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THR Ccarol's recovery

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@Krista having the laundry machines on the main level would be very helpful. The staple removal was fairly painless. It's nice not to have that pulling/pinching sensation.

@Hip Hip Hooray! Thanks for the encouragement. I agree that recovery is probably much easier now and in that respect I'm glad that I have to had the replacements sooner rather than later. My hope it that the new hips will last and not need to be replaced 10-20 years from now.

I was so excited to be able to get out of the house last weekend. We went for lunch and ice cream on Saturday and lunch, movie and grocery shopping on Sunday. Not surprisingly I slept most of the day Monday! Although tired, my leg felt better the day after each outing so much so I've almost forgotten to grab my cane before walking while in the house.

I can't say it enough how grateful I am for finding this forum and all of the knowledgeable and helpful members!
 
Hi @ccarol, It sounds like you had a fun weekend. I still feel like I need a lot of rest after an audition or trip. It's interesting how much energy it takes to heal. I'm glad you were able to sleep on Monday. Animals sleep a lot when they need to recover. Take care of yourself...
 
Well, I've made it to 3 weeks post-op to the day! I started outpatient PT Wednesday last week. It was very different from my in-home PT exercises where at the outpatient PT they did most of the manipulations and some acupressure. Surprisingly I was in more pain from that than the exercises and I was back to icing. After getting out and walking this weekend, I'm happy to report that I have minimal to no pain just an odd pressure feeling around the hip and lower back. I'm scheduled for more PT today.

For the past two days I've noticed that the pain I was having in my groin, hip and knee pre-surgery are gone. I can stand up straight and straighten my leg fully with no pain. Of course I'm still not back to walking normally since I'm still favoring my leg and using a cane, but I can already feel the positive changes. I still have some tightness in my right lower back. I've only needed to take the the Tylenol arthritis once a day for the past few days. I expect I may need some of the strong stuff after PT if it is what I experienced last week.

I'm hoping to get the "ok" from the doctor to drive starting next week which will be 4 weeks after surgery. I'm looking forward to that!
 
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Also I had my staples out a week ago and the strips put on the incision. In the past week only two of the 15 or so strips have fallen off. How long does it take for these things to loosen and fall off? Not a big deal and I'm so grateful to have the stables out, I just thought the nurse said that it would only be a few days to a week.
 
Well, PT yesterday was much different than the first time. They had me doing more challenging exercises than the in-home PT did which is what I expected. They tried to adjust the recumbent bike so as not to break the 90 degree rule but couldn't do it. I was put on an upright bike which was more comfortable. I love riding a bike but at this point 10 mins seemed like forever! I thought I would be sore today, but surprisingly there is little to none.

I've noticed that at times when I'm walking, I have an odd pressure in my hip and buttock, which doesn't worry me, but I also have a popping once in a while. I have read that one sign of dislocation is a popping in the hip joint. I was wondering if this is normal to have happen once in a while or if I should be concerned? I would think if it was dislocated, I would be in a lot of pain. I only recall breaking the 90 degree rule once when I bent down to reach for something too quickly and forgot to adjust my leg. I have a call in to my Dr. about it too.

Thanks!
 
Sounds like you are being very active for not yet a month out of surgery. My out-patient PT didn't start until 7 weeks, and it was optional. I only did it because I wasn't walking without aids yet, still can't, but I have a complication. Even then, I wasn't put on a cycling machine, but just one in which my legs went back and forth, and only for 5 minutes. I hope you will be careful not to overdo things and hurt yourself! At almost 4 weeks I wasn't doing any unnecessary walking either. That popping sound would worry me.
 
@Krista It didn't seem like my PT was optional. I hope to hear from my surgeon soon about the popping. It only happens once in a while. I don't see him again in the office for another 2 weeks.
 
Hi @ccarol, My experience is a little different than your's, I had/have bilateral resurfaced hips. A common question people with resurfaced hips would ask is the concern over occasional 'popping, clicking' noises they would experience during recovery and sometimes occasionally 'pops' months or years out. The answer we got was it's normal as long as there's no pain with it. It was part of the healing process with tendons and soft tissue. Things need to firm up and strengthen around your new hip and until that happens, you may feel an occasional slipping which causes the 'popping'.

Now this is true with resurfaced hips. I had occasional 'popping' but no pain. Everything was fine. I can't speak yet for the THR experience so maybe someone else will chime in with an answer to this.

This will probably be one of the questions your surgeon will ask - are you having any pain? Regardless, I do have to agree with @Krista that it's early to be out there doing PT at less than a month, if PT is necessary at all. I never had the 90 degree rule and not sure at 4 months out that this is a big concern.

Hope you Dr. comes back with good news on this.:)
 
I hope your popping sounds turn out to be no big deal! They had me on a Nustep last week for PT and I just made it to 6 minutes, whew! 10 would be tough! I also notice more aches and issues in glutes and Low back, I am assuming that my posture change and increase in activity are related! Hope this week goes well!


RTHR 1/15/2016. Posterior approach. Due to AVN. LTHR in my future.
 
@ccarol
I totally relate to your fears about dislocation!!! It looms in my brain too. So glad you are getting some guidance through PT. I am at 4 weeks tomorrow without PT, and I think that I am going to try a gentle bike at the YMCA. The week before surgery, I could do 20 - 30 minutes, but I think that I am going to start with 5!!!!

Although my kids are really stretching my activity levels (stairs, diaper changes with resistance, and general fun), I think that I am going to request the PT at my 6 week appointment. I want to figure out how to safely get on the floor and play with them. (And back up again too!!)

Have you heard back about the popping? Although I haven't experienced it yet, I haven't been stretching my range of motion yet.
 
@keepmovin thank you for sharing your experience. I did see the surgeon today, he had x-rays ordered. He said he didn't see any change in the hip joint or dislocation of any kind. He said that if I had dislocated the joint I would have pain. Of course he said we will be keeping an eye on it and I see him again in 3 weeks. I hope it goes away after my leg become stronger and healed.

@Cynthia777 thank you for the article. It is similar to the popping that is described there. The surgeon is not concerned about it and feels it will get better as the tissue around the joint heals.

@jomarie58 after 5 minutes on the bike I was wondering if it was ever going to end. I was going at a speedy 15 miles per hour, lol. I have stiffness on the lower back on the surgical side as well. I know things have to readjust for compensating for the bad hip for so long.

@Toddlermom I've been following your recovery thread and I admire you for being able to take care of your little ones so soon after surgery. The doctor assured me that I would really need to jar the hip/leg hard like what you would get with a fall to dislocate it. I can't imagine trying to get down to the floor let alone getting back up at this stage lol. You are a brave woman!

I'm surprised that so many hippies start PT many weeks after surgery. I started PT in the hospital and they made sure that I was set up with in-home PT before I left. In-home PT made sure that I was set up with outpatient PT which I am in now. I still can't drive for another week, so I have to rely on my daughter to take me to and from appointments.

I have to laugh at myself. Since I can straighten my leg fully and don't need to stick my butt out to compensate for the old hip pain, I have such better posture. Every time I look at my reflection walking past a window I get so excited seeing the difference already!
 
@Miss Muffet
Miss Muffet said:
Oh won't that alone enhance my life ...... Dignity restored
Click to expand...
It certainly makes my day! For a split second I don't recognize myself. Petty soon I'll have my old strut back :heehee:

@Toddlermom Lol, I love your positive attitude!

@Cynthia777 Yes, quite a relief! I find that if I move a little slower and take smaller strides it doesn't happen.

I'm at that point where I have to balance my growing confidence in what I can do since the hip is feeling better, and remembering that restrictions are still in place and for good reason.
 
Week 4 post surgery as of yesterday.

It's one of those down days for me. It seemed like I was making such good progress and than last week I felt like I took a step backwards. I still have sharp pain in my groin area when I walk or lift my leg. The good news is the pain in the pubic area seems to be gone. I guess I should be grateful for even small progress.

I got outside and walked about a mile both Friday and Saturday. Sunday I knew I needed to take a day off. No problem since it was raining anyway. At one point though, after sitting for a while, I stood up and felt a strange sensation in my hip. Not painful but difficult to describe. By the end of he day, I had enough pain to take a percocet which I haven had to take in at least a week and is a big thing for me since it makes me so cranky now (poor bf :scaredycat:). I've been icing, elevating and taking Tylenol and it feels better today. My PT isn't worried about it and worked on doing acupressure and stretching the groin muscles.

Also I still get what I was referring to as a popping, but now it doesn't happen as often and feels more like a little jarring when I walk (if that makes any sense). There is no pain just that sensation. It seems to happen in the hip and knee. I know that my quad muscle is still sore, so I'm thinking that it is a healing issue. It could also be that my leg is getting used to being able to walk correctly and needs time to adjust.

Thanks for letting me whine.
 
What I keep focusing on two themes on bonesmart. One, this is a marathon and not a sprint and it takes about 12 months to be fully healed (on average). Two, it's two steps forward and one step back. I think sometimes all of us have this expectation that as soon as we ditch the walking device, we should be as good as new (I know I think that way). However, with this said, we all have those worries that something has gone wrong...it's quite the balancing act. I'm looking forward to the day both hips are done and walking without any walking AIDS...kind of scary. Hang in there, you're doing great.
 
Cynthia777 said:
this is a marathon and not a sprint
Click to expand...
Oh, you're so right! I might have to take this as my own personal mantra. I've done too much today (not that it felt it at the time) and am paying for it in my un-operated leg again. The enthusiasm of having one new hip just gets the better of me.
 
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