Become an Insider

THR Pain in hip after nine years.

Hi Debbie..Hope to day was a good day for you. It certainly is a roller coaster... right? I saw my Dr today for the 2 week post op. Walked in the office and really didn't use the cane. Geez saw the picture of the new hip. Very odd to look at lol..thinking is that in my body?? He said all looks very good. That was good to hear. I was hesitant on asking for more pain medication but he said to me Jo Anne you are not out of surgery that long..of course you may. I just find that they help me start the day and also helps with sleep. For the first two weeks my day started at 4 am..watching TV Ugh..lol Well I can tell you I am 10 days ahead of you and you will see that 10 days makes all the difference in the world. I also had thought hmm maybe I can return to work this coming Monday? I don't think so. Not for me anyway.You will see your mind starts to say I'm feeling good..until I drop something and have to reach for it..lol. I will see how this week and the next progress. I now have pain..but its different...very sore...but manageable. My appointment this morning was 9 am...I had imagined it was a work day...forget that...still can't really reach my foot and driving in the car was awful. My husband was flipping out the entire ride...I couldn't wear the seat belt...oh it was terrible. Give yourself a full two weeks and you will see a difference. Its only six days for you...Rest and Ice...and the TV remote that's all you need right now...Take it from this little cry baby..:boohoo:.lol...it does get better with each day...I think for me I was so wrapped up in looking forward to no more hip pain,,,I never really thought of the after surgery pain...lol but who does???? I never had any surgery...like this anyway...But Yah!!!!! that hip pain is history...and tha'ts what keeps me going. And yes...one day at a time.....you will see...:SUNsmile:
 
@chaseyboy Oh, Jo Anne, it is nice to hear from you! I am lying here right now thinking "oh, what have I done?" After a really wonderful day today (where I obviously did too much), I went in to take a shower. All was well, I washed my hair, cleaned my body, dried off, changed my bandage, then went to put my clothes on and OH MY. I got suddenly light headed. Sat on the edge of the bed, had to call my husband to help me, thought I would pass out. He helped me lay back on the bed, but I needed him to left my leg up so I was lying straight. Well, of course, it hurt, I moaned ow, ow, ow! and he freaked, thinking he had hurt me somehow. Geeze. So, there I am, lying naked on the bed, just trying to make the room stop spinning. What a sight. Anyway, I feel better now. I am back in my bed watching tv. Just took my nightly meds and I'm starting to feel somewhat normal again. I am hoping in 10 days, this will be a distant, funny memory. Please stay in touch. I love to hear from you. @glmrphy The MOM finally did the trick. I wondered if you had to continue to take a daily dose to keep things moving? I don't want to yo through that again! LOL!
 
@Dmcfad2 Glad to hear you are doing so good!! Listen to your body, it will definately let you know when you are attempting to do too much. Each day will continue to get better. Glad that the MOM worked for you, that was my answer as well. Follow the mantras, rest ice and elevate and all will be well!! Looking forward to hearing how you do!!
 
@Dmcfad2 , no I am just taking 2 doses of the stool softeners daily and that seems to do the trick for me. I'm curious about the showering, though... my doc told me I could shower as long as my bandage wasn't "filling up" with fluid. Then, when I got discharged, the nurse totally removed my bandages. Then Home Health nurse told me to wait until I see the doc (not till this tues)... said I couldnt get the incision wet (or VERY wet, her words). So I have been taking daily sponge baths. Have to say, I am jealous of the showering, lol! :wink: Is your bandage still on? I even thought about covering it in plastic wrap or something (it's totally exposed, looks good, but not covered)
 
@Dmcfad2 Wow you are doing a lot early on, you.....
Glad you had a shower, though; I know that would make me feel better. :)
One day at a time....
 
@glmrphy Yes, my bandage is still on, I change it daily. I started that at post op day 5. When I shower, I completely cover it with plastic. I can't get it wet, so I am very careful to make sure it stays dry.
I woke up this morning feeling very good. And the best news is that my pain is definitely diminishing. I have gone from Percocet 10 (which I hate!) to Norco 10 every 4 hours and it seems to be working. Yay! I made myself coffee this morning. My hip is getting stronger. I can put full weight on it. Things are looking up!
 
I used Glad Cling Wrap on my incision for the first several showers and that worked pretty well to keep the dressing dry. The worst part about the shower for me was having to have my husband dry my feet and between my toes. He made such a big deal about being grossed out about my toes. I got my revenge a few days later by making him shave my legs (with electric razor) and clipping my toenails.:giggle: We wives have to have our fun now and then!
 
post op day 7 Well, one week down! It's been a journey. Today has been a good day. Home health pt came today. We did some exercises, I walked around a bit and she assessed me. She said I am doing fantastic. After she left, I was quite tired and I could feel my hip getting sore and stiffening up. I had stepped down to Norco 10 for my last 4 doses, but decided to go back to percocet 10 to get my pain back under control. I took a 2 hour nap. Tonight I have taken my shower and had dinner and am sitting on the couch watching some TV. I am feeling very good. I have a lot of tightness in my quad. The difference now is that when I stretch it, there is NO MORE PAIN! It is just a good stretch that I know will continue to get better and better and I can tell I will be getting ROM back in that hip. It makes me very happy. If you are reading this pre-op and feeling scared or worried, I can only say that my experience has been very favorable. I know I have a long way to go. Energy drain is my biggest problem right now. I don't want to do too much and when I am more active, my hip lets me know! But, I am amazed that it has only been one week. God is good.
 
Great report there Debbie! Yay!
Good to hear about the ROM coming back; I was wondering how that would occur.
Hope I get it , too.
 
HI @Dmcfad2 Sounds like you are doing great! I see you had loss of ROM in your hip. I worry about my loss of ROM. I was disturbed to see the last time it was checked at surgeon's office that it was only 70 or 80 degrees. I literally can't believe how fast it got that bad. I try to get my husband to push my leg toward my chest and hope to stretch it and it just won't budge! I find myself worrying as surgery gets closer that my surgeon won't even be able to do the surgery properly or something awful. I can't imagine how I can regain my ROM after surgery at this point. How bad was your ROM before surgery?
 
@younghippie I had the same problem with lack of ROM. I had not been able to put on socks and shoes for almost 2 years. I will be 6 weeks post op this coming Tuesday and I can put them on now without a problem. I could not rotate my hip externally at all and now it is as easy as breathing. I know everyone is different at how long it takes to be able to do things but as far as I know, eventually everyone regains ROM.
 
@mystikfairy61 Thank you so much! I needed to hear that, as I've been worrying a lot about it. I haven't been able to put socks or shoes on for almost 4 years and have recently lost the external rotation you are talking about. Glad to know it is possible to get that back. Thank you!
 
@younghippie You are so welcome!! You also have about a 15 year age advantage as well so who knows, it may be easier for you than it was for me!!
 
@younghippie My ROM before surgery was horrible. While I could bend over to put on socks and shoes (I would bed at the waist and reach down to do it......I couldn't do it like sitting on a chair and bringing my knee towards my chest), the worst for me was external/internal rotation. I couldn't cross my legs. I couldn't sit on anything where I had to spread my legs. I remember riding on the back of our Vespa about 3 years ago. I was on it about 45 minutes and it hurt my outer hip the whole time. I could hardly get off the thing, my hip was killing me and I could barely walk for hours afterwards. That was the last time I did that! And I have slowly gotten worse over the years. I also have very tight quads from kind of bending forward and limping a little when I walk because it would hurt the front of my thigh to stand up straight and tall. So, when I went in for surgery last week, I couldn't do the exercise you are talking about or stand and reach behind to pull my leg up for a quad stretch. I couldn't reach my foot. This was all related to the pain I have had in my hip for over 13 years now. It just progressively got worse, but really accelerated in the last 2 years. So, now that I have had this surgery......I noticed yesterday when I was walking and concentrating on standing up straight and tall that I didn't feel that pain anymore in my quad. It still was a challenge to stretch, but it wasn't painful. It made me remember what it feels like to improve your range of motion by gentle stretching. I can just tell that I am going to be able to improve this range of motion. It's really the main reason I had this surgery, because I wasn't in day to day horrible pain. I had learned to compensate and probably could have gone on that way for a long time. But, I wasn't right, my gait was off, my right hip was starting to hurt, my lower back was giving me some grief, you get the picture. I think you will be pleasantly surprised about your ROM coming back! Good luck :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
@Dmcfad2 Oh my, I wouldn't have even been able to try to ride a motorcycle. So glad you are doing so great now!! You'll be riding again before you know it!!
 
Post op day 8 I realized something this morning, so I wanted to write it down while it is fresh in my mind. I just finished doing my little exercises they send you home with and the improvement is incredible. I am able to do the side leg slide (external rotation) without pain. It has been years since I have been able to do that. Every day I go just a teeny bit wider. It filled me with intense gratitude and joy. As I've noted before, my quads are my biggest challenge, but every day is a bit of improvement. I look forward to the day where there is minimal soreness there.
Another thing to note: I get a little emotional in the late evening before bed. For instance, I will try to get up to go to the bathroom and it will be so much more of a struggle than it had been all day. And then I will get all teary. It only lasts for a moment. It's like, "Geeze, I can't even get off the darn couch!" I know it is because I am tired and frustrated. By morning, I am fine again and quite optimistic. Just an interesting observation....
 
@Dmcfad2 and @mystikfairy61 Thanks for the encouragement and info! I will stop worrying about my ROM. It sounds like you both were in similar situations as me. So, it sounds like I have a lot to look forward to. Thanks!

Hope you both continue to recover more and more each day. You are doing great!:)
 
@Dmcfad2....Hello you sound really great girl,,,see I told you...one day at a time. Those little weepy times I had a lot the first week and into the 2nd.:boohoo:.I think its a combo of the drugs in the hospital now leaving your body and the pain medication to. I think they play a big role in the tears...Think of all we have gone through. Its trauma to our body. All those emotions before and after the surgery, not sleeping good was a biggie for me. I think your emotions just boil over. I know the first week I was so sad and depressed...having many pity parties.. thinking what have I done???.but it seemed to pass. Today I took a ride with my daughter. Woo Hoo the dollar store lol. I felt fine but half way through the store it was very hard to walk..I could but it hurt. So even though I feel better,,,though very very sore I have ways to go to get back to the old me. Keep up the good work Debbie...Just keep reminding yourself>>>>NO HIP PAIN!!!!!:yes!:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 560 (members: 2, guests: 558)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom