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I am scheduled... and ready to chicken out.

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Lidia,

I am catching up with the message board & saw your surgery is scheduled for the 21st. I just passed the 3 month mark on Thursday (yay, me!).

The best part about this surgery is that I have SO much more energy now that I don't hurt like crazy anymore - I hadn't realized how draining chronic pain is.

The biggest - hardest - lesson I learned is that it's ok, even healthy, to ask for help, & to accept help when it's offered.

You'll be in my prayers. Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Joyce
 
Joyce... thank you for your kind words! 1 week to go for me. The surgery is now constantly on my mind. 3 months past for you! How awesome. What all are you able to do now? Knowing that, it will give me something to look forward to on January 21! Will I be able to go cross country skiing then???
I will have hard time with the help, I am quite the miss independent - I really don't like getting help. But I'll do what I have to heal this - all for my little girl.
I worry about not being able to spend quality time with her and her not understanding. That's my biggest trouble now. But, again, we have couches and books :) and, ugh, the tv...
Please share the 3 month progress... I'd love to hear.

Lidia
 
I feel for your anxiety, Lidia. The run up to a major op is really stressful and you're caught between the wanting it done now and the awful dread. We've all been there and know exactly what you're goind through. My prayer with you also!
 
Lidia, I remember 7 wks ago that anxious feeling. I decided I would just roll right into whatever I needed to do the morning of surgery. Put my mind in another place. It helped alot right before I was off to "sleep" that the OS said "think of a beautiful place" and the anesthesiologist said "we'll take good care of you." Two comments that were so simple but just right as I was looking at the silver contraptions on the OR ceiling .....

Everything will be fine. And over soon. Then you will be on the other side.

I go backto work on Monday. Wish I had 8 more weeks!!!!

Laurie
 
Joyce... thank you for your kind words! 1 week to go for me. The surgery is now constantly on my mind. 3 months past for you! How awesome. What all are you able to do now? Knowing that, it will give me something to look forward to on January 21! Will I be able to go cross country skiing then???
I will have hard time with the help, I am quite the miss independent - I really don't like getting help. But I'll do what I have to heal this - all for my little girl.
I worry about not being able to spend quality time with her and her not understanding. That's my biggest trouble now. But, again, we have couches and books :) and, ugh, the tv...
Please share the 3 month progress... I'd love to hear.

Lidia

Lidia
Hang in there, you'll get through it. First week is the worst, second is better and so on. Positive emotions and loving support will get you through. Be strong.

Bob
 
For sure the pain at the beginning, then when that starts to level off you want to get back to life and find out that those capabilities take some time to come back. One thing I learned that I had not expected, surgery is a very humbling experience. To me it was a positive thing, because it showed me how much my wife was willing to do for me and how much I needed her to be there.
 
Lidia,
For me the pain only happened when I tried to move my leg. Just laying and resting was fine. I got very nauseaus for a day which was bad, but the hip pain was not the problem. When it was time to get out of bed, the leg weighed 2,000pounds so that was the problem. Once I was up it was much better (except for the dizziness) Basically I just wanted to lay and sleep!! I was ok for a few weeks being sort of waited on. Then I was outside and walking and all was good.
Judy
 
Hi Everyone! Just catching up on the board post and noticed the title of this post.

Its funny because that's so me. Before my surgery, i was deathly afraid of needles. I had been 15 yrs out from my last tetanus shot, flu shot, etc. I would start to get sweaty palms whenever my wife and I walked by a bloodmobile and she suggest we donate...heck..i use to look away during the gross parts in X-files!

I told my wife that the only way i think i could go through this surgery was to have her gas me one night when i fall asleep...deliver me to the hospital and then awake with the new hip already in place.

So you wanna talk about fear and backing out? well, i was the poster child for chickening out...i started looking into it since i found out from i had AVN from my first MRI in 2002. I saw an OS who put me on Bextra and told me that i would eventually have to get it replaced. I had my next appt 6mths later....never showed up......2005, went to about 6 sessions with a PT to work out the tightness through Osteopathic Manipulation, ultrasound stimulation, etc...at the end, we took my next set of MRI, he told me it was getting worse, never went back....2006, started an over 1 year (twice a month) to Pain management Doc....even mustered enough courage to get cortisone shot under x-ray...took another MRI and it had deteriorated to the point that i would stop being able to walk normally. By summer 2007 the pain level overcame my ability to tolerate...i was no longer able to reach my right toes even to tie my shoes. I was not able to get one night of restful sleep...always 3 - 4 am wakings. This coupled with my weight gain and deteriorating health due to inactivity woke me up....so getting back to the pain.

If you are worried about the whole "cutting of mybody part" pain., put it this way, it was more painful to walk from the car into the hospital for surgery than it was after i got off pain meds...the 3rd day after surgery. Thats when i went from Percocet to OTC Extra Strength Tylenol. After that, the only pain i had was the recovery from brusing on the back of my leg...probably from the jostling around during the operation. Even the incision point was painless to me. I guess any pain felt post surgically, was no match for all the years of enduring our problem.

So maybe i can walk you through the process...here's what i remember...
...opening the car door from the parking lot and carrying my things to the hospital..ouch ouch ouch each step.
...Sitting in the uncomfortable registration chair and having to shift around as i always do because the hip never allows you too much resting in one place
...changing into gown and getting weighed in.
...laying down in the bed and having vitals taken.
...kissing my wife right before they wheeled me into pre-op...seeing her worried face (She's a Doctor by the way...who felt helpless because she couldn't be in the operation)
...talking to the nice Anesthesiologist and explain that i was very nervous.
...having IV's in both hands and starting to feel very drowsy.
...being wheeled into the operating room and noticing "man, those op lights are really huge!"
...ZZZZZZZZZ
....
...
...waking up to the nurse saying "the operation went great! we recycled your blood so you didnt need a transfusion...your family is anxious to see you so we will move you to your room in just a bit..."

The rest is history...

Still today, I can't believe how normal...better than normal things feel.

So...i hope this story from a 39 yr old medical chicken helps calm your fears...

Best of luck to you!

- Dan
 
...being wheeled into the operating room and noticing "man, those op lights are really huge!"
- Dan

Love that, Dan! And what a great story! I needed a good laugh!

BTW, you should try banging you head on one! Theatre staff do so frequently! (by accident!)

 
Hi all,

Josephine, that is the funny silver light contraption I remember before zoning out! Thanks for the memory. Can't believe how similar my pre op experience was to Dan's. The pain was the same as well---all a memory now at over 7 wks out. If and when I need my left hip down, won't wait nearly as long. Am just grateful my knees aren't any problem (hope that continues!!!) as it seems from this board that they are much more difficult to deal with.

For the first time since surgery, I hope to be able to stand comfortably for over an hour tonight. (A candlelight commemoration for those lost due to domestic violence.) Hope I make it through. If not, my car will be closeby and I can duck out early.

Have a great day.

Laurie
 
Dan,
that is a great story. Thanks for sharing. A bit relaxing/comforting :) It reminds me of the past, been in and out the "theatre" multiple times. I remember the coldness, the warming blankets, the IVs beeping, the lights... ah the lights.
Someone also referred to transfussion.. don't remember which thread. I have 2 bags of my own collected and in blood bank. One pint went down the drain - that was not cool :(

Josephine,
I love how you refer to it as the "theatre"... gotta love that!

5 days to go.

Lidia
 
Dan, great story.

Lidia, I actually was not scared when it got near surgery time. I was kind of excited. I asked to be totally awake to see all I could in the operating room. Lots of trial parts (in different colors) very bright lights , lots of people.
I am 4 months out now and for the last month I try to remember how bad the hip was. I vaguely remember I didn't want to drive anymore as it was too uncomfortable. Taking vicodin daily to get all the hiking in I could to use evey last bit of the old hip!!
It is an amazing surgery.
Judy
 
Lidia, I'm thinking about ya, couple more days, hang in there. What kind of boat do you sail, I just sold an SJ 21 because I couldn't get anybody to sail with me.

Bob
 
Guys... What do I bring to the hospital??? I suppose I should pack a little tomorrow. Still don't know what time to show up on Tuesday, I find out tomorrow afternoon.

So far I packed a bath robe, toothbrush and a few books.....
 
I just wore the hospital gowns until the last day when I showered and dressed in my own clothes. I found magazines were easier than books but basically just used the contents of my sponge bag (deoderant, shower gel, toothbrush etc).
 
Add to your list: underwear, a couple of changes of nightclothes, easy-to slip on dayclothes, sensible shoes or slippers. (In my hospital we were only allowed the gowns for the first day.)Cellphone if you use one.

Now, about the books. I took six books to hospital, figuring I would read one per day. They remained unopened. It took me all day to get though a newspaper, between naps. My brain seemed to go into standby mode after surgery - I found it very hard to concentrate. So perhaps pack some magazines as well :)

Next time, I would take a small notebook and pen and a large tin of pitted prunes.
 
Szarak

I agree that the books are unnecesary. I remember a lot of people posting the same thing. I never got past page 1. I stayed in the hospital gowns as it is challenging to get underwear and pants on. Also I didn't bring any (only for going home)
I also wore the hospital socks. When they teach you how to use the reacher grabber and the sock aid, the only socks that I could imaging working were the big hospital ones. I got pretty darn swollen down to my toes , nothing much would fit the fat feet!! I never used my bathrobe but would bring my own toothbrush as the hospital ones fall apart .
You may be more energetic than I am in the hospital . Then I would bring an mp3 player if you have one. I basically was in between sleep and awake and staring into space!!!!
Judy
 
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