THR Scorow's Recovery Thread

[scorow]

Thanks for the great tips, Layla! Folks here are great, but you provide some practical tips that make a lot of sense.

 

[Layla]

Thank you, but I've learned a lot here myself. Stick with us, we've got you covered. Hope today is a great day!
@scorow

 

[VSlowLife]

About a 2 hour drive home, so not really looking forward to that.

I had a three hour drive home. We stopped at one point to rest at my son's home, to help break up the trip. Then I did some ankle pumps for the rest of the journey, on and off.

I had used three, dual ice bags in the hospital and I went home with them. Just getting in the house I found draining.

Hope you have a pleasant trip home!

 

[RinTinTin]

So far, so good. But that first walk certainly gave me an idea of how far I have to go. That said, I am 100% committed to taking it slowly as advised by everyone here. I was a member of the ODIC years ago after knee arthroscopy and know how easy it is to fall into that trap.

yes, take it slow... let your body heal first.
So happy to hear you are doing well!

 

[scorow]

Trip home was fine and pain is still minimal. Biggest problem I have is the "hole" where the drain was. They removed it before I was discharged and put gauze and tape over the hole, which works fine until I get up for bathroom or short walk around the house. Then it starts bleeding like crazy. I'm hoping that with minimal movement overnight it will finally coagulate enough to stop that, but would be interested in any suggestions. I'll also address with the home health care folks when I first see them tomorrow.

 

[CricketHip]

Glad to hear you are home and that the trip wasn't too taxing.
That is a bit annoying about the opening left behind from the drain.. glad to hear that the home health care team will be there tomorrow and can take a look at it for you.
I wonder, if you took sterile gauze and folded it to make it thicker then taped it over the opening if that extra little bit of pressure would help?

I didn't have a drain with my hip but had a couple after an abdominal surgery several years ago and I seem to recall them doing that for the first day after it was removed.
I will tag @Jamie to see if she has any thoughts about this.
If it continues or if it begins to concern you, then I would suggest calling your surgeon's office, most likely there is an on call service who could get in contact with him?

I hope you have a restful night with nice dry gauze on your leg!

 

[scorow]

Thanks, Cricket. That's exactly what I've tried and it seems to hold well enough for bed and short trips to the bathroom. Thanks for the reply. Have a good evening.

 

[Jamie]

Part of the problem is that you are most likely on blood thinners which isn't helping things for you. Drain holes usually heal up in a day or two, so in the meantime I suggest you keep your walking minimal. Your Home Health nurse will be the best one to evaluate your particular situation and I'm glad you'll be seeing someone soon. It may be possible to use steri-strips to help close the opening or put a compression dressing on the area until it closes. I think you're doing everything you can right now.

 

[scorow]

Morning of day three: Sweet blissful slumber! Somewhere between 5 and 6 continuous hours of sleep was very unexpected but wonderful. Reminiscent of that first night many years ago when your first child slept through the night. Was a able to sleep on my nonsurgical side with a pillow between my legs, which no doubt helped.

Pain still minimal and easily controlled by Tylenol and Advil combination. For anyone reading this before having their surgery, the advice to elevate is important. Although I saw no visible swelling, elevation produced many trips to the bathroom and a quite noticeable "loosening" of my thigh. Clearly, even the short walks around the house for a few minutes every hour or so produce fluid/ swelling.

These first three days have been easier for me than the first three days after arthroscopy on the same hip last August. I know I'm still at the starting line and will be mindful of sticking to the plan and not "pushing it", but so far, so good. Amazing what a good night's sleep will do.

 

[Layla]

Good Morning!
You're lucky with the sleep and you'll have some green with envy, lol.
That's quite impressive at only two days post op. Our body does it's best healing while we're sleeping and getting enough sleep certainly does change our outlook on all. It sounds like you're off to a great start!

Let us know how your visit with home health care goes today.
I hope your first weekend back home is a peaceful one.
@scorow

 

[Elf1]

Happy that you're back home and actually managed to get a good bit of sleep, that is awesome. If you feel the need to take a nap here and there please do, as Layla says we do our best healing then. Hope everything goes well with home health today, keep us updated.

 

[scorow]

Morning of Day 4: Whereas Day 1 (surgery) and Day 2 (going home) were better than expected and sleep the night after getting home was good, I guess reality set in a bit yesterday. Day 3 was long and uncomfortable. Pain still not too bad - mostly dull ache and major stiffness during and after the brief walks around the house. Sleep last night was minimal - maybe one 2- hour stretch and a couple of dozing off periods. Again, not really because of pain - mostly just uncomfortable and restlessness.

I guess the fact that this is really not much fun and is going to last a good long while is starting to set in. I'm not complaining - it's much better than fighting significant pain. But the fatigue, spending so much time laying down, and the loss of energy and mobility from where I was just before the surgery are weighing me down. Just don't feel very good, and it's a noticeable decline from the day before.

I've had surgery before and intellectually understand that the impact of surgery itself makes one initially feel worse, and that recovery from the trauma must occur before the benefit of the procedure really takes over. I know these days will pass, but they are not a lot of fun.

 

[Layla]

Good Morning @scorow
I'm sorry you're feeling restless. It certainly happens. Try this...
Don't look at daily progress, but gauge it weekly only. I used one of the weekend days to gauge my progress from week to week. Usually that's when company stopped by so I could easily remember the following weekend what I was, or wasn't doing last weekend when so and so was over. You WILL notice progress that way. It's easy to get hung up on the fact that you felt better yesterday, or the day before, and it feels a bit depressing if you feel like you're going in reverse. Don't let it get you down. Brighter days are right around the corner. I'm sharing from personal experience. It doesn't seem like it now, but soon you'll realize the weeks are clicking on by and you're feeling stronger with each passing week.

Rest / sleep when you're able because you don't have to be anywhere. Stop by here when you're feeling low and we'll do our best to lift your spirits. Check out the Social Room as there are some interesting threads to serve as a distraction and to fill some time as early recovery is very b-o-r-i-n-g.
You're doing well and your recovery sounds very typical and normal at this point, hang in there, it will quickly get better.
Happy Saturday!

 

[Mojo333]

@scorow
Sorry for the terrible blahs and malaise ... that come with the first days.
I felt better the day after my surgery than I did a week after and then there did start an upward trajectory...lots of ebb and flow though.
I have said it before, but I did tell my doctor he set my first preop for 10 days out so I could quit hating on him
All Temporary....healing moko coming your way.

 

[VSlowLife]

But the fatigue, spending so much time laying down, and the loss of energy and mobility from where I was just before the surgery are weighing me down. Just don't feel very good, and it's a noticeable decline from the day before.

Sorry to hear this. It’s understandable how you are feeling. Hopefully, if you follow Bonesmart‘s advice, tomorrow will be a bit better, or maybe today.

I found, the better I babied myself and just listened to my fatigue, I gradually got better from day to day. It was a slow process, and still is. The theme I kept hearing on this forum, is slow and steady wins the race.

It was hard to wrap my head around feeling much worse to ultimately have more function and less pain in my hip, before surgery. I understand that. However the goal is to have less pain in time, compared to not having the surgery and more pain and further limitations, in time.

I read some threads of members, who had surgery before me, and figured out the first week was the worse, and by the end of the first week I would be so much better compared to the day of surgery. I kept looking forward to my week one anniversary.

Week two would be better than week one, and I have to admit, I was getting a wee bit tired of icing, but I stuck it out.

Week three has been better than week two and I can feel more strength happening and a longer stride happening. There have been some ups and downs but the overall trend is positive, from week to week.

I have an eye mask and as soon as I felt fatigued I would put it on and try to sleep, any time of day, especially the first two weeks. If it was a bright day, I added a towel to make it very dark, to sleep. (It’s great when you sleep during pain) Sleep and my pain medicine, I think, we’re important factors in getting me through the toughest parts of the past three weeks.

A forum member gave me great advice to try to use more pain meds to sleep at night, than I used during the day.

It does get better.

 

[Eman85]

No, the first 2 weeks are not fun! It's a hard thing to do but you just have to accept that only time will make it better.

 

[ForumUser]

Scorow,

You're perfectly on track!

Your system is still getting rid of all the stuff that was added to make the surgery possible ... my meds at the same point:
- Tylenol 4000 mg a day
- Celebrex
- 81 mg aspirin

To show how much alike - here's my post at Day 5 - Day 6 was even better! (https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/thr-a-doing-well.54206/#post-1305000)

"Quick update ... end of 5th day. Tylenol keeping edge off. Being careful on the “don’t do” list.

Drinking more fluids than usual, but seems to help with alertness.

Walking hourly at least around the house for maybe five minutes at a time. Stiffness is decreasing. Full weight bearing, but being careful to maintain crutch or walker position. Can maneuver around kitchen using countertops pretty comfortably.

Icing with legs elevated seems pretty comfortable.

No formal pt scheduled - they may want to discuss in 10 days when I go back for first post op visit. Have been using an app called MedbridgeGo ... short videos on exercises ... straightforward. Being careful not to overdo.

Bruising inside thigh and on ankle yesterday. Today bruising noted back of leg. Wound pain level about the same - tolerable with Tylenol."

 

[scorow]

Day 5: Yesterday was a tough day. Didn't get a lot of sleep again last night, but things seem a tad better today. I definitely feel better in the morning and decline through the day, but that makes sense. Pain still controlled with Tylenol and Ibuprofen, though feeling some different aches today after the short periods walking in house (primarily along ITB on outside of thigh to outside of knee). But those abate after icing and I really have little to no pain at rest.

Balance is good though my quad remains quite tight which I guess makes sense given anterior approach. Maybe a tiny bit looser today than yesterday, but that is the most noticeable thing when I'm on my feet.

I sure understand the need for patience that everyone on here speaks about. The hours and days go by so slowly - it seems like the surgery was a lot longer than 5 days ago.

 

[Eman85]

Noticeable improvement comes in blocks of time. 2 weeks will usually be the first time block where you look back and see very noticeable improvement. Noting the day to day does make it tolerable and the end result will all be worth it.

 

[Hip4life]

Keep plugging away, you seem to be right on track and doing great! It’s very slow going that first week or two but you’ve survived the first days. Yay! This is where you learn where the phrase “patience is a virtue” comes from. LoL. I had to keep focusing on how great it was to be without the awful joint pain. That help keep the rest in perspective. All the best for continued good healing.