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THR Damn glad that's over!

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Tammy, I also took Lovenox injections for 3 weeks. Sleeplessness isn't listed as a side effect, and I was sleeping pretty well when I was taking two Percocet at bedtime, and also I was very anemic post-op so I was feeling tired and napping frequently, too. Now I'm 7 weeks post-op today, and my blood count must be getting better because I sleep for about 4 hours and then I wake up ready for the day, at 2 a.m.

I wonder if sleep disturbance isn't just part of this entire process.

So glad you're doing so well---it has been fun following your journey.
 
Ugh! Just found out that I didn't get the job. My district is going to transfer an existing Principal into the job. However, they all called to comment/compliment me on my tenacity and dedication to the job. Oh well, what can I say....as my husband points out, it is a huge increase in responsibility with only a 5% pay raise. He may be on to something there. At least my faculty is aware of how very much I care about them and our school so some good did come out of it all.

The GOOD NEWS is I got to shower this morning! I feel so clean. It is amazing what a little soap, shampoo and hot water can do to revive your soul. BTW: Didn't even attempt to shave my legs for those of you who might be curious :angel:. Didn't want to risk falling or breaking the hip restrictions. Don't care....I feel clean.

No real pain to speak of 8 days post-op. Just taking Tylenol during the day and 2 percocets at night before bed and all is right with my world. I have found the ice packs to be far more effective than anything else. Up walking (or my version of it) and doing my PT exercises faithfully and seeing so much more mobility each day. No more bone-on-bone, groin or thigh pain for me :)

My daughters hi-jacked my couch last night and pushed it further down the wall and put up our Christmas tree. I didn't want it up this early, but they over-ruled me and said that I needed something relaxing and pretty to look at when I am lying on the couch. I will never admit it to them, but they were right. It is pretty to look at in the evening.

Hope all my surgery buddies are doing well.

Tammy
 
PT today......I was able to do 2 straight leg lifts while lying on the couch! Some ice and ibuprofen are in the cards tonight.
 
WooHoo! Yay for showers! I anticipate being able to take one by tomorrow or Thursday. They said I need to wait until my incision and drain hole are completely dry. Was pretty close today. I bet you feel wonderful!

Sorry about the job, but I think your husband may be right. That is a lot of increased stress for not much more pay.

Sounds like your recovery is going well. You had the posterior approach, right? Does everyone with posterior have to be non weight bearing for a while? Or did I forget a detail in your case?

-nerdgrrl
 
Straight leg lifts were so painful, and they wanted me to do them in the hospital and then at home with PT. I just didn't do them, couldn't see the point so soon after surgery. Two or three weeks later I tried, and no problem.
I also think your husband might be right about the job. But I bet they won't forget who interviewed with a brand new hip.
 
sissy46, you know that's right. They are still talking about it! PT is going well, all the exercises are for non-weightbearing, so they are pretty easy....I was a gym rat before surgery, so I was/am in pretty good shape. Will continue to work on my quad so I don't lose too much of it.

nerdgrrl, I had a lateral approach, right down the side of my leg. It is neither posterior or anterior. Kind of right in the middle. For some reason, my doctor's order state that I am not to do any abduction exercises of any kind...makes sense since I still have to sleep with the abduction pillow at night. I can tell things are going really well as I am starting to go stir crazy. Two of my daughters and I have a big trip planned for our local grocery store tomorrow afternoon. I will use a scooter as we pick up all the fixings for our Thanksgiving dinner.

No therapy or nurse coming tomorrow, so it will be a good day for a little outing. Publix (grocery store) is about 1/2 mile from home and they have some new scooters crying my name :)

Hope all is well with you both.

Tammy
 
Have fun on the scooter! I wish I'd thought of that. Too late now, everybody at my Publix (1/2 mile from me, too) has seen me without cane.
Being a gym rat and active person is a two bladed sword---serves you well for the healing and rehab, but also makes you feel ready to do things you maybe shouldn't quite yet, and can lead to stir craziness. Voice of experience right here.
 
Sorry you didn't get the job, but you probably end up with less gray hair. Have fun in the scooter tommorrow, break some speed limits in the aisles
 
It was really nice to get out of the house for a bit last night. Went to Publix and got most of the necessary items for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Will pick up the perishible items a little closer to the holiday. My daughters want me to go with them to the Outlet Mall this weekend and will push me around in a wheelchair. Told them I would have to let them know how I was feeling when the day got here.

My staples are scheduled to come out on Monday, November 19th, however about half of them are now below the skin. The home health nurse called the doctor to see if they could come out a bit early. The doctor's office called and asked me to come in later this afternoon to take a look at them. Praying that he will take them out today!!!!! I think I will begin to feel much, much better without the staples pulling and burning. Will let everyone know how it turns out.

One of my teachers came by the house yesterday afternoon for a visit. Lovely lady brought me chocolate and a bottle of wine! My favorites! What a pleasant surprise. I can not wait to break into that goody bag. She was surprised at how well I was getting around. My family is amazed at my mobility and low pain levels.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

Tammy
 
My job changed this year and it was an ego hit. On retrospect, it was the best thing for me and has allowed for much lower stress levels and worked well into my surgery this year. Sometimes you are given blessings you didn't know you needed. Perhaps that is the case with you. I also have a laterall incision, by Dr called it an aneriorlateral approach. I have internal sutures and glue so not staples. There is a dermabond coating over the incision so I don't have to do anything at all to the site. I am jealous that you can lay on the couch! I bought a recliner for my rehab area but Dr said no recliner, no couch. I have two chairs downstairs that I can sit in and am sleeping upstairs in my own bed. Not complaining about that but I would sure like to uses the recliner! My dog has taken it over and is quite comfortable in it. I haven't ventured out to any public places except outside walks and I am trepadatious about it. Staying home in my own nest is okay for now, no stir crazy episodes but I am glad when I get visitors! Glad you are doing well and Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Hi all,

Went by the doctor today to have the incision and staples looked at. He removed about half of them (15) and said the other 15 could wait until Monday the 19th. Still half is better than none. It already feels much better. Not quite so much burning or pulling. I spoke to him about the pain I was having on the outside of my thigh (it even hurts to touch it). He said that it was all pretty normal for this stage of the game (10 days post-op) and that I should try using heat on it. Still have all restrictions in place, but he did say that at my follow up appointment on the 27th he would put me at 50% weightbearing for about a week and then off the crutches. Yay!

Tried to sleep on the unoperated side some, but still can't manage it...will continue to wait on that. Still have a lot of swelling around the actual hip, so much so that my pants don't fit. Still running around in boxer shorts. Oh well, at least I am super comfie!

Hope everyone has a great evening/day!

Tammy
 
Tammy , sorry abou the job. I'm sure there will be more opportunities that come up for you though I suppose being in the same job has its silver lining of not taking on additional duties while your hip is healing. If the asst principal jobs there are similar to what thy are here, I'd guss you're a bit tired of dealing with the majority of the disciplne for the building.

Sounds like your mobility is getting better each day. Hopefully your outing didn't make you too tired. You mght want to hit the outlet mall on a less busy day. I know the one close to here gets so busy and parking can also be tough. At least you should have your temp parking tag to try and get a spot closer to where you park.

I've noticed in just the past two days how much of the incision site is less burning and painful. I can imagine how much better it feels with fewer staples in.


I haven't used one of the grocery store mobile carts yet. I have visions of fruit flying off the displays as I bump into them. :rotfl:
 
Tammy, you've just given me one more reason to hug my doctor this morning! I had anticipated dealing with staples, but woke up to find he'd glued me back together instead. I wonder why they don't always do that. Staples sound inconvenient. My incision---guess I should call it a scar, at this point---is looking good, and I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of it. I really should, since that's how I found bonesmart.org. I had taken the dressing off and wanted to see if how it looked was normal, so I googled hip replacement incision scars.

How did the scooter work for you at Publix? Did you run over anybody or knock anybody down? The other day I saw a sweet little lady on one at Publix and something was wrong with it and it would only turn one way, so she was going around in slow circles till someone straightened it out for her. They usually seem to work pretty well.
 
Hi Tammy, sorry you didn't get the job, I can imagine your disappointment, but as your DH indicated lots more responsibility for little gain financially..

A new job takes a lot of energy, energy that perhaps is best to be able to focus on yourself and your recovery. I started a new job a few weeks before my surgery, then when I returned it was a steep learning curve, new people, new team, new location, new role...

Don't forget to ice the swelling, that will help a lot.

I like your OS suggesting heat, I altered with ice and heat! In Chinese medicine it is said to be very good to apply heat to bring the blood to the area.. :)
 
Shame you didn't get that job. Some things happen for a reason. When a door shuts, another one opens. Keep up th positive atitude. I'm sure it helps and awefull lot in the recovery. It's interesting how things are different her in the UK. My surgeon put on a waterproof dressing and I was in the hospital shower 24hrs later after the drain came out. On discharge the nurse gave me two spare dressings and told me to change them after a few days. On day 8 I still had the origonal dressing on so decided to change it. I called the hospital to ask if I need to do anything sterile. They said take a shower, dry the wound and then stick the new dressing on. Very technical not I thought. Anyway I did that and don't have any signs of infection thank the lord. Hardest thing was getting the old one off as it was stuck and its quite hard to reach round to it. No home visits no Home PT just a follow up with pt and surgeon 2wks post opp. Take care.
 
It is interesting how post-op instructions vary. I was glued, and the surgeon changed the dressing just before I went home, and told me to leave it for a week and then take it off and leave it open. I could shower, the dressing was impermeable so the incision didn't get wet. I did have a few home PT visits, and a nurse saw me twice at home.

Tammy, when are we in Florida going to see the sun again? I'm in heavy withdrawal....

Just curious, Fish, did you have a direct anterior approach replacement, as I did?
 
Thanks all for the job condolences. I'm totally ok with not getting it. There will be something else for me down the road I'm sure. Have been busy today. Went out for an early dinner and then over to a friends house for a short visit. Just getting in now. Feel pretty good.

The scooter at Publix was good but made my butt sore. Not the most comfortable mode of transportation but much faster and less tiring than my crutches.

Showering every day now! Yay! Only the first one was difficult. The incision is now half butterfly tape and about 15 staples. It feels pretty good. The rest of the staples come out on Monday...I can not wait. Still have thigh pain on the outside of my leg. Tried the heating pad on it earlier and it felt pretty darn good. Have a date with the heating pad later tonight.

Not sure where the Florida sun went. It has been hiding for the last few days. I miss it.

May end up hitting the Outlet Mall tomorrow for a bit with my daughters. Will let everyone know how that turns out.

Have a great weekend.
Tammy
 
Keep it up, Tammy. I'm glad to hear you are continuing to progress so well. I'm looking forward to a nice, long, hot shower on November 28th after my staples are removed.
 
SmittyD, is there any reason you are not allowed to shower until after the staples come out? My doctor said that since the nurse was cleaning mine with betadine and saline solution (thereby getting them wet), there was no reason I couldn't shower just so long as I washed the incision with anti-bacterial soap, dried it thoroughly and rebandaged it. You might want to check. You will feel like a new man!

Hit the Outlet Mall for a few hours this afternoon with my daughters. We had a ball. I did find out that neither one of them should ever be given a license to drive a wheelchair. It was hilarious! We went to the food court for lunch and one of them "parked" me at a table and set the brakes on the chair. After lunch, the other daughter (a blond), grabs the back of the chair and tries to push it, not realizing the brakes were on. She about dumped me out right there! We had some laughs about that. We laughed harder about the looks on the faces of those people around us. God, I love those girls. Since the mall is about 45 minutes from home, I had a nice nap on the ride home.

We had a beautiful, warm sunny day here today, so it was really nice to get out of the house and blow the stink off.

Tammy
 
Damn!, that is too funny about the brakes, but it must have been great to get out and shop as you aredefinetly a seasoned shopper. Around here most places do not have scooters or wheelchairs so it is difficult Soon you will be at 50% and than full weight bearing, I think your family will have to hold you down:)
 
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