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THR Readysetgo Recovery

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@Readysetgo, it's interesting how our levels (BP, iron, blood count) gets all wonky after surgery. I have had high BP for years (on medicine for it), but after both surgeries it was quite low. I don't know about possible anemia, but I was a bit lightheaded for a few weeks both times.
It's worth seeing how the prescription iron works for you. I think upping it in your diet like you're doing is a terrific idea. Nuts are supposed to be high in iron as well.
I am so glad that your sciatic pain is feeling better. The issue with the bone spurs, added trauma, and swelling sure make sense as far as that pain goes.
Take good care of yourself, friend! :)
 
Oh wow @Readysetgo , I'm catching up on your progress once again. I saw that you are icing all the time. With #1 I don't think I was ever without my ice mat. When I would wake up in the night and find my pad/mat all warm and liquid, I'd go to the freezer and pull out a fresh one. I had swelling on #1. It was mostly all around my knee and if I sat for a long time it seemed to pool around the top area of the knee and was visible. I still can push around the knee and feel sensitivity. I'm still fairly numb down the side of that leg.

Interesting about the bone spurs. Did the OS tell you before surgery that he saw bone spurs? My OS doesn't converse much either. I've asked him things before and he moves on and kinda ignores me. I told him about my knee problem with #1 and mentioned that I hoped it wasn't something that would cause trouble later or that was going to be felt again with #2 and he just shrugged. He did tell me all about his dog and the hip problems his dog was having. I have a big dog with hip dysplasia and somehow it came up that I had been to the vet for laser treatment for his joints. OS seemed really interested in talking about the dogs and their treatment and not so much mine. :doh:

Is it good that the PT is working both hips now? I keep thinking I should do more exercises and I talk myself out of doing much. I am walking every day and my old back pain has returned. I thought it was completely gone after op #1. It felt so good to not even think about back pain. I think it must be the walking and the uneven gait and favoring of the left leg now. (There was a crooked woman, and she walked a crooked mile - that must be what I look like)

Got my reminder call for my pre-op next Monday. They asked me all the same questions as before. I will have the same surgeon. It is interesting to wonder what it would be like to have a different one. I'm hoping my guy remembers what he did before.

Keep on keeping on. I wonder if healing is the same or if it is a bit rougher because your body has gone through so much recently. It has to be a drain and take a toll somehow. Low blood, low energy, swelling. You've been through major surgery 2x in a very short period of time. REST your bones girl. --julie
 
Day 12 Hip #2 Recovery

The sciatic type pain has subsided a lot. Yay! - that was a bit scarey at first. I have much less swelling and pain now - it feels more like the first week with Hip #1. Thank you @Jaycey for the Diclofenac suggestion! It definitely made a difference in decreasing the pain! I had to chase it down - my GP was out of town so they sent it to my husband's GP to fill with some of the other meds for me. And he forgot to fill the Diclofenac, and then when reminded, he mistakenly sent it to the hospital instead of my local pharmacy. Finally I got hold of it. I always take it with food (all my meds actually) and have had no side effects at all. I wish my OS had prescribed it earlier when I had requested it. Anyway, thanks again @Jaycey!

@DeepBreath - I think the wonky blood levels have to do with blood loss during surgery and thus low blood volume. Nobody said this to me per se but after Hip #2 surgery I had that oxygen thingy in my nose the first day and IV for 3 days, which I didn't have after Hip #1. Plus I was prescribed the iron pills and I saw my low red blood counts online. I guess especially after 2 surgeries like us, we just lost more blood...? By the way, that IV really felt like the chains of Jacob Marley after awhile, accompanying me everywhere - whether to pee or take a shuffle down the hall.
So far the iron pills are okay. I take the senna just in case. Also still eating the iron rich foods. I read that it's best to avoid caffeine, eggs and dairy within an hour or 2 of eating those and that Vitamin C helps with iron absorption.
Thanks for your kind thoughts and encouragement!

Hi @Squirrellymom! Yes, like you I am the 24/7 ice queen. Doing the nightly freezer run to get fresh ice... I'm sorry you still have numbness down the side of your leg. I hope that disappears eventually.
My OS told me about the bone spurs after the surgery, not before. I'm not sure if you can see those on x-rays, but I wouldn't know because both surgeons said diddly squat about my x-rays to me. (Uh-oh, think I just channeled my long gone beloved Texan grandma with the "diddly squat".)
Guess we both have shrugging surgeons. Hope you get more out of yours at your pre-op!
PT has really only been working the Hip #2 so far. Still early stages and gentle exercises. Hip #1 feels very good. The various pains I started having when becoming more active and probably compensating before Hip #2 surgery have gone away!
I'm feeling stronger now with the low blood pressure improving and less pain. I think the accumulative blood loss made me weaker after Hip #2. I heard it can take awhile to build the blood back up to normal.
I am so excited for your Hip #2! I hope you get that wonderful surge of relief that I did when I woke up after surgery! And yes, I am resting, resting, resting these days....

@Cynthia777- Thanks for checking in. I am excited for your Hip #2 as well! Hoping your April date is a clear GO!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend to the max! And @Cynthia777, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow basking in the warm California sunshine while it dumps one last snowfall on Southern New England! Happy Spring to all! :flwrysmile:
 
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Hi @Readysetgo, Wow...you sound so much better! I'm glad to hear it. That's a relief. That's good news about your blood pressure. It seems like after the first couple of weeks, many of us see a big improvement. Keep up the great work!
 
Hi @Readysetgo I'm so happy to hear the sciatic pain has subsided and your blood pressure is returning to normal - whew, that's got to be a relief. I agree with what you said about more blood loss because of two surgeries. I hadn't thought about that before but that makes perfect sense.

I can't believe you are getting snow this late, wow, one last snowfall before Spring I guess. We have gotten a cold front here as well - no snow in the forecast but it's supposed to dip down into the 30s tonight which is really cold for us....it's only supposed to last a day or two which is good because our heater is making a terrible sound and I don't want to use it until I can get a repairman out to look at it, so I'm just going to have to bundle up under lots of covers tonight.

Glad to hear the good update. Keep up the great work! :)
 
@Readysetgo, gosh...you know, I honestly never thought about the blood loss after two surgeries and how it would affect us. You are absolutely right!
I am SO glad to hear your sciatic issue is getting better. I know that was a huge worry for you. Yaay also for less swelling! I'm glad you are tolerating the pain reliever and are doing good with the iron. I remember looking at my bedside table and thinking I looked like a complete junkie, there were so many pill bottles. Thankfully, that doesn't last for too long. :)
Ugh! I hated the :censored: IV. I had one for like 4 days the first go around and two for the second. I guess my veins aren't very good either because the needle never was in there very comfortably and they had to keep resticking me. :shocked: I just about ripped the darned thing out and told them they'd be sorry if they came at me with another needle. :snork:
Stay warm and keep up the great recovery, hippie buddy! :flwrysmile:
 
@Arlene56 - Ah! The eternal search for the perfect ice pack! I have a big ice gel mat called the Chatanooga Colpac Cold Therapy which I got off Amazon. I got the black one because reviews said it held up better than the blue one. It's a bit heavy and cumbersome. (But it does come in smaller sizes.) I only use it during the day. I also have various smaller gel packs which I slip inside my not too loose yoga type pants with or without a cover/papertowel. The pants leg holds the pack in place (more or less) against the hip or leg. I don't use real ice anymore.

I hope that gives you some ideas. What are you using now?
 
@Hip Hip Hooray! - Thanks for the encouragement. This recovery is a tad slower than the last one and I get impatient. This hip had less ROM than hip #1 and I used my back to move that leg for a long time. It's not going to change overnight and may be more complicated to heal than the first hip.
 
@Hipster Girl - Oh I hope you were able to stay warm enough last night! Sounds a bit chilly with no heat. Sorry your heater is making a bad sound! Unfortunately, bad sounds rarely go away on their own, do they? - as in cars, washing machines, arthritic hips and heaters. Hope you can get it fixed soon.

No snow yet here but very windy and "real feel" temp is 22 degrees! Snow is supposed to hit tonight, up to 8 inches. Hopefully we won't get that much.
 
Hi @DeepBreath - Love your new avatar- very inspiring for spring!

Probably the reason you didn't think about the blood loss is because they don't like to articulate that we actually had it! I didn't put it altogether until my PT explained it all to me. I guess it sounds kind of gorey and vampire-like to say, "Hey you sure lost a lot of blood on that operating table! Heh-heh..."

Now I know what you mean about feeling like a junkie with all the pills. Last time I only had tylenol and 1 aspirin which was easy. Now I'm juggling 6 different pills and if I'm not careful it can get confusing which one I took - even with writing it all down! :what:

Wow sounds annoying and painful what you went through with your IV's. Sorry they had to keep resticking you- yikes! I have hide'n'seek veins sometimes as well. They couldn't get the Hip #1 IV in at first and had to wrap my arm in a warm compress to get the vein available. By the end of this last hospital stay I, too was ready to rip the things out myself. (ouch!)

Hope your weekend is a fun and relaxing one! :)
 
@Readysetgo, I am LOLing over the 'vampire' remark. :heehee: Very true!
I'd lose track of my meds too sometimes even though I kept a log.
Yeah, IVs aren't much fun under the best of circumstances, are they?
I found my avatar picture and just fell in love with it. So bright and springy.
Enjoy your weekend, friend. :)
 
I love @DeepBreath's new avatar, too. It's the little things. It sounds like you are healing, @Readysetgo. It does take a lot of time and patience. It's amazing to me how well so many of us have recovered from this surgery. It still boggles my mind. I had my hips done together, so when I read about doing them one at a time, it gets me thinking. For some reason, mine felt the same after surgery. There are so many variables. Your ice packs sound really good. I just used regular ice in a old fashioned pack from CVS. It was fabulous. Actually, I take that back. My neighbor also gave me a pre frozen pack that worked really well, too. The benefits of icing are just tremendous. It gives so much relief.
 
So good to hear a positive update from your #2 @Readysetgo . Yes, yes, Ice is Nice. :martini:

I never thought or talked or heard about blood loss in the op room. I wonder if it is something everyone experiences or just some. What happens in the OR stays in the OR. No one from my OS or the op team ever talked about anything that happened in that hour to hour and a half spent in that secret chamber. I certainly hope there are no exposing videos that might appear on the internet sometime in the future where I see myself and yet have no recollection. Blood? What Blood? :whistle:

I'm so totally stiff and sore, even more than usual. I hope it's because I was up and out all day on Friday doing spring cleaning in my yard. I sat and crawled and bent over and pulled and chopped and now I'm back to limping and walking like e a robot and cursing the joints. The temp is dropping down to freezing here in Tennessee and I may be experiencing the low pressure prediction my joints have learned to do in their weather forecasting school.

Keep posting the GOOD stuff and keep that Healing Energy flowing. --julie
 
My surgeon said they recycled any blood loss and gave it back to me. I didn't think much of it at the time because there was so much information in that conversation but now I write it down it sounds very odd and a bit vampiric!
 
@Readysetgo Just ordered the ice mat. The hospital gave me 2 ice pouches to use. I use crushed ice. But I need something that I can sit on. So the mat appears to be the one. Thanks for the advice.
 
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