Guest viewing is limited

THR Kevins LTHR recovery

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks for the update. I'm getting ready to schedule mine. I like to hear how the process goes. What city did you get your hip done?


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
Every day on this road to recovery is a glorious day. Every day holds a new miracle. I feel very blessed to be making what I think is fairly good progress, and am looking forward to a return to normal life.

Surgery was Monday. This morning, Saturday I am writing this sitting in the restraunt of my hotel room having a buffet style breakfast. I am sitting here, very comfortably after having walked through the hotel from my room, using only my trusty cane for assistance.

I did not walk fast, that is of course yet to come, but I walked, all by myself all the same. The staff at the restraunt all rushed to help me, but I was proud to politely turn their offers of assistance down. I went through the buffet line, all by myself, and am overjoyed at being able to regain that little mark of independance.

This morning I removed the waterproof surgical dressing from my hip, plus the extra dressing that covered my "drain tube hole" That was a big step as well, and another milestone overcome.

The day is still young, and we'll see what new miracles happen over the course of it.

Much joy and happiness to my fellow "hippie" brethren, and I hope today brings you your own miracles on this road to recovery that we are all sharing.
 
Congratulations on your progress! I went to a buffet today too, but I'm 5 1/2 weeks post op and was quite proud that I could handle my plate by myself. You're doing great, especially since you're so far from home and alone. GLad that it's going so well!

Lynn
 
Here's an update for today.

First, sitting in a hotel room is BORING. Did I mention that i am bored silly? Or that I have nothing to do?
Thank goodness I have the internet, and my IPAD so I can read books, and Apple TV. Otherwise I'd be stark raving mad!

So, post op plus 6 days I can walk around without a walker or cane. I walk slow, but I walk on my own. The problem is that I think I am more healed than my body thinks.

Yesterday I walked to breakfast. That was good. Yesterday afternoon I walked around the hotel, and outside, and back around and back to my room. I do not think I was ready for that. It did not hurt, but the ankle on my operated leg swelled up enough that I decided to lay on my back BORED for the rest of the afternoon with my leg elevated.

So, even though I'm in great spirits, I have to take it easy. Less than a week ago I let a team of doctors have their way with me, using saws, knives, hammers, chisels, and power tools. I need to keep that in mind.

Its a beautiful day in Seattle and I REALLY want to go to the boat show. But no, I'll sit here BORED (did I mention I was bored?) in my hotel room watching the world go by.

I have to say that I am really glad to be here and not at home. Yesterday my wife had an issue with my industrial tractor/snow blower. I talked her through it on the phone, and with facetime, and watching the security cameras. If I was at home I KNOW I would have felt internal pressure to be the man and get it going for her. I know I would have went outside and risked injury on the ice because thats what I do, I fix things. She would have insisted I stay inside but we both know I could not allow myself to do that.

So, While I am bored silly, I am glad to be here and not at home with all its temptations. Temptations that could really injure me or set my progress back.
 
Hi Kevin
I can relate to that bored feeling especially when the weather is beautiful. I had my first hip done last Sept. during our harvest time. This go around it is middle of winter and it does not feel quite so bad other than we are havering abnormally warm temps. Today is -3C or 27F usually for Jan. It should be like -18C for a daytime high. I would love to be out snowshoeing, or feeding the wild deer that come into our yard but I know it is way too slippery out. Very frustrating!


RTHR - Sept. 8 2014
LTHR - Jan. 19 2015
 
You are in a doubbly difficult situation, better, and in some ways worse, than being home. Life does not stop at home. It keeps moving at a pace that we just cannot keep up with right now.

From your posts it appears you live on a farm. There are no sedintary lifestyles on a farm. The things you did prior to surgery still need to be done. No matter how much our wonderful spouses step up to the plate and take over, things still go undone. We do not live on a farm, but we do live in a very rural area. The nearest store is about 10 miles away. Groceries are an hour drive. There is always something going on at our house. With our four big dogs, we are always busy at something. Thats why I had the surgery in the winter. In a few short months spring will be here and I need to be healed up for all that entails.

BTW, I would love to have deer in our yard to feed! We have moose come by occasionally and my wife feeds the birds, but there are no deer in our part of Alaska. We do have plenty of eagles though. I love to watch the eagles!

On a medical front, I was able to touch my toes today! On my operated leg! I am too happy about that! What I am seeing now is the increased range of motion over my pre-surgery hip. I had gotten, just before surgery to a point where putting on a sock on my "bad" leg was very difficult. Tying the laces on my work boots was very difficult. Putting my ice cleats on was impossible.

Thanks much for the nice note, and I hope your day happy and all goes well.
 
badhipinak said:
On a medical front, I was able to touch my toes today! On my operated leg!
Click to expand...
Are you sure you don't have post-op restrictions about keeping > 90' angle at the hip? I'm not attempting to touch my toes for another few weeks.
 
Oh Badhiplank I understand your boredom. This is so hard. Despite our Apples/ipads etc to occupy ourselves there is a limit to what we can watch and browse. I am alternating with having a shower, taking pain meds and watching TV. I start a crossword and then loose interest, try to read a book and then loose interest...........

It sounds like you are doing really well considering the circumstances and its lucky you are not at home being the practical man! Just wish we could all put the clocks forward!
 
Nope, the only restriction I have is no "bridging"

That was described to me as laying on your back knees bent and thrusting your pelvis up so your leg is at an angle behind you. My wife confirmed that is a yoga exercise.

Little chance of this old guy doing that. :loll:
 
yes, I would love to go forward a week!

ill never waste another minute once i'm better. No sitting for this guy
 
Well, I've had all the boredom I can take. I decided to do something about it.

I signed up for a online class to get my next Cisco certification, Voice!

This will not only keep me from being bored, it will keep me ahead of the young kids career wise. I'm an old man. I do not have physical strength like the young kids in my field anymore.

But being older, means being wiser than they are.

I left work last week as a good experienced network engineer. I will come back to work as a better network engineer than when I left!
 
[Bonesmart.org] Kevins LTHR recovery
@badhipinak, I am impressed with how you're handling this. Handle the rest of your recovery this smartly, and you'll be a "hippie" rock star!
 
I am amazed to see you think your hip is bad from an auto accident. I am in the same boat. My right hip is toast and doctors never fail to mention that my left hip looks great. I was a pedestrian hit by a car in 1987. A long time ago. Have you tried having your auto insurance pay for any of your costs? I have a $10,000.00 deductible then health insurance will cover "approved" costs.


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
Here's an update for the last couple of days.
I seemed to have reached a recovery plateau, which I suppose everybody reaches at some point.

I can walk around my hotel room without a cane just fine. I can go downstairs for meals just fine as well.
Going out to a restaurant is possible but a stretch for my capabilities right now. I did it last night, taking my cane just in case but even the short trek from where the hotel shuttle bus dropped me off to the restaurant entrance was a big deal, and it was only a few hundred feet. After I got back to my hotel room I was pretty sore.

I also learned something about pain management yesterday. I took a hydrocodone 7.5 just as I went to bed night before last. I woke up feeling pretty darn good, so I decided to not take any hydrocodone yesterday.

What I found is that I seemed to stiffen up and hurt much more than I expected during the day. This, except for my going out to dinner really limited my walking yesterday. So I determined that possibly my body is not quite ready to stop the narcotics quite yet.

The problem I have with this, and any comments would be greatly appreciated is that my body is good at telling me what I can and cannot do. I am worried that with the hydrocodone I am tending to do more, maybe too much because my bodies pain feedback mechanism is being impaired by the medication.

What have others in my situation done? What is the "normal" length of time THR patients are on narcotic pain control? I've been a week and a day, is that too long, or too short?

Thanks!!!
 
The first week after the op sees great strides but then the boredom makes us want to do more & cut back on the meds because we feel better & want to start running instead of walking @badhipinak.
You are only 1.5 weeks out & cutting back on the meds now is very quick and may result in everything stiffening up & stop you being able to do as much or progress further due to increased pain.
You seem to be doing so well.....if it were me I'd give it a couple more weeks until you start cutting down. Won't be long before you are back at home. I stayed on the paracetamol & codeine for about 3 weeks and then dropped the codeine. Although sometimes it was necessary to take it if the pain increased.
Icing regularly also helped to control the pain.
I'm impressed that you have managed to eat out already on your own...keep up the good work....xx



Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
 
I'm not sure what normal is regarding narcotic pain meds, but for myself with my first hip I was on Hydromorphone (Dilauted) a very strong narcotic and Tylenol #3. I took both for the first three weeks because my body needed it for pain control and if my pain was not controlled then it was difficult to walk or do physio to strengthen my muscles. After the three weeks I stopped the Hydromorphone and just used the T3's and extra strength Tylenol. I took these medications on a regular basis for 8 weeks because I needed them. Then I started to forget doses because the pain was disappearing! I still had to take some because my other hip was bad.
Now with this replacement once again I am on the same medication and I will listen to what my body needs. I had a lateral approach and this involves a little more manipulation of the muscles than say the anterior approach so I might have a little more pain and discomfort.
So I guess it's about listening to your own body and not what someone else says. If person "A" took narcotic meds for 2 weeks and person "B" took the same meds for 2 months it just means that their bodies just react to pain differently.
Good luck on figuring out what works best for you!
 
@badhipinak at 4 weeks two days I am still taking hydrocodone 5/300s about 3 times a day, once when I get up, once before bed, and once during the day around 2pm. Otherwise I feel the stiffness, which is pain. I'm not really doing any PT now, but just walking (about a mile, every other day), and doing some simple outside yard tending. I'll do stretching and exercise once my OS says I'm free to do these. I tried to stop the pain meds last week, but it was too early and I ended up resting, medicating, elevating, and icing for 5 days. I personally believe the pain meds allow us to work through the walking, subtle stretching, and movements that allow the healing to happen and increases our strength in the muscles around the hip. Eventually I'll transition to just Tylenol while waiting for my left side THR. You are doing fine.:friends:
 
At nearly 3 weeks, I'm taking 10mg Oxycondine and 2x Panadol twice a day. I tried skipping a dose last night but woke about midnight, so I'm not ready to drop the meds just yet. Remember that the pain meds help you sleep and do the physio exercises, and it's sleep and exercise that'll make you heal and recover. So don't drop your meds yet because you'll compromise the other aspects of your recovery.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 851 (members: 1, guests: 850)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom