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THR Deep Breath Reporting for Recovery Duty

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Good morning @DeepBreath , yay on your new avatar!! It is adorable! Well, as adorable as the Abominable Snowman can be, haha :wink:

You are so creative with your cooking - I never would have thought about a pot pie! I have never been much of a cook but you are starting to inspire me to try making some different meals. You make so many yummy dishes, how do you decide what to cook? Do you use a cookbook at all for ideas or does your family just ask you to make certain dishes?
 
Hi @DeepBreath, You are doing so well. Such a festive avatar, too. It's the little things...

Your pot pie sounds delicious. That's one of my favorite meals. I probably should have called my insurance and asked what they covered. I didn't do anything but the PT at the hospital. Oh well. Everything worked out fine. Too bad that lady was pressuring you about the PT. They have no idea how it feels. I'm glad you stuck to your guns. There's plenty of time for all that. I really believe that your household tasks are plenty of PT.

How's the pain? I hope it's easing.
 
@CricketHip, the pot pie did turn out yummy. Perfect comfort food. :) This go around just seems much easier, which is a blessing. I'm not so scared of 'shattering' into a million pieces...lol!
I hope you are doing great, friend. :)

@Hipster Girl, after I mentioned Abominable yesterday and saw your and Hip Hip's adorable avatars, I got inspired to change mine. It makes me smile. :)
Thank you for the kind words about my cooking. My mom was a big 'use every scrap' sort of cook. She would roast a chicken or a piece of beef and then she could make delicious dinners for a couple of days afterwards out of the leftovers. I strive to do the same. I basically cook what sounds good to me at the moment. The past few years I have started watching The Food Network a lot. Ina Garten from The Barefoot Contessa is one of my favorites. Watching her show has helped me expand my cooking knowledge tremendously. I've never been much of a cookbook person. I'm more of a 'pinch of this and dash of that' sort of cook. I don't bake a whole lot because you have to be pretty precise about that. :)

@Hip Hip Hooray! You are so right; it is the little things that mean the most.
I love a good pot pie as well. My favorite is with a whole crust, but this kind will do in a pinch as well.
I had a hard time getting information out of my insurance company. There seems to be a lot of the 'right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing' going on with them. I had enough to worry about pre op to be fussing with them. :wink:
You hit the nail on the head with your statement about PT people not always knowing how it feels to be on the other end of the process. I'm convinced that an empathetic PT is worth their weight in gold.
I agree that household chores are great PT. There is a ton of bending and stretching to be done just keeping the house going.
The pain level is good today. The sharp, grabbing pains down the back of my thigh are gone (yaay!) and now it's just more of a stretched muscle feeling along the groin area and outside of the thigh. Getting up and doing things really seems to help. I helped with laundry today which was nice and also took my first full post op shower...like you said: rejuvenating!
I hope your pain is all gone now and that you had a wonderful day. :)
 
Hey Deep, you are doing so well!! I am glad your fever and chills didn't last too long. I can well remember that soreness in the groin area.. lol
Re: PT-- I found a great one and I didn't begin with him until 4 weeks and it's been a huge help.. and I thought that I was doing very well, no limp and could walk for miles. But the isolated exercises really helped my balance and almost instantly stopped that loose goose hyper extension that was happening in the knee ( of operated hip side)
So, take your time, you need time to heal and rest up first.. oops! I have company coming over and they just pulled up, :roseshwr:
 
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@CricketHip, I'm so glad that the fever and chills have abated as well. I cannot imagine what you went through dealing with that for so long. You're a strong lady!
Starting PT at about 4 weeks out is what feels right to me as well. It honestly took me to that point last time to start to feel 'normal'. I know that I will definitely have to work with a good PT to undo the years of bad habits I've learned and get my muscles back in shape and working the way they were meant to. This will be invaluable going forward and getting the best use out of my shiny new hips.
If you don't mind, I might pick your brain from time to time about certain PT related things.

Enjoy your company! I hope you have a great evening. :)
 
Absolutely! Ask me anything you want about the PT sessions. I feel lucky to have a good knowledge about the muscles/attachments and proprioceptive capacities of our wonderful brains and bodies.
now, that was a real mouthful to say, let alone type. haha
I picked my PT's brain a lot for the first 4 visits, questioned what and why and how before executing the recommended exercises. So far, so good.
The best part has been the strengthening of my neck muscles and upper/mid thoracics.. Im feeling stronger with each passing day and am so grateful for that.
I step up my work load this week.. we shall see how it goes!

Deep, did you find out any info about the size of the stem that was used in your second surgery??

Just curious.. :flwrysmile:
 
@Hip Hip Hooray! You are so right; it is the little things that mean the most.
I love a good pot pie as well. My favorite is with a whole crust, but this kind will do in a pinch as well.
I had a hard time getting information out of my insurance company. There seems to be a lot of the 'right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing' going on with them. I had enough to worry about pre op to be fussing with them. :wink: I made one call, and it was too frustrating. The man who answered the phone sounded brand new and very confused. He kept putting me on hold. I just gave up. Like you, I was too stressed before the surgery to deal with it. I may call again and see if I can get someone better. Everything worked out fine.
You hit the nail on the head with your statement about PT people not always knowing how it feels to be on the other end of the process. I'm convinced that an empathetic PT is worth their weight in gold.
I agree that household chores are great PT. There is a ton of bending and stretching to be done just keeping the house going. Yeah, and you don't really realize how much you are exercising. I feel like it built my confidence and grounded me.
The pain level is good today. The sharp, grabbing pains down the back of my thigh are gone (yaay!) and now it's just more of a stretched muscle feeling along the groin area and outside of the thigh. Getting up and doing things really seems to help. I helped with laundry today which was nice and also took my first full post op shower...like you said: rejuvenating! Congratulations! It's weird how the pain travels. I think it's the nerve pathways. I no longer have that groin pain. It scared me. It was intense before the surgery, but now it's gone. I had a little bit of it after the surgery, too. It was just a hint, though.
I hope your pain is all gone now and that you had a wonderful day. :)[/QUOTE] It is, thanks. You sound great. I'm glad this recovery is going so well. Enjoy all those meals that you made!
 
Out of nowhere comes a 'blue blip'. It is so intense that I wonder if it is a huge gob of surgical related chemical toxin trying to work its way out of my system. I have been dealing with an irritated tongue since a couple of days post surgery. I had it last time but not quite this bad. Hopefully it resolves soon.
Today for some reason I just don't feel 'right'. I'm fuzzy headed and blah feeling. It's only 2:00 in the afternoon and I've already cried twice today.
I had been chugging along thinking how much easier this recovery is compared to the last one; accomplishing much more in the first week than I did in two weeks after my first surgery. I guess it's a helpful reminder to not get too big for my britches. I know that this too shall pass.
I think this afternoon will be devoted to napping and dwelling on reasons to feel grateful...which are many.

I hope my fellow hippies have a wonderful day. :)
 
Aww @DeepBreath sorry you have hit a rough patch today and are feeling a bit down. I don't know what it is with this surgery that causes this but it seems to be par for the course and can come on suddenly and for no apparent reason. It has happened to me too. I think the best thing is to just roll with it and not fight it.

I had friends trying to tell me to watch some funny TV program but I didn't feel like laughing. I have been watching a lot of Hallmark Channel and nostalgic Waltons type programming which kind of help me roll with those sad feelings and crying spells. Not that this would work for everybody but it does help me.

Hope you feel better soon, Friend. Big hugs to you :friends:
 
It's still a huge trauma. We've basically had a double amputation, plus all kinds of drilling and hammering. I think it's only natural to got through a sad period. I've never had children, but part of me wonders if it's the equivalent of post partum depression. For some reason, I keep comparing having a THR to having a baby. It's going to hurt, it takes time to heal, but eventually the memory fades, and you feel much better.

I felt kind of depressed recently, too, @DeepBreath. In my case, I thought it was the Holidays or menopause. Anyway, you are an incredibly positive person, and I think it's good that you let yourself cry and feel your feelings. They're completely normal and natural, after all you've been through.

Yogi Bhajan used to say, "Happiness follows sadness, and sadness follows happiness"... I hope you had a nice nap.
 
@Hipster Girl, thank you so much. :)
@Hip Hip Hooray! thank you too.
I honestly do think it had something to do with the residual chemicals in my system based on some developments today.
I'll post more tomorrow as I'm a little wrung out now.
I so appreciate your kind words of encouragement. They meant the world to me. :)
 
Sorry you're feeling down @DeepBreath I do have to say with the second that was less of an issue the first few weeks, but still sneaks up on me now 9 weeks after. I think mine is more of a "I did it, both surgeries are over" kind of relief crying, if that makes sense? It is hard because a couple of weeks after both are done, everyone assumes you are back to normal, suck it up move on. So not true. Like you I was a little more brave to do more sooner, with the second. but also realize that now had to work on both sides, getting everything to work together. I really still could not walk much with first hip, but with second started short trips down my street. I did a whole mile circle around the neighborhood yesterday which includes quite an incline in one direction. I had not been walking outside much the past few weeks because of the weather. I think I'm finally getting over this nagging cough Ive had for a month and want to get back on an elliptical. I joined planet fitness, but have had a cough and haven't been there yet. I was going to a high school gym the year before my surgery, but this is much less expensive. I can feel the weight creeping back on and need to lose a lot more, not gain.

Your PT should help you with getting everything strengthened and walking normally again. You have to reteach your brain as much as body. I still have a lot stiffness, go back to the limping ocassionally if I let myself.

You've been through a lot. Give yourself a break. At about a month I got frustrated. I wanted to do more, move faster. It will happen but it all takes time. Be patient. I promise in another month or two, things will improve so much. I'm 9 weeks after 2nd and catch myself doing things I probably should not be doing, or in the manner I do them this soon.

I love that you love all the Christmas Shows!! Me too. I'm 52, so they are part of our lifetime of Christmas memories.

I hope you have a cheerier day today. Relax, have a hot chocolate and enjoy your Christmas shows.
 
Hi @DeepBreath , I enjoyed reading about your two recoveries and was very interested in them. Sorry you're feeling down but hope this will improve again shortly, and get you back on your enjoyable recovery track. I can confirm that 4 weeks is about the time when people feel normal again after the OP. I only had left hip replacement but it was very damaged: zero cartilage left and lots of bone spurs.

I was happy to hear that you and your family lived in Germany for a while. Whereabouts did you live? I live halfway between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, in the Rhine-Main area, but was brought up in Munich.

My operation was in April and I'm fully recovered now. This forum has helped me a lot - reading about the various recovery diaries and has taken the fear of the OP preop. This was my first major operation and I was scared to death. It's also interesting to read about the different approaches to hip recovery all over the world, well mainly the English-speaking world, actually, but on all continents if you see what I mean. I find it hard to believe I'm the only German who is posting here.

Well have a good rest today and carry on reporting about your excellent progress.

Warm regards - Constanze
 
Hello @DeepBreath ! I am so sorry that you aren't feeling well, I think you are correct in your theory about the chemicals from the anesthetic and meds and , just the surgery itself. When you feel able to tolerate it please consider drinking lots and lots of water to flush out your system.
I hope today brings you some relief and the crying jag is over, too.
If you are still feeling a bit sad? There are plenty of warm fuzzy Christmas movies on that you can watch and gently cry to.. **wink** seriously!
It's only been a week,, give yourself time to recover, friend. :chillpill::ice:

I can't resist,, here's how I picture you yesterday :dead:

I'm trying to make you smile hope it isn't too soon for my weird sense of humor.
 
@Hip Hip Hooray! thank you too.
I honestly do think it had something to do with the residual chemicals in my system based on some developments today.
I'll post more tomorrow as I'm a little wrung out now.
I so appreciate your kind words of encouragement. They meant the world to me. :)[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah. I totally understand. I felt saturated just having those drugs in my system one time. I can't imagine what it would feel like with twice the dosage. Please don't feel pressured to write. I'm saying prayers for you.
 
Sorry to hear that you are feeling low at the moment.Everyone else has said everything that I would have said but I just wanted you know that I am thinking of you and that this blue period will pass.I had a period where I felt very low and tears were never far away so much so that I had a break from the forum and looking back I think it was due to the drugs.You are in my prayers.
 
Hope you feel better today! Agree with Kim, it's all the drugs, stress, and just disruption in our routine that surgery does...wreaks havoc on our general well-being. Hugs❤️
 
Hi @DeepBreath
I'm so sorry to hear you have the blues. As you know, this it totally normal and will pass, as others have said. The best thing you can do is just let it happen and let the tears flow. I honestly think it is a form of PTSD that we go though. And you have just been through 2 major surgeries in a short period of time. Your mind is rebelling. But once it realizes that all is well with your body, things will settle down. But, if they become frequent, I would give your PCP a call and request something to calm you down. I know it's another medication to add to what you are already taking, but it may help get you through the day.
I am thrilled, though, to hear that your body is recovering so well. It's only going to get better! I promise!!!!
:roseshwr:
 
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