Bilateral THR My post op journey has started

[Weezy]

Way to go, Puddle Fish! Sounds like everything is going very well for you. I hear you about being bored...and I can't even paint my nails (they're just too flexible so I gave up painting them decades ago because it peels almost immediately). I'm not yet moving around as much as you are, but your posts give me hope and a good perspective on my own progress.

BTW, I just have to tell you that your name just makes me smile. It sounds like a character in a happy and cheerful children's book.

Weezy

 

[puddle fish]

Managed a decent walk in a gardens a short car journey away in the sunshine. We then rewarded ourselves with a coffee and a chocolate Brownie . As long as I can find a disabled loo I can get out and about a bit more.

 

[Damn!]

It works wonders! Totally worth the money. I used it on a 20+ year old scar I had on my lower shin and in about 2 weeks it had lightened about 50%. Now it is not the first thing you notice when I wear a dress, skirt or shorts. I love this stuff.

 

[puddle fish]

I love these boots.
Just before my op I found these boots in primark the zips all the way down make them easy for me to put on the snug linning keeps me warm and they hide my slightly swollen legs and hideous compression socks. Zip undone just put my foot in use graber to pull up boot, and with knee bent resting on stair its easy for me to pull up the zip, no twisting or over flexing the hip.

 

[Weezy]

Those boots look great! Not only fashionable, but practical!

Your walk and coffee stop sound fabulous and good for the soul. Do you have another planned in the near future?

 

[puddle fish]

IThanks Weezy, Monday I finally made it to the local shops, it gives me back a bit of independence. Yesterday was a hydrotherapy session and the PT was amazed at the progress so today I move onto more land bassed PT. It's a huge uphill struggle to get back to where I was, the PT who normally pushes people is having to apply the brakes on me. It is very frustrating but my sensible head knows I just can't push it any further. It's helped by PT and a surgeon that back up what they are saying with sensible reasons. So PT no more advance excercises until the swelling has gone down which it is slowly so more rest and ice, as the muscles need time to knit together again and heal not being wrenched apart. I'm allowed to move from crutches to sticks and although I can walk a bit without them don't. My balance is not that good and the bone needs time to heal although dislocation is unlikely too much force to soon and I could damage the femur.
It's hard as appart from some anti inflamatories twice a day Im pain free now, stiff and a bit bruised but that pain is a distant memory. I'm now 1/2 way through to my next x ray on the 23/11 so I will just have to behave till then. Weezy it only the last few days that I have enjoyed more time sitting in a chair downstairs. We don't have a recliner and the sofa is to low so like you I spent lots of time on the bed it was the comfiest place for me to be.

 

[Jaycey]

You two bilat buddies amaze me! Well done on your recovery. Puddle fish - don't worry about moving from crutches. I stayed on one crutch my whole recovery. They seem much more stable and I too had balance issues.

 

[Poppet]

Way to go puddle fish and weezy.. You are both helping and encouraging each other... Wonderful

 

[dtmbf]

Puddle fish, I had trouble with low furniture height also. My husband used bed risers under the legs of a sofa & jury rigged risers for under a chair I like I sit in. So I had freedom of sitting in 2 different rooms in the house. I could lay down on the sofa so I only had to use the bed to sleep. Made me feel more normal. I hate to spend the day in bed & then have to sleep in it also.

 

[puddle fish]

I think my sofas are an impossible task you know the type deep low soft swallow you up type cushions that you can snuggle into. As the weeks pass I'm able to sit in the chair a bit more.

I do now have some very grumpy muscles following another physio assessment, but the good news is that the NHS will now pay for the hydro sessions to try and relax and stretch my muscles a bit and work on my bum as the muscles have gone, all the work is being done by my back and thighs. Then they will work on my balance which is not helped by my pelvis tilting all over the place. Walking properly again is hard work . The ROM I have now is 70• flexion in my hips and 20• abduction I thought my flexion was above 90 just because it is 100x better than before, It might explain why climbing stairs have become so much easier.
Just taken some pain killers which is why I'm up at 1:45am hopefully they will kick in soon, I like everyone else on here is having a bit of trouble just getting the right amount of pain killers now that my level of pain has dropped significantly but is still more than the normal person would have.

 

[sharonslp]

Puddlefish, my couch was way too low to get in and out of easily. I took the cushions off the loveseat and put them on top of the couch cushions and that worked well for me. Had to do that for six weeks before I went back to normal sitting.

As for managing pain as you transition to more activity, keep in mind that it's much easier to manage if you stay ahead of the pain, than if you try to catch up after cutting back. If you take more to feel better, and then since you feel better you don't take any, and then you hurt a lot again, you're making it harder on yourself than it needs to be. Trial and error, but err on the side of keeping a regular schedule that maintains your comfort. Once you've got that, maintain it until you notice that you are forgetting to take a dose on time, or forgetting that dose entirely. So then stretch out the times, or cut out ONE dose and maintain that for a while. And so on. Cut down verrrrryyyy gradually so you can monitor each change. Are you keeping a daily journal? It's very helpful to see patterns emerging that you might not recognize otherwise.

I agree with Jaycey.....you blilateral hippies are amazing!!!!

Sharon

 

[puddle fish]

So 4 weeks today and I went shopping not the usual food trip but the type hubbys hate, the aimless wander round shops looking. Then going back to the first shop you went in to get something you never intended in buying . We then met our youngest so who has just started Uni and had a bite to eat. Apart from the crutches it was normal no problems walking or standing or using stairs a bit slower than normal but no pain, just a little bit stiff in the odd muscle and fairly stiff after sitting down for a meal but it soon passed on walking. It is a shock just how far I’ve come as the last two weeks seem to have gone without much improvement. My left hip scar is healing slowly in its own time; I’m still fairly swollen and a bit bruised on that side. Sleeping on my back is still problematic and I get very hot as I’m not moving much even with a pillow it’s hard to turn over as I have no un-operated side and both are sore if I roll over onto them. For the ladies some issues with my pelvic floor muscles are improving by exercising them. The main thing I have noticed if I overdo things is the onset of extreme tiredness and depression, in which case you need to be a bit selfish and get some me time and rest.

 

[puddle fish]

Both hips are very different now.
Right hip noticibly weaker and I can do less standing on it when I do hip excercises, something one hippys don't have to do. On the plus side the right side is less painful, stiff, swollen and the incision isn't giving me problems. Only time it's troublesome is when I walk too much or put too much weight on it.
The left hip is driving me nuts, the incision hurts and itches and is numb it's stiff and swollen and only feels okay when I excercise it.
Then guess what good hip bad hip change over. I'm still using two crutches or sticks for most of the time although I can walk a few steps without. I have more hydro sessions next week so see how it goes.
As for getting behind the wheel of my car I have to wait for the okay from the OS as its a large pickup (ford ranger) and manual changing gear frequently may be a problem and the 90 degree rule, although power assisted breaking means that is fairly easy. I think that's what I miss the most the car is independence it's hard work using the bus and I can't always get a lift.

 

[Weezy]

Wow....aimless wandering through shops? How fabulous is that???? Better yet, what did you buy?

Sounds like things are progressing very very well and that you have great PTs. I'm going to get into our hot tub for the first time tonight and see how it feels--your descriptions of the hydro therapy just sounds too good, so I thought I'd try the tub with the jets going.

 

[puddle fish]

Weezy you'll love the hot tub the muscle pain just melts away and you can move just take it easy. I bought a top in a size smaller than I used to be so that made up for my fat hips. But mainly the fact that I could aimisly wander, jst started to add walk 4 steps on crutches drag cructhes for 4 steps repeat 10 times then walk on crutches for a bit and repeat.

 

[Poppet]

This is such a good thread to read.. you are both amazing

 

[puddle fish]

5 weeks have now gone past and it’s been a rollercoaster ride. I’m both amazed at how far I have come but also disappointed as well as I had hoped to be walking normally. I have progressed to sticks and today I tried walking poles, its hard work as I have less support so I could only manage a short walk. I see the surgeon on Friday so then I will know how long the restrictions need to be and if everything is progressing well. There is still a fair amount of pain and swelling around the incision site which is making some exercises harder so I can only do them in the pool, I don’t have an operated side so it’s a bit harder for me anyway.
Something I couldn’t do 7 weeks ago was go for a walk along a beach I dive off, it was lovely to be out in the sun and by the sea.

 

[cnydutch]

wow puddlefish, what a setting! i can imagine how anxious you are to walk that beach!!!
i know i put off vacations this year because i couldn't walk very far with the old hips, but
walking on a beach is something i am looking forward to doing, a very very long walk
on a beach!! maybe next year......

 

[Weezy]

You and your progress continue to amaze me! You actually walked on a beach??? WOW!

 

[puddle fish]

It was a quick walk,I paid for it yesterday I ached in muscle groups I did not know I had. So back to using the crutches a bit more but then we are all used to this two steps forward one step back.
At the moment I would like to be able to put my own socks on and not have to swear at knickers. But you guys made me smile as you just want to walk on a beach, we all heal in differnt ways.