Hip Infection* I'm back home

Linda1

junior member
Joined
May 22, 2020
Messages
36
Age
75
Location
Brookville, Pa.
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
I had my surgery on right hip yesterday June 4th.
I woke up in recovery with terrible pain in my right knee it took several hours for that pain to resolve.
PT had me walk a short distance down the hall twice yesterday.
Today PT continued the short walks and try doing steps. I couldn't do them. The pain was terrible. I've been fighting pain from recovery on.
My pain meds are one 5mg of oxycodone every six hours. Is this typical? I know everyone is different but wondering what the majority took. I had my grandson and son bring a bed downstairs for me since there is no way I'll get upstairs.
I've read so many stories of people doing so well right from the start, it makes me feel like a whimp.
My husband did a complete tear of his rotator cuff last week so he is having a hard time helping me get up and down.
 
You need to contact your care team and ask them to try a different approach to control your pain, you aren't a wimp they just have not done a sufficient job of finding what will control your pain. We are all different and I have seen may different combinations of meds discussed on the board. Many members have gone through what you are that had to be insistent with their care team to get them the right balance of medicines.
 
Let me say that you are not a wimp. I am sorry you are having pain. Everyone is different and everyone experiences the surgery and pain a little differently. You are just in your first days. Pain makes life very difficult. Did your doctor provide any additional instructions as to what else you could take. My doctor had me on Celebrex and also Tylenol regularly both in hospital and when I came home. Also, icing pretty much non stop can be helpful but please make sure you have something between your skin and the ice. You really need to speak with your doctor and ask what you can safely take to manage the pain.
 
Welcome to Recovery! Congrats on your new hip.
Following you’ll find the Recovery Guidelines which contain a lot of beneficial information. Please read through the articles when you’re able.

You really need to contact your surgeon, or a member of his care team and request they adjust your meds. If you’re in pain and under medicated it will keep you from being comfortably active. I hope they are providing you with ice. If they’re not you need to ask for it. Wishing you comfort and some restorative rest tonight.


Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
6. Access to these pages on the website

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask the at each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Hi @Linda1
I hope you place a call into your surgical team's office. they have people on call and surely they can get your pain under control with a few simple tweaks.
If you are having pain, it's not because you are a wimp and you need some help!

Bad timing about your husband's injury.. isn't that the way? I hope he feels better soon, too.

Don't be hard on yourself, ice as much as you possibly can- like 40 minutes of every hour and just rest and again,, don't be hard on yourself!

Hugs.. :console2:
 
Last edited:
I AM so sorry you are in pain I have been on 10MG of Hydrocodone every four hours. This works pretty good for me. I too think you need to call your doctor. best wishes for you to get out of pain. I still have some pain but not too much.
 
I had home health care and PT to the house today. Both thought I seemed painful so I'll see if nurse reports it. Trying to rest between short walks. Want to thank everyone.
 
Hi @Linda1
Please don’t wait to see if home health care or PT report it. What if they don’t? Consider advocating for yourself by calling your surgeons office. I’m sure there is a PA on call over the weekend. You need to be able rest comfortably and move about without suffering excessive pain. Explain your situation and tell them your medication is not working effectively. Make use of ice as often as you can tolerate it until you get your meds sorted.
Wishing you comfort. :console2:
 
@Linda1 please make the call to OS office yourself; no waiting! My surgeon (same for both hips) gave Celebrex or Melixicam for 3-4 weeks, plus 2 Percocet 5/325 every 4-6 hours. The neat thing about Percocet is that you can wean yourself off it so conveniently by cutting a pill in half, and substituting in half a Tylenol 325. I had very detailed control over what I needed, and since I'm a control freak, that suited me just fine! :snork:
 
I will have to call today. Surgeon is one who comes one day a week to our area. I pray I can get hold of them. I've been having leg clench up and tighten that I can't move and hardly breath. Did it once during PT and she and me do breathing exercise. It's been doing it about 3 hours after pain pill unti I take another pill in 3 hours. I'm the type of person who hates to complain but I'm in so much pain I will try and get hold of doctor.
 
I called the call center. They can't order pain meds or change schedule. I have to wait until Monday and call doctor. They did call in prescription for muscle relaxer to see if that would help. I'm not too happy.
 
Aww Linda, I’m so sorry. Please call first thing in the morning to get the ball rolling so you can obtain some relief. Being miserable is unnecessary.
Whine loud and long and see if you can squeeze out a tear while you’re on the phone with them :wink: Just trying to get you to smile :)

I’m sure you’re miserable. I’ll pray that you have this under control and you’re able to rest comfortably by tomorrow evening.
Keep in touch and let us know how things are going.
@Linda1
 
I hope the muscle relaxant helps some. I had muscle spasms with my first knee replacement and they did help with that even if they made me even more loopy and sleepy. So please be careful after taking more medications. I hope they get you straightened out with pain control Monday.
 
Well, shoot,, I am sorry too @Linda1 . Hopefully you have tried the muscle relaxer and it has helped some? If only if they help you sleep through some of your pain.

Things do get better and maybe then you will be able to appreciate that you've had the surgery done. Right now I'm sure you aren't feeling that appreciative. :console2:

I hope you manage to have a betteer evening.
 
Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry. I hope you were able to get through to your OS. I had the same experience getting the right pain med combo those first days. A big problem I had was swelling and inflammation. Elevation and I mean elevation-higher than heart, and ice with pain med and Tylenol ( my meds did not have Tylenol in them) on a schedule is what finally got me through. Yes, that first week or so can be rough for some of us. Hang in there. It does get better. It will still be worth it. Let us know how you’re doing.
 
PT came today and got on phone with dr's office. I can now take pain med every 4 hours. When I called they told me no. The hip is coming along ok. My main pain is knee. I really think they injured it during surgery. I can not move it without extreme pain. Thanks everyone for your kind words.
 
I’m sorry your knee is hurting, Linda. Sadly it’s a common complaint. Depending upon the approach used the knee can be manipulated rather aggressively during the dislocation process. It is good to hear your meds were adjusted today. Hopefully it brings you more relief and you’re able to get some restorative rest tonight. Continue to ice all areas of discomfort, including your knee as it should help ease the pain also.
Wishing you comfort and a peaceful evening.
@Linda1
 
Well, I did something stupid. Yesterday I had my 2 week check up and staples removed. Xrays showed everything where it should be. My knee pain getting better each day and I was down to only taking Tylenol. Well today I was outside in the yard and fell. It took me a long time to figure out how to get up but I did and slowly made it back to the house. Tonight I am very sore in the knee and my backside of the operated hip. If I did damage, wouldn't I have a good deal of pain? I feel like I just lost a week of healing as far as being sore. I have PT and home health nurse coming Monday. Guess I need some reassurance that I don't need to go see the doctor.
 
I am so sorry to read that you fell, and it had to be such a shock to your system. Ugh!
I agree with you that you would be feeling a lot of pain if you did anything to your new hip. How about if it doesn’t feel better in a few days then you will call your OS office?
Especially since you’ll have 2 people with a good amount of training and experience stopping by on Monday.
If it were me I’d sure ramp up my icing, elevating and rest routine. :ice:
 
Hi @Linda1 golly a fall so early-- don't make a habit of that, please!!! :yes:

I would think if you'd damaged the hip you'd have considerable pain, yes. I agree withCricketHip, if it gets worse soon, call. I would now sit on ice while I had ice wrapped around the knee! And maybe some tylenol. I know how you feel, I was the empress of Gravity Attractors due to my vestibular migraine for a couple of years, and somehow always one of my hips was involved:skep:

So glad your followup was good! That is always comforting, I know well. So now, stay off rough ground for a week or two-- those ants are out to get you!:wink:
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • Jaycey
    ADMINISTRATOR Staff member since February 2011

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,167
Messages
1,596,863
BoneSmarties
39,356
Latest member
JanieMarie
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom