THR Chocolatine's New Hip

[Chocolatine]

@springs12 I was really, really hoping to have my surgery this past summer to avoid dealing with any of the hassles winter brings. I am sure someone else will have to help me put my boots on, that's for sure.

 

[springs12]

@Chocolatine I hear you! I rented a Game ready ice machine for two weeks that ices and compresses every 30 minutes. I am freeeeeezzzzzinggggg. I have so many layers of clothes on. Haha. How's your other hip? Will that one need done? How are you doing? You are three days ahead of me. I will say that my right hip this summer hurt way more and my hip flexors are still recovering slowly. My recent left hip is revealing more back problems, which I kinda knew it would, but the hip itself is way less painful.

 

[Chocolatine]

I slept much better last night than I have since the surgery- woohoo! I took one Dilaudid before a pretty early bedtime, then I slept until my bladder woke me at 2 a.m. I typically have to take another Dilaudid after trips to the bathroom, but I decided to wait a little and see how the pain was. While I was waiting, I fell asleep and made it to 6:30 a.m.

The funny thing was that I slept well enough to dream and remember it. I dreamed that I woke up to find I was sleeping on my stomach. I was so shocked and upset to discover I had done something all the hospital handouts had expressly forbidden! My dream ended with me on the phone with a disapproving nurse, who told me I had better come in. When I woke up for real, I was relieved to find myself on my back!

Today has gone well. I did a few turns in front of our house with my husband. Glad to get some air.

I do have two questions:
1) I am getting the second of my two incision dressings removed tomorrow. Not sure if it's steri strips, but it peels off in a line along the incision. The waterproof one with the kind of foam honeycomb under it came off last week. A small part of the second dressing pulled off yesterday (ouch!), and there were two very small dots of blood on the bandage I wore overnight. It stings a little, like a cut. Does that sound normal? Should I expect more blood when they remove the strip? I little nervous that it's going to be painful.

2) I have been getting bad pain at the top of my thigh at night. I wake up for other reasons, but the pain starts as soon as I go to move the operative leg. It's a sudden, intense cramping that starts at the top of my thigh (right at the crease), and wraps around to my glute muscle. It feels like I am straightening my leg and tensing my glutes as hard as I can. It passes as quickly as it starts, and then I can move my leg. It only happens at night and only for very brief periods. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

[springs12]

@Chocolatine Your dream made me chuckle and smile. I sleep with this Game Ready Machine so I have to wake to get some frozen water bottles.

1) Your covering is very different than mine as I had the anterior method, and my surgeon uses dissolvable stitches and glue. I took the dressing off at one week. But, if I were to guess, it sounds like a dryer dressing is covering your incision and when peeled back, it's pulling on possibly tiny scabs. I don't know for sure, but it reminds me of putting dry gauze over a cut and pulling it off as the blood has dried. That hurts! As long as you have no drainage or signs of infection, I doubt it's a problem. You could ask if there is a way to remove it without pain like the usage of sterile water or something. Just a thought. Maybe others have had these coverings and can speak more into it.

2) To me it sounds like muscle spasms. Again I had the anterior approach, but they pulled and yanked your leg to dislocate your hip so all your muscles took a beating. Also, if your hip flexors were a mess prior, then I'm sure they didn't like that added beating. I have muscle relaxants. I don't really take the pain meds because of constipation and this ice machine really has the ability to reduce swelling and keep pain minimal. I use ibuprofen and that does the trick. However, if I were to take a pain med, I ask myself if it is deep in the joint (because I have them if needed), or if it is muscle spasms and tension creating the pain. For me, it's a lot of muscular pain so I take a muscle relaxant in the night. If the spasms happen a lot one night, I will take one when it's happening and then I proactively take one before bed the next night. I also take magnesium. Magnesium is good for the muscles. I typically use magnesium glycinate because it is more gentle on the stomach and is absorbed well. Other magnesiums can act as laxatives.

 

[Eman85]

I wouldn't worry about a couple of drops of blood, probably just from the scab. All I had a was a clear plastic strip and as hard as I tried to scrub it off it never budged. The nurse just rolled it off once she caught an edge, the second one I had my wife roll off after 2 weeks.
Pains like you're having are pretty normal, had things like that and others that were surprises. They forceably dislocated our hip joint in order to put in the new joint and the muscles are really mad about it.

 

[Hotchocolate]

I had so many dreams like that the first few weeks! I'd be walking down hallways full of trip hazards, suddenly be in a Zumba class before I was ready, and the last one I couldn't find my walker because everyone had one and it got lost in the crowd, but I was the only one who couldn't do yoga because I didn't have the ROM, but all the other people were doing the class just fine. It's like, okay brain, I get it. You can lay off the anxiety dreams now lol

 

[Chocolatine]

@springs12 I don't know what to call the bandages I have. The post-op nurse told me in French, and I promptly forgot. I just know I don't have stitches or staples. I am not so worried about infection, but I have a long incision. Hope it doesn't end up stinging all the way down.

I don't find the Dilaudid to be all that effective. I have taken muscle relaxants for another issue and they helped a great deal. If the spasms persist, I might call the OS to see what he recommends.

 

[Chocolatine]

I wouldn't worry about a couple of drops of blood, probably just from the scab. All I had a was a clear plastic strip and as hard as I tried to scrub it off it never budged. The nurse just rolled it off once she caught an edge, the second one I had my wife roll off after 2 weeks.
Pains like you're having are pretty normal, had things like that and others that were surprises. They removed our leg and the muscles are really mad about it.

I think a rolling method would probably work on what I have. The little piece of bandage that came off before was accidentally yanked off.

I am sure you are right that my muscles are angry (and with good reason). I am glad at least that the spasms are short. But man, do they hurt!

 

[Chocolatine]

I had so many dreams like that the first few weeks! I'd be walking down hallways full of trip hazards, suddenly be in a Zumba class before I was ready, and the last one I couldn't find my walker because everyone had one and it got lost in the crowd, but I was the only one who couldn't do yoga because I didn't have the ROM, but all the other people were doing the class just fine. It's like, okay brain, I get it. You can lay off the anxiety dreams now lol

Glad I'm not the only one, lol. I really miss Zumba! I loved that class so much, but it really aggravated my hip and I had to stop. Do you think you'll be able to return to classes eventually?

 

[springs12]

I don't know what to call the bandages I have. The post-op nurse told me in French, and I promptly forgot. I just know I don't have stitches or staples. I am not so worried about infection, but I have a long incision. Hope it doesn't end up stinging all the way down.

I get that. We already endure so much discomfort and pain at times. Not fun to think of something more adding some discomfort. Hopefully, it won't be bad bc they will have their methods.

I don't find the Dilaudid to be all that effective. I have taken muscle relaxants for another issue and they helped a great deal. If the spasms persist, I might call the OS to see what he recommends.

My OS doesn't normally prescribe muscle relaxants, but I told him I would rather help the source of the pain when I know it's spasms rather than take a narcotic to mask the pain. He agreed.

 

[Hotchocolate]

I really miss Zumba! I loved that class so much, but it really aggravated my hip and I had to stop. Do you think you'll be able to return to classes eventually?

Maybe not at the same intensity that I did before, but Zumba Gold (the senior classes) was my specialty as a teacher and I will rock some bachatas if I have to. I'm a hard believer in "you can modify things for your fitness level/needs" and that's exactly what I'll do.

When you're ready to try a class again, maybe see if there's Zumba Gold in your area, or look for Get Fit With Rick on YouTube because he has some Latin rhythm videos that are lower impact but have the right vibe.

 

[Chocolatine]

@Hotchocolate So cool that you are a Zumba teacher! I am not sure if they have the Zumba Gold classes in my area, but I will certainly look.

Thanks for the YouTube recommendation too- much appreciated.

 

[benne68]

I'm a hard believer in "you can modify things for your fitness level/needs"

You are so right about this! I was able to return to yoga after my hip replacement because my amazing yoga teacher encouraged me to modify for my "new body."

 

[Chocolatine]

I am trying to use this as a diary for my own records- sorry for the boring updates. But I guess boring is where I want to be right now.

It wasn't too bad getting the last bandage removed yesterday. The nurse was very skilled and fast, which was great. My incision looks really good, and the steri-strips will fall off in about 10 days.

I have been feeling a little less unbalanced, like my leg lengths are evening out. But I just stood in front of a full-length mirror and I look like something out of the Smooth Criminal video. A serious lean! Not panicking, it just looks startling.

 

[springs12]

I am trying to use this as a diary for my own records- sorry for the boring updates. But I guess boring is where I want to be right now.

I gave updates with my first hip and will do the same with this one. It helps to look back, especially if you have to do it again. Boring is the name of the game at this stage, and that's what we want really. Haha. I like uneventful in terms of the incision and overall healing.

It wasn't too bad getting the last bandage removed yesterday. The nurse was very skilled and fast, which was great. My incision looks really good, and the steri-strips will fall off in about 10 days.

I'm so glad it worked out and didn't cause more pain! It's nice to see a nicely healing incision!

I have been feeling a little less unbalanced, like my leg lengths are evening out. But I just stood in front of a full-length mirror and I look like something out of the Smooth Criminal video. A serious lean! Not panicking, it just looks startling.

I like your not panicking comment. . That's a good place to be. A lot of this stuff takes times and as you walk more, you may be lucky and have no new aches and pains, but if you had a lot of muscular compensations or your other hip is needing future work, then there will be many new aches and pains that will be temporary. A lean could also be caused by your brain compensating to avoid pain. It's amazing what our brains and bodies are capable of doing to protect us.

 

[djklaugh]

@Chocolatine Up dates are never boring! It is wonderful to see you and other folks progressing in their healing journey! It does take a while for the feeling of having one leg seem longer to dissipate, and it usually does. You probably limped for quite a while with a deteriorating hip so the muscles and tendons on that side shortened and you got use to being off kilter because of all that. So now the hip is good and the muscles and tendons need a while to catch up and get back to the way they are supposed to be.

 

[Hotchocolate]

Don't apologize! I think a lot of us are using our recovery threads as hip dairies.
And boring is great because it means no complications =D

 

[Chocolatine]

@Chocolatine Up dates are never boring! It is wonderful to see you and other folks progressing in their healing journey! It does take a while for the feeling of having one leg seem longer to dissipate, and it usually does. You probably limped for quite a while with a deteriorating hip so the muscles and tendons on that side shortened and you got use to being off kilter because of all that. So now the hip is good and the muscles and tendons need a while to catch up and get back to the way they are supposed to be.

I had a significant limp for about two years. It got terrible when I was tired. I am sure that everything needs re-training in some way

The nurse did a quick measurement last night. She said she was no expert, but it looked to her that my right leg was 2 cm longer than the right. I have seen people on here with similar early measurements end up with good results, so I am hoping for the same.

 

[dnordo220]

@Chocolatine I love reading the updates. It’s good to diary, especially if you ever need the other hip. I used my last experience to make sure this experience was better. Keep posting. I love reading about the differences in recovery, PT, physio, no PT, different procedures. Very cool.

 

[Chocolatine]

Tomorrow will be three weeks post-surgery. I have been feeling so much better lately, which is a huge relief. I got outside yesterday for a very slow walk, which was nice. A little pain during and after, but I iced my hip immediately and it went away. But I really want to crow about the fact that I am sleeping through the night. It's wonderful!

I completely stopped the Dilaudid and never really noticed a difference. I haven't taken Celebrex for the last two days. I definitely miss it, but it can interfere with meds I take, so I need to find alternatives. I have been taking two Tylenol in the morning and two right before bedtime. I forgot the morning dose yesterday and had a little pain by lunch. I guess I should be moving from a schedule to as-needed at this point.

I have my first PT appointment tomorrow- just my luck that we are set to have the first big snowfall of the season. I always get a little down in the winter, but I think I'll really feel it this year. Worrying about slick spots in every parking lot and sidewalk gets old fast.