THR Heal first, then exercise, then dance!

[Going4fun]

@An54, oh I wanna be that guy! ... I wanna keep dancing ... I saw a clip not long ago of a woman in her 80s who was such a great dancer.

Switching topics here and going back to an earlier post of yours ... I wanted to acknowledge your comment on your back pain a while back. I found it helpful that you said that when recently reading through your entire thread you saw that at the time you understated how perhaps frightened you were or how bad your back felt.

I just found that to be a very helpful insight ... I definitely have that tendency to want to understate my worry or pain in the moment ... (understate it to myself first and then to others) ... and then later, once past the "crisis," I open up about how frightened I was ...

Glad your back is good ...

 

[Debru4]

Just saw your hip photos---I am kicking myself for not documenting my recovery more. It was cool to see the changes on your photos!

I have a video my kids took of me on my first walk a a few hours after surgery, which is pretty funny because I was going so fast, almost carrying my walker since I didn't have much pain yet. while the nurse appeared to chase me. I have one photo of me in my compression socks.....and that's it. It seemed like I was just trying to get through the first days, and then within a couple weeks, there was nothing really to see. Even though I tend to take a ton of photos in general, I kind of missed the boat with my hip.

I plan to take a hip scar photo soon to see if it looks better on a photo. It seems like depending on the light, sometimes it looks more vivid than others. In the bathroom light after I shower it seems to look the worst.

 

[SurreyGirl]

The scar looks like it is healing well. Thanks for posting the update.

 

[An54]

I have a video my kids took of me on my first walk a a few hours after surgery, which is pretty funny because I was going so fast, almost carrying my walker since I didn't have much pain yet. while the nurse appeared to chase me. ...

Haha! Well, been there, done that--but a month post surgery. As I elected to take the no-exercise, super-duper-extremely-cautious approach (I am competitive in my own perverse way ) , I just tossed regular protocol, time-line, exercise sheets, PT sessions etc, to the side, and stuck to the walker.*and tootled around the house. I didn't care when I moved along to a cane or crutches, or how long it took to do so. After a month I found myself carrying the walker--suspended in the air-- in front of me in the wee hours of the morning when I didn't want to wake Hub with its noisy rattling. Yes--it was something straight out of a Monty Python sketch-- hilarious. Then I moved on to the walking poles for another four weeks or so, then no walking aids. I was able to get out on the dance floor again at about 14 weeks, so it all worked out for Righty this time around. I'm going to take the same approach for Lefty when the time comes. However... ( insert ominous cello music here).. I feel poetic justice will require that Lefty put me through absolute h*ll, because Righty was so easy.

* I am not a medical professional (I am a brat) , so no one should take anything I write as guidance, but should listen to the professionals--not me! ...the usual disclaimer here, etc,

@Debru4

 

[Mojo333]

I think your advice is sound and has had great results...so

 

[Layla]

).. I feel poetic justice will require that Lefty put me through absolute h*ll, because Righty was so easy.

I wish that was only a "feeling" for me.
It's a "fear" after having a great recovery the first time. But...I'll worry when the time comes, not now.
Have a great Saturday!
@An54

 

[An54]

@Mojo333 or @Layla , as I have posted updated images of my scar in the Badge thread, could my old image (late July) be deleted. Thanks.

 

[Layla]

Not sure...but I'll report it and we'll see
@An54

 

[Mojo333]

Appears it's done.

 

[Debru4]

From what I have read about those who have had more than one replacement, it seems a bit like having a 2nd child.....each one is so different, and no guarantees.

Even so, I believe the advice promoted on this forum, and by many doctors including mine, to walk and resume daily activities as able, with no PT, worked for me the first time, and will be my plan in the future as well.....even if that 2nd one ends up giving me fits in recovery, since my first one didn't.

I can picture you carrying that walker around. I used a cane a short while, and ending up leaving it behind multiple times. Then I would go in search of it (without my cane since I'd left it somewhere). I'd find it, and then it would happen all over again. Finally caught on I didn't need it.

 

[Barbaraj]

Hi, @An54, I think you should take the approach that hip #2 will be an easy recovery, and since your approach worked last time I think you should aim to replicate it. When I get #2 done, I intend to do what worked for me last time. While not looking forward to a second surgery, at least I'll have matching scars and I'll be far less nervous about the whole sedation/spinal than I was the first time around. I was so freaked by that that I gave nary a thought to the actual surgery! Focus on not borrowing trouble, and channel a bit of Pollyanna when the time comes. In the meantime, Happy Sunday!

 

[Layla]

Scar is healing nicely @An54

 

[An54]

I'll be far less nervous about the whole sedation/spinal than I was the first time around. I was so freaked by that that I gave nary a thought to the actual surgery!

@Barbaraj , I was the same--freaked about the sedation thing during surgery, didn't give much thought or worry about the procedure itself or the convalescence.

 

[Debru4]

I had been out of the country for several weeks prior to my surgery---only had a week before it when I got home. I was in so much pain, and so ready to have the surgery that I didn't really think much about the procedure or the recovery at all. Like many doctors, my surgeon had said most people had a fast and easy recovery---he didn't plant any seeds that there would be problems. I appreciate the positivity, and it was correct----in the long run. BUT those first few days were not smooth or easy, and I felt so upset by that. I felt like I had been misled, and kept saying I wished I had known what it really would be like, so probably I should have researched a bit more ahead of time. Or maybe not---who knows?

My close friend, who had a hip replacement at 16, and 4 revisions since, seemed more concerned than I was, obviously since she knew the drill. She took a few days off of work, and had me stay with her so she could help me out. It ended up being a good idea for the first 4 days, although she was stunned at how lucky I was not to have the restrictions with anterior that she had with her posterior surgeries. When I got home on Day 5, I was doing well, and able to take care of myself with a daily check-in or phone call to others if I needed anything.

I also had the spinal/sedation and would do it again, although a lot depends on the skill of the anesthesiologist. When I had one for my c-section with my triplets, it didn't work, and I ended up needing a general.So I too was worried about whether the spinal/sedation would work. It's funny how there are so many things we end up processing after the fact.

 

[An54]

As I was laid up last week with some kind of weird cold/attenuated flu thingie, I was quite inactive. When I finally felt better, and got dressed and out the door a couple of days ago I was raring to go. Went for a walk to visit a friend in the hospital who got a shoulder replacement after a bad fall on the icy sidewalks a month ago. Then I even considered going out to a dancing place in the evening .. but I reconsidered, just as @Going4fun did in the same situation about the same time (we are running on parallel tracks!), and decided to take it slowly. As I had been so inactive--literally lying in bed, napping, etc for the previous week, I thought that I should ease into it. I have even been avoiding stairs the past couple of days. I'm just taking long slow walks through the city streets on cautious mode, hyper aware of Lefty, which is on the decline. I wish I had a nearby swimming pool. I'd be doing what @SurreyGirl does, getting into the pool.

 

[An54]

I had been out of the country for several weeks prior to my surgery---only had a week before it when I got home. I was in so much pain, and so ready to have the surgery that I didn't really think much about the procedure or the recovery at all. Like many doctors, my surgeon had said most people had a fast and easy recovery---he didn't plant any seeds that there would be problems.

@Debru4 , I too was out of the country for several weeks prior to my surgery. I was more fortunate than you as I didn't have severe pain, but just increasing disability, and was hobbling around England with a cane, very slowly. I told my hosts there that if my hip suddenly 'gave out' entirely, to load me onto a plane and fly me back to Canada.

My surgeon said the same about the pain component-- told me there would be little or none! It was more or less true in my case, but I have dead nerves running into that area of my body (a post-shingles effect). But it seems most people do have to grapple with pain in the first days, so maybe people should be warned... or, as you say "Or maybe not---who knows? "

 

[Going4fun]

Long slow walks sound really good ... @An54. I'm a fast walker and you're giving me an idea to slow down the pace and see how I feel on a leisurely stroll .... sorry to hear that the lefty is acting up.

 

[bickypeg]

Everyone is different @An54 but can only say my second has been so much easier. It helps that you know what works like taking medication on schedule, avoiding physio, getting the house, bedroom and kitchen prepared, even little things like getting hair and toenails cut. And it does take the strain off poor first hip which has had to work so hard.

 

[Layla]

It is good to read you're feeling better after what sounds like a bad week @An54
I think your slow measured re-entry into the land of the living makes sense, just as your Heal first, then exercise approach for recovery worked.
Hopefully you're feeling more energized and the sun is shining in your neck of the woods today.
Happy first day of Spring!

 

[An54]

Thank you @Layla . Well, after last week's mini-convalescence followed by 2 or 3 days of gradually increasing the walking at a nice languid pace as befits a cautious Hippy, I went out dancing last night. There was a flurry of emails/texting amongst our jazz/dance crowd announcing an impromptu Big Band event at a local legion. I even tried to lure Hub to attend by recommending we eat out at a local pub in the same block as the Legion. He was game to go, but then was so tired after dinner, he returned home (fair enough--he had had a really busy couple of fraught days, back & forth from the Island). So I went to the Big band event alone, but of course met up with all sorts of people I knew.

I had half a dozen dances with my old buddy Birdman, and... well.... (this will be of interest to @Going4fun ) I could feel my left leg wasn't really up to it anymore. I could feel it not only in the left hip, but also the knee, and down to the ankle. Not quite pain, but weakness, something odd, something off. I have lost the 8-count rock-step, and indeed even the 6-count is on shaky ground. I asked myself, what was the point of anything if I couldn't dance?? Of course, that is ridiculous; there is plenty of all sorts of things But dancing gives me the most unadulterated joy of anything I do, so if that is going, then I will just have to plan to do something about it, and get it back again.

So, right now I am thinking of just getting it over with. If I want the next THR in January, I will have to start the ball rolling in July, probably. Or sooner. Will look into it. I've got a good surgeon, I know the drill, so hopefully by this time next year I will be reporting on a swing dance that was The. Best. Ever.