Guest viewing is limited

Bilateral THR Questions for the pros.

Status
Not open for further replies.
So pleased to hear all went well. Just want to say...take it easy! I'm 9 days in and feel progressing well, but not ready for 'the real world 24 hours a day living'...please rest and take it slowly!
 
Congratulations @catdemar! Super - you've done it. And so fit already considering the fact that you had bilateral surgery. My op date is on April 20. I'll see what it'll be like. Keep up the good work and do keep us up-to-date.
Best wishes from Constanze
 
Catdemar, good to hear from you on your journey with surgery and hospital days & now being home!!
With percocet, try taking with food, toast, yogurt, chicken noodle soup...

Your progress at home can be shared with good rest and quality sleep, good tlc wake time, the 3-4 hours was my routine after 4 nights in hospital, but when I got home on Day 6 I was really doing catch-up with zzzzzz.

Glad you are letting go of thinking about work...R & R #1, you'll be amazing how well Rest & Recovery (including stretches, walking) and more R rest works as you body heals from the surgery. :sleeep:

Understand your restrictions re: meds/e-mails...that can be by-passed with no problem, please get all the support you need here with your Rainbow Hipsters, okay?!!

Wishing you good movement and healing for both of your hips and pacing with what you are able to do, and when you can't - - it just means you need more time and that's all. Bi-lateral, both hips is a learning for me, mine were ten years apart.

I admire your journey, bi-laterally and glad you are understanding the path your body needs to recover !!
:flwrysmile:
 
catdemar said:
I don't have to Even think about work until next Friday.
Click to expand...
Woah, @catdemar! 10 days post double new hips and you have to work next week? It must be your youth, to be able to think of doing that, what a girl!
:catdance:

I think your thread might need moving to the recovery area, I was looking for you there but only found you on others? Maybe @Jaycey can help?

I know what you mean about staying away from the emails though - every time I sit down at my keyboard it is too long really - but everyone's stories are so interesting!! Going through a double THR I cannot imagine - but it sounds as though you have everything under control anyway - saying that, I am finding that every day is different - how about you?
 
@catdemar I moved your thread to the post op area and changed the thread title. Let me know if you want a different title.
 
Hi @catdemar - I thought you might like to get a snapshot of where you are in the process of healing.

The following is a link to an article which provides the current science regarding the healing beneath and around the implant and the medically acknowledged approximate timeframes for our bodies healing phases and processes.

Healing Phases & Nutrition

Nutrition plays a huge part in surgical recovery, in fact it is one of the 'forgotten topics' of recovery..

This second link is to other nutritional articles which you may find interesting, including one relating to bone health.

Nutritional advice for pre op and recovery

This third link refers to my ongoing research..

nutritional-snippets-did-you-know
 
@Lauren Spin Trainer,
I'm doing surprisingly well. Left leg is better than right (real tight and sore, more swollen) but doing well. I went to post op check up yesterday and doc was happy to hear my stories of moving furniture and pruning trees, but said anything but ladders :)
I'm not doing much just moving around the house here and taking FULL ADVANTAGE of this time to relax....maybe a little too much. 13 days post op today and feel for the most part really good. Pain meds about every 6 hours. I guess I would have more pain if I didn't take those but boy to they take away the pain as well as the motivation to get up and move. LOL.
Looking forward to PT next week. I need a push.
I did get unbelievably tired yesterday. Took a shower, went to the city, had lunch with hubby and friend then to dr. Appointment.. I couldn't keep my eyes open after that. But guess par for the coarse. Body knows what it needs.




Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
 
@catdemar It's wonderful to hear that you are doing so well! And yes the sudden attacks of fatigue are par for the course and will go away eventually :) I too had one leg that was slower to get back to normal functioning and that was more swollen and stiff than the other one .... but it caught up fairly quickly.
 
@catdemar I am so pleased to hear of your recovery! I have been having a bad pain week and can't wait for June 2. I guess I forgot how bad my pain was prior to my cortisone shots. What is the status of driving for you? You said about beginning to work again. Are you? I know everyone is different, but since we are about the same age and getting anterior bilateral THR, I feel you are a much appreciated glimpse into my future!
 
@catdemar Hi, I hope you are having a great time getting better each day. I smile everyday because i can do more things without the pain.
 
I don't want to be a cry baby but have a question for you Pros. I am 4 weeks post op and was feeling pretty good and getting around, doing work around the house and garden, PT and went back to work(from home). but up until I tried to stop my meds over the last 3 days I can barley walk. I stopped them by slowly taking 1/2 every 6-8 hours than just 1/2 twice a day, but still Stiff and sore. I don't want to take the pain meds anymore but tylonol doesn't work. I have both my hips done on same day. I thought I would get better not worse. I know I should be patient but feeling more sourness now than before surgery. I ice all the time elevate, stretch. Maybe I'm doing to much but from what I've read here not really doing much more than most. I had anterior approach. Any words of wisdom or similar issues that resolved themselves?




Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
 
Hello @catdemar, Im 6 weeks post op from a BTHR tomorrow, and doing well. Im only 34 however, so you have a few years on me, and Im certainly not a pro! There are a few things Im puzzled about at 6 weeks, such as I dont have a hope on hell of picking anything up off the ground yet, but I certainly don't have pain at all UNLESS I try and do too much. I run a small business so I couldn't really take time off work, indeed I was taking calls an hour after I woke up! Anyway without knowing how much you are doing, I would suggest gardening is off the menu at only 4 weeks. Rest rest and more rest, accompanied with PT! I had posterior, so cant say anything about anterior. Posterior should also be called the Sore Bum approach! I haven't taken any meds at all for 3 weeks, however Im a bit anti meds I think, I reckon Ive taken more meds after my op than in the previous 34 years!
All the best and keep resting!
 
catdemar said:
I can barley walk. I stopped them by slowly taking 1/2 every 6-8 hours than just 1/2 twice a day, but still Stiff and sore.
Click to expand...
@catdemar ,
Your hip is letting you know you stopped the pain meds to early, and you are doing too much with working around the house and gardening. You can barely walk, and are stiff and sore, all are forms of pain. You probably don't need the same dose you took right after your BTHR, but you may need more than just tylenol. Take a few days to rest and see what happens. The walking around the house, etc is plenty of activity right now.
Let your hips heal, good pain control and rest early on promote healing, you have plenty of time to be active later,
 
I agree with Pumpkln. Moving furniture and trimming trees? You were likely able to do that because you had pain meds, not because you were healed enough to do that kind of activity. You have had a very major surgery. I know doctors and other patients will sometimes say that with the anterior approach you're back to normal in no time flat. That can be true for a few folks. But when it's not the case....like you're experiencing....and you have pain, it's a signal from your body that you're overdoing it.

The best thing to do right now is to scale back your life activities, home chores, errands and any therapy or exercises you're doing. Get back on some type of schedule for pain meds that works for you. Once you're feeling better, don't jump right back into work and home activity. Instead, increase the activity slowly over several weeks and decrease meds as you no longer feel pain. There is no time schedule for healing other than what your body tells you it needs.

You may notice that I have merged your two threads. We like to keep our members' recovery posts all in a single thread. That way it's easy for us to go back and read your history before responding to a question or concern. In addition, the thread becomes a journal of your recovery for those who come along later and want to read about you. So, please post in this thread from now on when you want to give an update or ask a question. If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can change it by using the Thread Tools button at the top right of your screen or just post what you want here and we'll get it changed for you.
 
Hope you're feeling better soon. Recovery can be a real roller coaster ride and it's sometimes very difficult to find that fine line between activity and rest. But you'll get there!!!
 
I noticed you do not have the post op reading.

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?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Staff online

Members online

Total: 1,383 (members: 3, guests: 1,380)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom