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THR MiChickie gets her new hip!

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Your shower story made me grin! It is crazy how we have to rethink all sorts of formerly simple tasks, isn't it!? I slept a ton for the first three weeks after both surgeries, just let yourself rest! I hated the weirdness of it with the first hip but for hip two I just went with it, if I nodded off, I nodded off! I hope you can get the help you need, I know it is hard to ask but people will surprise you if you do ask. Take care!


RTHR 1/15/2016. Posterior approach. Due to AVN. LTHR on May 26, 2016.
 
Re the shower bench. I have a tiny bathroom and the bench almost butts up to the front of the toilet seat so I swing my surgical leg over first after shuffling onto the bench and I found wearing a short nightgown helps as bare skin just does not move nicely over the bench and then I take it off before the water is turned on. I then use my non surgical leg to push on the front of the toilet seat as I lift the surgical leg. It kind of braces me and then I put it down to the floor and slide it in beside the toilet and the side of the tub and it works pretty good.

Getting out is a whole other issue so it has to be done more carefully.

As for being alone I understand your anxiety. I think getting groceries delivered and finding a personal support worker to come once or twice a week really helps. You can ask the hospital social worker to suggest an agency. They charge about 25-30 dollars an hour and mine came twice a week, once to do shopping and banking with me and the other to swiffer my floors, clean the bathroom and toilet and do the laundry and change the bed and help me into the shower. I had her for 5 weeks and it really helped. 5 weeks ago I could never have mastered the bench alone but now I can and I think now I can use my picker upper to put stuff into the washing machine and dryer and out. The only thing is I have fitted sheets and cannot bend over to lift the mattress to pull them under so opted for usual sheet and just throw them over the mattress and have the clean fitted ones ready for when my son or his wife come over who can remake the bed for me.

Tomorrow I see the surgeon, first post op visit and xrays and still trouble with the bowels so I am thinking its the blood thinner which I am due to come. Apprently it is notorious for this as it impacts on the liver and bile and forces an inability to digest fats so why didn't the surgeon think about this. My MD phoned me that my tests came back negative so no other bacteria or parasites (yes you can get those in a hospital) or C. difficile but he suggested the xarelto so will hit the surgeon with this tomorrow (29th). I only hope the hip is healing ok and that some of the twinges and pain I feel are normal and that I can reduce the hydromorphone but half a 2 mg and get off this wretched narcotic once and for all and will just use tylenol 3 which I did before surgery.

Wishing MI Chickie the best and maybe think about something for the anxiety. I had to get lorazapam as the anxiety was eating me up and still I get bouts of it. Oh for a good nights sleep, a chance to lie on my side and roll over and bend over to get something out of a cupboard or bookshelf and just to have a digestive system that works again. I am impatient for full recovery. Also I want to walk normally again but the cane is not helping as I still limp from side to side and am very worried about that. Feels like the surgical leg is longer than the other but the other one needs a knee joint replacement so its at fault too.

I am very worried about my appointment results tomorrow.
 
Quick question......when is the muscle pain abnormal?
I have tightness in the quad, butt and lateral to the hip joint. It's not excruciating just like the soreness would be from a tough workout on a new muscle group. Or like the beginnings of a charleyhorse....
Home PT will be here tomorrow but I value my Bonesmarties opinions!

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Considering the maneuvering, prodding, pulling, hammering and other things they have to do in this procedure tightness and soreness of those soft tissues should be expected. Finding the balance between moving around enough to work out some of the soreness and not too much so that you cause more soreness is hard to accomplish. You are still so early on in recovery. I tended to be on an every other day schedule. I would accomplish a fair amount one day and try to take it easy the next. It is so hard to be patient, but it takes the body some time to heal.
 
I had the same kind butt pain (it felt like sciatica) for about five or six weeks. I also had groin pain off and on. Both just disappeared when I started an anti-inflammatory (I only took it a few times). Lots of soft tissue healing going on and you are very early in the recovery. I would be very cautious with PT (I didn't do any PT, just walked, but everyone is different).

The bonesmart mantra is, "if it hurts, don't do it" and this mantra has served me well. How are you feeling today?
 
@gullimac That makes sense, yesterday was a good day, so the night pain could be the body catching up with all the activity.
PT was supposed to come out today but so far has not shown. Probably a good thing. I opted for a shower last night thinking it would help calm me, but it seemed to cause more pain. I guess it won't be an everyday thing for a bit yet.

@Cynthia777 Hi there my friend, today has been rough. One of the days that I wish I could tolerate a stronger pain med. Deep pain that reminds me of the dreaded bone on bone, I hope I can attribute it to the fractures healing.
The butt pain is pretty intense after a long spell in one position, the muscles really like to stiffen up. I get a lot of burning in the quad area, but this makes sense to me. Before the osteoarthritis diagnosis, a therapist did an ultrasound and showed me where the muscle had deteriorated and how much inflammation was there. I guess I have to remember that they're working on reversing a few years of pain, hobbling, and limited mobility.

The steri-strips (the nurse informed me of the name) are still over the incision. (The big waterproof bandage is off per doctor's instruction.) Nurse says they'll come off in time, they're pretty sticky still, did anyone else have these? I rather like that I don't have to look at the stitches yet.
 
Im sorry you're having a bad day! :-( Youve been through a lot, so your healing may take a bit longer than most. I'm sure much of your pain has to do with the fracture healing (as well as the muscles healing). Hang in there friend, it will get better. Hugs!

PS...I didn't have the steri-strips, so I can't help on that issue.
 
I had a bandage for nearly 2.5 weeks till the staples came out and while they said I could cover it with plastic to shower I opted not to bother as the plastic creates condensation and once you have moisture you are at risk for infection so I toughed out 2.5 weeks of sponge bath at the bathroom sink and when I finally had the staples out I went to my sons and had a shower and it was heaven. He was so good he even helped me in and out and washed my hair for me. Neither of us were uncomfortable...he said "Mom after changing diapers for two kids and the baby is just 9 months now, nothing bothers me anymore. Just happy you can finally shower and feel so much better" Then he and his wife went and cooked a great supper of BBQ fresh fish and grilled vegetables and it was a highlight for me after the first 2.5 weeks out of hospital.

As for the butt pain etc I had that and still do and also if you sit too long it starts acting up. The whole area of your butt, thigh, hip etc has been through some very brutal surgery so there are bruises and sensitive areas all throughout so I think what you have felt is normal. These first 3-4 weeks are in my opinion the hardest and then things get a bit better but this is week 7 for me and I went to the supermarket with my walker, collapsed it into a buggy and did the whole store with the buggy and got a lot of things I needed and the the supermarket delivered everything about 3 hours later, all still fresh and cold and no damage and I walked home with my walker so it worked out ok. Just proud of myself walking a supermarket but given the time I have spent indoors the supermarket was a treat to explore. Had some steri strips put on after the staples came out and the doctor said they would eventually fall off and wash away which they did.
 
Hi @MI Chickie I'm 11 days ahead of you and my knee/quad/thigh pain is finally easing up. I found it to be the most aggravating pain of all and am happy to see it calming. My leg was very outward turned for many years so I can only imagine that my thigh muscles are protesting the change now that my leg is straight. I do VERY gentle quad stretches throughout the day, maybe they help, maybe they don't, but I do know the pain is lessening.
 
@canoewoman what a fantastic son you have! It's wonderful that they gave you such a lovely night after a trying couple of weeks just out of hospital. That really warmed my heart.
Thank you, the nurse said the steri strips would fall off on their own, they seem so very stuck I don't want to pull at the stitches. But I also worry about...well, I worry about anything! Your messages are always reassuring.

Thank you so much @msmo ! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! It's just so hard to remember that I'm only at day 10. My limp had gotten to the point that I couldn't really see it, so I can't imagine what the muscles are going through now that a good joint is in there for them. I'm very happy that your pain is lessening for you :)

Thank you for always being there with kindness and encouraging words @Cynthia777 You are a little ray of sunshine in my days!
 
I worry about everything as I have generalized anxiety disorder but this is all new territory for most people and this is major surgery so we have no idea whats happening from hour to hour literally and every little pain or soreness creates doubt as to whether its normal or not.

However, I hobbled around for 7 years with my knee which is the next surgery but in doing so I put pressure on the opposite hip and created a scenario where the muscles and all else work to compensate for pain or discomfort so it sounds like its a natural situation to have these muscles etc trying to change gears.

Two weeks ago I was in despair for fear of using the bath transfer bench myself unassisted and this past week I have been in the shower every night because I can now use it myself and within a few weeks its going to go and I am going to step over the edge using a bathtub rail and buy a small bath tub chair to sit on just to take some pressure off standing and eventually those things will be gone or maybe not.

My worst fear is a blood clot and my surgeon took me off those meds yesterday after being on them for 40 days but I walk everyday and spent 3 hours in my galley kitchen today just organizing equipment to make homemade jam tomorrow. Strawberries are in and I have not made jam for years. Two weeks ago, a week ago I would never have been able to do that and today I shopped in the supermarket myself and walked home with the walker and the store delivered all the food a bit later. I just want all this recovery to be overwith as I think this is extremely hard on people and I am nearly 70 and have never been in hospital other than for the birth of my son 40 years ago so all this is shocking to me and I think its the same for many people who go through these surgeries.

You are in the early stages so its going to be rough the first 3-4 weeks and then things change but get some help if you can because all the extra work involved in doing something someone else could easily do takes energy away from healing. My son and his wife have been great but they both have full time jobs and two young children so I have to do a lot myself.

I did get the personal support worker and they can not only do the shopping and light housework but also help you with the bath transfer bench which will give you better practice when you are ready to do it yourself. They are very used to helping people with personal care and there is no uncomfortableness with them. Mine was a registered practical nurse with 35 years experience so for her helping me with the shower was routine.

Ok time for bed and tomorrow strawberry jam making and I have a recipe that makes just 8 - 250 ml jars so that should not be hard. I can sit down and rest between stages, prepping the berries, sterilizing the jars and finally loading the jam into them and then back to the water bath.

Also like the other poster my right foot has been turned out for over a year and now that the hip is replaced I have to work on correcting that so I would suggest you call your MDs office of email or fax some questions and let that person get back to you with answers. Its what I did and I had a list of questions when I went to my post op checkup yesterday and xrays show the hip is healing very nicely and I am off most of the surgery meds so even feeling better today for getting those chemicals out of my system. I am just ending week 7 post op.
 
@MI Chickie - I am late catching up with your thread, but it is good to hear of your progress. I am 6 weeks post op and can agree with other hippies here that it does get better.

I had a follow up with the surgeon this week and I said, "One thing that has been difficult is I don't know what exactly is normal. I don't know what pain is normal and what pain is cause for alarm." His response was, "Forget about normal. There is no normal. My patients are all different, and your recovery isn't going to be the same as someone else's." So while this doesn't help when I'm rubbing my leg at times, and I'm nervously thinking, "Is this pain/nerve sensation/soreness/tightness normal?" It does help in the sense of a reminder that each person really is different and time plus patience are key.

I appreciate your shower story. We must have the same bathroom designer! It's helpful, though sometimes challenging, to maintain a sense of humor about things. I think many of us have some variation of such a tale from modified living while in recovery. I've recently transitioned from a walker to a cane, and I have dropped the cane numerous times. Usually, I can step on it the right way to make it stand up enough to grab, or else I can pick it up with the toes of my other foot (who knew my long toes would be so handy one day?).

I broke one of my grabber sticks while getting towels out of the dryer. I guess the weight caused the cable in this grabber model to snap. I was able to put it back together with wads of duct tape. It doesn't fold together anymore because of said wads of tape, but it is functional again grabber wise. I think it's funny looking now, but it wasn't funny at the time. It is very humbling when the simplest of things become such an ordeal to accomplish. The good news is today's frustration can be tomorrow's no big deal.

Hang in there!
 
Yes nothing is normal as this is very foreign surgery and one that only those of us who have it can understand and then some. Being patient is not my strength so for me I wanted a week or two and back to normal but not so because as my surgeon(s) said this is big time surgery, right up there with other major surgeries which is why the public perception of "routine" needs to be changed.....maybe a good question for your political candidates in the US this election year. Public health needs to educate the public more so that family and others are more patient.

And kudos to duct tape....multitude of uses.
 
I really should just remember to come read up on my fellow hippies when I'm feeling down....I always feel better when I do.

My mom flew back home today. It was just heaven to have her here, she helped me so much. The letdown of being on my own with the kids (even though one is a "big kid" 21 years old) was tough to swallow. It's like they were all on their very best behavior while they had someone else to watch and correct them, but now it's time to test Mom's limits. Well I broke down a bit, just couldn't keep the tears from flowing. Truthfully, I have at least a little cry each day. Just my way of dealing with it, I need to release it or I bottle it up.

The home PT ended up coming out today. He is very good, I am learning a lot each visit and he always checks that I am not in pain. He told me a lot about the reasons for the restrictions today which really cemented in my head why we should be so cautious, but also build our strength. He has a great way of making things understandable. We did some work on my gait already, which was so very uplifting. I had not been able to grasp exactly what the leg was doing to compensate for my hip until he explained and demonstrated. What he showed me actually help moving with the walker be less awkward and knowing that it will help me after I move on to a cane is icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, during our conversation I also realized that I am in more pain at times than I have admitted and I am going to have to ask for some help adjusting the meds. Its been tough to crack this code because of the nausea.
Sommers16 said:
"Forget about normal. There is no normal. My patients are all different, and your recovery isn't going to be the same as someone else's."
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This is one of the best pieces of advice ever.

canoewoman said:
And kudos to duct tape....multitude of uses.
Click to expand...
Whatever needs to be fixed, can usually be fixed with duct tape! :)
 
MI Chickie....crying is something post op brings and I believe it has to do a lot with all the medication and you may want to sit down with your kids and say Look....this is how it is and......I need your help. When they come home and find no supper on the table and you in bed they will realize you mean business and dont let them suggest sending out for a pizza. Get them to make the supper even if its just scrambled eggs and toast.

Thats my version of tough love and its pretty soft really.
 
MI Chickie...two little things may help...baby wipes...a whole lot easier to wipe the bottom (back) than toilet paper especially when you cannot twist your body (one of the precautions) and a good comfortable bra all the time when up and about even if you have a nightgown on as good support up front helps the back muscles. You dont have to wear it to sleep but other than that its important. I remember a nurse telling me that years ago when I was breast feeding my son as she said poor support and you will pay for it in your back muscles years later and she was right.
 
MI Chickie said:
I really should just remember to come read up on my fellow hippies when I'm feeling down....I always feel better when I do.
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I totally agree with this statement. Both pre and post-op I found this to be true. There is always someone that has something to offer based on their experience. With the pain meds and post-op highs and lows, it can be hard to remember everyone's story and the things you learned from them before your surgery.

It is a long journey to recovery. You will get there, just be patient and kind to yourself. You will start feeling better before you truly are better. This will make you "feel" like you are back-sliding on occasion, but that is not at all the case. Recovery is not just physical...it is mental too....and sometimes those two aspects are not always in sync.
 
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