date approaching really scared

[bayfoxnw]

We'll I got 12 days and I'm terrified but what can I do put bit off ? I'm in so much pain right now it's probably 12 on a scale 1-10. Both hips are shot I here all these miracle healing stories about the pain not as bad as the pain before surgery I hope it's like that for me!!!!

I hope you are laying flat down with pillows under your legs and a flat pillow under your head to keep the back flat and pressure off your hips. Ice your hips and lower back areas. Take your pain meds and if this does not bring your pain down make an appointment with your Gp to maybe increase your pain meds a bit. And if you are trying to rush and do to much getting ready for surgery stop. We all do that! The only thing you need to do before surgery is rest and eat nutritious meals and a little comfort food to relax. I know you want to keep your pain medications at a low dose before surgery but not to the point you are at 12/10. Also hot tub is good if you have one then ice up. Massage can help also. I was lucky to find someone who came to my house to massage me. Hubby does well also. The 12 days will pass quickly enough. I had both mine down and I would do it again in a minute after what I endured before surgery. Relax watch some funny shows, ice up with feet up and take your pain meds. Please let me know how you are doing!

 

[jebrig3164]

Thanks for the information and the words of encouragement I'm holding on and taking it easy. Im a pastor of a church in Georgia and I have to preach tomorrow and while I'm preaching the spirit of God holds me up and i feel like a regular person for them 30-35 minutes. I'm in my recliner now Laying back taken it easy. My surgeon still doesn't know what approach he is gonna do anterior or posterior yet. He trains other surgeons on the anterior approach but he said sense I'm a big guy might do posterior. I'm hoping for anterior approach with at least 6 inch cut !!!!!

 

[Butterfly]

@jebrig3164 You will be AMAZED at how much better you will feel even right after surgery! You will have some post-op pain, well managed by pain meds, but it will be nothing like that bone on bone pain you are experiencing now. That awful grinding, unrelenting, crippling pain will be gone. I was in agony with both hips prior to the surgeries, and couldn't do anything -- it was almost impossible for me even to get around the house, even with a walker. And even heavy duty prescription pain meds would hardly touch the pain, nothing really relieved it. As Josephine, our Mother Hen and long-time orthopedic nurse, told me, there just isn't anything out there that will relieve that bone-on-bone pain. She was right, as she always is.

Post-op, I took my pain meds as prescribed and they worked great. I had no post op pain that came ANYWHERE NEAR what I experienced pre-op. I really did not experience much post-op pain at all (using prescribed pain meds as prescribed).

I'm having some problems now with lower back, but I've dealt with that most all my life and i don't think it's related to my hip surgery at all, except maybe to the extent that I messed up things in my lower back because I walked (if you can call it that) so weirdly for so long before I had the hips replaced. The low back stuff is frustrating, but there is NEVER a minute that I am not glad I had my hips replaced. The pain relief is almost miraculous!

The lead up to the surgery is scary (I was TERRIFIED), but it is nothing near as bad as you fear it will be (I had a hard time believing that, too, prior to surgery). Hang in here with us and you'll get through this and be SO glad you did.

Peace and love to you.

 

[jebrig3164]

Thank you sooooooo much for your kind words and inspiration. It is well needed here and I take it to the bank. Continue to up Lift me friend and may God continue to bless you in all that you do!!!!!

 

[shrinkette]

@Butterfly. It's always so helpful to hear this & I'm taking it to heart. Hope today was a better day. I spent it in/on the bed. xxx❤❤

 

[Butterfly]

@jebrig3164 Thank you, Pastor. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions I can help with.

I forgot to say that I had the posterio/lateral approach because my hip socket was such a mess, and that worked out just fine for me. Just let your surgeon decide which approach is best for you and don't stress about it. As Josephine says, it's his day job. My surgeon didn't say anything about less chance of infection, but he said that the anterior approach doesn't give him as much room to work so he uses posterior or modified posterior when he needs more room (like for my messed up acetabulum) to work. My incisions were fairly long, but surprisingly I had very little pain/discomfort from them.

Are you having both hips done? I had mine done about a month apart, and I'm glad I did it that way. My surgeon doesn't do both at once, except in medical emergencies, but having them done fairly close together let me get it all over sort of at once so it didn't drag on forever. I was in so much pain pre-op that I was at the end of my proverbial rope. Honestly, for me, the pre-op fear was the worst part of my surgical experience. I was afraid I'd fall apart in pre-op, have a panic attack or throw up or both, but the morning I went in for surgery, a surprising sense of calm set in and once you're at the hospital in pre-op, the process sort of takes over and you don't have time to be scared and they start an IV right away and give you something calming. Then at least 27 people come in and ask you what your name is -- one of them even asked me if I was sure that was my name. Duh! Then the surgeon pops in and signs your operative leg, your anesthesiologist drops in and talks with you and says reassuring things and asks you if you have any questions, and the next thing you know you are in recovery (I experienced no pain in recovery) and they are zipping you off to your room. Soon, either that same day or the next morning, depending on what time you got to your room, therapists and nurses get you up to stand with the aid of a walker, and you realize that the awful bone-on-bone pain is GONE! I had great hospital care and pain was well managed.

Believe me, the waiting time for your surgery date is the worst part.

Peace and love to you.

 

[Jaycey]

@jebrig3164 , it's true, the pain you are having now is the worst. Pre-op pain can't be controlled. But post-op pain can! You will be pleasantly surprised how much more energy you have once that bone on bone pain is gone!

 

[ARHip]

Jeff,

I preached last Sunday. I won't be in the pulpit again for several weeks. I know how the pain seems to all go away when God's word is being preached. Preaching, the best prescription for pain out there.... Pain is present, but then it is not....

I'll be praying for you this morning. May the Spirit of God uphold you as you deliver His word. May our Lord Jesus use even you, His broken vessel, to accomplish His purpose. May others recognize His presence within you and respond to God's call to an abundant life.

 

[ARHip]

Just an added note to what @Butterfly described (and did so very well). Do not be surprised if you wake up with the shakes. Don't worry. It's just the anesthesia wearing off. It will go away. Don't ask me how long it took, because, well, ... I have no idea. My clock does not work when under that stuff. :grin:

 

[Butterfly]

From my second surgery, I woke up feeling VERY cold and kind of shivery from the cold. Recovery folks brought me warmed up blankets and I was fine. Don't know how long that lasted, either, but I don't think it was very long -- a few minutes maybe.

 

[JaneA]

Jebrig: Lots of good information and support on this forum and it will continue to help you in the months ahead. I had my RTHR at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago last March (over 10 months ago), and reading your story reminds me of how scared I was going in. The pain is such a motivator, it got me to the hospital! I had always been active, but simply couldn't walk/sleep/sit in the months leading up to the decision. Don't know how I would have gotten through without this forum; whenever I thought I was "the only one" I logged in and found all the answers and understanding I couldn't get elsewhere. The doc was fine, the surgery was smooth and the hospital stay went well, but the early days at home were pretty daunting. All the recommendations you've gotten are great; I would only add be sure you've equipped your home with all you'll need (the "hip kit" from the drugstore, the walker with a tray; the cane(s) (I had a spare); the shower stool; the raised toilet seat) -- watch the online videos (how to get in a car, etc.) and just be as prepared as you can. The post-op pain is nothing compared to what you're suffering now, and it gets better every week. My biggest enemy was impatience -- whenever I wanted healing to happen FASTER, I'd go on the Forum and get a dose of reality.

I believe fear is normal; it's a major surgery. I think denying it makes you feel you're not doing something right. I tried not to "scare the horses" at home with TMI about my fear. What helped me (we all have our favorite tools) was meditation and breathing exercises; also positive self-talk and journaling -- the journal was good to look back on each week and see how much better I was getting when it didn't seem so. Sleep was hard in the early weeks; I just gave in to that and took a book to bed and read myself back to sleep after taking another pain pill. I cannot stress highly enough that the pain meds are constipating; do eat prunes and drink a lot of fluids and take the softeners. I look back now and I'm grateful and rather astounded at how good I now feel, pain-free and walking like a normal person, with a new appreciation for that and a lot of empathy for others who are limping on canes and walkers. Our parents and grandparents just had to live with this kind of pain, rocking on the porch because it was too painful to walk!

Just keep coming back to the Forum -- listen to what Josephine says (she's always right) and you will be a happy recovering hippie before you know it.

 

[jebrig3164]

Thanks everyone for your support and kind words it means a lot me. I am not getting both hips done at the same time . I wants to wait three months apart to do them. Butterfly I read you only waited a month apart wow . Everyone here is so encouraging with their words of wisdom from their experience . I'm on long term disability form my Job and I put in for my SSDI don't think I'll be going back to work with two hip replacements. So I'll be a full time pastor and due ministry and work at the church.

 

[Elosarabrab]

@jebrig3164 Hi, Butterfly has put it perfectly. I can honestly say the worst thing about surgery was the waiting for it. I had RTHR Dec 2012 LTHR April 2013. I was in complete agony before surgery and had to take time off as I could not move. The post op pain was nothing compared to the bone on bone pain. After the first surgery it was the still to be operated on hip that was the painful one. The difficult bit after surgery is patience as you feel so much better you want to be up and doing stuff. The hip is the boss and will soon let you know if you are doing too much. Not long now and you can start your recovery.

 

[jebrig3164]

Thank you very much for the support not looking forward to surgery but looking forward to living a pain free life. How was you walking around with one good hip and one bad hip? Did it hinder your rehab ?

 

[Elosarabrab]

@jebrig3164 Hi, I found the recovery from the first surgery was held back by the hip that still needed the op. I did need to adapt things a bit. For instance when going down stairs you are supposed to lead with the bad hip but as they were both bad I just had to take my time. Once the second hip was done, the recovery was much quicker. My recovery thread for my right hip is under "newbie already on the other side"

 

[Butterfly]

One thing I would add is -- be sure you get TWO grabbers (sometimes called reachers) so that you can pick up the one you dropped! And have a place where you keep them so you don't have to look all over the place for the non-dropped one -- ALSO do not let grandchildren use them for swords!!

 

[mystikfairy61]

jebrig3164, I am not far behind you,my RTHR is Feb 18th. I too live in Georgia, and just wanted to say hi neighbor and let you know that I totally understand what you are going thru. Here's looking forward to the time not far from now when we both can be on the back side of the surgery and moving toward recovery!