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THR My new hip!

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Hi Sommers, a lot of what you describe sounds so familiar. I really sympathise with the dizziness and nausea and I hope what you've got now works for you.

I've also had some near misses in hobbling to the bathroom. It's like my body hasn't noticed I'm very slow and decides that I've been through the bathroom door for a few seconds now so it's time to go!

Long posts are good. I wish I'd written more during the first few weeks of my first recovery because it turns out I've forgotten a lot of it. You're right about the lack of personal baseline but seeing other people often saying all the things I feel I very reassuring!
 
@Sommers16 - oh yes we love long posts. They're so informative and the sharing is good for others who may be at the same stage. And you're right about the fragility that goes with physical and emotional recovery. Each day is a new day and can bring with it some challenges but also some nice surprises, which is why it's good to be able to look back and reflect on our progress. Take it steady and don't overlook you and your body have been through a lot but WANT to be better, so give it a chance and it will repay you. Best wishes for a continued positive recovery
 
I just wanted to send you a bit of encouragement. Although my recovery for hip #1 was amazingly easy, hip #2 was another story. I had expected hip #2 to go as smoothly as hip #1, but that was not how it turned out. I had fears that maybe something was wrong. I had all the "what ifs" going through my head the first two or so weeks. Then suddenly out of nowhere (at about 3 weeks), my recovery started improving by leaps and bounds. I can't figure out why, but I'm just so relieved that it did. Everything from pain and my limp have drastically improved. So, hang in there my friend and know your good days are very close at hand. Hugs!
 
Thank you, @Cynthia777, @Jillie422, @gullimac and everyone!

I hope my fellow BoneSmarties are having a good day. I think of you often throughout the day. I think of you both as individuals, and the challenges you are working through personally, and I think of you collectively, as our special group and all we have in common. God bless you.

2 weeks ago today I had my surgery. At times I have been impatient with recovery. At other times I think, "Just look how much has transpired in 2 weeks. Imagine what another 2 weeks of recovery and healing will mean!" Hope is both a fragile and powerful thing. In my virtual "garden" I am working on helping my hope grow and thrive.

My surgeon says I will need the walker 4 weeks. It is exciting to think that in another 2 weeks I can advance to using a cane. I see what @cynthia and @gullimac are able to do at 5 weeks, and it gives me so much hope.

It's such a different psychology pre and post op. Both pre op and post op have "what ifs" that are hard. But getting through the day with pre op pain and getting through the day with post op sensations is not the same. In post op, the surgery is behind you, and that is such a relief! Also, post op, I feel like the challenges of recovery are going somewhere, are laying a foundation for a better quality of life. That it is meaningful. Pre-op was medicating the pain and just dealing with getting by for getting by sake. Just trying not to hurt, just trying to function, but not knowing when another mobility challenging episode would occur. Struggling. Not able to sleep.

Already I find it easier getting my leg up in the bed. Sometimes I need the leg lifter loop device, but sometimes I don't. There isn't a lot of room to walk around in my house, but I am going up and down the hallway several times a day. I put a Post-It note on the wall and I get a check mark for each lap. I'm easily motivated by something like that. Ha Ha I haven't gotten a pedometer yet. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something. From reading others' posts I sometimes wonder if I am walking enough, if I am doing as well.

I know it isn't a competition. I know we each have our own specific circumstances. Sometimes it would just be nice to have benchmarks. How much discomfort is normal? How much should I be able to do at 2 weeks? How long do people generally take pain medicine? What should be expected sleep wise? Everything is relative. It's not a great analogy, but I think about eating spicy food. One person's interpretation of heat level may be ghost pepper (super hot) and another person may think this isn't very spicy at all, and it's the same dish. Just looking for whatever generalities with THR may exist. I want to do well. I think I am.

In the meanwhile, I'm working on accentuating the positive. I haven't had any fever. My family, while very small, has been a supportive blessing. I'm home, and not in the hospital, and that's awesome. I've been avoiding looking at my incision site because I didn't feel that image was in my best interest, but I caught a glimpse of it this morning while washing up, and what others have said about it looking good is true. Not red, not angry looking, very little bruising. And the drainage finally stopped.

I go back to the doctor tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting out, even if it is to go to the doctor. I am still very apprehensive/scared about my porch steps because there isn't a railing. I take my time and make sure someone is there to spot me. I would not try it by myself. No way, not yet. I am getting more comfortable getting in and out of the car. It is important to allow enough time for it as it isn't a speedy process.

What else is going well in my journey? I like my PT. She's kind and gentle. Always gives me notice before she comes, which is helpful so I can be ready. She says I am doing well. Her brother-in-law had a THR at the age of 40. She helps build my confidence about how I can move, and she reminds me what not to do.

I have some leg discomfort and occasionally stiffness and pain, but it is manageable. And as others have said, it is decidedly different than the pre-surgery arthritis pain. Also, pre-surgery, my "good," dominant leg had muscular pains in the thigh, I believe from placing extra weight and stress on it. That pain is gone, and I also haven't had those muscle cramps any more in my calves and feet. It could be because I take a muscle relaxer now at bedtime, but I like to think that having better alignment is helping too.

Things I am working on: the need to be on a more consistent schedule, increasing my activity, increasing my water and fiber intake, and starting to think about my job/return to work without getting too stressed and ahead of myself.

Yesterday I somehow managed to miss both lunch and my afternoon pain medicine. So I started feeling "off" and unwell. Don't want to repeat that. My blood pressure tends to run on the low side, so it's important to stir about some and have a routine.

Bathroom activity is improving, but it has been an effort. We're talking stool softeners every day, plus Shredded Wheat, fiber bars, prunes, popcorn. I realize that's not the most appropriate social topic, but what is (or what isn't) happening with bowel function plays a big role in how you feel overall.

That's about it for me for now. There's a home health nurse popping in for a few minutes to check vitals, so I need to get ready for that. She only comes once a week.

Just being able to move about and get my own snacks and such feels empowering. I wired a basket to my walker that helps me carry things about. One day I loaded it too much and it tilted forward and fell to the floor. Fortunately, I did not, and someone was home to pick up the walker and hand it back to me. Lesson learned: don't treat your walker basket like your over-filled purse. :heehee:

Hopefully I will get a good report from the doc tomorrow. I don't see why I wouldn't.

Wishing each of you strength and energy, comfort and peace, patience and hope to carry you through this day and the days to come.
 
I think you're doing fabulously well. You're making great and steady progress which is exactly what we all look to in ourselves. Your fear of the porch steps is completely understandable. I was nervous about damaging my new hip, so was terribly cautious (rightly so) but your confidence will build steadily and you'll soon find yourself doing things almost without thinking. It's a great report. Very happy for you. You're well on your way now. Best wishes:friends: :cheers: :tada:
 
In response to some of the questions you expressed....

I think you're right on target. With hip #2, at two weeks, I really wasn't ready to walk laps around my pool (akin to your post-it notes, increasing a lap every other day). With hip #1, I was probably walking several laps by the two week mark, so as you can see, each recovery is very unique and difficult to compare.

I'm still taking 2 percocets and 1/2 morphing tablet a day. I just started cutting back at about 3 and 1/2 weeks. Sleeping issues for me are just the bathroom trips (1 or 2) I need to make nightly.

It took me a couple of weeks to get up the nerve to look at my incision as well...I can't understand why, but none the less, I really didn't want to see it.

What a blessing that you have a good PT! I think finding a gentle and compassionate one is key in not causing more problems with recovery.

I find, even at 5 weeks, little aches and pains do pop up here and there. I've had good results with scheduling my laps around the pool every other day. I do have a tendency to have a few more discomforts the day following my lap walking, so one day is exercise day and the next is a rest day. In the beginning of my recovery for hip #1, I followed the same formula and it really worked out well.

When I experience the first sign if constipation, I just pop 400 Mg's of magnesium in the morning and one ar night and wallah, potty here I come! :heehee:

Yikes! I'm so happy you didn't tumble with your walker!!!:yikes:

Have a beautiful day and keep on enjoying what you CAN do! Hugs! :friends:
 
Wow.... Just WOW!!! @Sommers16 You've so eloquently put into words what many of us are thinking! Speaking for myself, you nailed it! I'm so happy to hear how you're doing in each and every way. Your friendship and support is invaluable to me. I'm Grateful For You. Isn't it amazing how we're glued together by this mega-life experience.

What you said about the difference in psychology PreOp and PostOp is so very true. I no longer feel like I'm "just surviving".... No longer "hanging by a thread" ..... No longer just trying to "get thru the day" (or night)... No longer "saying no" to a simple outing to Dollar General lol. I'm now three weeks PostOp. My husband is thrilled to "have his girl back". My pup is happy to "have his momma back". He again prances when I ask him if he wants to go for a walk. Life Is Good again...! And getting better each day.

@Cynthia777 has a good magnesium tip for the potty situation....I treat myself to a Miralax cocktail on the days that I think things should run more smoothly lol. Miralax and Lemonade. Yum Yum!

So keep up your positive trend and your Onward And Upward attitude! You just never know when reading your posts will change someone's day.... or maybe someone's life :)

Hugs.... Jill
 
@Sommers16 , yea!!! You made it. So glad that part is over with.

I had some of the same issues you are having. They pumped me full of fluids too, and also asked me to use the little plastic breathing machine powered by your own breathe. It actually helped to clear my lungs and helped my blood pressure return to normal. Have they suggested that to anyone else?

I too had to request an ice bag every time the one I was using got to warm. The nurse told me that I should not ice fore longer than 20 minutes. There was a pretty thick bandage on my inision so I told them It took 20 minutes just to feel the ice! I kept having to ask for ice and I kept asking. It made a big difference for me.
 
@Mscant - nice hearing from you. How are you today?

Yes, I had one of those hand-held plastic breathing tools too. I found it to be a welcome distraction at times. I would challenge myself to get the floating piece higher and higher as if I were in some really odd competition. (Ha Ha) Can you imagine seeing THAT on ESPN? I'm sure I brought that apparatus home from the hospital, but I haven't a clue where it is now.

I feel like I am coming along and I am grateful. At times this whole experience still feels very surreal. On occasion, I have woken from sleep where I was dreaming, and as my awareness of where I am and what day it is type information slowly filters in to my consciousness, I think, "I've had hip surgery!" and it's new all over again. It's a bit jarring and surprising somehow. Not really a bad thing, but not as good as when other realizations occur, like, "It's the weekend!" or "Oh yeah, it's Christmas morning!" It's like when you are asleep and dreaming you can be anywhere and anything. And then you wake up and it's reality.

But when I feel the urge to exit off into "Pity Town" all I have to do is remind myself this is a process I am going THROUGH. It is going THROUGH something, not TO something and staying there. And, oh, by the way, I tell myself in my best looking over eyeglasses stern tone - have you forgotten you are sleeping pain free? Don't you remember just a few weeks ago pre-surgery not being able to sleep without waking up with hip pain? I'm in an actual BED now, and not balled up in the recliner at night desperately trying to find an angle, a position that doesn't hurt. How quickly we adjust and take things for granted.

I'm having continued soreness and tightness in my operated leg's calf muscle. I am not sure what it needs so I am trying a variety of things. Walk a bit, sit a bit. Ice? You got it. Ankle pumps and gentle stretching? Ok. Just can't make it go away. It's uncomfortable. I will ask physical therapist about it again tomorrow. Open to any of your BoneSmarties thoughts too.

I've noticed the skin on my legs is dry and flaky. Looks like I need serious moisturizing. Using the body wash on the sponge on a stick while sitting on the shower bench didn't get it. That normally isn't an issue being dry and scaly. I think that's a common thing post-surgery if I'm correct. That and a bit of hair loss (from the head, that is). If it kept my legs from needing to be shaved ever again, I'd be all for that.

My doc last week suggested I start rubbing Mederma on my closed incision. I had someone pick it up for me from the drug store and it was $25 for something like .70 of an ounce. Yikes! Being the frugal and inquisitive sort I am - I looked it up to see what this stuff is made of that makes it so pricey. You'd think they are crushing Faberge eggs at the Mederma factory to make the stuff. :heehee:

Turns out it is a gel based on an onion extract. I was wondering if anyone else has used it, and if so, what were the results? Or perhaps you use or used something different?

I have a sizable posterior approach incision. And while I am under NO illusion that modeling in a bikini at a boat show is in my future, obviously I want it to heal well and look its best down the road. Even if it doesn't look great, I'll still be proud of it because of what it represents. I had surgery on this same hip many years ago and that old previous scar is on the side of my hip and is much smaller. This Mederma claims to work on new and old scars alike. If it is true, that is great - but I don't want to be a sucker if it's a lot of hype. I thought I'd throw it out to the knowledgeable folks here. We certainly earn our special markings, don't we, friends?

In another random sidebar, my sister painted my toenails as a little pick me up. My favorite color is canary yellow, which may not be the best color choice for feet, but it has a sparkly glitter in it that feels jazzy. Silly, I know. Truth be told, I didn't paint them much at all pre-surgery, but there's something about not being able to do something that makes you want it. More than that, though, is what it represents. My dear sister has her own health issues and stays tired and is having to carry the full weight of responsibilities right now caring for our elderly parent. She has been there to help me bathe, to empty my vomit bucket and my bedside potty, but funny enough, she really doesn't like feet. It's an odd place to draw the line. You know how some folks have an odd foot fetish attraction? She has the opposite - a "feet are gross" stance. Ha Ha So her painting my toenails was a labor of love.

I am looking forward to my full restoration and to pour back into others' lives the care and the energy that has been shown to me. I know it isn't tit for tat. It's not anything I owe. But I've always been more comfortable being the one who helps rather than the one who is helped. I've been working on accepting help more gracefully. I certainly appreciate it. I just dislike so much being a burden. Yesterday I tried to "help" in the kitchen and I wound up breaking a dish and making a bigger mess for sister to clean up than if I had just stayed out of there and not tried. My emotions are so close to the surface that the tears started rolling down my face as I looked down at the mess I'd made all over the floor.

For those who have gained increasing self-sufficiency in recovery, have you had any unique "thank you" ideas for your caregivers? My list isn't long, but I want to send a card to the nurses at the hospital, do something special for my sister, and of course, help out here on this site however I can. I know some BoneSmarties had chocolate candies or presented a cake to the hospital staff while they were there. I didn't have it together to do anything at the time.

What a life-changing and life-enhancing experience we share. Sister tells me the only thing I have to do and the only thing I should be working on is getting myself well. That makes sense, and that's exactly what I would tell her or anyone else in the same situation. But it feels different when you are the patient. A proud, stubborn, normally independent, control enthusiast, type "A" personality patient who is sensitive to others' needs.

We discuss here the energy drain that comes with joint replacement work. But life itself drains us of energy with just the normal business of work and paying bills and caring for family and meeting obligations/facing challenges. Did you know research suggests that 85% of medical problems are caused by stress? It's so vital to replenish that energy somehow. At times it can feel there isn't enough energy to even do what is needed to replenish the energy. With some combination/mixture of various things like rest, prayer, meditation, music, perspective and attitude adjusting, laughter, gratitude and love, we move the needle back from "E" for empty towards the "F" for full.

How is your "tank" registering today?

The American novelist Willa Cather wrote, "That is happiness: to be dissolved into something complete and great." It has helped me a lot feeling connected to something larger than myself with this BoneSmart. I also like to think our joint replacement itself is taking all of us to something more complete and great. I don't have unrealistic expectations of newly gained physical feats, but I get excited thinking about doing simple things I haven't been able to do.

Life is going to have its ups and downs. I fully reserve the right to experience this welling of emotion right here and right now - this warmth spreading across my chest and the positivity and love I am working on to keep flowing, knowing fully well that in the next few minutes, or this afternoon, or tomorrow, I will have to start all over again from zero. We are a work in progress, ever challenged and evolving.

That's about it from my recovery headquarters right now. I appreciate each of you and am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. I believe our emotional support strengthens our immune systems and boosts our recovery. Hope is a beautiful thing! May it fill you today and lift your spirits as the sun burns off an early morning fog.
:loveshwr::wave::yes!::flwrysmile::dancy::console2::walking:
 
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@Sommers16, just wow, that's quite some thinking and writing for 19 days out! I found myself nodding my head and agreeing with you so much! My notes from that time say things like, "Not as much pain," and "Only one steri-strip on incision." Ha ha! Take care as you progress in recovery!
 
Sommers16 said:
I've noticed the skin on my legs is dry and flaky. Looks like I need serious moisturizing. Using the body wash on the sponge on a stick while sitting on the shower bench didn't get it. That normally isn't an issue being dry and scaly. I think that's a common thing post-surgery if I'm correct.
Click to expand...
I've been using serious moisturiser and it still doesn't go away! It took a couple of weeks to get back to normal last time but it did. Sadly the leg hair came back too! I've never heard of Mederma. My first scar seems to be fading just with the occasional dollop of baby oil when it felt tight or dry.

Sommers16 said:
But life itself drains us of energy with just the normal business of work and paying bills and caring for family and meeting obligations/facing challenges.
Click to expand...
I keep thinking about this. I know I get so tired normally from work that part of me is dreading going back, even though I'll have had 11 weeks from this THR. Then the more positive part of me wonders if the exhaustion before was part of the OA and the pain. I am determined to get fitter than I was and see if that brings some extra energy into my life. I hope that's a realistic goal - it seems more real every day now!

I know what you mean about wanting to pay back the care and kindness people have shown. If your posts are anything to go by, there's no doubt you'll do that just by being around to support everyone around you.
 
Day 24 post op. Things going well. PT came today. Some exercises definitely easier to do than others.

I'm proud, but a little envious, of others who have transitioned from the walker to a cane or sticks quickly with such ease. Doc wants me on walker this week and next, and then to start using a cane. I know it's not a competition, and we are all different. But all throughout this, I've needed some kind of reassurance that I'm ok. That I'm on track. That things will be ok.

It's not the kind of thing you can readily call up your friends and say, "So, when you had your THR, I was just wondering how X, Y and Z went." They don't know because they haven't had it. Makes this site here so valuable and appreciated.

I have become really used to and dependent on the walker in a short amount of time. It is such an odd thing. So long as I have the walker, I can practice walking both feet heel to toe, and I do well. But if I push it a few inches ahead, and attempt to walk to it, to walk into it again between the handles, it's like I can't go. I didn't realize how much weight I was putting on the walker through my hands. I can't seem to move without it. Does that make sense? It's a freaky feeling. Upsetting. But I'm sure it's from my leg being weak and it will pass.

I told the PT about it today. She moved the walker to the side and had me press down on her hand as if it were a cane. I was reluctant because she is a small gal and I was concerned whether she could support me. But we tried it, and it worked. I pressed down into her hand and she held my gait belt with her other hand, and I was able to move. So I guess I will be fine with the cane soon.

I'm sure in short order as life tends to be that I will take this and other things for granted again soon. I can say it has been so very humbling not being able to do the simplest of things at all or without greater effort. Bathing. Dressing. Walking. Getting food. Getting in and out of the bed. I feel the need to document that these were a challenge, because I anticipate once everything is back and is easy again, I will forget about these days. Kinda like the way some women say you forget about all the pain and discomfort of pregnancy and childbirth and do it all over again. I don't want to forget or take things for granted so much. I find myself being even more empathetic and sensitive to people who are struggling in some way, and I was already rather sensitive. On the news there was a story of a young person graduating high school who had been in an accident and has been learning to walk again with a prosthetic leg. He kept it as a surprise for his mother and family and got out of a wheelchair to slowly walk across the stage to get his diploma. I wept and cheered him on from the recliner. Not sure if that makes me kind or nuts. I can always blame it on the medication, I guess. Ha Ha

Speaking of, I take a pain pill in the morning and 1 at bedtime, and have found I can drop the mid-day dose. So that's progress. I haven't ventured out from home except for two doctor's appointments, so I am getting some cabin fever. I may try to go to the store with family this weekend, maybe not. When you HAVE to do something repeatedly it gets routine and you begin to resent it. When you CAN'T do something, it feels completely different.

At my last doctor's appointment, the doc said everything was going well, and my sister encouragingly said, "Yes, I told her on the way here she will be running in no time." The doctor said, "No, she won't be running. Not on my hip." I know post surgery high impact activities are a no-no. And I wasn't doing many of those high impact activities before surgery, so it's not as if there will be a big void in that regard. And I realize the irony that I was just talking about being grateful and not taking things for granted to then shift and whine about something else, but I have to say, it bothers me to know that when you feel like maybe in the near future you COULD do something that the pre-surgery arthritis pain would not permit, that it stinks a bit to have some ability be restored but then not be able to use it. Do you know what I mean? Have you felt that way? I know it is putting the cart before the horse, and that today is what I have to work on and work with. But I get emotional about all this still, and I feel like it has to count for something, it has to really matter. I'm sure once I get there - to the future, fully healed, it will be enough that I'm living my normal, uneventful life being able to do regular things without arthritis pain. That alone will be great, and I won't be thinking, "Gee, if only I could go running."

I am feeling gradually more like myself - stronger, more "with it." I am hopeful, but not every moment is rosy. I just started a mystery novel, feeling like for the first time I would have the focus for it. TV is great to zone out in front of, but I find it less and less satisfying. During the day it seems full of court shows and commercials from lawyers asking if you've been injured in a variety of ways from accidents to bad medical devices or drugs. Not a lot of substance. But then again to be fair, I've not been in the mental space for serious documentaries anyway.

Hope your day today is going well, whether you are pre or post surgery. Remember it is one day at a time, and somehow, amazingly, while slow, it still passes by quickly. Breathe in the space you are in right now knowing it will pass.

Hugs, comfort, sunshine, peace and hope to you from my journey to yours.
 
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