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THR I've Got a New Attitude (OK, Hip)
- Thread starter ladylorn
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double hippy pal.
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How about two for you
OP
OP
ladylorn
member
Hi, guys! I'm at home (came home yesterday), but have been sleeping a TON - I don't remember sleeping this much the last time, altho' my sister says the same thing happened the last time. My sis left this morning and my niece and great-nephew are here for the next two weeks. I'll give a details about how everything went but, for now, I need to rest... again....
BeBe
graduate
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Sleep my lovely. We'll just talk amongst ourselves and post messages of support and cheer.
You can read them when you want and ignore us all you want, we don't take a hint easily.
Kidding aside...we get it! And sleep is sooo good since our body does it's best healing then.
So sleep away.
I don't like this one >the color is a bit off. Too blue is the face, not a good sign 
Hope your night is comfy!
@ladylorn
You can read them when you want and ignore us all you want, we don't take a hint easily.
Kidding aside...we get it! And sleep is sooo good since our body does it's best healing then.
So sleep away.
I don't like this one >
the color is a bit off. Too blue is the face, not a good sign Hope your night is comfy!
@ladylorn
DEL2018Jul-2
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Sleep well Lady Lorn!
So happy you touched based and are recovering at home!
Great that you have so much support at this time!
Rest Well and know that I'm thinking of you ~
So happy you touched based and are recovering at home!
Great that you have so much support at this time!
Rest Well and know that I'm thinking of you ~
Last edited by a moderator:
Bone-obo
graduate
OMG, and you can still sleep!? You either have the most considerate relatives I've ever heard of, or you are just so darn stubborn that nothing's gonna stop you from getting the sleep you need! While I hope it's the former, it would tickle me no end to find out it was the latter!
All the best, Ladylorn - sleep, sleep away, and let your body do its thing.
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OP
OP
ladylorn
member
Hi, everyone!! I'm still the sleepingest creature on two feet right now, but I did want to check in and update (before I forget anything.... because my forget-gene is powerful these days. LOL). So here's how it went:
My original surgery time was at 12.30 but, late in the evening the night before, they changed it to 11am with a check-in time of 9.30am (fine by me - get'er did sooner rather than later). The next morning, as I was getting ready to leave, I got another call asking me to try to get there at 8.30 (luckily, it was in enough time that I was able to cancel my Lyft and get an earlier one). I'd already told my person that I'd be having an earlier surgery than planned, so she was able to come sit with me in pre-op before going to her gig.
Check-in was quick and painless (although the number of times I heard "You're doing the other one so soon after the first???" got a bit irksome - especially prior to surgery. Bedside manner, people???
); then I just sat and waited. They switched anesthesiologists on me (the first one was a woman - when she came to tell me about the change, she had bags with her, so I'm guessing she would have been working extra hours to do my procedure), but the new anesthesiologist was friendly and warm, and I felt perfectly comfortable with him as they rolled me into the room.
Then came the part I love - one quick injection and I was out for the count; didn't come back until they had me in the recovery room. I could feel everything immediately (they did the usual nerve tests - toes, feet, legs - and strength tests for both feet), but wasn't in too much discomfort. To my room I went (a private one this time - the nurses said I'd lucked out), and they got me settled just as my friend came back from her gig. I decided not to have anything to eat for a while (after the "night of the regurging" I dealt with the last time); but eventually had to eat something, since I'd not had anything since 10pm the night before.
Once again, my stomach decided food wasn't necessary; luckily, I was prepared this time and had requested a basin that I kept on my lap while I slept. And sleep I did - it seems as though the nurses checked on me less overnight than the last time (despite my BP being super-low), so I was able to get rest and was bright and perky (insofar as one can be after having one's body cut open and bones removed and bionics put in) the next morning. Had brekkies and then it was SHOWTIME! Physical therapist walked me around the floor and had me do some in-bed exercises, the occupational therapist came to make sure I could dress myself - they were both so impressed that they released me from their care. Finally, the floor nurse came to check on me - BP was still low, but it had been low when I was released the last time (good thing about using the same facility, they had all my records), so she said I was good to go. My sister came (with her hubby, in their rental car - a convertible, because my bro-in-law is... fancy. 
) and they walked me out to the car - I navigated myself in and we were off to my apartment (with stops for meds).
At home, my sister got me settled just in time for my niece and four-year-old great-nephew to show up - he was THRILLED to see his auntie (so much so that he tried to climb into my recliner with me; we finally settled on him sitting on the arm of the side that wasn't freshly-operated). FYI, @Bone-obo, I think it was a combo of the two - there were some times when he was super-wired and his mom told me that I'd slept through all of it.
.
So here we are, five days post-surgery. I seem to be doing well, although the first couple of days seemed rougher than the last time; but the pulling pain that I'd experienced is much less than the first hip (I spoke to the hospital nurse and she told me that I really do have a zipline suture this time, instead of the staples I'd gotten the last time; that's supposed to be much less painful). I'm still on the walker and I'm fine with that - again, I was hobbling around for a heck of a long time with two practically non-existent hips before I found docs who actually listened; the muscles are going to take some time to forgive me. I will say, the in-home PT person came to check on me and said my gait is MUCH better than the last time at a much faster rate; so I expect that I'll be shakin' my shimmy with ease in a few months
.
I love having "my kids" here, despite my nephew's exuberant nature; and my niece has said she's happy to be taking care of me after all the time I spent taking care of her (and she's doing a fine job of it, too!). I'm sure that I'll be ready for some alone time by the time they leave but, for now, I think this was the best thing for me - I always know that I can handle things and take care of myself (cuz, you know.... tough. grr. ARRRGH); but it's been a learning experience for me realizing how many people have my back when the chips are down.
And that includes my fellow Hippies. You guys seriously rock!!!
My original surgery time was at 12.30 but, late in the evening the night before, they changed it to 11am with a check-in time of 9.30am (fine by me - get'er did sooner rather than later). The next morning, as I was getting ready to leave, I got another call asking me to try to get there at 8.30 (luckily, it was in enough time that I was able to cancel my Lyft and get an earlier one). I'd already told my person that I'd be having an earlier surgery than planned, so she was able to come sit with me in pre-op before going to her gig.
Check-in was quick and painless (although the number of times I heard "You're doing the other one so soon after the first???" got a bit irksome - especially prior to surgery. Bedside manner, people???
); then I just sat and waited. They switched anesthesiologists on me (the first one was a woman - when she came to tell me about the change, she had bags with her, so I'm guessing she would have been working extra hours to do my procedure), but the new anesthesiologist was friendly and warm, and I felt perfectly comfortable with him as they rolled me into the room.Then came the part I love - one quick injection and I was out for the count; didn't come back until they had me in the recovery room. I could feel everything immediately (they did the usual nerve tests - toes, feet, legs - and strength tests for both feet), but wasn't in too much discomfort. To my room I went (a private one this time - the nurses said I'd lucked out), and they got me settled just as my friend came back from her gig. I decided not to have anything to eat for a while (after the "night of the regurging" I dealt with the last time); but eventually had to eat something, since I'd not had anything since 10pm the night before.
Once again, my stomach decided food wasn't necessary; luckily, I was prepared this time and had requested a basin that I kept on my lap while I slept. And sleep I did - it seems as though the nurses checked on me less overnight than the last time (despite my BP being super-low), so I was able to get rest and was bright and perky (insofar as one can be after having one's body cut open and bones removed and bionics put in
) the next morning. Had brekkies and then it was SHOWTIME! Physical therapist walked me around the floor and had me do some in-bed exercises, the occupational therapist came to make sure I could dress myself - they were both so impressed that they released me from their care. Finally, the floor nurse came to check on me - BP was still low, but it had been low when I was released the last time (good thing about using the same facility, they had all my records), so she said I was good to go. My sister came (with her hubby, in their rental car - a convertible, because my bro-in-law is... fancy. ) and they walked me out to the car - I navigated myself in and we were off to my apartment (with stops for meds). At home, my sister got me settled just in time for my niece and four-year-old great-nephew to show up - he was THRILLED to see his auntie (so much so that he tried to climb into my recliner with me; we finally settled on him sitting on the arm of the side that wasn't freshly-operated). FYI, @Bone-obo, I think it was a combo of the two - there were some times when he was super-wired and his mom told me that I'd slept through all of it.
. So here we are, five days post-surgery. I seem to be doing well, although the first couple of days seemed rougher than the last time; but the pulling pain that I'd experienced is much less than the first hip (I spoke to the hospital nurse and she told me that I really do have a zipline suture this time, instead of the staples I'd gotten the last time; that's supposed to be much less painful). I'm still on the walker and I'm fine with that - again, I was hobbling around for a heck of a long time with two practically non-existent hips before I found docs who actually listened; the muscles are going to take some time to forgive me. I will say, the in-home PT person came to check on me and said my gait is MUCH better than the last time at a much faster rate; so I expect that I'll be shakin' my shimmy with ease in a few months
.I love having "my kids" here, despite my nephew's exuberant nature; and my niece has said she's happy to be taking care of me after all the time I spent taking care of her (and she's doing a fine job of it, too!). I'm sure that I'll be ready for some alone time by the time they leave but, for now, I think this was the best thing for me - I always know that I can handle things and take care of myself (cuz, you know.... tough. grr. ARRRGH); but it's been a learning experience for me realizing how many people have my back when the chips are down.
And that includes my fellow Hippies. You guys seriously rock!!!
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Yay! She's awake, breathing, walking, talking! 
So happy for you, LL. You got er done. All "done and dusted" as our U.K. friends say.
It sounds like you're doing really well! A few minor glitches like the low BP and nausea that
you were mentally prepared for from your first THR experience.
So nice you have loved ones there taking great care of you. It must be comforting.
Thanks for updating. It was wonderful to hear from you. I hope you have a peaceful rest of the week.
Hugs
@ladylorn
So happy for you, LL. You got er done. All "done and dusted" as our U.K. friends say.
It sounds like you're doing really well! A few minor glitches like the low BP and nausea that
you were mentally prepared for from your first THR experience.
So nice you have loved ones there taking great care of you. It must be comforting.
Thanks for updating. It was wonderful to hear from you. I hope you have a peaceful rest of the week.
Hugs
@ladylorn
Mojo333
Former BoneSmart Staff Member
So glad to see your post.
I think you are one tough lady and you know how much this new hip is going to improve your quality of life as soon as you get this recovery stuff behind you.
Yeah, if I don't cut and run!
Glad you've had some company these first days.
Hope all continues to improve... @ladylorn
I think you are one tough lady and you know how much this new hip is going to improve your quality of life as soon as you get this recovery stuff behind you.
Totally get that except mine were staff asking incredulously "You are doing both at once?"
Yeah, if I don't cut and run!
Glad you've had some company these first days.
Hope all continues to improve... @ladylorn
OP
OP
ladylorn
member
Well, I seem to have hit a snag, @Layla and @Mojo333 , and could really do with some well-wishes. On Wednesday night, I realized that the aquacel gel bandage that they'd put over my zipline was leaking - it looked as though it had filled up completely. I knew the visiting nurse would be coming on Thursday, and the bandage for my last surgery had also filled, so I didn't worry too much - just put some gauze over the leaking parts before I went to bed.
The visiting nurse, a different one than I'd had last time, seemed quite perturbed by the full bandage - but insisted that it wasn't supposed to be changed for two weeks (I'd read up on it beforehand, and knew that the bandage was to be changed when it was full, usually around the one week mark - which was where I was at); I told her that, while I knew the zipline needed to be taken off after two weeks, as my staples had been taken out, the bandage was supposed to be changed. She insisted I call my doctor, which I did - I had to leave a message and they said someone would get right back to me but, by the time they did (about five minutes later) the nurse had left to go to her next patient. My doc's RPA, Monica, informed me that the bandage should be changed as soon as possible; so I called the nurse and asked her to come back - she said she could come on Monday.
The next day, the leaking seemed to have slowed; and the visiting nurse service called and told me they'd be sending someone to me on Saturday to change the bandage and check the wound, so I felt much better about things. The nurse who showed up on Saturday was the one I'd had for the previous hip (who did a great job removing what I felt to be a ridiculous amount of staples!); she took off the bandage (which had started adhering to the zipline - she told me that the nurse should have taken it off immediately on seeing the leakage), cleaned it, even let my niece take a picture of it so I could see it (I had a direct lateral, same as last time, but can't yet twist my hip enough to see the scar in all its glory), then bandaged it up for me.
Then, last night, I went to the bathroom and, upon standing, I felt a liquid running down my leg. Upon grabbing a tissue and wiping, I saw that it was a pinkish-orangey liquid, and I panicked. I woke my niece, collected all the wound "stuff" I had, and had her take off the gauze and tape - the gauze was full, especially at the bottom. There was no odor, and my niece said that the wound still looked fine so far as she could tell under the zipline; so she cleaned it and re-bandaged it.
This morning, only about four hours after she changed it, I looked in the mirror and saw that the gauze was getting full at the bottom again. I'm about to call and leave a message with my OS' office (although he's in surgery today, I'm hopeful that someone on his staff can advise me); but I'm very very nervous about this - this incision doesn't seem to be healing nearly as well as the one on the other hip. I'm just praying that there's no infection.
Just needed to share; I usually try to live from a very positive place, but this has me shaken up in a big way - I just want this fixed so that I can get my healing mojo (see what I did there, Mojo333?
) back on.
The visiting nurse, a different one than I'd had last time, seemed quite perturbed by the full bandage - but insisted that it wasn't supposed to be changed for two weeks (I'd read up on it beforehand, and knew that the bandage was to be changed when it was full, usually around the one week mark - which was where I was at); I told her that, while I knew the zipline needed to be taken off after two weeks, as my staples had been taken out, the bandage was supposed to be changed. She insisted I call my doctor, which I did - I had to leave a message and they said someone would get right back to me but, by the time they did (about five minutes later) the nurse had left to go to her next patient. My doc's RPA, Monica, informed me that the bandage should be changed as soon as possible; so I called the nurse and asked her to come back - she said she could come on Monday.
The next day, the leaking seemed to have slowed; and the visiting nurse service called and told me they'd be sending someone to me on Saturday to change the bandage and check the wound, so I felt much better about things. The nurse who showed up on Saturday was the one I'd had for the previous hip (who did a great job removing what I felt to be a ridiculous amount of staples!); she took off the bandage (which had started adhering to the zipline - she told me that the nurse should have taken it off immediately on seeing the leakage), cleaned it, even let my niece take a picture of it so I could see it (I had a direct lateral, same as last time, but can't yet twist my hip enough to see the scar in all its glory), then bandaged it up for me.
Then, last night, I went to the bathroom and, upon standing, I felt a liquid running down my leg. Upon grabbing a tissue and wiping, I saw that it was a pinkish-orangey liquid, and I panicked. I woke my niece, collected all the wound "stuff" I had, and had her take off the gauze and tape - the gauze was full, especially at the bottom. There was no odor, and my niece said that the wound still looked fine so far as she could tell under the zipline; so she cleaned it and re-bandaged it.
This morning, only about four hours after she changed it, I looked in the mirror and saw that the gauze was getting full at the bottom again. I'm about to call and leave a message with my OS' office (although he's in surgery today, I'm hopeful that someone on his staff can advise me); but I'm very very nervous about this - this incision doesn't seem to be healing nearly as well as the one on the other hip. I'm just praying that there's no infection.
Just needed to share; I usually try to live from a very positive place, but this has me shaken up in a big way - I just want this fixed so that I can get my healing mojo (see what I did there, Mojo333?
) back on.
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Mojo333
Former BoneSmart Staff Member
Oh my stars...I should think I would be stressed out too. Such a conundrum sometimes, trying to adhere to the "professionals" recommendations, but common sense screaming loudly!I didn't have the leaking but have seen it documented many times on this forum with a large dose of panic.
Wish I could recall more of what actually causes it and when it should subside.
@Josephine addressed these concerns with others, and I tagged her so she can pop by to hopefully give you some advice.
I hate that you had to stress over this.
Perhaps others who have experienced this will share their experience with it.
I'm sending you all the best mojo , @ladylorn .
Hopefully all heals up soon so you can concentrate on getting up and about without this issue.
Healing hugs
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Aww, LL I was so happy to see that you updated but am so sorry to read of your distress. Please try not to worry. I hope you are able to connect with your OS or a member of his care team soon to receive some reassurance.
I see that Mojo has tagged Josephine for you also. I will look forward to her take on it all.
Some common signs of infection are:
A yellow or green discharge that is increasing
A change in the odor of the discharge
A change in the size of the incision
Redness or hardening of the surrounding area
The incision is hot to the touch
Fever
Unusual or increasing pain
Excessive bleeding that has soaked through the incision
I recall recently someone posed a pic of a soaked bandage that looked worrisome and Jo was able to
offer reassurance. I'll pray that you get the same reassurance today from your OS, or Josephine.
Sending a warm hug your way. We're here for you.....please keep us posted.
@ladylorn
I see that Mojo has tagged Josephine for you also. I will look forward to her take on it all.
Some common signs of infection are:
A yellow or green discharge that is increasing
A change in the odor of the discharge
A change in the size of the incision
Redness or hardening of the surrounding area
The incision is hot to the touch
Fever
Unusual or increasing pain
Excessive bleeding that has soaked through the incision
I recall recently someone posed a pic of a soaked bandage that looked worrisome and Jo was able to
offer reassurance. I'll pray that you get the same reassurance today from your OS, or Josephine.
Sending a warm hug your way. We're here for you.....please keep us posted.
@ladylorn
DEL2018Jul-2
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Oh my goodness my dear ~
What a nightmare....that "nurse Cratchet" should be reported to her supervisor of the assisted facility handling your home care! How horrific....thank goodness you called and are on top of this!
I'm sorry you're having to deal with this and am sending you healing positive vibes today ~
What a nightmare....that "nurse Cratchet" should be reported to her supervisor of the assisted facility handling your home care! How horrific....thank goodness you called and are on top of this!
I'm sorry you're having to deal with this and am sending you healing positive vibes today ~
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