THR June 2018 postop and thoughts

[Ascorpiana]

Hi June Sunbeams
I had my surgery on June 20th and have now been home for a week.

The surgery went great so I was told and my poor femur was pretty beaten up.

The day of surgery “ day zero” we called it obviously a bit tender. My biggest hurdle that early eve and night was having to pee lol( no urine bottle ) so it was a bed pan and and adult diaper to hold while you pee. I envisioned pee all over the bed do was freaked about that . The next day I was up using my walker and really making sure you go slowly down and slowly straight up was important .

I found the first few days getting the right pain medication combo was important . I try tricked myself on the second day with Physio making me do stairs so I’d be fine going home well four hours later i was having my normal discomfort plus muscle pain from my big workout . The biggest thing I learned before I came home was take medicine as you need but don’t try to be brave as you do need to sleep and repair . The after effects of IV had me having to pee every two hours like clockwork even two days later. (. Apparently quite normal ). Which isn’t bad when you’re normal but it was challenging .

Home has been pretty good I make my own tea and food . Pretty much roll around well. Dropped things just have to stay on the floor until someone comes around to check on their mom haha. A lot of furniture just isn’t that comfortable for anything longer than 20 minutes so I prefer to rest in my own bed .

Recommendations :
-slip on dresses, and nightgowns . Two pieces are just two tricky to master on your own .
- good books
- panty liners as you definitely have a bit of incontinence
- underwear at least a good size bigger so it’s not tight on your scar
- if you find my have anyone at home with you like me — have some easy prepared foods to cook in a toaster oven/microwave/ convection or crockpot stocked in your freezer. I did frozen vegetables and fruits as fresh would have gone off while I was in hospital.
- drinks lots of water ( challenging if your not used to it )
- gentle laxative/ stool softener as the medication does a number
- I’ve never suffered from constipation but darn.... not pleasant. Again because getting up and down from sitting all of this is more challenging

For me —- bonus was no bodycast. I had my first hip repair at 13, with 12 week body cast and six months crutches.

Realistically if I can walk pretty good partial weight bearing at six weeks I’ll be pleased. Trust the processs

Wishing you all good luck

 

[sharonslp]

Hi Ascorpiana. I'm glad to hear things are progressing well for you. I'm going to leave articles for you to read. I've also tagged a moderator to move this post into the Hip Recovery forum, rather than leave it here in post-op.

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
elevate
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
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this Activity progression for THRs

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 that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

 

[Celle]

Hello @Ascorpiana
I have moved your post and Sharon's reply to it to the Hip Replacement Recovery Area.

That's because you've had your surgery. This will be your recovery thread from now on.

Best wishes,
Celle

 

[Eman85]

@Ascorpiana Sounds like you're doing well. Must have been rough with 12 weeks of a body cast, what did they do to your hip then? I had pins put in mine when I was a kid and it was just non weight bearing with crutches.
I can relate to the peeing post surgery, took a couple of days to slow down. The comfortable chair thing is a drag. We went chair shopping the first week and I still wasn't comfortable. Unless you had some procedure outside of a regular THR you should be walking fine at 6 weeks.

 

[Layla]

Hi and Congratulations on your new hip!
It sounds as though your doing well. You've included a thorough list of recommendations
that may be beneficial to some. Thank you for that, and your update.
Keep us posted, we'd love to follow your journey.
Hope your Sunday is great!
@Ascorpiana

 

[Ascorpiana]

So I’m 17 days post-op. I seem to be doing well.
Finding a comfortable place to sit to change it up is difficult and although I will go upstairs to visit with family but it gets me down

I’ve been off all postop pain meds . Pain is more scar area and muscular based on activity.

I’m really struggling with insomnia. I can not relax to sleep, worrying about don’t bend this , keep pillow between leg etc. So I sleep for two hours up and down for four , finally running showers to relax and then nodding I off for a couple of hours . Up again and possibly falling asleep for 30 min in morning .

Advice

 

[Eman85]

Welcome. At about 2 weeks I was incredibly miserable, there was no getting comfortable and everything bothered me. I had a rash on my side and frustration level was through the roof. Then I went for my follow up with OS, they removed the tape and i was a lot more comfortable. We went chair shopping and bought a new more comfortable chair and things got better. Sleep was a challenge as I wasn't a back sleeper so I woke constantly. Eventually I could roll on my non-op side with the pillow between my legs and it got better.
All I can say is it will get better and all you can do is get comfortable and have patience.

 

[Bone-obo]

Can you sleep whenever you want? If so, maybe you could rely on catnaps throughout the day for a while to see you through this rough patch. There's a lot of adjustment to sleeping early on, and almost everybody has some trouble with insomnia - I sure did! If you wake up at 3am and can't get back to sleep in 10 minutes or so, just accept that you're awake and go with it. Find something to keep your mind occupied with - get on Bonesmart and read thru the posts. (I was incredibly chatty here in those days.) Catch up on a good book, or listen to an audiobook. (Audiobooks and podcasts are great in the dark.) Watch some Netflix. (I liked stand up comics cuz I could listen to them with my eyes closed.) Some people find warm milk helpful - it just made me get up for a pee break later, but you don't have a pesky prostate to worry with so try it.

Then after 4-5 hours sleep, if you feel sleepy during the day, chase everyone out and catch a nap. If you don't feel sleepy, then you probably got enough sleep!

The big thing is not to worry about insomnia. It's just a thing that happens, and worrying about it just seems to make it worse - plus think about all the fun things there are to do at 3am when there's nobody to bug you!

 

[Layla]

Hi @Ascorpiana
I agree with Bone-obo on the idea that if you're not working and don't have to be anywhere,
get sleep whenever you can. I'd advise not to lay in the dark, awake, during the night. Watch tv, read a book, listen to relaxation music or whatever else calms you. You mentioned running the shower...for the sound effect I'm assuming. Consider purchasing one of those sound machines if you find that soothing.
This is temporary so try to just roll with it. Annoying nonetheless, but it won't last.
Wishing you a long cozy nap today!

 

[bottomshollow]

@Ascorpiana, you may notice that I have merged your two threads. We like to keep our members' recovery posts all in a single thread. That way it's easy for us to go back and read your history before responding to a question or concern. In addition, the thread becomes a journal of your recovery for those who come along later and want to read about you. So, please post in this thread from now on when you want to give an update or ask a question. If you have questions or concerns that need an immediate answer, please tag an admin, a mod, or other members or all three.

If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can just post what you want here and we'll get it changed for you. THANKS!

If you are having a problem locating your thread, here is a link with how to do it: How can I find my threads and posts?

 

[Ascorpiana]

Trying to figure this site out. Seems I can only reply on the website but can view only on the app

My original surgery was in 1973. It was a two part procedure as they removed bone from my femur to use as bone graft for the curve of the hip socket . Funny enough the technical procedural name I only found out from my current surgeon who new the surgeons involved originally. Salter’s Osteotomy.

Yes the bodycast across my hip and waist and down my left leg was long process . I had the cast removed about two weeks prior to school starting and then partiak weight bearing with crutches for six months . No Physio back then.

So this was much better in that regard

 

[Layla]

Hi again,
Would you mind sharing exactly what you're struggling with in navigating the forum so we can help...
@Ascorpiana

 

[Ascorpiana]

Thank you!
Helps to know I’m not alone.

So being anxious you can’t sleep must be somewhat normal .

 

[Ascorpiana]

Hi again,
Would you mind sharing exactly what you're struggling with in navigating the forum so we can help...
@Ascorpiana

So the website BoneSmart.org works fine for reading posts and responding .

The app however only lets me view .

I’m also not sure how to find my own thread easily

 

[Josephine]

The app however only lets me view

Which app are you using? The BoneSmart one? Because as of this moment, it's a tad glitchy and you'd be better of accessing the forum via a standard browser.

 

[Josephine]

Salter’s Osteotomy - It was a two part procedure as they removed bone from my femur

That's odd. Never ever known bone graft to be taken from the femur for any reason whatsoever. It was either from the tibia or a pelvis. I scrubbed for a great number of Salter's over the years and we always used a wedge of bone from the pelvis.

 

[Josephine]

Notice for members' attention regarding the forum rules:

3. Posting offensive or illegal material
c. Do not post on topics that are liable to encourage others into illegal activity
Discussion or mention of illicit or recreational drugs in any form is specifically forbidden on this forum. Bonesmart is aware that there are ongoing studies and changes in legalization occurring in some areas in regard to the medical benefits of these substances. However, this is an INTERNATIONAL FORUM and we have to take into account that is still illegal in many states and countries.

You will therefore note that some posts have been edited in "house cleaning" on this issue.
Please help is by not discussing this topic.