THR My recovery...

[Akshia]

So I got to the hospital at my scheduled time, got to the pre-op holding area and the nurse took a quick history, doc came and marked my right hip and was taken to area where anesthesia was administered. After 5 pokes by the student, tech and finally the anesthesiologist I was off to lala land on fentanyl. Was out before I hit the OR. Next thing I remember was my entire family looking down at me while my husband had left to pick up the kids. And then the nightmare began after my family left. I had the nurse from hell who kept giving me dilaudid which caused me to enter the twilight zone along with the puking. It took the personal asst all night to sort me out while the float nurse on that night figured out what she was doing on the floor (completely clueless). The nurse from hell was back on day shift and when I asked her what pain meds I was on she gave me a condescending answer about being on a long acting and short acting pain med. I asked her to cut the **** becuz I wanted to know my exact meds. In the mean time, my iv had infiltrated leaving my arm swollen and I had a incision in my groin I had not been expecting. I puked off and on the whole day and had to go to plain 1000mg three times a day for the dizziness and nausea to become better. So no PT yesterday and just on Tylenol today I managed abt 10 minutes of PT. I think I will get more PT today and hopefully be discharged tomorrow. Will definitely be meeting the nursing supervisor to go over this stuff tomorrow. My hip is doing well, my surgeon did a very good job on a complicated hip but the hospital experience has been an ordeal. Now they are moving all the pts from one wing to the other so the floors can be stripped. Never again at this hospital. Haven't eaten a decent meal since Friday, one more day to go.

 

[Pumpkin]

Akshia,
Welcome to the other side!
Sorry to hear you are having such a horrible time in the hospital. You will be glad to be in your own bed tomorrow. Are they giving you an antiemetic?
Glad to hear your hip is doing well.

Please post your surgery date in your signature, hover over your username top right, click on signature and add your information there, Thanks! If you are unable to do it let us know and a moderator will take care of it for you.

Here is the post op reading for you the articles are short and will not take long to read.

First are the BoneSmart mantras ....
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
- be active as much as you need to be but not more than is necessary, meaning so much that you end up being in pain, exhausted or desperate to sit down or lay down!

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
Activity progression for THRs
Home physio (PT)
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?

 

[Jaycey]

@Akshia Welcome to the other side - except it's not supposed to be an ordeal! So sorry you are suffering from poor aftercare. Please do address this with the ward manager before you leave. It's important to get your pain management cocktail just right on discharge.

 

[forbesy]

Hi Akshia

Hope there is an improvement with the grumpy staff and you get your meds sorted out, my worst experiance was from night shift staff I dropped a drink on my bed and they made me sit on the chair and had to wait nearly three hours for a change of sheets.

Billy

 

[DeepBreath]

Oh, @Akshia, while I am so happy to hear about your smooth surgery experience, I'm sorry the after care has been wanting. I'm sending out good vibes for you that it gets sorted soon and that you're back home and feeling much better. Hang in there. These are the rough days, but thankfully they are soon behind you. Take care!

 

[GIMPY GAL]

Akshia, hopefully this is just a bump in the road to recovery...and you will have great reports from here on out.
Take care and feel relief that you are now on the 'other side'. Positive vibes heading your way.

hugs to you.

 

[Akshia]

Post op day 3: Today I woke up in a better mood. I did have a mini meltdown the previous night and texted my os that I'm not healing well and I had expected to be able to move my right leg at least a little bit in bed. It felt like a dead log. The sweet man helped me get through it and reminded that everything was intact neurologically and I just need to give it time. He pretty probably thinks I'm a bit of a basket case but has so far has always returned my texts with answers. He also saw me this morning and assured that healing will happen with time.

I had a meeting with the floor nursing supervisor yesterday and with his superior today about my first 2 days at the hospital. I'm pretty sure there is going to be some consequences for the nurses taking care of me those first 2 days.

My nurses on Sunday days and then nights and Monday days were outstanding and in my assessments I did give the good and the bad. I'm happy that the hospital was responsive to my concerns and I got assurances that this was a patient oriented center and they were always striving for improvement.

I did PT on Tylenol and 1 Norco since the previous day I had been on Tylenol only and they felt I could do better. Did well on PT and was cleared for d/c. Husband picked me up and we were out by 12 noon. Stopped for groceries and got home. Really grateful that the house was pristinely clean and the xmas trees I had decorated the day before surgery was done. I had lunch which tasted great after hospital food and husband helped me take a shower. To feel that warm water cascade down the back felt like heaven and I stood for a good 10 minutes just appreciating the small things we take for granted like a relaxing shower. After shower got into bed and took a real nap, the hospital was just too noisy for me to sleep properly even in a private room.

My kids came from school and it's always fun to hear what grade 2 and 3 kiddies are doing. My 6 yr old daughter told me about the little crush her friend had on a boy in her class. She also informed me that babies are made when boy cells and girl cells come together. Thought "oh oh, the stork isn't going to cut it anymore". I talked abut the x and Y chromosomes with her instead...she seemed pleased with my explanations.

My girlfriend came over with a full course meal for the family but she didn't stay long as she felt like she didn't want to tax me and after eating a great meal with a chocolate cream pie that husband got for dinner I went back to bed. I am so grateful for my wonderful family and friends and when those dark moments appear when I ask "why me" I need to remind myself of all the wonderful things that God has given me and practice gratitude.

My pain regimen is Tylenol 1000mg every 8 hours with 1 Norco (7.5/325 hydrocodone/Tylenol) every 4 hours as needed, 30 pills were given, no refills. I'm using the Tylenol as prescribed, with one Norco at night and one Norco in the morning. Feel like I should have more pain meds at discharge. What did you guys on d/c for pain control? I have a very high pain threshold since I never took any pain meds with my arthritis so I'm a bad judge of figuring out how much pain is acceptable. I want to heal well and am willing to take more pain meds if I need it during this time.

 

[Akshia]

Thank you all for the positive msgs, @forbesy, that was so not acceptable.

 

[GIMPY GAL]

I hope your recovery goes smoothly now that you're back at home where family and friends can take care of you.
Take care.

 

[Josephine]

My pain regimen is Tylenol 1000mg every 8 hours with 1 Norco (7.5/325 hydrocodone/Tylenol) every 4 hours as needed, 30 pills were given, no refills. I'm using the Tylenol as prescribed, with one Norco at night and one Norco in the morning. Feel like I should have more pain meds at discharge.

You certainly should! They actually told you 'no refills'? If they did and a call to your surgeon doesn't get you anywhere, try your GP. I believe US members have found them to be quite helpful in situations like this. My experience was that I needed plenty of pain meds for 3 full months. I'm sure you'll not be much different.

 

[GIMPY GAL]

My surgeon wrote a script for 80 norco tablets when I was discharged from the hospital. I assume it is to hold me over to the post-op appointment or unless I requested more sooner than that.

 

[mytrose43]

Wow I had 240 for 30 days of norco

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[mytrose43]

Oops but I had been taking 6 a day for many years they upped it to 8 a day after surgery but my in home nurse said that was not enough for adequate pain control she was right but I survived and am down to 4 a day but I have other pain issues so some days I will take 6 everyone is different so do what you need to and keep your pain under control your gp should help if OS won't good luck in your recovery

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[Akshia]

Hi all, Post op day 6. Happy thanksgiving to all in the US. Hope everyone is having a wonderful recovery. I continue to work with PT. Had 2 sessions so far but done for the week due to the Thanksgiving break.

@DeepBreath and @GIMPY GAL, hope your recoveries are going well. I had a massive turn around in mood when I came home and I think I'm still on a high happy since then. Can't say its from the pain meds because I have been using them very preciously, only prior to PT or some exertion which has been working out so far.

@Josephine you are absolutely correct that I should be getting more but it does such a number on me that I'm going to take it scarcely. I don't seem fully in control of my mental faculties on pain meds and the dizziness was horrible and I feel I might be prone to a fall so I will try to do without. I am experiencing mostly stiffness and no real pain, even when PT is asking me about pain, I answer 1 or 2 just to make it sound acceptable but even as I sit and type this, I don't really feel pain. I do have ready access to pain meds and I know my surgeon will prescribe them if I need them. I was discharged by his PA and just surprised at the paucity of pain meds given on discharge without knowing my problems with pain meds in the past.

I had 2 c-sections and with both all I could manage was Tylenol post surgery. Strangely, I feel they were harder than this surgery because you are trying to control pain in your abdomen yet you are also taking care of a newborn, learning to breastfeed and going through all the hormonal mood changes. And seeing your body bloated and fat from delivering a baby does not help either. Only seeing that beautiful creature you created keeps everything sane lol.

I actually saw my ortho at home yesterday. He decided to drop by and check on me after going out for groceries. He thought I could do with my walker and practised walking with me. He also demonstrated the full ROM of my hips which shocked me cause I didn't think it was possible to open that wide especially so soon after surgery. He wants me to work on my gait so I can stop limping before my next appointment with him. He also showed me my hips on x-ray which confirmed that a pretty complicated surgery had been performed. He was trained at the Mayo Clinic and I now know why all the ortho residents think of him as "as one of the best". I had known him before as an acquaintance but he has truly blown me away with his care.

 

[DeepBreath]

@Akshia, it sounds like your recovery is going great! How wonderful that your OS visited you at home. That's unheard of these days.
Also, I'm glad your ROM is good. That is such a fantastic feeling, isn't it?
Take good care of yourself and keep rocking that recovery!

 

[Akshia]

Day 11: All continues to go well on the healing front. Unexpectedly, had to do some cooking and hosting on Thanksgiving when our friend had to cancel thanksgiving at her house because her daughter became ill that day. I couldn't think of not celebrating Thanksgiving esp for the kids so invited all the other friends, sent the husband for groceries and got cracking Thursday. Had just returned from the hospital Monday. My other friend also cooked and between all the food we ended up preparing, we could have fed another dozen people. I know anesthesia does a number on people but I had a serious high that whole week. I needed one Norco for the whole day's events and husband cleaned up as I went to bed. Felt embarrassed the next day when our party was posted on Facebook by another friend. My surgeon would have seen it and I'm not sure what he thought. Partying it down on post op day 6. I was very careful and did not break precautions. Even the next day I felt fine but did rest more. Life has essentially gone back to normal for me except for the precautions I follow. I got 2 home PT sessions last week and 2 this week and will be discharged from PT this week. No more that I can't do on my own. I do need to work on gait but can do that on my own. I don't push to do all that PT shows me because I feel that doing the walking and small household chores are enough for now. I have been cleared to drive as of yesterday by my OS but he wants me to use caution, practice a bit and avoid his neighborhood. My first follow up appt with him is next week. I continue on Tylenol 500mg twice a day and Asa 325 mg twice a day for DVT prophylaxis. I don't use anything to walk now but gait is better with the cane which I do use here and there. I know I'm still in the early stages of healing and the period to follow can be the most dangerous because you feel better and are more prone to do things that can get you in trouble. That is what I continue to say in the back of my head as I continue to heal.

 

[DeepBreath]

I have been cleared to drive as of yesterday by my OS but he wants me to use caution, practice a bit and avoid his neighborhood.

Too funny, @Akshia.
Holy Shamolie about you cooking and hosting just 6 days post op! I cannot even imagine that. I'm glad you were able to and that it didn't tire you out too much.
It sounds like your recovery is going great and I am so happy for you! Good thoughts flowing that it continues on.

 

[shiv01]

@Akshia wow! Fair play to you (as we say in Ireland)! I can't imagine doing anything much just yet (day 8), never mind hosting a major dinner.


RTHR 25 November 2015

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[GIMPY GAL]

Well look at you, girl! I am so glad that you are rocking this recovery!
Best of health!

 

[Akshia]

Thank you all, @DeepBreath, @shiv01, @GIMPY GAL. I have lived with chronic pain for a very long time and I cannot remember a time I haven't. It was just a constellation of things coming together in my life that made me consider surgery including the inability to travel which I love, inability to play with my kids like I was previously doing, rapid deterioration of my mobility and meeting the right surgeon at a random party who went out of his way to convince me that I needed to do this at this time. Since surgery, my hip pain, even right after surgery has been minimal compared to what I had put up with prior to surgery. I think that was I have been a bit more "active" after surgery. I had let my hip issues dictate so much in my life including the number of kids I had, the career I chose etc. but now feel like all those restrictions on my life that my hip problems caused may have come to an end. I'm just a bit sad that I didn't do this earlier but with all the things I needed to juggle including a busy professional career, kids, tight schedules, etc. this ended up being the time to do it. I have never been off work for more than 2 weeks in the last few years and just having some "me" time as I recover has been wonderful.