THR My recovery thread: day 4 nausea and dizziness

[Tuppence71]

I gave not been as diligent w the icing now that I am back to work and doing more myself.

Yes, it is easy to get out of the habit once you start feeling a bit better. But I notice a definite difference on the days I make time to lie down for a bit with my trusty ice pack.

And on a day like today, when it is absolutely pouring down here in Yorkshire, it is rather nice to have an excellent excuse for simply putting on my PJs at 5 in the afternoon and lounging on the bed with my cats.

My mother tells me often that there is something very decadent about putting on one’s pyjamas before one actually intends to go to sleep. She’d be shocked to realise that not only am I in my bedclothes before Emmerdale* has even started, but I am eating a choc ice. In bed. This is how the cool kids do rehab.

* for the benefit of transatlantic readers - a Yorkshire soap opera.

 

[Tuppence71]

The Ice Packs Cometh

Absolute genius.
About a million years ago I saw Kevin Spacey in the Iceman Cometh at the Old Vic. Today, the thought of sitting in a rigid theatre seat for over two hours seems an impossible dream. (When does sitting get easier???). I will get there, I hope. But for now, I lounge.

 

[Kanne]

Find a theatre with recliners.. sounds great after looking at these walls. Would have felt better if I had been Working outside of home...but since covid have been remote working in same old house!

 

[Tuppence71]

Find a theatre with recliners

Sounds great - but I imagine the risk of falling asleep would be quite high. Unless the play had a LOT of action and loud noises.

 

[DK63]

Lot of action and loud noises, why @Tuppence71 you are obsessed with this constipation topic and what to take for it

 

[Tuppence71]

Find a theatre with recliners.. sounds great after looking at these walls. Would have felt better if I had been Working outside of home...but since covid have been remote working in same old house!

Yes, it is all getting a bit dull. I went to a supermarket today for the first time since New Hip Day. Woohoo

 

[djklaugh]

@Tuppence71 If we didn't laugh, we'd all go insane! I did giggle at you having to call back your friend to unzip your boots - sorry, I know it's frustrating to be limited right now. And I remembered being stuck after my BTHR - I was home alone, housemate was at work and not due home for about 5 hours. Had to go to the loo. Started to stand up using my crutches and dropped both. Tried to use the grabber to get a crutch to within grabbing distance ... and failed by dropping the grabber. Sigh, situation was getting urgent and I was NOT to bend over on orders from my surgeon. Light bulb moment - I had a back scratcher within reach as I'd been scratching my feet earlier. Was able to use the back scratcher to leverage up my crutches and get to the loo before there was a nasty accident.

And don't worry about being in PJs during the day. While I was recuperating all I wore was pajama bottoms and a long sleeve shirt and a sweater or sweatshirt.... unless I had to leave the house then I'd put on "real" clothes. And for sitting comfortably try sitting on a soft pillow or cushion ... I found that helped a lot.

Your knee also got stressed during the hip surgery as all the muscles in your leg were stretched and moved about in ways they were not meant to move. Try putting ice on the knee as well as your hip - that may help the knee calm down.

You will get back to being able to sit and enjoy a movie or theater presentation! You are still early on in your recuperation so patience is the key for now.

 

[Tuppence71]

Thank you @djklaugh - it is good to know I am not the only one here having to surrender all dignity. It’s a shame there was no hidden camera recording your adventures en route to the bathroom - that would definitely have gone viral on YouTube!

I think I will start icing my poor knee. It had many years to gradually get used to a shrinking femur and slowly twisting pelvis - and now the surgeon has changed its working conditions in an instant. Small wonder it is protesting….

 

[Tuppence71]

22 days in, and all is going well. Yesterday, three weeks from the moment I was being escorted (terrified) into the operating theatre, I was walking in beautiful sunshine in Harrogate with my husband and dog, no crutches required. I realised that for the first time in ages I am letting myself believe that I will get back to feeling strong and completely pain-free. I even put on my own shoes and socks, too - albeit not in a ‘normal’ way (on my back, on the floor, sort of how you might imagine a toppled cow would approach it) - but still empowering!

I’m definitely doing more at day 22 than lots of people here - but my deal with myself is that I rest just as hard as I work. That means following every few hours of activity with some icing and elevating. (Icing my shin and knee as well as my hip has made a massive difference - I basically encase my entire left side in frozen packs and retreat to bed with the cats). Before too long I won’t have an excuse for lying down in the middle of the day, so I may as well make the most of it. And I am very conscious that - as good as I feel - three weeks is not long enough for the muscles and ligaments that were cut during the surgery to have healed. I could still quite easily do myself some damage and set everything back. So I try to stay mindful of that.

I suppose it stands to reason that those of us who go into the surgery with advantages like being a bit younger, lighter and fitter can sometimes have a slightly easier ride on the other end. That said, us (fifty year old) spring chickens also have to make our shiny new joints last a long time (if we’re lucky), and may well ask more of them (I’m hoping mine is going to be up for being quite sporty). My surgeon says we make the worst patients because we are in such a hurry and don’t accept that doing more isn’t always better. I am probably proving him right - though I am trying hard to listen to my body instead of to my ego.

 

[lanstan]

I am 10 weeks out. When I was 2 weeks out I asked my Dr how long I would have to ice and he said probably 3 months or more. I just laughed. Now after every activity I do I ice and it is my best friend!! Not sure when I will let go of it!

 

[Layla]

I love you posts @Tuppence71 They always bring a chuckle and a smile.
Have a good week, you're doing great!

 

[Layla]

Happy One Month Anniversary!
Nice milestone, wouldn't you agree? I hope you have a nice week and you're enjoying Autumn in the UK.
All the best to you!
@Tuppence71

 

[Tuppence71]

Thank you @Layla!

It’s a great milestone - the operation was ahead of me for such a long time, and now it is receding into the past. I am already taking for granted things like sitting in a chair, and getting into bed, and I fear it is only a matter of time before I have to resume doing my share of the few household tasks I have been determinedly evading - like changing the cat litter and emptying the bins.

Everything has gone so well - I feel very lucky. I know I’m still healing, and am definitely still some way from having full strength and mobility, but I have been able to get out and about in the beautiful autumn countryside here in Yorkshire from relatively early in the process. I was terrified of being housebound, immobile and dependent on others and that hasn’t been the case at all.

So long as I don’t try to do anything my body isn’t ready for yet, I am more or less pain free. I have stretches of time during the day when I forget I’ve had surgery. And while I’ve still not had a completely comfortable night’s sleep, and I’m not quite ready to jettison the raised toilet seat (as seen in all the most stylish bathrooms), I am sure all that will happen soon enough. All in all, I think my new hip and I are going to get along just fine!

Pics of a very happy hipster out and about with her beagle during weeks three and four.

 

[Shadowstar1951!]

Lovely photos of you both. I can't believe you're only 3/4 weeks from your surgery Tuppence!
You look as though you're really striding out..no walking aids...
Congratulations. It's reassuring to see.... I'm 3 weeks away from my THR.... relieved but apprehensive too.
Take care...

 

[DK63]

Well done to you @Tuppence71 .. keep up the good work. Fantastic recovery. I am on the verge of dropping the sticks/canes, but on purpose this time. Just need a bit more confidence, it will come.....But I think you will find that the raised toilet seat is particularly en vogue, current, on point, relevant, and I believe I saw the raised toilet seat featured in a Surrey Country House in Horse and Hounds or Harpers Bazaar under the title What's New In The Loo and Every Home should have One. Apparently, you should keep them for posterity (that's a clever pun, eh?)

 

[Tuppence71]

@Shadowstar1951! - I was very, very lucky - I walked quite well from the outset. They sent me home from the hospital (two days after surgery) with just one crutch, and I only needed that for a week or so.

I was SO apprehensive before my operation. But it has been nowhere near as horrible as I imagined it would be. And after years of worsening pain and decreasing mobility, it feels as if a life in which I can once again feel strong and at ease in my own skin is within touching distance.

The main thing is to listen to your body - it will tell you what it needs. Don’t put yourself under any pressure. And for those first few weeks, make sure you have lots of lovely, soft loungewear / pyjamas and some comfy slippers - and enjoy being very, very lazy.

Good luck! You are going to be absolutely fine.

 

[Tuppence71]

Apparently, you should keep them for posterity (that's a clever pun, eh?)

A most excellent pun.

I do feel like a two-year old waiting to graduate from a potty to the Big Girl Toilet, though. Still, I suppose I should be thankful that I haven’t regressed as far as nappies.

 

[Layla]

Aww, I love the photos and you do look like a very happy hipster out on your beautiful nature walks.
Blue skies, sunshine, Autumn colors, your furry friend walking beside you and NO PAIN!
Not much more a girl can ask for. Enjoy!
@Tuppence71

 

[Shadowstar1951!]

Thank you Tuppence for your post. I am getting prepared. I've bought some new nightwear and have ordered another pair of slip on trainers. I find them so easy to put on indoors and so secure..(I could fall over a matchstick! )...
I'm looking forward to getting my raised toilet seat ( our priorities certainly change don't they? )
Enjoy the lovely Autumn sunshine..

 

[Tuppence71]

@Layla - it is important to note that I am in no pain ‘so long as I don’t try to do anything my body isn’t ready for yet’. For me at the moment this means keeping my shoulders pointing in the same direction as my hips (ie strictly no twisting) - so while I look fabulous (if I say so myself) striding out while walking forwards, the illusion is shattered if I am required to turn around to look at something, or to change direction. But I have discovered that one can get along fairly well while always looking determinedly straight ahead and ignoring the stuff going on off to the side or - perish the thought - behind you.

There is possibly a metaphor for life in there somewhere!