sleeper and will probably start counting the days in about a week for being released to sleep on my side again. Beware ... here comes the blanket thief again! :loll:
 
Wow, I thought DH and I were the only ones in the world having this evil exchange...lol! Well, he has no excuse for it, other than he's as skinny as a rail and is ALWAYS cold. I'm thinking he gets so panicked at the mere thought of getting cold (I'll have to check out the name for this phobia), that he grabs onto them for dear life! :heehee:

I'm very interested in whether I'll be more comfortable in my hospital bed or my lift chair. The thought of sleeping on my back is very distasteful....tee hee!
 
Wow, I thought DH and I were the only ones in the world having this evil exchange...lol!

Nope, hubby and I fight over blankets too lol..
 
Cynthia-- if I had a hospital bed w a raised head, I'd probably be sleeping in it. With our small house, there isn't room for one- and besides, this isn't going to last forever. I'm already over halfway there. Now I'm headed towards the count down.


Day 1 after surgery!
 
@CatLady1

I decided to invest In a used hospital bed and a new mattress since I needed both hips repaired. I figure I can sell it once I'm done and recoup my investment about $280). I have a electric lift chair as well ($100) in our family room and am sure I'll be switching between the two.

I just can't wait to get to where you are! Am I jealous...yes! Ha ha!
 
Wow you are doing amazing. Keep up the good work. Enjoy reading your thread. Knowing other people are going through the same thing makes the recovery process less scary and gives you a goal to aspire to.
 
Hi @CatLady1! I noticed you had a question for me on Catwoman's thread and thought I would answer it here. You questioned the tight thigh muscle and how one it takes to "loosen" up. I found that a good massage does wonders for it. While it hurts when getting it massaged, it felt so much better afterwards. But, I have to confess, I didn't get it massaged nearly as often as I should have. So, it kinda lingered for weeks. But, it does eventually get better. There is a stretch you can do to help and it only takes a couple of minutes to do. Lay on your stomach, on your bed, with a strap or belt loop around your foot. With your thigh flat on the bed, just bring your ankle towards your head, as far ask you can, and hold 30 seconds, then release and repeat 3-4 times. You should be able to feel the stretch in your thigh muscle and will be pleasantly surprised to see results, quickly. Hope this helps and let me know if it does. Also, I did keep icing the thigh, as well. :)
 
Yes @Nana757 and @CatLady1 I just returned from PT and I told them my complaint of burning and tight sensation above and around my knee and that is the exact stretch they had me do. I'm looking for a belt or strap now so I can do this every day. It helped! Therapist also told me I'm probably standing too much. Walking good but rest after and ice.
:treadmill:
 
@Nana757 & @Squirrellymom -- Thanks for both of your replies about the stretching tip. We have a yoga stretch strap here at the house that I can use. I'm haven't laid on my stomach since pre-surgery, but I'm thinking I can do it without breaking the 90* restriction (crawl onto bed and flatten out). We're watching the Madoff movie, but when it's over, I'm going to go get on the bed and stretch. I'll post an update tomorrow.
And yes, that area of my leg / hamstring is still tight, and makes me want to limp. Probably left over from 1-2 years of walking that way. I don't think I'm standing too much (more like walking too much).
 
Here's my in-the-fifth-week-of-hip-surgery-recovery update (was surgery really 5 weeks ago from Tuesday?): Hubby says I'm either 80% or 110% recovered. I'm 80% recovered compared to a person who never had hip problems, and I'm 110% recovered from where I was before surgery. I'm off pain meds (have been since week 3). Days are starting to be filled with normal activities. At the end of week 3, I was given the go ahead to return to work 2 hours a day; I'm taking twice daily walks down a side road near our house. My Jawbone UP reports that I walk between 3/4 - 1 mile a day... the daily amount really depends on the weather. The hip pain is gone. My complaints: the back of my knee still feels tight / swollen and ice doesn't seem to make a difference. I definitely feel stiff when I get up in the morning and it takes a few minutes of moving / walking to feel stretched out. My operated leg hamstring on the back of my thigh, right below my butt also feels tight, and full weight on my leg makes me want to step gingerly due to the tightness there. I'm assuming all that is still due to my hip / thigh being hammered, sawed and wrenched around to get new body parts installed, in addition to walking wrong for at least a year pre-surgery. When I'm out walking, I'll still use a cane. Around the house, I find myself looking for the cane that I took somewhere, and then left without.
I'm still adhering to the OS imposed restrictions: no bending past 90, sleeping on my back, taking steps one leg at a time (up with the good, down with the bad), no twisting the hips, etc. Two weeks from tomorrow will be my 6 weeks check up with the OS, and I'm hoping t o be released to do quasi-normal activities (I guess bungy-jumping is still on the restricted list??) :heehee:
 
@CatLady1 - great update . Awesome work. I'm 3.5 weeks post op and am finding the same thing regarding stiffness in the morning and tightness behind knee and in the glute and hamstring. I'm not walking as much as you yet though. I eagerly read your thread to see how you're progressing so I have something to aim for. Maybe not Bungee jumping yet!!
 
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