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THR Going bionic, part 2

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Yesterday I was a having a bit of cabin fever, so I convinced my daughter to drive me to the store. I was able to get a longer walk, which isn't possible in my apartment. It felt good to get a rhythm going, slow as it was. I feel like I am walking fairly normally, if such is possible with a walker. In the store, we actually looked for one of those motorized carts, but there were none in sight. I had made a short list and my daughter was pushing the cart and collecting the items. The manager gave us a cooked chicken for free for some reason. I figured it was because my daughter was cute. She thought it was because I was playing the invalid with a smile. Whatever, free chicken!
 
Over the weekend, my kids came by and took me to the mall. I got to walk around for about 1 1/2 hours, with a couple of breaks. I was sweating by the end of the experience, but it was nice to get out of the apartment and visit a couple of my favorite stores. Malls are crowded though and one woman came running around a corner and caught her foot on my walker, which went out from under me and I was lucky that I only fell into the woman a bit before my son rescued me. She screamed at me in her native tongue, which I'm guessing was Vietnamese. Kinda dumbfounded me. People. Sigh.

My PT came today and it's been 2 weeks since my surgery, so she added in some new exercises, like ballet moves. I had taken some pain pills beforehand and was so nauseous, but I did the exercises anyway. I like these ones as they really seem to help with improving range of motion. I can also do them while I'm in the kitchen waiting for food to cook.

Getting in and out of bed is getting much easier. I'm utilizing one of those long body pillows to elevate my legs at night. Tomorrow I see the surgeon and he'll take an x-ray, yank off the bandage (OUCH!) and then remove the stitches. After that I'll be able to hit the shower. Everyone I know will be grateful for that!
 
Wow, that was a close call. I'm so glad you didn't hurt yourself. It doesn't sound very safe. I'm glad you had your walker. How nice that you got a free chicken!
 
That's quite scary about that person taking you out at the mall! You are very lucky that you didn't get hurt, @chatterz. Sounds like you are able to do a lot at this early stage. Beware of overdoing it!
 
Usually when I've been out and about the walker or cane has proven a very effective deterrent from people getting too close to me. That woman was quite the exception and a good reminder not to venture into crowds for a while longer.

Went to the doc for my 2 week check-up. The difference in the hips on the xray is interesting. The newer one is more angular and the older one has definitely attached to my bone and the bone growth around it makes it all round and nice. The legs are a little uneven still. He says it's from years of altering my gait and that they're not really uneven. I am to stand on a riser and stretch the shorter leg every day. He seems to think the muscles will loosen up and I'll have a more even stance in a few months.

The new waterproof bandage will allow me to shower. I'm so excited for that! The in-home PT gal is having me work on going up and down the steps with my walker folded up like a cane. That way I will be able to go out for a walk by myself soon. Driving is still a distant dream, but I'm saving on gas money!
 
Had my 4 wks check yesterday - OS is satisfied with my progress and the overall outcome. My LLD is corrected now and my hip anatomically straighter than before. Yet I am still "unbalanced" because of the muscular deficits built up over the years. OS says, this will even out with PT, exercise and time. So it should happen to you. In January (3-4 months post OP) he will check with an X-ray if the bone has enlosed the TEP as it should.
 
I was going to take a shower yesterday, but forgot about the compression socks. Can't get them off by myself. Oops. So today I remembered and I felt remarkably stable getting into and out of the bathtub. I will admit I practiced a few times before my surgery because last time I had a shower stall. One itsy bitsy step into it was a breeze. I was able to enjoy cleaning myself up. I dropped the soap. Oh well. I dropped my long handled scrubber. Oh well. Good enough! As I was drying off, I had to laugh as I'd forgotten that I wasn't going to be able to reach down to my lower legs to dry them off. I swatted at them with a towel, but they air-dried quickly. A little sense of humor about the process was helpful.

I'm able to put my operated leg out behind me now to bend over and pick up things off the floor that I've dropped. I honestly don't remember being this clumsy before. I think I am able to do this quicker than from my last THR because that other leg is stronger now.

I found my pain pills from my last operation and they're still good until next month, so I took one of those today. No nausea! I seem to be struggling with one PT exercise. It is the one where I'm standing and pick my leg up in front, bent at the knee, and get it to just shy of a 90 degree angle. That really, really hurts! The PT says it's because I was walking stiff-legged for years, so this is going to be a challenge for me to overcome. But she did reassure me I was doing it correctly.
 
Congratulations on the shower. I remember how exciting that was. It's such a good feeling. I dropped a lot of things before my hip replacement. It's not happening anymore. Hopefully as you get stronger you will experience the same thing. I remember it really annoyed me.

I hope that PT exercise doesn't harm you. That concerns me that you say it really, really hurts. I found that the flexibility came back with time and patience. I am still seeing my hips opening more in a straddle 14 months after the surgery. It was very gradual.
 
Yesterday I threw myself a pity party. I needed to get some papers to my lawyer and there was no one who was available to drive me. Where are all my helpful friends with their offers of help? Apparently their needs outranked mine. Phooey.

I ranted a bit and threw my address book across the room. Then I got to thinking that I could get there on my own. I did a pretty good job getting myself psyched up to do it and I encouraged myself the entire way. I walked ½ mile to the mail store, then sat in a sandwich shop and ate a light lunch for about 30 minutes to rest, then began the trek back home. It took about 1 hour 40 minutes for that journey and I was wiped when I got home. Took a pain pill, added an ice bag to my hip and took a long nap.

I know that it was too much to do, but it had to be done. I really, really considered getting in my car and driving there, but I knew that was wrong as well. I must say that today I woke up a tad stiffer than I'd like, but all in all, I did no damage yesterday (thank heavens!)and my gait has definitely improved from that adventure.
 
Well you were three weeks out so good for you! I'm glad you paced it out sensibly anyway.
 
I'm at the 4 week mark and I am getting around quite well with a cane. I like using my rollator in the morning, to transfer all my stuff from the bedroom to the living room and get my breakfast to the patio to eat, but I don't rely on it the rest of the day. It's more of being careful as I sleepily start my day than necessity. Plus, the animals are excited when I get up and they start circling me for food. I am able to pick things up off the floor or from low shelves by stretching my operated leg out to the back as I lean over. I spend 15 minutes twice a day on the treadmill, working on making my gait even. I have limped for years, so I guess I shouldn't expect it to go away overnight.

My hair has been falling out a bit. I believe it's from the surgery, so I hope it will ease up soon. I don't use prescription pain killers anymore, but I do take Tylenol every now and again. The doctor had me taking Xarelto for two weeks following the surgery and then aspirin for the next two weeks. Since I'm done with that, I took off my compression socks tonight. I feel naked without them!

The clear bandage over my wound is starting to peel off a bit. I think I'll take it off tomorrow after I shower. This is my 3rd bandage and they didn't give any instructions as to how to handle it. I don't remember having the bandage on by the four week mark last time. I start outpatient PT next week and I want to be cleared to work out in their warm pool, so the bandage definitely will have to be gone for that.
 
Thanks for spending all that time to share your recovery journey with all of us! Everyone here has interesting info to share but some don't have the patience to record it all. I hope you keep getting better fast!
 
chatterz said:
I took off my compression socks tonight.
Click to expand...

Haha - the 3-week-sock-prescription was the only thing I did not follow my OS and dumped them on the day I came home from hospital. Took Xarelto anyway and the usefulness of these things is at least questionable as I was told by nurses before my release. I could not have put them on by the way so ......
 
Hello @Chattez. You are doing great keep it going. I gotta ask about your survivor's pin. Where did you find it, so cool.
 
julesglass said:
Hello @Chattez. You are doing great keep it going. I gotta ask about your survivor's pin. Where did you find it, so cool.
Click to expand...

I was gifted a tee shirt with this logo on it. I believe they ordered it from zazzle.com.
 
Thanks @chatterz. I found a site for jewelry featuring joint replacements. pretty cool stuff. craft express.com
 
I took the clear bandage off my incision site and the nurse said I should use lotion on the scar. I think what she really wanted was for me to massage the area. I remember that being something the PT lady wanted me to do last time to work out air bubbles or somesuch? Anyway, I used some Vitamin E oil to rub in. It took major parts of the scab off, which were ready to come off at this point. This scar is so much longer and at a different angle than my other one. I thought they'd be matching, but nope.

I've been walking without the cane in my home now. I didn't purposely start doing it, but I just have been getting up without it and it doesn't occur to me that I did that until I go to sit back down again and see the cane propped there. I noticed that I tend to touch everything, like the back of the couch or the door frame or the countertop as I walk, so I'm not as freewheeling as I think I am.

Tomorrow I start outpatient PT. I'm looking forward to it and yet I'm dreading it. I will like it once I get to the point where they'll send me to the YMCA to use their giant warm water tub to do the exercises and walk. I think that will help the most with rehab. But first I expect they'll poke and prod and push my leg into positions it hasn't been in for years. And I get to pay them for that pain!
 
Morning @chatterz. Unless it's for xrays I don't allow anyone to prob or move my body parts. I let them know what I can do and show them how far it will move. No one is allowed to move my leg to cause pain. Just won't happen.
 
I made it to PT yesterday. She took my history and noted that my knees need to be guarded at all times so nothing happens to them, which could halt my hip progress. She liked my gait. Yay! Said I still limp a little, but she liked how I was picking up my foot and stretching through each step. She asked me to go without the cane and I said no. It's hard to explain, but in an open area I feel very unstable. The cane is my safety net. I may not need it, but I want it. She said I was to massage my incision site to keep scar tissue from forming under there, which could eventually limit movement. She liked my Vit. E oil for this and showed me one of the "invisible" stitches that was sticking out. I'll need to keep working that out of my skin. A friend drove me to and from PT and she asked for a copy of my next three appointments and said she'd be there for me. Yay!

I actually figured out the city busses today. I got on - they lowered the step for me to make it easier to step in - and I went a couple of stops to the shopping center. I walked around and bought a few lightweight necessities, knowing that I was going to have to tote it back to the bus stop. Really worked out well. Took about an hour and a half out of my day, but it got me out and about with some other humans and I was able to accomplish something on my own, which makes me feel less of a burden.
 
@chatterz What a wonderful report--gives us newbies hope. I'm 8 days into recovery and can't imagine riding a city bus but there you are...blazing the trail!
 
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