THR I have a cold, my mother has her THR today<

[Celle]

She sounds like an independent-minded lady! Of course you worry about her but, if she's anything like my Dad was, she'll want to do things her way.

I don't think she needs to do many exercises, so perhaps you could cut her a bit of slack on that. You're right to try and convince her to be careful when walking though, so she's not as likely to have a fall.

 

[Josephine]

she does as she pleases regardless of the dangers I explain about to her

Then let her rip! If she lived on her own, she'd be doing all that anyway! Don't you fret and don't obsess about it!

getting lazy to do exercises

With all that activity she really doesn't need to do those anyway so don't worry about it.

 

[nevillek]

I guess I have no option anyway @Josephine lol.. I just need her to take care and get that heavy feeling off her leg soon so she can feel normal.. She needs to be more cautious about making wrong movements unconsciously..

 

[nevillek]

Attaching a pic just so you know what I mean.. she's sleeping with her good leg on a soft pillow today (overnight) instead of the operated leg which she usually puts a pillow under all night.. Isn't this wrong/bad? The PT said not to put a pillow so long (overnight) under the op leg also because it bends the hip.. (Not sure how true is that though as some other PT said you can put the pillow all night under the op leg if comfy?)

I don't want to wake her from sleep by removing/repositioning the pillow from the good leg though.. So confused..

 

[Celle]

It's a month now since her surgery. How she sleeps is not as important as it was initially. Just let her sleep however she's most comfortable, as long as she doesn't cross her legs.

 

[Josephine]

I agree. So she's had her left hip done - is that correct? As I rather cringed when I saw her foot so externally rotated! But if that's her UNoperated leg, then that's okay!

 

[nevillek]

I agree. So she's had her left hip done - is that correct? As I rather cringed when I saw her foot so externally rotated! But if that's her UNoperated leg, then that's okay!

Yup, that's her unoperated leg. She's sick with a cold since today morning and was stubborn to take any medicine for it but I gave her one Lanol (650 mg para) while going to bed. Hoping it goes away asap.

 

[Josephine]

Well, that's a same but it won't do her any/much harm.

 

[nevillek]

Hi @Josephine .. She's taking paracetamol but is it better to be safe and call her GP home and have him prescribe her antibiotics immediately just in case of the possibility of a bacterial cold? Is there any harm in doing so?

 

[Jamie]

It's never a good idea to take antibiotics "just in case." Please don't worry about your mom having a cold. It will run its course and she'll be fine again. It sounds like she's listening to how her body feels and getting rest now that she needs a bit more. She sounds like she's doing just fine. You've been a very attentive and caring son through all of this and I know beneath the stubbornness that's she's feeling your love.

 

[Josephine]

possibility of a bacterial cold?

There is no such thing as a 'bacterial cold'. Colds are always viral. Besides which, even if she did have a bacterial infection of some kind, there would still be no risk to the hip replacement and absolutely no need for 'just in case' antibiotics. That's how we got into the issue with antibiotic resistant bugs and MRSA which stands for Methycillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus or sometimes Multi Resistant, Stap Aureus.

 

[nevillek]

That's great to know, thank you so much again @Josephine and @Jamie hun. God bless you'll.

 

[Josephine]

You're most welcome.

 

[nevillek]

Hi @Josephine .. Her cold disappeared in a day but since yesterday, she's experiencing a second of strong pain on the upper outer side of her op leg whenever she tries to move in bed. The upper leg also looks a little swollen. She's also unable to abduct the leg smoothly outwards to get out of the bed, or get it back up onto the bed, which she was easily able to all of last week.

She remembers my father abducting her leg too outward 2-3 days ago during exercising on bed. She also remembers having her two legs almost crossing each other while in deep sleep on the side because the pillow slipped a bit.

The Physio also makes her stand on only the op leg and abduct the good leg sideways/outwards/backwards (which she's asked her to stop doing for now because of this pain).

Is there a possibility any of these things has loosened her implant and is causing this momentary pain when trying to move? She explains the pain as "the pain you get when someone twists your leg". She has no pain at rest. Getting worried again.

 

[Josephine]

The Physio also makes her stand on only the op leg and abduct the good leg sideways/outwards/backwards

Those are abduction exercises and on my 'strictly no-no' list . They can cause that kind of pain very easily. Tell her to not ever do them again. In fact, tell her not to do any exercising. BoneSmart philosophy for post op therapy

Is there a possibility any of these things has loosened her implant

Not in the least. a lump hammer wouldn't loosen it!

 

[nevillek]

Those are abduction exercises and on my 'strictly no-no' list . They can cause that kind of pain very easily. Tell her to not ever do them again. In fact, tell her not to do any exercising. BoneSmart philosophy for post op therapy
Not in the least. a lump hammer wouldn't loosen it!

Thank God.

Okay, I'm going to ask her to minimize/avoid the exercising and avoid calling the PT next few days and see if the pain goes away with ICEPACKS and occasional Painkillers. Atleast it's nothing serious, even her scar has faded from dark red to light red now.

Thank you so much.

 

[Jamie]

Things seem to be just fine. You and your mother just need to let the hip heal on its own. It will do that! All she really needs to do is some walking several times a day. The walking can increase as she feels like it. The point is not to overdo anything to the point of pain or even severe discomfort.

 

[nevillek]

Things seem to be just fine. You and your mother just need to let the hip heal on its own. It will do that! All she really needs to do is some walking several times a day. The walking can increase as she feels like it. The point is not to overdo anything to the point of pain or even severe discomfort.

Thanks @Jamie. She's pretty much doing just that and is fine most of the time except when making that specific movement since yesterday. Other that that, she's been sitting 3-4 hours a day on the laptop on the chair to play online games, and is too stubborn to reduce that. She really enjoys herself so I let her do it.

 

[nevillek]

Just to update you guys.. She didn't do any exercises today and feeling a little better with the pain..

@Josephine do you think her leg posture while sleeping sideways with a pillow in between is okay in the attached pic? I feel like the op leg toe is dangling and going a bit inwards because the pillow is not long enough to support the heel as she likes to put the pillow slightly above her knee height which leaves her heels/toe dangling down like this sometimes.. Is this okay or should I get a new longer pillow?

A similar problem in the second pic.. She sleeps with a pillow below the op leg ALL the time and sometimes the heel is not supported like in this pic.. Can she even sleep with a pillow underneath the op leg all the time? Wouldn't it create some imbalance in the healing hip?

Tysm.

 

[Josephine]

None whatsoever. She's doing fine.