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THR left it TOO long: Left THR Posterior

Thanks for sharing such a detailed summary of your experience, @Deni444. I know this will be helpful to others.
 
@benne68 Recovery stories have been so helpful to me, I wanted to return the favour to others. Also, when I have my right hip done, I've got a personal comparison.
 
What a great account of your experience!!! Thank you for taking time to do this. You’ll never know how many BoneSmarties this will help. The things you address are what most people have concerns about.
 
Milestones: 7 days post op Left THR

  1. I found the text edit buttons on this app... I think that counts after posting for 6 months! My nervous decision to go ahead with surgery and the subsequent long wait alongside declining mobility until I was housebound and barely able to get around my own kitchen with two sticks is in the Pre-Op area (Stiffness No Pain). If you're wondering about membership of Bonesmart. Take a look at how much support, information and encouragement I was given. I couldn't have done it without them!
  2. Day 3: Stopped taking Morphine Sulfate. Good for pain but too many emotional side effects!
  3. Day 3: Reduced Codine from 2 tablets every 4 hours to 1 tablet alongside 2 paracetamol (off the shelf pain killer called Tylenol in US)
  4. Day 3: I finally got the hang of the raised toilet. Could have been a different day, I can't remember
  5. Day 5: 5 hours continuous sleep through the night. That's still up and down though.
  6. Day 6: Got through a day without tears. Yes, emotional ups and downs are a thing even when there's nothing much to cry about and it's going well. I suspect the Codine medication doesn't help
  7. Day 6: without any physiotherapy exercises at all. No leg slides, nothing but walking to and from the bathroom I was suddenly able to lift my foot from the floor in a sitting position and plant it in the slipper sat alongside it on the floor. Pain free
  8. Day 6: Laying flat I am able to raise my knee just a little. Pain free
  9. Day 6: Finally the constipation cleared. What a relief!
  10. Day 7: I can flex my whole leg from the hip to adjust position slightly. I feel that a little, even 10 minutes later. I won't be doing it too often yet.
  11. Day 7: My right leg, still awaiting surgery has also improved a little. I can raise that knee a little more without pain or stiffness when laying down. Bit puzzled by that, could be just an odd good day. It's been chronically stiff for 2 years!


    Early days and I don't want to get ahead of myself but the surgeon did think getting the left leg done would help the right leg. He's made my left leg longer. I was nervous about that because I know I have a functional leg length discrepancy and what if my leg wasn't actually shorter? He is good and so forced myself to trust him to get it right. He diagnosed both actual and functional leg length discrepancy. Basically wonky hips, plus a shorter leg creating a huge imbalance. Could this really be a huge relief for both legs? I'll keep you posted!
My goal is to make notes so I can pop in a weekly milestone update during my recovery. I'll try my best to keep it up as long as I can. Feel free to reach out if you have a question about my recovery experiences.
 
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Deni,
This is so helpful & will serve as a source for you to refer back to during recovery as well as help others just thinking about a possible replacement.
 
Hi :wave: @myglasshalffull. Hope you're having a good day!

I tend to ramble on with long posts and get sidetracked. That's fine but thought it may be an idea to pop in a weekly obvious update. I know when I've been browsing, sometimes you want to skip along a bit for the key experiences. I do hope it will help a few, I'm pretty sure it will. If they want the daily waffle, they can dig deeper :dubious:
 
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Happy One Week Anniversary!
Thanks for leaving the details of Week 1. I looked forward to such updates when I was pre-op because you're constantly wondering when you'll be able to do this, or that. While each recovery is different and some clearly more challenging than others, it is a rough gauge of the possibilities that await after the trauma of major surgery.
I think you're doing really well, Deni! Keep it up and thanks for your kind words in regard to the forum and your support through becoming an Insider. I can't imagine my recovery without BoneSmart either.
A great rest of the day to you! :SUNsmile:
@Deni444
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!!!! What a great resource for all of us.
 
Thanks Bone Smarties :loveshwr:

@Layla Least I could do! There's so much information I received that has been important. One example, a physio pops her head around the door as I was packing to leave on a 2 hour car journey from hospital. She thought she'd do some passive leg slides. I looked her in the eye and politely said, 'don't really fancy aggravating this leg before my 2 hour discharge journey home.'. She didn't argue. That journey turned out to be quite relaxing I dread to think if I'd have forced the leg slides.

@benne68 Thank you, that's a really nice thing to say. Btw... Felt that new hip for the first time today when I forgot to take my tablets on time. Phew... At least I wasn't scammed :)

@mendogal As I said, least I could do after all the help I've freely received. When I arrived at Bonesmart, I honestly felt completely abandoned by the medical profession. I'd personally experienced so little empathy for my suffering and a complete unwillingness by medical professionals to engage in discussing my diagnosis, treatment or prognosis. I was distraught, confused, anxious and feeling quite at the end of my tether. I'm a strong positive, person but even I have my breaking point. You lovely people saved my bacon :flwrysmile:
 
Bit of a fright today :yikes:

Started fantastically, got on my crutches and did a lot better with them compared to walker. Managed to get to the kitchen and bedroom without trouble. Felt great. Then I checked my dressing. It was a mess! Yellow and oozing. Phoned hospital they said as I'm 2 hours away, go to my GP to get it checked out. Called and closed for training and open the next morning, message said call the National helpline! Turns out all three surgeries in my area also closed. The help line was absolutely awful but eventually I got a Dr on call to come out to me, hours later of course. Anyway. He checked wasn't super worried or totally confident either. Took a swab for analysis. Put a new dressing on and that started falling off, half an hour after he left. He was super, super nice but shame the dressing didn't take. We used medical tape to secure it, I'll see if the locals have finished training tomorrow.

I've not worried once about the wound... Super nervous now. Can't stop thinking about it. On my first day of walking nicely too. What timing :shrug:
 
Oh my….I can understand your concern. But do try not to worry. You are very early in the healing process and sometimes wounds just ooze for a while.

Is your incision area hot and/or red? Is it swollen or painful?

Those things might cause a little more concern. It’s excellent that the doctor took a swab. Sometimes it’s difficult to get doctors to do that right away, but it is most certainly a good thing to do. I kind of got a chuckle about his dressing falling off. Doctors aren’t good at that type of thing usually….the nurses or PAs always take that job. You probably could have done a much better job yourself. :heehee:
 
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Thanks @Jamie :console2:
I don't think it was particularly any of those things. It's got a red bruise that makes it a little difficult. It's all colours and that caused him to telephone a surgical consult. I think he was concerned about a blue/green haze colour. He prodded all over asking if it hurts and it didn't but in hindsight that's now made me paranoid as, I'm thinking, what if it was numb? I'm sure just a little paranoia. It didn't hurt :) :-) (:. The consult was not concerned about the colour the Dr described. He left with warnings about monitoring and said to treat it as an emergency if I got a fever, shivering or chest pains.

Made me laugh, I hadn't remembered how bad Drs are at the basics. Thanks for your reassurance, I'm going to be a little on edge until I get the swab results. I'll keep you posted.
 
Those beautiful colors are just part of the package. This chap must have not had much experience with joint replacements.... as a BoneSmartie, you probably could have told him a thing or two!! :rotfl:
 
Bless him, he was quite young. Very sweet though. I'm glad I've added to his experience. He must be new, amazing bedside manner and doing locum work. The penny drops.
 
On a more serious note ... I was doing so well yesterday and now I'm nervous to move about. I didn't have any ill effect pain wise from movement, quite the opposite. It finally helped with some stiffness. Should I take it easy or plod on and within reason forget the wound unless anything changes with it?

Maybe I should call the hospital, not fair to ask here although feel free to offer experience.
 
Hi Deni,
I've read that serous fluid is typically clear to pale yellow. Watery and thin in consistency and odorless. It can be noted as a normal part of the healing process and often seen in a wound early on in recovery. If it's cloudy, thick, greenish or has an odor it may be more concerning. If it was me, I'd want it looked at for peace of mind. There's no sense in worrying if a trusted medical professional determines it's completely normal. I am sorry you're even stressed about this, but it's understandable. I do hope someone is able to put your mind at ease today. I don't think that you need to be nervous to move about, maybe just a bit more conscientious with activity until you get the "all clear". Please keep us posted, we do care, Deni.
@Deni444
 
Thanks @Layla :wave:
I do feel the Dr that looked at it was competent. He certainly got a second opinion from an ortho surgeon too. Also a swab. I'm feeling good in myself. A bit washed out again from the stress but fine. I'm monitoring myself carefully. The NHS here was a bit of a nightmare yesterday so if I'm concerned but not urgently, I'm still going to just do the drive to my hospital. In the end a two hour drive would have been quicker yesterday. I feel confident it was just a usual drain of the wound. I think maybe just brought on a bit quicker because I suddenly got a bit more active. I'm just sitting and toileting today as a precaution.
 
Listen to your body, @Deni444, and if it tells you to rest, then rest. You aren't even two weeks post-op, so there's no reason to push yourself.

Take care
:flwrysmile:
 
Hi Deni.
I am so sorry about the worry about the fluid.
When will you learn about the results?

I completely understand your worry. My bandage got wet and finally I took it off. I called the surgeon’s office several times to make sure it was okay. It was ok. But I couldn’t stop worrying about until I went to the office. It turned out fine.

I hope you have a peaceful and healing weekend! Every minute our bodies are fixing us!
 
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