Day 7, new hip and I have now been together a whole week.
Things seem to be healing ok. The incision itself is not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be, I wouldn’t really know it was there. The pain around the hip and thigh is rarely worse than pre op level and mostly better. The parts of the process I didn’t expect, ie self injecting, compression stockings, constipation and slight feeling of nausea, aren’t getting any more enjoyable and the road ahead looks long. I’ll hope the first two will be things I get used to, and the last two go away. I’m getting in supplies of all the anti constipation remedies that might possibly help and stopped the codeine again. I understand the principle that I mustn’t let pain hold me back from mobilising, but pain isn’t the issue for me, it’s fainting, or the fear of fainting, and I think the general sense of unwellness that comes from being backed up feeds into my paranoia about feeling giddy.
The lightheadedness is a pest, I have lost all confidence since the fall so have gone backwards in achieving any independence. I now make sure H is there before getting up to use crutches. H is being very supportive, bless him. I have cut out coffee entirely and ration myself to one cup of tea a day, drinking loads of water instead and 2 small glasses of OJ a day. This has paid off in other ways too as last night I didn’t need to get up for the loo. I do things like brushing teeth while sitting down. We have a shower seat now, it is not the style I would like, being a bench without back or raised arms, but is the only model on Amazon which would fit the shower (our downstairs loo, basin and shower were fitted into the understair cupboard, so ultra compact). I have been eyeing it wistfully but sticking with sponging myself down outside the shower for now till I feel more stable. Then I will practise a dry run, literally, to check the stepping in and turning round etc works before we add water to the mix. I should, with hindsight, have practised this pre op, and also sitting in the chair which I now find is not comfortable enough. But pre op I was so busy with other stuff that I wanted to get out of the way, and also didn’t want to think about the op because it made me frightened. Anyway I feel fine without the shower, except that my hair is getting to the itchy and disgusting stage.
At the moment I am sitting in the chair in the kitchen where I can watch the robin eat the mealworms I got H to put out, and see the sunshine. What more could one ask? Well, except for a more comfy seat! But that may be a good thing actually, it makes me stand up and down a few times every so often to ease it and it must be good to keep moving. This is my first venture out of bed except to the bathroom, and of course the day trip to the seaside aka the A&E . Also as a break from sitting I have walked the length of dining room to kitchen, 20 steps each way. So that’s a start, and I’ll build up from there.