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THR Newbie needing help!

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octopus thanks for replying, it is great having someone else of the same age and country as there sure are difference around the world. I went private and strangely enough the follow up is nothing like public. My insurance covers 6 post op physio appointment and when I mentioned it to my surgeon, who is apparently the top dog in Christchurch, he said just keep walking and living life, that's all you need. Josephine has linked me some exercised which I will start doing at home. You just start second guessing things when you read what others are doing, drugs, physio etc......didn't even get me some damn drugs!!! Hahahaha. Great to hear that you were still using a crutch at my stage and also couldn't reach you tippy toes etc, just reassuring so thanks for that. I don't have an x ray for 12 mths but do have another appointment at 3. Keep on touch and let me know how you get own ad good luck with that razor!
 
My surgeon is a great fan of walking... Loved it when I told him, hubby and I had taken up Nordic Walking ... Hips are made for walking [Bonesmart.org] Newbie needing help!
 
If your insurance covers physio, I'd do that as well. Although the exercises Josephine linked you to will help and give you some guide on how you are progressing in the coming weeks. I must admit I found the lack of information in the public system pre surgery very frustrating, thankfully I'd found Bonesmart. About two weeks before my original surgery date I was given a small booklet about THR and a wee chat with a nurse. There is a joint relacement class run once a month, but there's not enough places for everyone, so I didn't do that either. But I felt really well prepared, thanks to Bonesmart. I have my surgeons appt next Friday and will have an X-ray then, I hope things are going well!
 
kiwigirl - glad I found your thread. Interesting reading through as you are 5 weeks ahead of me and I have noticed so many of the same differences. My OS had me in for 5 nights (private), physio was hopeless and they won't send you home on narcotics as a general rule - paracetamol and NSAIDS only.

Glad to hear you are going so well. I had my staples removed today and look forward to going swimming in a few weeks - I love the water and no doubt it is great for recovery.

keep posting!
 
Hey beckylou ...I have just hit follow next to your name but have no idea what it does lol. Maybe when you post I get notified...time will tell. I am so interested in the recovery etc of fellow kiwis and similar ages also. I hit a definite plateau last week, week 6 which left me feeling a little frustrated. This week it is full steam ahead and I feel absolutely amazing. This op has given me such a lift and I realise how limited and painful life had become! I cannot rave enough about the pool. I was given two rather useless physio exercises when I left hospital and nothing else. Having done a lot of reading and listening to some very experienced people on here I am not actually concerned about that. My recovery is going so so well and sounds like physio might be pretty painful.... I do a lot of stretching in the pool and then go to the shallow kiddies pool and do heaps of walking with the water giving me resistance. Haha hope that is ok. How are you getting on? The other thing I have restarted is icing, I ice each night just while I sit watching a bit of tv and feel a little sore. Take care x
 
Hi Kiwigirl, when you follow someone, anything they post will appear on your news feed. You can find this if you click on your username at the top of the page.

It's great that you are doing so well. Keep up the good work, but remember to rest a bit more than you think you need to.

I am 12 weeks and am at a pleateu too. I just had my 12 week check up today and the surgeon said everything looks good, and it's normal to feel a bit worse (which is where I'm at), but it will get better. Still early days.
 
Ok so I am feeling a bit sorry for myself :( and that takes a bit as I am a bit of a Pollyanna lol. I am now a few days short of 8 weeks and more sore than I have been for weeks. I am very sore for my first dozen or so steps, once I get going things are better but still worse than weeks ago. Someone please just tell me this is normal haha. I took a couple of panadol yesterday and am about to do the same now, I am a bit naughty I know but surely at nearly 8 weeks I shouldn't still be taking anything? I am also going to have to use my crutch today as I have to go out and that seems like a massive step backwards. It has been a long weekend her in NZ so I haven't been to the pool or done a lot of walking as my children were off school so maybe it is just the lack of movement.....or.....maybe it isn't anything and it is 2 steps forwards 1 step back. Sorry if this is a bit whingey. Hopefully things will be back on track soon x

octopus thanks for helping me with the newsfeed info, I didn't know about that bar up top...must be blind and sore lol so that has made things much easier for me, thanks. Pleased to hear how well your 12 week check went, yay!
 
Oh my.....I am blushing now :blush: Just read through some other posts and realise I need to pull my head in! Gosh, it is such early days still and I guess a little like other members I have people commenting when they see me use my crutch like I should be running half marathons by now. I need to remember to listen to my body and go at my pace....not someone's that hasn't had a hip replacement.
 
You are normal!! :) I had a pretty much perfect week about week 8, but then it went downhill from there. It hasn't got any sorer but I limp for about 30 seconds or maybe a minute after sitting, but come right after that. One of the first things I said to the surgeon was "will it get better????" He's assured me that it will. Increased pain seems to be common around this stage. It's where we start to feel better and so increase our activity. I've been tempted in the last few weeks to use my crutch again, but seem to manage ok. I think I still used one crutch until about week 8.
 
kiwigirl whinge away ! (I love that word, whinge.... it's so much more descriptive than just "whine") I think you will be fine, but as we are all learning en masse, if we overdo it we hurt. And you know what Josephine would say about your panadol-- it's pain! Medicate it! Eight weeks is early days yet! (etc :) )
Both of you have given me a hint at what to expect in 6 weeks-- thank you! :)
 
kiwigirl , I agree with zauberflöte, whinge away! You're definitely in the right place to get the support you need. Plus, it gives me an idea what to expect in a few weeks :) (I'm four weeks post op today) because your level of activity/ recovery sounds quite similar to what I have experienced so far. I do hope you start to feel better!!
I was giggling at you and octopus 's earlier comments about shaving your legs. Being that it's summer here in Canada I came up with a solution to the problem and taped my razor to a long handled shoe horn. It's not nearly as effective as when I could bend down and do it, but it works well enough.
 
kiwigirl said:
Hello, this is my first post and I have been scanning this fab forum for the past 4 weeks. I had my left THR 4 weeks ago today and I am a 44 yr old female. I spent 3 night in hospital, I take an asprin each morning and Panadol (paracetamol). I am wondering if it is still normal and safe to be taking Panadol 6 hrly, not going over maximum dosage as 1 mth seems to be a looooong time. I have phoned my surgeons office but they were a little vague. I tried to only take it twice yesterday and today feel more sore than usual. I am on one crutch around the house, two crutches when out. I drove at 3 weeks and walk twice a day, 2k each trip. Just giving you a full overview, sorry if I have said too much. Oh and I am from New Zealand so you are all probably asleep....with lots of pillows. Hehe. Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...
Hi kiwigirl and welcome to bonesmart.
My husband had an LAHR May 8th and went back to work this last Monday.
He is a Structural Steel Fitter/Welder and Quarlity Control Engineer with a high pain threshold.
Everyone is different and the results are not the same for everyone and your body will tell you what's going
on and if you need more pain meds and if you are over doing it.
Granted my husband had Anterior hip replacement and that makes a world of difference in recovery.
If it hadn't been for the good lord telling me to go the e-mail Josephine had sent on Anterior hip replacement at the time I was trying to help my husband get set up for it,I would of never know about it and there was a doctor in our area that does it,he would of went to the doctor that the Veterans Adminastration was gong to send him to and it would of taken him forever to recover and he would of not been able to go back to work right away.
He is doing well but if I would of had to do this same surgery,it would of taken me allot longer to recover.
This forum is wonderful and they helped me when I had LTKR Three years ago and will have to have the Right
knee done hopefully this year and before I'm not able to have it done which might be next year the way the
new medical care is effecting Medicare in the U.S.A.
The is a wealth of information in the Library here and lots of people who have been through some of the same
things you might of been through that also can help.
This is a fantastic website and Josephine and the moderators are terrific.
Sorry this was long and if there is anything else I can help with,let me know.
I didn't go through the hip replacement like my hubby did but I learned allot from him going through it
and getting the information to help him.Morningstar LTKR June 14,2010 and hubby LAHR May 8th,2013

information on it
 
Kiwigirl, taking a couple panadol gives you a little pain relief for a few hours. Waiting for the next day and taking a couple more means you start from scratch...full pain level....and you get a little relief for a few hours. It's like pouring a quart of water onto a fire and thinking you'll actually put the fire out, when it really needs a bathtub full of water to fully squelch it. At two months out, with an increasing activity level, it's quite normal to still have pain. If you aren't going to medicate it effectively, you might as well not bother at all.

Effective pain relief requires a dose that is sufficient to be taken consistently First get the pain under control.....then very gradually start the tapering off process....stretching out a dose from four hours to six, eventually skipping a dose entirely, and monitoring how you do. That way you have quick control if pain returns. Many of us need to keep some degree of pain meds going for 3 to 6 months post-op; some even longer. There's no "rule" about this; the body does what the body does.

If panadol does the trick for you, that's great. Here's another option that Jo recommends if panadol (tylenol) by itself isn't quite enough:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/medications-tylenol-ibuprofen-cocktail.12217/

You are chasing after children! Give yourself a break.
Sharon
 
kiwigirl set backs in recovery is totally normal. I've already seen a bit of a pattern emerging for me I have really good days followed by total energy drain/stiffness. Take some panadol, ice and have a few easy days. Your body is doing a big job of healing!

sharonslp - that cocktail works a treat!

I am good but having a total low energy day today. I am not really sore except for some tenderness around my wound. I take panadol 3x a day and ibuprofen 2x a day and that has been working wonders. Back to icing today after a few days off.

I see your OS had you on aspirin. Mine didn't have me on any prophalactic thinners which makes me wonder at times.....
 
beckylou sharonslp morningstar octopus zauberflöte Limitless lemon. Thanks so much for replying to my whingey whinge! I am feeling so much better today. Slowed down a wee bit and got some extra rest and feel miles better. Hubbie works overseas so have been solo since week 2 and have to remind myself that I am not Wonder Woman and the housework police do not actually exist! Have just returned from the pool and have decided tomorrow will be rest day as the children are flat out this weekend which will mean extra running around. I also realise the the more I hop in and out of the car the sorer I am so will rest up ready for my taxi duties lol x
 
kiwigirl so glad things get way better when you slow down. I know the kids won't slow down for you, and neither will the taxi schedule (too bad none of them drives yet-- or do they??? LOL) but do what you can :) PS don't hop in and out the car, slide your way smooooothly out, save a pain! :)
morningstar nice to meet you! I had anterior also, but your husband much be Iron Man! My job involves sitting in a chair for hours at a time playing music, and I am not sure I could go back to even that at 3 1/2 weeks as your hubby did. I hope he will continue to heal well through his work. Prayers for both of you :)
beckylou up and down, up and down, yup! I learned from a major surgery at 37 that i would have one good day, one bad (pain and mood wise) but I was able to start jogging at about 2 weeks, and that really helped me. I don't have that luxury now LOL. So I rest alot to keep the balance on the "up" side. :)
 
zauberflöte.....I wish they drove! A couple of years off that unfortunately, although then will come the worry so I better not wish it away! Yes, you are so right, and once again it is another thing I try and do too quickly. Slow down, slow down....needs to be my mantra! I have a swivel thingie that I sit on and then swing myself around into the car.....quite a spectacle I can tell you!
 
Hi Kiwigirl. I had my anterior method RTHR May 14. Things have been great except for knee pain, which is keeping me on crutches. Some here have prompted me to increase my dosing of Acetominiphens which I am doing. Still, knee pain prevents me from walking without aid, or even with a cane.

Have you been advised that walking with crutches is good exercise? I can walk with my crutches without pain in my hip area and my knee, so, if its good for me, I want to start logging some more distance.

thanks Kiwigirl

Kay
 
hey Kay NY ! Welcome to BoneSmart :) You are only one week ahead of me, and beckylou too. I would definitely say up your meds, and say that on;y because we are advised here that pain is pain, medicate it!-- because if you are in pain you are producing stress hormones instead of healing. So if we are not in pain, we heal faster. I think many of us have more knee pain than hip pain post-op, too-- it can be a result of the bashing around you get during the surgery, and also like a delayed result of how bad our gait had become before. Does icing it help you? or heat? My knee is actually swollen, and i thought ice would make me scream, but no!-- it makes it feel much better :) I'm going to tag clifford149 , who told me he had more knee pain than hip pain, and treated the knee! He may have hints for you.
I don' know about crutches-- i wasn't given them.I know you have to be very careful with the traditional underarm crutches, as they can cut off your circulation. You know, if you're not taking an anticoagulant, you could call your OS about adding ibuprofen to the cocktail. Check in the library for this article about it. i was recently told by my primary care that I must only take 3000mg of tylenol per day. next day I heard from another patient of my OS, who was told to take up to 4000mg. Go figure!
 
Kay NY .... If I am right you are 3 weeks post op. I am a month ahead of you and no expert haha. I personally was still using a crutch until around 6 weeks when I dropped using them at home but still used one when out. I was back using one this weekend due yo pain but am now flying solo again! My surgeon and my GP both said walking was one of the best things I could do....so walk I did! I think you are definitely better to walk aided than stagger along, limping and swaying without any crutches. I am not sure if you have a long term problem with your knee or if it is recent, don't stress it by pushing yourself unaided. Personally I found a cane absolutely useless and couldn't see what good it was, gave it a go once or twice but found it of little help. Think I dropped to once crutch around 4 weeks? But can't quite remember.
 
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