Become an Insider

THR Onward, forward for NextStep

I moved back to my own bedroom yesterday, and am slowly restoring a little more "normal" as far as my surroundings. Routine is still far from normal, but that is expected only 9 days from surgery.
I was able to go for a walk to the end of my block with a neighbor this morning while temps were reasonable. Family doesn't want me navigating the front steps with the walker when alone, but to wait for assistance from friend or neighbors in lifting the walker from porch to ground. Thus the walks outside must currently wait for assistance or till I progress further down this healing path.
I'm so thankful for a neighbor who wants to help! She even included a few items for me in her grocery run today, and did a load of laundry so I'd not yet need to deal with basement stairs and a laundry load to bring up!
On another note, I may have tweaked my Achilles tendon yesterday on the good leg. It's a little touchy, off and on. So the adventure continues.
 
Hello @NextStep
Nice update for only nine days post op! Sorry to hear about your Achilles. Wondering if icing it will help? Possibly it’s a bit inflamed from tweaking it.

It sounds like your neighbor is a lovely caring friend. You’re lucky to have her close by and willing to help in these early days. Glad to read all is going well for you. I hope you have a peaceful evening and sleep well tonight. :yawn::sleep: Thanks for the update!
 
Fighting with increased pain and swelling since early this morning! I think maybe I've just joined the Over Did It Club. Time to ie down and elevate the leg. Again.
 
Wow, what a roller coaster. It seems I had three days where I was able to be up and more active than I'd expected, though not crazy. All was at home, but it was more than 5 to 10 minutes here and there. Then Friday's swelling hit with pain, before I even had breakfast. It turned into a day of primarily elevating, icing, resting...although I did go to a friend's to take up residence on her recliner for a couple of hours with feet elevated there too. It did help with cabin fever!
So mentally and emotionally it was a good decision. Physically, not so much. I got home, pain spiked worse than any time all week, I got NO sleep till after 6 a.m. today, and I ended up calling the on call doc concerning risk of possible clot. He ruled it out. No need for emergency room. Officially "you probably overdid it a few days, but these symptoms can come and go for several weeks at least."
Just what I wanted to hear. Or maybe not. Not easy to slow down enough!
 
@NextStep I have noted that quite a few people start “overdoing it” when they start feeling a little better, only to pay for it with increased pain and swelling. Since my LTHR on June 27 was my third replacement surgery in less than a year, I have learned to be patient with myself and not to think I have to be doing something most of the time. I have allowed myself to take it easy. I spend most of my time in my lift chair reclined and read and do things on my iPad Pro, watch TV, read, and talk on the telephone. I have learned it is important for me to do what is necessary for my care and that all the other things that I think need to be done can wait a few weeks. Things for my self care include walking as suggested in BoneSmart; icing and elevating; preparing my meals, most of which are microwaved Amy’s or other brands of frozen meals; going to the restroom as needed; and sleeping. I understand that it is difficult for some people to feel like they are not doing anything they consider to be productive for days and days. But allowing our bodies to recover from the traumatic surgery they have experienced, which also affects our emotional well-being, is productive. In my opinion, if we slow down and allow ourselves to recover, in the long run we will benefit from not pushing ourselves to recover. Slow and steady has become my motto.

My left THR was the day before yours. I still have swelling from my hip down through my ankle. In addition to sitting in my lift chair reclined, I spend some time each day on my Lounge Doctor and icing, both on and off the LD. I might have less swelling if I used the LD more and/or iced more, but I am not rushing myself. This is the time for my body to heal and recover, and I consider that to be the most important thing I can do right now.

I hope you will be patient with yourself during your healing and recovery, and know that you will feel better each day. It’s a slow process.
 
@wander03 I think for me, this surgery has such a wide range of paths for various patients, that I'm just trying to find how much is reasonable, and how much is too much. Maybe it is enough for now to stay flexible and when things surprise...offer grace to self and others.
 
Hi @NextStep I‘m sorry you’re having a rough time of it.
It sounds like you’ve landed in the ODIC. Thankfully your surgeon‘s office relieved your fear of a possible blood clot. I love wander03’s post above. She made some great points. It is so easy to over do it in these early days and weeks. Thankfully rest, ice and elevation usually helps ease the pain fairly quickly. I hope you find this to be true and allow yourself that time. Feel better soon!
 
Hi @NextStep I am here, catching up on your recovery thread. Congrats on your new hip.

Sometimes the pain and swelling combined together creates more pain.. I wonder if you would like to try some Lymphatic Drainage on yourself?

I found the best way to do it was to get comfortable with my legs elevated, just elevate to what feels right for you at your current stage of healing..

I will leave the MLD information for you. If nothing else, you may find that you sleep better afterwards.. at least I always did.

****
Take deep breaths.. deep, as in breathing in to a count of 3 or 4, whatever is best for you. hold it for another count of 3-4, then blow out completely, still using the count that's comfortable for you. A series of at least 6 of these could help get your excess swelling to move. To ensure you are taking proper deep breaths, place your hand on your naval and watch while taking in your breath, if doing this properly you should see your hand move up.

Then, as you slowly breath out, to the same count of either 3, 4 or 5 gently press down and slightly upwards with the palm of your hand.
Do this whenever you feel up to it during the day or night. The more supine that you can get in the recliner or bed, the more effective this can be.. you have lymph nodes located in your groin and sitting up too much can cause a restriction of the lymph flow.

You can, after the breathing, place your hands lightly on your upper thigh, right where the crease is in your groin and lightly stroke upwards towards your naval.
I did this quite a bit post op and while it takes a while for the body to wake up and respond, it will and it will help get the swelling moving.
The reason this can help is because many of our lymph nodes are located in our abdomen. Our breathing combined with moderate pressure over our naval can help to "prime" our lymph system.
****
 
@CricketHip I generally sleep well, but if I have a night when I have difficulty sleeping, I am going to try Lymphatic Drainage. I may try it at another time when it will be ok for me to go to sleep, just to see if I can do it successfully. I copied, pasted, and printed the post so that I will have it available. Thanks!
 
NextStep said:
elsewhere I'm hearing 'you have to push, to move through the pain or ligaments will freeze up and you will be sorry. These first 5-10 days you really have to move.' And my body craves rest.
Click to expand...
@NextStep , these are such early days, less than 2 weeks, you have to allow your muscles and ligaments to heal.
I qualified and worked as a PT for some years before changing professions, and I had a THR on 2 June.
My humble opinion is that you should NOT be pushing through pain now.
Rest, don't feel as if you need to compete with those who say they were dancing after one week or hiking 5 miles at the two week point.
Each hip recovery is different and at this point I would just concentrate on getting the swelling down by elevating and doing ankle pumps and tightening your quadriceps (thigh muscles) whilst icing in elevated position. (Also helps in preventing clots)
This should be relatively pain-free (of course it also depends on the approach and what muscles were cut).
Just REST and try to relax at this point. Only do gentle exercises (and a few minutes' walking every hour or so) during these initial weeks.
Slow and steady....

Oh and also remember to take your pain meds. Ask your doctor to increase or change if the ones prescribed are not doing much for you.
 
Thanks, @CricketHip . This info seems very much on target to me. Several times the only relief I could get from the pain induced by swelling, seemed to be with rubbing my legs in an upward direction in hopes it could reduce the e xcess fluid buildup. Thanks again.
 
"also remember to take your pain meds. Ask your doctor to increase or change if the ones prescribed are not doing much for you."

Well, when I needed a refill they moved me from Norco to Tramadol with Tylenol Xtra strength (alternating as needed). Most of the time I am living with pain at a 5 or 6 baseline. (You might recall I had a terrible triad elbow injury in February, surgery with radial head replacement mid-March. Sometimes the pain starts there or with migraine-but in the end pain is pain. )
 
Oh that is so sad. I remember well when I had a crush fracture of my elbow with all the hardware..the pain could be really rough.. that added to and compounding the hip sounds so lousy.. maybe call their office and make your case for more help. 5-6 pain doesn't sound right to me.
 
I'm thinking that's going to be an in person discussion directly with the OS, not via someone working off a standard chart, sitting on the phone in a cubicle. For now I work with what is.
 
NextStep said:
Officially "you probably overdid it a few days, but these symptoms can come and go for several weeks at least."
Click to expand...
The Dr. is probably right, but I'd have to question his several weeks part. From my real experience it's more like several months or longer. As others said it's a cycle of I feel good so I'll do more to I hurt and can't do anything. It's hard to break the cycle or accept that sitting, icing and resting is all we should do.
 
When I woke up this a.m., pain level for hip and leg was at a 2 or so! So what did I do? Bathroom and kitchen, then an hour and a half nap in the recliner with legs up, of course. Migraine...but minimal hip or leg pain.
Timing is good since the three friends who've been helping out are unavailable. One is out of town, one is sick and one is caregiver for a spouse who broke a bone with additional injuries.
Ok, time to figure out lunch.
 
Today I really tried to pay attention to signs of fatigue or discomfort when I was up. With about 10 minutes of moving around or even 2-3 hours in the recliner, I felt some fatigue and increasing discomfort. Later in the day even an hour or so sitting up would ramp up the discomfort level. I suspect the next few days I'll be trying to focus on those signs more attentively and see if I can avoid the severe pain spikes of Friday and Saturday.
 
Hope tomorrow will be an uneventful pain free day! Yes, its that moment when you know you probably should have just headed back to the recliner or bed 5 minutes sooner :oyvey:
 
@NextStep Everyone recovers in the own way and at their own rate. Please be patient with yourself and your recovery. I still feel fatigue sometimes, particularly if I did not sleep well and long the night before. I am still taking pain meds, drinking an Ensure every day because I do not get enough protein otherwise, and sleeping as long as I like when I don’t have something I am required to do. Saturday night I went to sleep about 2:00 AM. I got up to use the restroom a couple of times and had to answer the door about 9:50 AM, but otherwise I slept until about 1:05 PM. That’s 11 hours, mostly sleeping! I have felt great today. I won’t get nearly that much sleep tonight because I have to take a shower in the morning before my 1:00 PM physical therapy session, but I don’t generally sleep that long anyway. I think some people may feel think they should not sleep for extended periods of time, but while we are recovering, I think all rest is good rest. And the body heals while we sleep.

i hope you feel better this week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 1,054 (members: 4, guests: 1,050)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom