Bilateral THR My post op journey has started

[puddle fish]

Thanks, will mention it to the GP when I see him this week.

 

[swimlikeafish]

Well done puddlefish, I think now you can use the bike and crosstrainer the strength and balance will improve rapidly, Keep at it. What about swimming ? Must be so much harder have both done. At least with one normal leg you use the strength in that leg to lower yourself onto chairs, the toilet , stand in the shower, wash up, cook and so forth. With a bilateral it must be a nightmare.

 

[puddle fish]

Swimming has been a bit of a nightmare, cant make my normal club pool night at the moment and other ones all seem to be closed when I can get to them. Having both done has meant I could use stairs normally as I had no good leg bad leg scenario but needed to make sure I used both. The toilet and as we have a shower in the bath has been more problomatic only just stoped using the raised seat. I still need a step to help get in and out of the bath. Sleeping is a pain but I dont have the stress of overloading a damaged hip while waiting for a repaired hip to heal.

 

[oldyellr]

puddle fish I didn't know how to get in and out of my bath for a shower because it has sliding doors, so the opening isn't wide enough for one of those frames you're supposed to sit on. When I finally felt up to taking a shower, I grabbed hold of the top of the door frame, which is pretty sturdy, climbed up on the edge of the tub, then down into it. Later I just held on to the top rail and stepped over, barely nudging the 90 degree rule. I guess one could do the same with a sturdy shower curtain rail too.

Right now TV commercials walk-in baths for old folks with mobility issues are all the rage here. Maybe these will become standard equipment in new houses as the population ages.

 

[cnydutch]

puddlefish, my home PT person showed me how to step over the tubside to get into the shower,
she had me stand next to the tub, then flex my leg closest to the tub back, like i was trying to
kick my butt with my foot, and over the side into the tub, then do the same with the other leg...
have you tried that approach? are you doing that exercise as part of your PT? just
a thought...
(and yes, i may be a bit taller than you (6'-1"), actually doc made me 3/4 inch taller than i was!)

 

[puddle fish]

Im only 5'4 and thats thanks to the replacements. Its the standing on one leg and trying to push off a operated leg onto an operated leg thats caused me so much grief so one of these

from ikea outside the bath. When I couldnt stand then if you take the legs off to the first step its the same hieght whe in the bath and all I had to do was slide across. It is getting easier as I get more stretch in my thighs and can stand on one leg.

 

[puddle fish]

if I stand on the stool I would be about 6ft 1

 

[Knitter4444]

When I had my bilateral knee replacements I took off my shower doors. (Tub shower combo) you have to be very careful because even though they are shatterproof, they are put in the frame under pressure. Had someone remove them and they broke..little shatterproof pieces of glass all over the place and I watched. They did not hit a thing.

 

[puddle fish]

Quick update the numbness may be due to chganging the height of the seat on my stationary bike so Ive been asked not use it see if it improves. I still have some swealing and soreness over the incision so Im still healing. They think I might still be trying to overdo it a bit.

 

[cnydutch]

steady as she goes, i think if we think we might be overdoing it, then we are!!!

 

[dtmbf]

I'm still swollen beneath the incisions on both sides - looks like I have 2 saddlebags. OK, that might be a light exaggeration but not by much. My surgeon gave me the whole spiel of the role of inflammation in the healing process & said the swelling could continue up to 6 months. I was shopping, trying on clothes, & I could feel the edema squishing around on the right side. Very wierd feeling. We are only 3 weeks apart in the healing process & seem to be tracking on most fronts which gives me a sense of comfort!

 

[cnydutch]

i don't dare to try on new clothes! saddlebags is right, got 2 of em!

 

[puddle fish]

I did get into my jeans

OK I had to get straight back out of them not an easy task

At least with two saddle bags I feel in proportion.

 

[dtmbf]

You're one up on me - I can't get into ANY of my jeans or pants, hence the shopping trip. It's a combination of a 7 pound post op weight gain & the "saddlebags"! I've been living in sweats & refuse to think about any kind of dieting till the 12 week mark and even then I won't go real low calorie wise. You'd think with all the PT I do, & the extra effort it takes to do anything I would at least be neutral on the calories in & out, but my body tells me another story. With the holidays nearing, I needed something other than sweats to wear - so I went shopping!

 

[puddle fish]

I have a temporary job but they are feeding me a bit to well, January will be diet time again. Oh well lost it before Im sure I can do it again.

 

[puddle fish]

So now at 10 weeks post op, functionally mobile as the PT calls it so no problems with daily living or working.
I take Diclofenic every morning and hope to cut down to every other day I still have residual swealing and some pain over the incision site but I can sleep on my side for short periods of time. Driving is no problem but occasionally stifness means I have to struggle to get into my car its a large ford ranger.
I can now balance and stand on one leg although the left is noticibly stronger than the right, it suffers from a more restricted range of movement. My main focus over the next three weeks is improving the range of movement in the hips I have some step up excercises to do and some simple lunges.
It is worth noting that the energy drain can hit fast if I over do it and tearfulnes and feeling down. I am using the cross trainer but not the excercise bike to see if that helps with some numbness I still have although the incision sites are now feeling itchy and tingling so I think the feeling is begining to come back.

 

[swimlikeafish]

My scales are only showing a 5 pound increase but I think the lack of proper calorie burning exercise and strenious muscle workloads has made me much more flabby and I feel like I've put on a stone at least. My swelling seems to have gone but my new hip sticks right out and my jeans feel real tight. The other day I bent down to pick something up off the floor and got a very intense sharp pain in my knee of my good leg. I was left not being able to climb stairs had to go back to two crutches and lowering and raising myself on and off a chair was very difficult and painfull. I had to rely on my opperated leg to take much more of the strain. I thought this must be what its like for a bilateral pateint all the time. Luckily the knee pain dissapeared after a couple of days. I like what Dutch says, if you think your overdoing it you usually are. I've found that out myself and am still doing it. It seems I only realise I've overdone it about 18hrs after the event. Keep up the good work puddlefish and stay determined to reach your goals.

 

[dtmbf]

When you have a bilateral you don't know any better so you just go with the flow. They had me declare a "good" hip & a "bad" hip for rehab purposes. And naturally I picked the wrong hips. My left was way worse on X-ray so I called it the bad hip. And I was way wrong long term. But, who was to know & you just work to get as good as you can be. I now measure at totally normal range of motion on both hips - and puddlefish, you 'll get there too!

 

[bellaroma]

Isn't it good to be functionally mobile, that is great new even if you are still having some glitches. I am not sure when the swelling goes away for good, but it takes longer than I thought.
That energy drain really sneaks up on you, but when it hit, you feel like a Mack Truck ran over you. Slow and steady, and Happy Holidays

 

[puddle fish]

Cheers and happy holidays to all .
I'll let stick man do the jumping.