THR Recovering at home from June 17 LTHR

CG'sknees

member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
151
Age
73
Location
Southern California, United States
Well, it’s done! Had surgery Thursday morning, and went back home Friday afternoon. Tonight, Saturday 19th, I’m feeling so many different emotions. I’m thrilled to think I am on the mend, but the difficulties of recovery out of hospital can be depressing. Wish I had a big staff to help rather than relying on my poor husband.
What I’ve learned:
-Handheld shower heads are indispensable.
-“Log leg” is a real thing
-Our “comfort height” toilet made any special equipment unnecessary. It’s the same height as the hospital toilet. Yea!
-A day filled with tracking medications, doing the simple PT exercises, contemplating what to eat when nothing is particularly interesting, well that kind of day is not relaxing.
-When you let people know you are having surgery, their good wishes and prayers can be such a comfort.
-The swelling is weird, the numbness is weird, the wondering if everything is ok is exhausting.

Well, that’s my testament for now. Adult children are visiting tomorrow, so I have to draw up a “to-do” list, as it’s Father’s Day in US on Sunday, and my guy needs a break to rest up for the week ahead.

Hope everyone is doing well, sending my best wishes to all my fellow bonesmarties!!
 
Hello @CG'sknees - and :welome: to recovery.

Here are our recovery guidelines, to help you.
Hip Recovery: The Guidelines

People are all different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for YOU.“ Your doctor(s), physiotherapist(s) and BoneSmart are here to help, but YOU are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary.

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. Try to follow this

6. Access these pages on the website


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
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?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only One Recovery Thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Glad you are home and Yes, this is the rough part. My appetite was also "bleh" and I had so many "is this normal?" questions as I hadn't done a lot of pre-op reading.
Hope you have a good Easy Does It Day.
All Temporary... So hangin there, friend
 
Hello and welcome to recovery! I loved your initial post because I could so relate. I’m sure many will. The only thing missing in my life was the hand held shower which I can see would be an asset early on. Actually nice any time really.
I wish you comfort as you begin healing and look forward to following your thread.
Enjoy the day with your family! :)
@CG'sknees
 
Very best of luck , I had everything ( not serious) insomnia to the worst hiccups ever , not peeing , too much peeing , no appetite, no toilet etc etc etc and as I was comforted and advised everything settles down , I,m thinking of joining the gym this week ( I,m 14 ) weeks .
Follow Bonesmart advice and you’ll be fine .
All the very best .
Have to go Mrs Wilky looking lovely tonight ……hahaha
 
Thanks everyone for the responses. Day 3 has been running along smoothly. Had a nice lunch with hubby, son, daughter, and one grandchild. The other grandchild and my SIL are performing at a restaurant this afternoon, for Father’s Day, so they weren’t able to come over. I miss the granddoggies, but it was thought best to wait for a while before they visit.
Now they’ve all jumped into the pool and are competing in individual medley, while I relax inside.

Feeling a little more competent today in getting around, with walker, though getting in and out of bed still not easy without pain meds.

Gonna nap a little before they all come back inside for dessert…Donuts, my husband’s favorite treat at the moment.
Wishing everyone a great week.
 
@CG'sknees :wave:So nice to see you on the healing side. Sounds like you're off to the usual start, what did I get myself into?!:heehee:. You actually sound like you're doing well, it will get better and easier to navigate fairly soon. I know I had a major issue the first two/three days of being able to sit up in our bed and get out of it. Then, click of the fingers and it was gone. :yay:
 
Feeling a little more competent today in getting around, with walker, though getting in and out of bed still not easy without pain meds.

my in home PT showed me how to link my food foot around the back of the op leg at the ankle and use that as a way to lift leg into bed. Of course they forgot to show me for the first session lol but since I learned it’s been a lifesaver! Hope you’re feeling better every day!
[/QUOTE]
 
I just did that ankle lift maneuver a while ago when my caretaker (husband) was too slow in coming to help. Something about an important golf shot that needed to be watched. :loll:
Because the family was over, there is some recorded golf to catch up on. Hahaha
I think I learned the maneuver when I had TKR over a decade ago, and it came back to me as hung over the side of the bed (drama!!).
Well, I just had some dinner, took the pills required with meals, and am ready to spend some time with ice.
Bidding adieu from the suburbs of LA.
 
Now Day 5 (counting from day after surgery), and things continue as before. I had first in-home PT visit and I was very happy that he was quite knowledgeable and answered all my questions. Both he and the surgeon are not taskmasters about the exercises, he even said “hips heal on their own”. !!!! Is he a Bonesmartie?! He explained what maneuver was the one to really avoid, he called it the “Heissman”, as in American football. Also, don’t lift leg straight up, important to have that bended knee when doing the slide.
I only took Norco twice today, 2am and 10:30am, and it’s now 4:20pm. Took some Tylenol (acetaminophen) at 3:30pm, and still doing fine with pain.
I’m going to nap before dinner, then figure out how to spend the evening hours. I’m lucky to have lots of friends who check in on me, so I keep busy responding to texts. It can be time-consuming.:wave:
Happy healing, everyone!!
 
Don't know your approach or if any restrictions, with restrictions you have to be careful about crossing legs early on/
 
Day 6. Ughh, will I really get better? I know I will, but it takes patience that I am apparently lacking.

Firstly, I’ve lost patience with the surgeon’s office. He is great, is part of a large practice. But his support staff needs fixing. As I mentioned in other posts, this surgeon is new to me because the ortho who did my knees could not schedule surgery for months, which was intolerable to me. This morning I was having concerns about some stomach discomfort because of being on both Celebrex and aspirin 325g. The pharmacist, and the PT who visited yesterday, both said to be aware of the effects of too many blood thinners, so I became hyper about my stomach discomfort and darker stools (not black or tarry, but like when you eat blueberries). I tried calling the assistant, but went to voice message and system was full so couldn’t leave a message. After trying other avenues of reaching a human, I finally connected with someone who gave me the extension to “head nurse”. Duh, why have I not been given that before?!!! Head nurse spoke to doctor, came back and said doctor instructed me to stop taking the Celebrex and change from 325g aspirin to baby aspirin. Yay, someone paying attention!!

I’ve now made a November appt with my original surgeon. I know I will need my right hip replaced soon enough, and as talented as the new surgeon is, my usual guy is just as talented, and his office is only him, and humans answer the phone.

Lastly, is “insufficient caretaking” grounds for divorce? It seems when you are the person who is usually highly self-sufficient, but now must depend on the one who is usually well-cared for, who it turns out has become rather clueless, well, damn Covid for keeping me from considering a rehab center for recovery.

Daughter is here today, thank god. But they have their own life, work, and obligations.

That’s all for today. Thank you for letting me vent. I realize I could be a weirdo. But you have all been quite supportive.
Please god, give me a speedy recovery!!!
 
Hi,
I am enjoying your posts. My surgery was on Friday; came home Saturday on a walker with 20% weight on my operated leg because of a cracked femur during the THR.

When I started reading your post and got to golf I laughed out loud. If I fell off the bed screaming and the Mets are scoring I’d have to get myself up. What the heck was I thinking???
 
Patience is something that we all have to try really hard to exercise while in recovery so you're not alone there! :friends:

Loved your golf comment, too funny! Unfortunately the downside of us normally being so strong and self sufficient is that when we could use a little help we often don't ask and our families just think we're find as usual. It seemed like I was being hovered over at the beginning, probably for good reason, :) but it finally leveled off to help when I needed it.
 
Hi,
I am enjoying your posts. My surgery was on Friday; came home Saturday on a walker with 20% weight on my operated leg because of a cracked femur during the THR.

When I started reading your post and got to golf I laughed out loud. If I fell off the bed screaming and the Mets are scoring I’d have to get myself up. What the heck was I thinking???

Oh, I’m so sorry about the cracked femur! Sending healing vibes your way. May your surgical team have all they need to get you all healed up quickly.

And don’t fall off the bed, please!!! Sports fans are mesmerized; any abrupt disruption while viewing could traumatize them. We must have empathy.
:angel:
Sending lots of love to all my fellow hippies.
 
Yes, I recognize the sports addiction. We were doing well until the game came on.
Thanks for the healing vibes. Sending some your way, too.
 
Keep up the posts CG, from my own experience it helps a lot.And lay off Mr CG you’re gunna need him , Golf ⛳️ and other sports are as important as your gammy leg , although that’s how I ended up here hahaha.

good luck keep writing .
 
Day 8 - I write this at 3:30 am, I’m having the worst sleep so far in recovery. My legs are jumpy, which sometimes happens to me, and is relieved by changing sleep position. Well, that’s not something I can do right now, so I lay here pondering different scenarios of what could be going wrong. Dislocation! OMG, not something the surgeon mentioned at all, nor the nurses at hospital. The PT brought it up, so being the weirdo that I am, I googled the symptoms, how such dislocation could happen, and so I am now questioning every move I make.

I also don’t understand my pain, and how to manage it. Everything feels OK until I either have to get in or out of bed. If I can’t swing my leg up onto or out of the bed myself, that is how I judge my pain level. I’ve also noticed that the numbness is going away and so the bruising is more tender and therefore there is a bit of an ouch if I happen to bump against it. So, that is making me jumpy.

I did 5 sessions of PT yesterday, as was suggested by the PT. Each session consists of: 5 circles of walking through a path in my house (I should try to figure out number of steps in each circle), then doing 10 reps each of the usual exercises-hip abduction/addiction, heel slides, quad sets, glute sets, ankle pumps. I also laundered a load of bed sheets and washed a small pile of dishes. Is this too much activity? Is that why I’m having a bad sleep?Am I just a big baby?
My daughter and grandchild come over later today to relieve my husband, who has a work day. I do love when the family is over.

I also have a second visit from PT in the afternoon.

My daughter texted that I will impress PT with my “zoomies”. “What are zoomies?” I asked. Her response: “Re: Zoomies - Julia and I have been impressed with how fast you move around. Particularly when we think you’re in one room and you just pop up in another. You’re doing great! ”
❤️

It’s now 4:15, and I’m ready to sleep some more. Wishing you all a great day.
 
I did 5 sessions of PT yesterday, as was suggested by the PT. Each session consists of: 5 circles of walking through a path in my house (I should try to figure out number of steps in each circle), then doing 10 reps each of the usual exercises-hip abduction/addiction, heel slides, quad sets, glute sets, ankle pumps
Each set is one circle....or each is 5 walks five times per day?
And household chores? And PT exercises 5xper day?
I do think this is too much too soon. :unsure:
For the first for weeks I walked when I needed to and then some short walks because it does get uncomfortable sitting or laying alot.
I also had jumpy restless legs....and basically only spent a few hours in a proper bed Trying to get Proper sleep.
:bored:
Really your body is working hard to heal all the surgical trauma and doesn't need all the extra....
Super early days my friend, so keep all slow and steady.
You will get there.
Hope your day is Sweet.
 

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