THR Diary of my journey to happy times

Klassy

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Dec 13, 2018
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Hello all,
I have just found this website and lots of useful info already, thanks! I would like to take this place to report progress please.
I had op at 10.30 on Monday 10 December. I had epidural plus sedation. I was very anxious about having epidural, all my previous experience of surgery was of general anaesthetic, but I was persuaded it was the best. My anxiety was not improved when it took the anaesthetist 3 goes to get the cannula for sedation in the back of my hand. But he seemed to find his way round my back ok and it wasn’t scary after all to feel my legs go numb, more of a pleasant warming. The surgeon then came in and seized me like a side of beef, my legs were numb but my tummy wasn’t and he poked his finger right in a tickle spot so I yelped. I explained it was surprise not pain, but I would really like to be asleep first please. The sedation burnt unpleasantly going in but it only lasted a moment and I was gone. I mention all this because I will probably have the second hip done sometime so I want to remember that it was not as bad as feared.
 
I woke and first thing I asked was the time: 11.40. Felt less groggy than previous experience with GA,as promised. I knew my legs would be numb but I still felt worried by it, though on the plus side obviously no pain. Gave myself a pat down and found I could feel normally around my navel, went numb a few inches below and either side. Shivering and teeth chattering but didn’t feel sick. The fellow tending me said I had low BP and gave me IV fluids. At 12.20 I was taken back to ward (lovely private room with ensuite, I used my savings to go private after several months of increasing pain on NHS waiting list). I’m already forgetting what happened when, but I think it took at least 6 hours to get full feeling back in legs, I kept nervously checking as sensation gradually crept back from top down. The nurses kept being concerned by low BP, round 80/50, and urging me to drink. I drank masses and was surprised to eat too, late lunch and dinner. I had automated pumping things on my ankles which didn’t worry me, very little pain.
Physio guy came about 3.30 and got me to sit up. I felt very faint and told him I was worried. Two weeks before I had had a faint and fallen and badly bruised my face so knowing that I could actually faint without much warning, I didn’t want to ignore the feeling. He took BP and it was low and he said better leave it, so I didn’t get up. I have always had low BP, say 100 to 110 over 70, and I used to think that was a good thing! But now nurses kept monitoring and shaking heads and urging me to drink.

Trouble was, after all those gallons, my abdomen was like a drum with no urge to output. They tried a bedpan but it was very uncomfortable trying to get my hips on it, and no success. They didn’t want to walk me to bathroom so I asked for a commode chair. I can’t exactly remember the timings now but we tried twice a few hours apart. They did manage to get me up with lots of pauses waiting for dizziness to pass, but I couldn’t perform. I had been warned it can happen after epidural, but it is very ironic because in normal life it is never a good idea to get between me and a bathroom door I am heading for, if you know what I mean! The nurses ran water and whistled and we sang every Rainy song we knew and I was soooo close.... I really didn’t want a catheter because I thought the insertion would be horrible. It was. I put that down here because I’m minded to ask for one to go in before the epidural wears off next time. Particularly as it was no bother once in, just a bit cumbersome, ok coming out and all seems fine afterwards, thankfully.

But apart from the drought downstairs, I felt ok on Day 0. I slept on and off most of the day but felt bright as a button in the evening and even managed to catch up with some emails.

Day 1 started Ok, I had breakfast, I think the catheter went in some time on Day 1. From my texts I can see I was chirpy at 1pm then out of sorts till 6pm, because I started a message at 1 when I was interrupted by lunch or drugs or something, then didn’t feel up to finishing till evening. During the day a nurse got me up and to the bathroom for a wash, so some time in the afternoon the physio felt it was safe to look in and I did my standing exercises for the first time. In the evening I felt good and had a visit. I’d told my husband to stay away as he had a cold and I didn’t want to catch it, and I hadn’t asked anyone else because I didn’t know how I’d feel, but by this time I was bored and lonesome so I was very very grateful when a friend offered to come. We he had a lovely chat. Funny thing, I was in the midst of an enjoyable rant (we were trading old war stories about house purchases) when nurse came to take BP, which had occasionally got to 100 but was still mostly lower and causing concern. I carried on with my rant and guess what, my BP was 122! So it goes to show that getting worked up over something really is bad for your BP, unless you are starting off too low, in which case go ahead and enjoy it.
 
Day 2, Wednesday, I woke up feeling sick and couldn’t face breakfast. I initially waved away the offer of anti sickness tablet because I wasn’t feeling very bad. A mistake, because pretty soon I was feeling worse and threw up just after I did take one. luckily I asked for a bowl in time. Continued to feel a bit queasy, was just about over it when it was time for nurse to show me how to inject myself in abdomen with blood thinning medication. That really put lunch out of the question! There had been a possibility of going home on Day 2, but my low BP had delayed my mobility so I was to stay another night, to my great relief as neither I or husband felt up to it.

I think cannula was taken out on Day 2. This was a big relief, because its position part way up my wrist made for a nasty feeling when trying to bear weight on my hands. I’m recording this because otherwise next time I would be saying to the anaesthetist not to bother trying to dig around the non cooperative veins on the backs of my hands, but presumably the back of hand would have been a better place if it had worked.

I hadn’t had a BM since Sunday pre-op and I was dreading going home with constipation. I normally have a high fibre diet and do all the things one is supposed to and have still had some bad bouts, so given I seemed to be getting all the other side effects I was expecting this one. So I asked for suppositories. Insertion did not bother me though I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant for the poor nurse, eventual result was bliss. Sorry if this is too much information!

It wasn’t a good day. When I wasn’t feeling sick I felt grumpy, and unable to focus on anything. But I more or less got to and from bathroom by myself, washed myself, and sat out in chair wearing clothes for first time. Physio came with crutches for me to try (previously used Zimmer frame) but I didn’t feel secure. I had been assured that I would be able to manage stairs before going home, but ever the pessimist, had persuaded husband to disassemble spare bed and reassemble downstairs next to downstairs bathroom. That took a lot of furniture rearranging and much grumbling from husband (my arthritis meant I wasn’t much use in this) but it was looking wise now. Physio asked if I could avoid stairs, when I said yes he took crutches away and said to make do just with frame.
 
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Day 3 Thursday. Had a pretty good night’s sleep but still felt sick in the morning and couldn’t face a drink or breakfast at first, though I managed a few mouthfuls before they took it away. I don’t know why I had nausea, I’d had the epidural which is meant to mean less sickness than general anaesthetic; I’d only had a single half sized dose of morphine which I had seemed to tolerate ok before they decided I shouldn’t have morphine any more because of my low BP; I had had few codeine tablets, none or just one when offered 2; I hadn’t had ibuprofen because I hadn’t had food at the right time, and so pretty much had only been taking paracetamol, which I had been using preop, until the last few days, without nausea. I’d eaten a half banana and a biscuit late at night to compensate for not eating all day and that had gone down fine. Anyway I requested an anti sickness pill right away this time and eventually felt less bad.

A nurse got me up to have an actual shower, hooray, and I was able to wash my hair too. That felt so good! Husband had been told to collect me at 12. Physio came and said since I was looking good I should try the crutches again, because they would give me crutches or frame but not both and crutches would be a lot more convenient at home. So I gave it my best effort and it went well. I suggested I should try stairs because there is a step into house even though bed is downstairs. I coped well but it will still be a while before I attempt it at home, our house has a steep narrow long flight which I am very careful with at the best of times.
The physio had asked me if I needed a toilet raiser. I had no idea but I figured it was better to say yes and find I didn’t than no and then need it. He brought one and asked me if it would fit, how on earth would I know? I asked if I should phone my husband and get him to measure up but the suggestion was brushed aside. I have to say I didn’t find the private hospital’s physio helpful. I had a preop physio appointment when I had expected to be measured and advised, but he had no advice except to take me through the exercises that were in the handout anyway and just said “no need” to everything I asked. Should I move bed downstairs, do I need a chair of any particular height, toilet seat, do I need to raise bed? All “no need”. I am short but the bed is sort of Japanese design, so unusually low. I told him this, but “no need”. I consulted Dr Google and following those tips I bought a plastic chair with arms and got dear husband to construct 3 inch raisers for bed, thank heavens I did because it is now just high enough.

The nurse checked my dressing and gave me instructions for care, made me self inject for the first time, a bit ouchy but ok (husband had arrived by this time but I told him to sit down and look away as nurses didn’t need an extra fainting creature to look after). Then I couldn’t stall any longer, I had to venture out. The physio had said he would show me how to get in and out of car, but he was nowhere to be seen so porter said he would show me. He is a very nice man who had been the first person to get me standing when I went for X-ray (I d forgotten that) so I had confidence in him. But we met another physio on the way to the lift who volunteered his services. He was also nice and I wish he had been assigned to me instead of Mr NoNeed. Getting into and out of car turned out not to be a problem. I had imagined the incision site as much more tender than it has been (touches wood).

I felt a bit off-colour on the 40 minute drive home so got husband to pull over for a few minutes. Probably just psychological. Husband had used cones to reserve a spot close to home in our busy street which is very popular with Christmas shoppers, and fortunately this had been honoured. However I got husband to park a couple of feet out from kerb so I had the best position to step out. This meant there wasn’t really room for the car that arrived at that moment to get past and she might be delayed a whole two minutes which would obviously ruin her life forever. Fortunately she managed to hurl her tons of metal through with a generous half inch to spare without slowing down from her snail like crawl barely 10 mph over the speed limit and sharing a glare with us at the same time. It was very thoughtful of her, somehow she must have known about my low BP and knew that I needed a bit of excitement in my day.

The step up to our path was a lot higher than I had remembered, more than a standard step size, and had nothing to hold on to, so it was fortunate that I had practiced the stairclimbing. The step up and in at the front door was also jolly awkward. But then it was plain sailing to the bed which was mercifully downstairs and raised up. I spent the day dozing and trying not to boss husband about too horribly. He brought me a lovely dinner. I managed to get up for loo visits ok and did my exercises while up.
 
Hi, Wekcome to BoneSmart and Recovery. Thanks for joining us.
Following you'll find the Recovery Guidelines which I believe you will find beneficial along the way.
Please pay special attention to the BIG TIP toward the bottom.
I hope you have a lovely Friday and great weekend!

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each, member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Day 4 Friday. I hope I am not using up your storage with my ramblings. It will be helpful to me to have this as a record and it is giving me something to do when I would otherwise be bored.
I had a reasonable night’s sleep considering I had done nothing but doze most of the previous day. I found this site and others and had a good browse. I was looking for views on whether I should be trying to manage without painkillers, given the nausea and constipation and lightheadedness. It seemed that mostly people were continuing with narcotics for weeks, let alone paracetamol. Plus I haven’t felt nausea today and I had success in the unmentionable. So I am going to take the codeine as prescribed. I hadn’t seen the advice about ice and elevation before, I had used it in the past for a sprained ankle but it wasn’t mentioned to me in connection with the THR. I’m not sure of the logic of raising feet, surely that actually puts the hips at the lowest point? But it feels ok so I’ll do it some of the time.

I waited for husband to get up (he is unwell too and has been running around after me) to see if he could help me shower. The shower was a terrible idea. I hadn’t thought through the fact that the hospital had a huge walk in room with nonslip floors and a shower seat etc etc. We flooded everything except me, gave me a big fright and only hope we didn’t give poor husband pneumonia. I regrouped and had a sponge wash which I should have done in the first place. Once I was safely back on bed my husband managed to get my compression stockings back on. Then I had to self inject. It seemed relatively non painful despite my fumbling it, then it began to hurt like mad. Luckily I had read about ice packs on here and that helped a lot. Husband has been online and ordered nonslip mats and a shower seat ( unfortunately the best design won’t fit in our little downstairs shower, but it may help and if not I’ll cope without a shower until I am more confident on my feet).

That’s brought me up to date, time to get up and exercise and see what I can do that’s useful. Thanks very much for the opportunity to get all this out, and for the advice I have already found and I’m sure will find more of on this site.
 
Thanks very much for your welcome Layla. I didn’t see it until just now as I was busy typing. I note what you say and won’t go overboard with the exercise!
I hope I haven’t broken the guidelines by grumbling about a few of the unavoidably negative parts of the process. I want to tell it like it is, but so far it has indeed been a positive experience. I have already been in less pain than preop. Obviously I was expecting miracles because I wouldn’t be spending the money and going for surgery if I didn’t expect it to be a huge win. And it looks like modern medicine is indeed delivering that miracle and I am so grateful.
 
Hi Klassy,
We certainly encourage people to document their recovery here. It is a great point of reference should you need to experience THR once again. I think many will read your posts but some won't due to sheer volume. Personally, I find lengthy posts difficult to navigate on the days I'm pressed for time. My concern is that if you have a question, or issue buried within....it may not be addressed. If you're keeping your thread as a record and not concerned with feedback or responses, I'd say it's okay. Please understand though that many may see the length of the post and sail on by without reading. I'd suggest that if an issue arises, or you have a question, you begin your post with that information, affording you the best chance to receive responses. It sounds like you're progressing nicely. I hope you have a great Friday and weekend!
@Klassy
 
Thanks Layla
If I have a specific question I’ll keep it brief. I don’t think I’ll feel the need to ramble from now on.
Wishing you a good weekend too.
 
Hi Klassy! I am based in the uk too. If you have the energy have a look at the early days of my recovery blog as there are similarities including sickness despite spinal, varying physio etc.

I blogged the entire thing too and found it helpful.

I found bonesmarties were brilliant with advice.

My comments to you would be

Don’t come off the pain meds too early, take them on time and stay ahead of pain

Do ice and elevate and try to get up and walk in small bursts.

The shower will come and will be heavenly!

Take your grabber into the shower, there is nothing more frustrating than to drop a tube of something knowing the grabber is next door

If in the car use a plastic bag over a cushion to swivel in and out and use a belt, dressing f gown cord or something to hook over the dead leg to hitch it inside. You were probababy taught this in the hospital.

And above all, if you are doing any physio at all and it hurts, stop! I overdid it in the early days and regret not taking the advice on here! Some of the Mods will read this and laugh...as I was warned many a time...

Best of luck and week by week you should see progress!
 
Thanks SurreyGirl. I’ll take your advice. I will save catching up on your thread for now, because I have more than I expected to record today and want to get it down.

Now, if anyone ever comes across this when browsing pre-op, two important things to note:
A. This won’t happen to you.
B. I am fine and tucked up in my bed at home.

So.... Day 5 was spent at local Accident & Emergency centre.

I had planned to make my own breakfast, so that Husband (H) , who has not been well himself, could have a lie in. I awoke at 3am in the night with quite bad pain and a feeling of nausea. I managed to manoeuvre a stack of pillows under my calves and that helped with both symptoms, and I then slept through to 8am without the need for a loo visit, unusual for me. I had dreams of shouting for people who couldn’t hear me, I think because I would have liked to call H but didn’t have the heart to. I’ll also say I think the mind has a 3am mode when everything feels worse. My heels for example felt like they were rubbed raw and there was nothing wrong with them after a little tug on the stockings.

I got up and to the loo and did my standing exercises and headed to the kitchen where I had told H what to lay out on the counter for my use. I enjoyed standing and looking out at the garden; knowing I wouldn’t be out there again I had made a special effort with the bit that is visible from the kitchen. This was my first viewing since the op. My temporary bedroom doesn’t have a window to the garden. I made tea and toast and realised the flaw in my plan: I had no way to carry breakfast to bed and I hadn’t arranged for the special chair to be in the kitchen. So I decided to breakfast standing up. I didn’t think about it too much because I have been having breakfast that way for the last couple of years as my arthritis made it uncomfortable to sit, long before I discovered it was arthritis. I had been distracted by the process of assembling food and pivoted on the post op leg which gave me a nasty feeling in the joint, but I stopped still and the feeling passed immediately and it seemed all was well. But I was unsettled.

I sipped some tea but the smell of hot toast suddenly made me feel sick. Then faint. My previous, first in a lifetime, faint, just over two weeks ago, had been diagnosed as hyperventilating from anxiety. So I told myself to take slow steady breaths and I would be fine. I leaned on the counter and realised I wouldn’t be fine. I yelled for H, still asleep upstairs, and hoped he would hear and be in time to catch me. The edges of my vision became patterned with grey lines.

Then to my surprise H had materialised instantly, which was good. Except he was looking down at me, very worried. “What happened?” I asked. Yes, the movie cliche is true. “I came in to see you shaking and then you just fell.” “On my bad side?” Yes. I took stock. I was on my back on the stone kitchen floor. I had a painful lump on the back of my head, but the hip, thank heaven, did not hurt more than before. H brought pillows and we tried to arrange me in the best possible position and discussed what to do. H phoned the private hospital and got a nurse. The hospital clearly wasn’t going to do anything. She suggested as I seemed to have a neurological problem I should see my GP. I asked for the physio and luckily got Mr Helpful and not Mr NoNeed. He talked me through the process to rise from flat on the floor. I said I would spend some time on my back while I worked up to it and he said I could call back when ready and he could talk me through it.

H and I discussed again, H reminded me that paramedics do come out to get people up after a fall. I thought that was the way to go, but as it wasn’t an emergency, we would try 111 not 999. We did, and got in a queue-for-first-available-operator. Gave up and called 999, who answered right away but said there would be a delay. Lay there feeling increasingly uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell if my back hurt from landing or just from being flat on stone tiles. My hip and thigh area was up to a 6 on pain score, breaking all previous records. Of course I hadn’t taken my meds (memo to self, in future take before getting out of bed) and I couldn’t raise myself to drink water and take them now. The 999 called back and said there was still delay, this was about 90 minutes from calling, and asked me the questions again. It was tempting to lie and say I had chest pains as I knew that would get faster service, but I was honest. H did however say truthfully that my pain was worse and I was getting distressed, and that got me an upgrade.

The crew then arrived after not too long and I explained about keeping the hip in position. They had a very nifty inflating device but it still needed the 2 of them plus H to keep me feeling secure. They got me in a chair but darn it, the faintness came straight back. They gave me oxygen and I felt ok.So it was right to call them because it would have been such a struggle without and I might have fallen straight back down again. I didn’t want to go to hospital but they pointed out that with the bloodthinning medication it would be a good idea to get the lump on my head checked, so off we went.

It was a long day but the NHS staff looked after me wonderfully between spells of attending to real emergencies. They didn’t think anything of the headbump. They did X-ray my pelvis and back and I was so relieved there was no fracture. I was pretty sure that I hadn’t dislocated the hip since it was moving ok, but there was a possibility of a hairline fracture. But all was good. My bones are clearly tougher than the bone china cups which haven’t survived those stone tiles. They tested my fluids for infection and all was ok, just the raised markers to be expected post surgery.

The doctor’s diagnosis of the faint this time was:

:My permanent low BP, though that’s obviously not enough in itself because I haven’t fainted before these two episodes

: Drinking too much coffee and tea, which had dehydrated me, lowering BP

: Standing still too long. Particularly when I have just got up after lying flat for a long time.

This fits, because the first faint was also after I’d stood through breakfast, with coffee, and continued to stand while I read the paper.

That’s good news because now I have some things to avoid and hopefully avoid recurrence. Also make sure a chair is always close by to sit in at the first sense of uneasiness, and call for help if possible, not trying to fight it.

Breakfast in bed tomorrow!
 
Wow! That is something. Glad you are ok. I had a non hip related emergency a month ago and 111 were dreadful. Hubby could not get through to them. When I finally got to a&e they admitted me straight away and were fantastic.

So take care! Enjoy your breakfast in bed :)

Ps put a small cushion or a fleece under your ankles to raise them off the bed as those sore spots get very sore. The lanolin in the fleece helps.
 
No more of this > :swoon:
I'm happy to read you're okay and that you have an idea of why you toppled over.
Hopefully with the advice you received on how to avoid fainting again you're good to go.
Try drinking more water as opposed to coffee and tea.
A great Sunday to you!
@Klassy
 
Hi Klassy,
I was really pleased to come across your post. I also had my hip replacement surgery on the 10 Dec. I came home on the 14th. I have had nothing as awful happen to me as you have, you will need to watch that fainting! I am struggling with the pain and I think i must have post op blues. I also tend to have low blood pressure and get a bit faint now and again but nothing serious. I live in Queensland Australia and it seems that things are fairly similar except I don't have the injection into the tummy. I am definitely taking my pain meds as suggested but think i will need to go back to my GP for more, well good luck and I will follow your post keenly.
take care
 
@Klassy Gosh, a bit of a bumpy start to this recovery. Please do be very careful. Low BP is very common post op. Then there are all the meds you take. Many people experience dizzy spells at this stage. Best to get seated as soon as you can in any room you visit.

Take care of yourself or we will have to send you the bubble wrap suit!:heehee:
 
Ps put a small cushion or a fleece under your ankles to raise them off the bed as those sore spots get very sore. The lanolin in the fleece helps.
Thanks SurreyGirl, I will try that. Lots of good tips on here, the ice has been such a help.

I’ve been reading your blog with interest, up to week 3. I’m glad I didn’t read it before op, you had some awful experiences.

Your story gives me mixed feelings about having gone private vs NHS. Not that I had much choice. After the physio I had been seeing finally persuaded me in April that the only solution for my pain was THR, it then took months to get through the system to actually get on the waiting list, and then by November all they could say was “Not before next summer.” To be fair, I could probably have got one earlier if I hadn’t wanted the particular consultant my physio recommended. But it was her enthusiasm for him, and how well his patients turned out compared to others she had seen, that had given me the courage to go ahead. And for £10500 ( ouch!) I could phone his secretary and book within two weeks. Meaning that all my recovery would be during winter when I just hibernate anyway, and next summer I’d be out striding along country walks and enjoying my new retirement life to the full. Plus I liked the certainty of choosing the day and knowing that was it. Imagine working up to the big op, arriving all fasted and ready, then getting sent away because all the beds were full, as happens to a lot of people. Plus a guaranteed single room with en-suite, and attention on demand.

So going private has been worth it, and I’m blessed that I can to manage to pay. But I feel a few things are maybe not as good. Just before I decided to go private, and too late for me to participate, NHS sent me an appointment for “Joint School” with a form to measure bed and chair and toilet and so on. Unfortunately it only had blanks to fill in, no formulae, so I was no wiser about what adjustments were needed. H and I managed to sort the bed and chair by googling, but the private hospital had promised a toilet raiser so I hoped this would be taken care of. On leaving, when I asked for this, physio grudgingly produced a plastic object. When we got home, it didn’t fit, so I have been managing without adjustment, but it isn’t comfortable. When I read that you had one with arms you could use to help get up (if I haven’t mixed up your post with someone else’s) I was quite envious. Plus you got all this physio treatment, whereas I got a couple of demonstrations and a follow up appointment in 3 weeks. Though hearing that you needed morphine to endure the physio, perhaps that is another plus for going private!
 
@Mum, hello, we are op twins! I look forward to reading about your progress. I think you are lucky not to have the tummy injection. I missed yesterday’s due to being in the A&E, then feeling too sorry for myself when I got home, but I got back onto it today and it went better, and hopefully I’ll continue to get more adept. The darn thing had better be a miracle drug to justify the process.

I hope your pain eases soon. I thought I was young for THR at 64, but there seem to be quite a few youngsters on the site. On the one hand, it is tough to have to go through something when other people still have perfect hips at 90. On the other hand, we are lucky that there is this treatment which works well and has been thoroughly road-tested. I wonder who was the first brave soul to have THR.
 
@Jaycey, thanks for your thoughts. A bubble wrap suit could be good, I could amuse myself by popping the bubbles whenever I got bored :heehee:.

I took H and a chair in the bathroom this morning as backup when I had my standing wash. Despite the fact that I had done the wash process with no worries 2 days ago, despite marching on the spot while cleaning my teeth and generally following the precautions, I did have to sit for a while. I’m not sure if I felt faint or just felt that I was feeling faint, if you know what I mean. It’s a nuisance but I’m just going to be very very careful. So yes, maybe sit and wash and brush teeth etc, and hope that it is effects of op and will pass.
 
Hi there! Just to set the record straight. I had the op on the nhs and only got a private room as the main wards were full hence spending 9 hours in recovery as there was no bed! I was in the nhs hospital for five days. That was where the physio was so hard as I was under medicated .

A private op in Surrey with the same Consultant and hospital was around £14k.

I then did two weeks recovery in a private place which included physio. I then paid for continued physios and worked well with my physio. A nurse at the recovery home did the injections for me. Not nice but bearable and my icepack went straight on for 5 minutes and that took the sting away.

The over loo seat with arms is angled very strangely but has been useful.... that I got from the nhs.
I don’t know if the nhs would accept it back or if I could disinfect it and pass it on.

We bought our own shower seat off Amazon for around £15 and that has been brilliant as could shower safely sitting down and for some time. I am still using it as it makes the who process more relaxing. Likewise the “Clean your toes” cheap and cheerful device also off Amazon and still being used.
 

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