THR My Christmas time recovery

[Sdfoxy1]

Hi all. I don’t know if your allowed to say your name but I’m 59 female and had my hip replacement one week ago on December 12 th. I had a full pelvic reconstruction of my pelvic wall last December amongst other things repaired at the same time. I thought I will never go through anything this painful again. I was expecting this surgery to be sore but not excruciatingly painful. I’ve been bone on bone for a year with a torn labrum and extensive osteoarthritis. I’ve been limping off and on for the last 8 months or so. I work a retail job standing walking bending all day. The only good thing is the pain does subside substantially in a week so I will take that as a positive. My husband took off last week and is working from home this week. I’m on my walker and my bad leg does not feel great on full load bearing. I have 12 weeks to recover. I’ve been reading on here for a long time. It’s very helpful. I’ve also commented many times. Merry Christmas

 

[djklaugh]

@Sdfoxy1 Welcome to the hip recovery side! It sounds like you have been through a lot in this past year. I sincerely hope your hip replacement recovery will be a gentle one! To help you with that here are our recommendations for recovery:

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
6. Access these pages on the website
Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications
Wound Care In Hospital

The Recovery articles:
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.

 

[CricketHip]

Hello and glad you are posting about your experiences. You are right, the pain does and will ease. Sometimes a reminder of that detail helps when the spirits begin to drop.

I hope you are able to enjoy the holidays without the need to overdo with meal preps, etc?

 

[Sdfoxy1]

I will not be doing anything. Family will be coming to my home to do it all. My husband won’t let me open the silverware drawer. I’m waited on hand and foot. I’m already tired of sitting. I am stuck downstairs in lift chair. We have 10 steep steps upstairs to the bedroom and I did it yesterday for my makeshift shower and was extra sore today so won’t be going up and down there. I’m not sleeping well in the lift chair. My bum is starting to hurt all the time. I feel like I have a pulled muscle from behind my knee to my bum when I try to walk. I walk everytime I get up several laps around my kitchen. I guess it just takes time.

 

[Jaycey]

Early days @Sdfoxy1 ! Sounds like your surgeon didn't do a great job in setting your expectations for this recovery.

Are you taking any medication for pain? Icing and elevating regularly - several times per day?

Ice your knee as well. They grab your knee to dislocate your hip during the procedure. Icing will help ease the soft tissue trauma in that area.

 

[Sdfoxy1]

My surgeon is supposed
To be really good. But is not a talker. I mean almost mute lol. I have 7 days of pain pills which I rationed or would not have any now. I can’t not take any kind of anti inflammatories bc of another medical condition. I finally decided to move upstairs to my more comfortable bed but there’s hardly any walking room up here. I’m having muscle spasms and cramps in my hip/butt esp when I walk or try to do my exercises. I don’t k ow if it’s better to keep on or stop. We are icing and elevating. My thigh is quite swollen and hard.

 

[Sdfoxy1]

I will also add. That when they got me up to walk after surgery it hurt so bad I threw up so the next day after giving me Zofran they tried again and I passed out from the pain. The surgeon did not know what was wrong with me and made me have an X-ray saying I shouldn’t be in the hat much pain. I do know people who said it was only sore when they walked. That was not me

 

[Elf1]

@Sdfoxy1 happy to see you on the recovery side but sorry to hear you're still dealing with quite a bit of pain. Part of the problem may be that you rationed your pain meds instead of taking them as prescribed. Its so much harder to play catch up after the pain has started then to keep it at bay. You shouldn't have to ration, your surgeon or primary care doctor should be able to write you another prescription, you've just been through major surgery. And the fact that you were in such pain while still in the hospital should be a heads up to the doc that you may need some more meds.

At this point in recovery you really shouldn't be doing very much. The walk to the bathroom and/or kitchen here and there. Resting, napping, icing and elevating is pretty much what's needed at this point. You mentioned you were doing exercises, walking is pretty much the only exercise you need at this point and you don't want to do that to excess.

Hopefully when you're icing you're doing it for at least 45-60 minutes at a time, multiple times a day and anywhere you're feeling pain and/or swelling. I know I pretty much had an ice pack on anytime I wasn't actually up and moving around.

Have you had your follow up with the surgeon yet? I think most of us had follow ups about two weeks out. You should bring your concerns to the surgeon at that time. Try keeping notes of where the pain is, what level the pain is, what if anything, makes it better and so on. You are very early on in this recovery journey that can take up to a year but know that it does get better, much better, long before the year is up.

 

[Sdfoxy1]

Thank you so much. I was getting anxious and depressed and had to get a grip on myself. I’m afraid to ask the surgeon for more medicine since he didn’t seem to know why I was in so much pain in the hospital. My original surgeon passed away this Summer with a heart attack. He was wonderful personality. They gave me this new dr in the group who is supposed to be very good just no personality. I’m wondering what he did in there to make it so sore. I wonder if some are more gentle than others. I’m just resting today and using the bathroom. Getting the pressure off myself to heal. Since I got off the lift chair and into bed my elevated legs are higher and I’ve had a lot of fluid coming off. So my leg not being as stiff is making it feel better. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Have a wonderful Christmas

 

[CricketHip]

I think it's extremely uncaring of your surgeon to be so stingy with pain medication. Please don't hesitate to request a refill.
If it makes you feel any better my right hip was much more painful than when I had my left one done. I too, kept wondering what he did in there!

 

[myglasshalffull]

Glad you found the way to begin your own thread and story!
One week is so early in recovery, as everyone has already mentioned, get up use bathroom, grab a snack, 5-10 minute walk around the kitchen then back to resting, elevating and icing.
All my best.

 

[subie2021]

@Sdfoxy1 My sister had something similar with her hip. When pt got her up after PACU, she tried to stand fell down yelping in pain. She had xrays right away; they thought the stem might have fractured her femur. But films were negative for any problems.
She wound up going to rehab for several days because of doubts about her getting around at home. They never figured out what the problem was, and she wound up doing well.
About pain meds, I've found my docs were not reluctant to prescribe if I asked for a small amount at a time, like a week's or two worth, just enough to get me through the rough post op period.
Best wishes for a smooth recovery

 

[Sdfoxy1]

Day 9. Sleeping in my own bed has made a world of difference in how I feel. Can get a full nights sleep with legs elevated. I hear a lot of people say I could tell I had a new hip immediately. My hip feels the same sore and painful. Before surgery I had stabbing groin pain and sore pain through my whole thigh. I had also developed sciatica and my hip joint would also hurt at times. Just basically a mess. I still basically a mess lol. I do feel it is getting better. I’m having a fear of being the only one to go back for my 2 week check up still on a walker. ☹️

 

[myglasshalffull]

Sdfoxy,
Don't worry about still being on a walker, I had to use one for just about 6 weeks because at my first post op appt I still had very small fracture so had to be partial weight bearing for a few weeks.
And if you've read and learned anything here don't compare your recovery to anyone else's. Your body will recover.
There are many that have excellent results and are back to their old routine quicker than others and that's great, but you are you.
Patience my friend.

 

[Sdfoxy1]

Can I ask you what is the criteria for stopping use of it is I walked a little ways without it today and my husband jumped all over me saying I wasn’t supposed to do that. Lol. My leg still feels like a stump bc it’s swollen but it doesn’t really hurt to walk without it just awkward.

 

[djklaugh]

@Sdfoxy1 There really is no specific criteria for when to give up the walker -- just when you feel stable on your feet and feel like you don't need it any more. Some folks go from walker to crutches or cane ... and some folks don't feel they need any kind of extra assistance. Carefully use your own judgement.

 

[Sdfoxy1]

My daughter is a nurse and was here today when I was doing some walking wirh my walker. She said my leg was turning out and I was walking crooked. My thigh is swollen and I have big thighs anyways. I couldn’t get my lower leg in any
Farther bc my thighs were touching already. It really upset me I can walk without my walker it doesn’t feel stable wirh my leg swollen because it doesn’t feel fully cooperative. I am icing and elevating.

 

[Merrimay]

I drove myself to my OS appointment at 7 weeks (about an hour and a half each way). Decided to take my walker in case I was unstable after the drive. My doctor didn't seem surprised or unhappy to see it at all. So I came away with the impression that there is no hard and fast rule about when to toss your walker. Good luck!

 

[lanstan]

I think I have read that several people have has their legs turn out esp when things are swollen. They have said it gets better over time. Maybe they will chime in

 

[Sdfoxy1]

Ps does anyone else leg give little jerks of the leg now and then for no reason. And charley horses when I try to walk. I’m taking muscle relaxers and magnesium.