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THR Herman's Debut! Jill's Recovery :)

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@Jillie422 You are doing very well and you have placed yourself in very comfortable surroundings for a healthy and speedy recovery! Like everyone drills into us - slow and steady! :SUNsmile:
 
WELCOME HOME!!! Rest up, be taken care of, ICE....and think about all the details you will share when the time is good for you!
 
Am still working on my adventure series lol....but I do know one thing right now! PT and Home Heath are royal pains in my b-u-t-t. Good Lord! Vultures! Can't a girl get a teeny bit of rest?? They're late and I've already walked 1000 ft or better.
 
Jill & Herman's Hip Replacement Adventure Series :curtsey:

#1----Day of Surgery, May 9, 2016

Arrived at Murphy Medical Center, Murphy NC promptly at 9am. Waited about 2 minutes before they called me back to a cheerful PreOp private room. Contributed urine for analysis. PreOp Nurse Elizabeth was cheery and attentive as she prepped me for surgery and administered the best IV ever. Not even a pinch! Dr Davis came in to say good morning and to mark my Op Hip with his initials which are B.A.D. haha. Anesthesia arrived to go over their plan (for the third time... So I'm well informed)! She tells me she'll return in a little while to give me "something that would mess with my head". Understatement, by the way! About 20 minutes later, she arrived and that's all I remember until I awakened in Recovery less than an hour later! The drug to "mess with my head" was Versed, which served me well as they administered the Spinal. I was clueless! After the Spinal, Propolfol was given so that I would be in a deeper sleep during the replacement. Upon waking, I was chipper and alert. Ahhh one of the advantages of Regional vs General Anesthesia! My lower body was dead as a doornail, but the feeling began coming back within 30 minutes. Arrived at my private room and was up and about and on my way to the potty with a walker pain free! They brought dinner later on....homemade spaghetti (!!!) with broccoli and sweet tea (Welcome to The South, Y'all!). I cleaned my plate! Within my Os's guidelines, my Nurse and I decided on the best pain mgmt for the night. She brought me one Percocet every three hours, which worked well for me. The other choice was 2 Percocet every six hours. Sleep that first night was a short string of cat naps. My Surgery Day was an extremely good experience :)
 
Wow, that sounds so good, @Jillie422. You sound so with-it, writing up your story so lucidly at only 3 days post-op! It is reports like yours that makes me reconsider only having general anesthesia for hip surgery, which is what I had for my THR. I had a hard time coming out of it, and very low blood pressure for a long time afterwards. I recently had Versed for a colonoscopy, and had a really nice experience with it. Just like you, I was out and not aware of anything until afterwards. And you even got sleep that first night, even if it was in cat naps. That's more than many of us have on our first night. Looking forward to reading more!
 
Day 2 of Jill & Herman's Hip Replacement Adventure Series :curtsey:

Woke up this morning bright and early (at 6:45am) to the beaming face of my OS, then had a good breakfast. OS told me that he's thrilled with the strength and support he was able to get with my replacement. He said that he was so happy with the results that he did not make that huge, yellow, Styrofoam wedge mandatory for me post-op. I do remember the Recovery Nurses being amazed that I came out of the OR without one between my legs. I am thrilled with this news! Joint Camp begins at 9:30am, so my Nurse and I made sure I got meds at 8:30am. PT came to get me, and let me walk all the way to Joint Camp, which was prob about 200 ft. There were 3 of us there for Camp. We each had a table to lay on as we did "bed type" exercises together. They consisted of 10 reps each of: Leg Abductions, Knee Bends, Gluteal Squeezes, Bridging, and Ankle/Foot Bends. We then went back to our rooms for rest....which I desperately needed after my extended walk + exercises...for I suddenly felt woosy, slightly dizzy and weak. Turns out, that's Body Talk for "lay down and rest"!! I needed some rehab recovery time before we all met up again for Joint Camp again at 2pm (for the same table exercises). They wouldn't let me do the extra walking....only got to walk half as far this afternoon.

Since surgery yesterday they are monitoring my urine output with a "hat" device in the toilet to catch and measure. They are doing vitals twice a day. I have a large handle on a bar over my head that I can pull up with, that helps me maneuver my legs easier without putting undue pressure on my Op Hip. I am still receiving Percocet every three hours. I'm told that patients usually go home tomorrow after morning PT or the following day after morning and afternoon PT. (I figure I'll be in the first group.) They are checking for bowel sounds plus giving me a duloclax and a colace, so they're not obsessed with me pooping before going home as long as they can hear grumbling down there. No worries there lol! Oh forgot to mention that since surgery, I've been wearing the DVT booties that flex you're legs in and out to deflect any clots.

At 6:45pm, there's my SuperStar OS again, asking me if I'd like to go home in the morning after PT. Of Course, I said YES! My nurse and I decide that Percocet every 6 hours is best for rest this second night. I'm also given Xarelto that I'll take for a total of 21 days. I Do Not have to wear those gawd awful TED Stockings!! YAY!
 
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Day 3 of Jill & Herman's Hip Replacement Adventure Series :curtsey:

Woke up to the smiling face of my OS again this morning. He said, "Ready to go home?" I said Yup! and he said, " Then go kick some more PT butt and I'll cut you loose before noon." Alrighty Then!

Walked to PT, then did the afore mentioned table exercises again, more step practice, then rode the wheelchair back to my room to conserve energy. They gave me a Hip Kit that consists of a grabber, a long handled sponge, long handled shoe horn, and a sock put-er-on-er (pretty cool)! By the time I returned to my room, my very own walker had been delivered. (Oh yay.)

My Nurse of The Day...Byron...inspected and changed my dressing and removed my IV's. My incision is about 7 inches, but no redness or swelling. It is internally stitched and held together with 28 staples on the outside. It's covered in a huge, cushioned, waterproof bandaid. Next Wednesday, my OS's assistant will come to our home to change my dressing again. Then 2 weeks from today I'll have my post-op visit with my OS to have those staples removed.

By 11:30, Hubby arrived.... I was loaded up into the car with all my new hip paraphernalia, discharge instructions, scripts.... And off we went. Home Sweet Home!
 
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@Jillie422 So envious of folks who can have a spinal. I have a scoliosis so end up with general anesthesia and an extended time in the hospital until I can urinate again. Glad yours went well.
 
Day 4 of Jill & Herman's Hip Replacement Adventure Series :curtsey:

Was soundly asleep by 10 last night.... Absolutely exhausted! Took two Percocet and went out like a light until 4:30am. With an Ice Bag if course! Woke up feeling somewhat stiff, took 2 more Percocet and slept until 10am. Felt strangely refreshed and relaxed...
UNTIL
I got a phone call from PT saying they would be here in an hour. Oh No I said....Your schedule is not going to be running my schedule today. I've had PT three times and walked 500 feet in the past day and a half, plus already about 1000 feet this morning, and I'm done for the day! And make a note for future reference.... No AM appointments for this gal! I did ultimately agree to see the Therapist at 2:30PM for eval. When I saw him drive up, I grabbed my cane and zipped down the steps to greet him. As I welcomed him, he asked, "Are you Jill? Who had hip surgery this past Monday?" Sure am, I said....as his jaw dropped hahaha. We sat outside for a while as I as answered questions and talked about my so-called "life" PreOp and how my world has improved 1000% since Monday. We talked about the restrictions that I had imposed upon myself PreOp...restrictions that I needed to survive the pain; that complying with the PostOp restrictions are already second nature for me. I believe we had a good eval...and that we will have a good (but short) PT relationship as long as he doesn't show up in the mornings!! He said that the problem he's going to have with me is keeping me down. I promised to rest and take things easy. I know that I'll have great days, good days and not so good days on this adventure.... And I'm ready for whatever comes. I'm just so very grateful to be walking upright, with good posture and minimal pain! I hope my Daily Diary will be of help to some of you.... And if you're not satisfied with things you're hearing about THR surgery in your area... I would definitely recommend that you come to The Smokies... To our tiny hospital in Murphy, NC....home of The Spectacular OS team of Dr. Brent Davis. The care both medically and emotionally is just second to none.

So here's to Day 4! Pain today has been low...energy has been high See you tomorrow! Thinking I'll take it easy :) per PT and Hubby's orders.
EDIT:::: I Pooped Today :cheers:
 
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@Chihuahuan Awwwwww Jen..... Maybe they'll come up with a way to help you not be so groggy and out of it. Has anyone mentioned any new methods since your last surgery?
 
I'm so excited for you @Jillie422! You sound wonderful and the start of your recovery is going very well. Now I get to visualize you on your lovely back porch with fishing pole in hand and listening to the babbling brook and chirping birds! You go girl! :realing:
 
So glad to hear it has all gone so well and you are home!

What a lovely hospital and staff!

Looking forward to reading more of your daily adventures


Candice, 29 yo. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Australia. Sequential unilateral THR June 1st 2016 and July 13th 2016 :)
 
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