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THR Nov 06, 2012 - Kev's life as a hippie

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Kev's wife

Kev's wife

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Kevin had surgery this morning to replace his left hip. Lo and behold, we got the lucky draw of having surgery on the same day the hospital went live with a new computer system. After multiple delays, and cursing from doctors and nurses alike, Kev is in his room. He actually was very hungry and was able to eat a regular meal (this hospital's food is awesome!). The biggest challenge at the moment is getting his pain under control. After years of pain meds, they don't work as well as they would with most. I checked his ice pack and discovered one of the itsy bitsy ones that you might use for a bump on the noggin. Do they not realize that the surgical area is large? I can't wait to get him home where we have large ones.

I didn't get much time with the doctor. He was so far behind from the computer issues that he didn't get to talk to me until after he performed yet another surgery. By then, about all I got was "chondral defects" (yeah, we knew he had torn cartilage) and "let's see if this helps". Excuse me? You just put him through major surgery and you aren't sure it will help? **COUNTING TO TEN AND BREATHING DEEPLY** I hope to have a better conversation with him in the morning.

They don't think they're going to have him up walking tonight and don't foresee him going home before Friday. The sooner we can get out of here, the better.
 
Oh dear - but it can only get better! "Tomorrow is another day"!
 
KW,

Glad to see he's safely on the other side! You are such a guardian angel! Looking forward to hear about his recovery!

dede62
 
KW

Kev is fortunate to have such a wonderful advocate for him.. I am sure the OS will provide more information when he next comes to see Kev :)
 
Hi Kev's Wife.... How is Kev doing ?
 
Sorry for not replying sooner. I've been too busy chasing my husband around the house, trying to get him to quit doing so much. Yup, 72 hours as a hippie and he is ready to ditch the walker. Life got infinitely better once we got his pain under control. I'm amazed and I know he is too. He came home yesterday afternoonHis left leg is an inch longer than his right, but he's getting around that in the house by wearing a shoe on his good leg and nothing on the left. PT arrived this afternoon and was impressed. He's only worked with 7 or 8 people who had the anterior approach. Kev plans to cook up steaks tomorrow for a celebratory meal. I'm keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't overdo it. I can already hear Josephine cringing at all this activity.
 
Mmmmm! I will get in before Jo... slow and steady Kev :)
 
He's paying the price today for his behavior yesterday. I keep reminding him, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
 
We all try to push our boundaries :) I guess if we don't, we have no idea where the boundary is.
 
Needless to say, after a day of activity, Kevin spent Saturday on the couch either sleeping or moaning in pain. It took all day to get somewhat ahead of the pain (5 is still the lowest it's been since surgery and long before surgery). He was more active today but less so than Friday although he did manage to cook some steaks. A friend of his came to visit while I ran out and took some me time. My daughter and future son-in-law have been over almost every day to cook dinner. I'm very grateful! Kevin is walking primarily with a cane now although I'm sure he'll use the walker if he starts walking outside. We'll see what the therapist says when he comes to visit on Tuesday.
 
So what was the verdict from the therapist? And how is Kev doing now? Please don't let him walk with lifts (or one shoe on; one shoe off). Feeling like you have one leg longer is very common and it's important to walk normally without lifts so that the pelvis can adjust to its new correct positioning. If he uses a lift, that won't happen!!

It's perfectly okay to switch from a walker to a cane, but be sure he is walking with a normal gait and not limping with whatever aid (or no aid) he's using. Trying to rush it and limping around puts additional stress on a body that's trying to heal itself and learn normal movements and gait. Smooth muscle movements rather than jerky ones (limping) are the way to go.

It does sound like you have your hands full with a real go-getter of a patient. I hope you can keep him slowed down somewhat. It takes time to heal.
 
The therapist thinks he is doing great. They walked outside on Tuesday and Kevin is now doing the walk about twice daily. He uses the cane when he's outside but walks well without it. He limps far less now than before surgery. We got his pain meds changed and now it ranges from 3-4 up to 5-6 at it's worst. Sharp zaps which we assume are nerves. The only bad thing is that he still has testicular pain. We really hoped this would go away with the surgery.

He has decided that he is ready to return to all his activities from before surgery: kitty litter, laundry, cooking. You can't keep a good man down! I told some friends that the first few days that I worked from home were to protect Kev; these remaining days are to protect everyone else. I know that the moment I return to work (Monday), he is going to jump in his Camaro for a drive. Don't worry....he knows when it's time to rest. He hits the couch and is swarmed by cats. He has tried sleeping in the bed, but he finds the couch more comfortable these days. I also know that he worries about waking me up with his restlessness.

Kev was originally worried about having the second hip done 8 weeks after the first, but he's now looking forward to it. It would be nice to get this behind him and get on with his life.
 
Kev, sounds like you're doing great and trying to refrain from doing too much. Watch the lifting though...
 
Kev had his 2-week post op visit this past Wednesday and the doctor and his PA's were thrilled that we was walking without aids, and the only limp due to the leg length discrepancy. They have scheduled the next replacement for January 22nd. I tried to get them to slip me a prescription for a sedative so that I could knock him out when he gets too ambitious....which is daily. He simply can't sit still and feels obligated to do everything around the house. In his words, "You're working like crazy and I'm just sitting here like a slug." ARGH. I try to stay a step ahead of him so that he does less, but there is no way of stopping him when I'm at work. This past Monday, before noon, he had already shopped at Sam's, Petsmart, and the grocery store, plus changed the kitty litter. Now do you understand why I want to give him sedatives?????
 
Just can't keep a good man down :)
 
KW, I'm sure he has learned some of his boundaries by now. You know, if the doctor gave you the script for the sedatives and you can't get Kev to take it, you could always do so. Just kidding, but you know what I mean....the men in our life. Can't live with 'em, can't kill them. They seem to hit both ends of the spectrum when it comes to being sick or hurt. Either they are complete babies about it, or they get a superman complex and think they can do anything. My husband had what I call a "poke and peek" (had his knee scoped to look around) on his knee. You would have thought they amputated the darn thing the way he hobbled around the house. He actually had the nerve to ask me to get him a urinal so he didn't have to get out of bed. I refused. This guy is a career Marine for God's sake! I had the opposite issue with him than you do with your husband. I threatened to call his doctor to complain about his level of inactivity. This did the trick and got him up and moving. You could always threaten to tell on yours.

Hang in there!
Tammy
 
We're back! Kevin had his RTHR on Jan 22, 2013. Although the least painful before surgery, it was a tougher recovery. Apparently his bones are TOO strong, requiring them to beat the rod into his leg. Absolute craziness. He's not had a single pain free day with average pain in the 4-5 range but mainly the right side. He has a spot on the outside of his hip that is painful to the touch, then another spot above his right knee and right ankle. They did xrays yesterday and found bone spurs on the right hip. Nothing was found for the other two spots. They gave him a shot of cortisone in the office and he had some relief. It will be interesting to see how he is today. In a prior appointment, they saw arthritis in the right knee and the likelihood of him getting the right hip replaced is high but we're hoping that we're talking a few years away yet. Is there a term for someone who has all four lower body joints replaced? Or should we stick with gimp?

For those keeping track, the RTHR was Kevin's 5th surgery since we moved to North Carolina in 2007. I, on the other hand, just went through a spinal fusion (ALIF L4/L5) bringing my NC total to 6 surgeries. And we wonder why we're broke.

When I woke from my recent surgery, I was on a Fentanyl pump. That is good stuff! There were many times when they walked in the room to check on me and I had zero pain. I think that just made Kevin hurt more. Are doctors started to use Fentanyl now more than Morphine? And if not, why not. I know that it's highly addictive, but if keep to post-op pain pump use, you should never be on it long enough for it to be an issue.
 
Kev's wife... My you are going through a tough time of life both of you.. Is there any connection to where you live?

Good to hear from you, but would rather hear better news :)
 
There shouldn't be any connection to our location but I feel like we're jinxed. Persuaded my family to move across the country for an awesome job .... not so awesome after all. We are thinking of moving back to be closer to our family and friends, but that takes a lot of effort. First I need to find a job in another state. But we're together, and we're happy, so we just take our lumps.

Will have to keep reading through all of the posts from the last few months to get caught up on everyone.
 
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