Day 7 Recovery #2 Hip-
I feel better today! It seems the pain is decreasing a bit. It worried me in those earliest days when the pain and swelling worsened with each day.
PT came today. He treated me for Hip #1 as well. "Deja vu!" he said when he came through the door. I like him. He's very experienced, grounded and sensitive with a good dose of humor.
I told him about the increased pain and swelling this time. He noticed the swelling but said that was more normal; that I'd just been lucky to have very little swelling with hip #1. He thought the increased pain and sciatic inflammation might have been because the OS told me there were a lot of bone spurs and just getting those out took a lot more work/invasion so there could be more pain afterwards. He thought the pain down the back of my leg would eventually disappear as I heal.
My other concern was my low red blood count due to blood loss.
I had checked and compared all my bloodwork online. And they had prescribed iron pills this time. Plus I had been experiencing some unusual shortness of breath and lightheadedness, which I read are signs of anemia. My PT saw my bloodwork on his laptop and agreed they were low counts, though not low enough to warrant a transfusion. Before he took my vitals, he predicted my blood pressure would be unusually low for me and pulse rate high because of the low red blood count. He was right! My BP was 98/70 and pulse in the 90's somewhere. Said it had to do with low blood volume so heart pumps faster. I didn't order the iron Rx. I've heard creepy things about ferrous sulfate, think I might've taken it before a long time ago. I tend to be slightly on the anemic side. Plus I read it can constipate you. I don't have problems with that but I don't want to induce it either! PT thought I should try it and back off if side effects are too much.
PT said my range of motion for so early was very good so that was a comfort. He told me to stick with the walker for stability now until the lightheadedness gets better.
So I did order the iron. I'll give it a try. Plus I am eating iron rich foods like black strap molasses, prunes, raisins, beets, spinach, etc.. I also requested my GP to order me Diclofenac, an NSAID that Jaycey had suggested instead of the Ibuprofen to help more with the inflammation causing the pain. The pain and swelling gets much worse by late afternoon and evening. I guess that's typical.
So I'm hoping to get my pain med cocktail just right soon. Stomach feels better and appetite returning. Hoping to get my blood count up sooner rather than later. I'm feeling more optimistic now. And I'm sleeping much better than last time. I took a sleeping pill for 3 nights initially but no longer and thankfully I'm able to sleep quite well at night. Last time with hip #1, I would only sleep an hour or two at a time, wake up for awhile, then repeat - for weeks!
Hope everyone is having a good day - or night if that's the case. Cheers to us all!
United States
- my GP disagreed with my opinion when I said I had a problem with my hip. She said it was my spine, but the spinal specialist she referred me to had X-Rays taken which led him to believe it was my right hip which caused me the pain (my view from the start!). The corticosteroid injection into the hip joint was to diagnose whether this was the source of my pain. If the pain disappeared, or reduced at least, then it confirmed that my GP was barking up the wrong tree. It DID help for several months, but then the pain came back, so I ended up seeing my current surgeon and the rest is (or rather will be) history
