THR Second round ... and I sure hope it goes as well as the first

@Knitquilt We are thinking about picking up the train in the picturesque Banff/Lake Louise area. I don't have the info in front of me, but there are a few ways to do that route and over to Vancouver. I guess it depends on how much overall time you have and how much you want to spend on the train vs. in Vancouver itself.

The Tramacet is dispensed in 37.5 mgs here. It is to be given every four hours. I'm taking that dose most of the time now, but have the 75 before bed and first thing in the morning. The overall count for the Tylenol that is included in the Tramacet and then additional Tylenol add up to 4,000 mgs per day for me. I don't know when I'll be cleared for driving, but as it is my right hip that was replaced, it will probably be closer to six weeks than four, but I'll just go with the flow (ha ha I'll be climbing the walls I'm sure by four weeks!). I have no desire to even think about driving right now.

I told my husband that he could take me to Canadian tire on one day, Home Depot on another, and Wallmart for me to walk. He didn't think that was a good idea. He wants to take me to a nice mall where I call walk the walkways, and NOT go into any shops LOL!!!! Little does he know I'd get into more trouble at the nicer malls!! :heehee: Maybe the grocery store is the way to go.

So glad your twitching and dry mouth have mostly gone now. I haven't experienced it again.

I think the walking outside on the slightly uneven ground for just a short period really was a bit of a set back. I have been walking more around the house, following the amount of time set for week two on the schedule of activities here. I noticed last night I had a bit of swelling, so iced a lot last night. I'm in the recliner with the ice machine on when I'm not getting up to walk, go to the loo, make myself a cup off tea etc. Next week I'll start cooking my own breakfast for a couple of days, then add lunch and then dinner gradually through the week and see what that does swelling wise. Such fine balance before the body says, enough! It is hard to believe that a few weeks ago I was walking so much on quite varied ground with all the horse related chores. On average it would be nine to ten thousand steps a day (albeit in pain, despite the Tylenol!). I feel like such a wimp now :bawl:!!
 
Hi @Knitquilt, I've been meaning to get over to your thread for a couple of days...but I get easily misled, despite no longer being on the narcotics! Tylenol doesn't seem to give me the same excuse! I found it SO hard to focus, process and remember anything on the Tramacet! Dreading having to take the stuff again, but it is a necessary evil! :good-bad:.

Your second date is coming up this week! Wondering how you are doing with the first hip now, and how you are feeling about number two? You are closer between hips than me, but are doing anterior correct? I'm posterior, but have been pleased with how the steady(ish) progression has gone with this first hip. I'm :praying: that the second will be similar....but there are a variety of differences in second hip experiences here!

Are you finding second hip complaining more after the first surgery? At first my second hip was quiet...but now complains when I go up the two wide and shallow stoop steps to our back door. Most of our bungalow is on one floor. We have a sort of suite down stairs, that accommodates our older kids and significant others, when they come to visit. I have no need to go down there, so avoid those stairs completely. I really don't want to raise the ire of second hip to full throttle!
Wishing you smooth sailing on your second hip surgery on Wednesday, and will be looking out :capn:for your post to see how you are doing!

EDIT!!! Well you'd think I was still on the wretched Tramacet...I had you confused with someone else...this WAS your second surgery!! LOL!! Your last was a year ago! DUH!!! Oh well, I still score as I remembered your daughter is in Vancouver LOL!!!

Hope you are doing really well and are off and running!! Best wishes!
 
Hey @Alitm - My second surgery was Sept. 10 - so I’m 1 day short of being a month out! I felt so good reading your response above, much of that is behind me! You will feel such relief right after your surgery. True, first weeks really suck, but even though each day can seem to crawl by so slowly, I can now envision life after no hip pain! And it’s exciting! So much to plan for!

Hard to do, but you can’t compare recoveries @1stSurgery is extreme example of that. For me, every few days after my first surgery, I saw improvements. For the second surgery, progress is in very small increments, but when I look back the improvements are never-the-less there.
 
Happy One Month Anniversary on Lefty :yay:
Happy One Year Anniversary on Righty :happydance:
It's a big anniversary day!
I hope the pair are behaving and serving you well.
You need to celebrate. Here's a flower on your special day :flwrysmile:
Sending a hug and best wishes for all things good!
@Knitquilt
 
:wave:I hope all is going well. Pop in and give us an update when able.
 
I’ve been putting off this update because I wanted to update after my 6 week post surgery appointment, but that keeps getting postponed - twice now. My appointment now is this Friday.

I do have a question for @Josephine
I have a persistent pain down the back of my thigh. It began a few weeks ago in my left (operated side) buttock and traveled down my leg. Now the pain is just in the back of my thigh. During the day it’s not too bad (pain level about 1) but it wakes me up at night (pain level 3)

I thought it might be Piriformis and looked at the article here in Bonesmart. When I attempted the stretch, the pain was so bad I couldn’t even get in the position to stretch - so I stopped.

I am icing 3 times a day for an hour each time. I was on the maximum Tylenol (4000 per day) dosage but it didn’t help so I stopped. Last night I took Tramadol 30 milligrams and 2 extra strength Tylenol and that helped me sleep.

This all began when I started walking up the stairs normally - it was uncomfortable but I was able to do it and continued for about a week thinking my muscles just needed strengthening, but I stopped after developing this pain. Could that have caused this?

I’m not doing any exercises other than short walks in the house and on the street.

Can you tell me what this is? And what would you recommend I do?

The pain is in the back L2B area X and Y.

CCA7F040-B781-4E0A-979E-D787B36144A5.jpeg


Thank you!
 
Did you copy that from somebody else's post? Because you've mentioned the back side bu not the front which also has markers on it. So am I to ignore the front?

As for what you mentioned, I would say it certainly is Piriformis syndrome
I thought it might be Piriformis and looked at the article here in Bonesmart. When I attempted the stretch, the pain was so bad I couldn’t even get in the position to stretch - so I stopped.
I'm not surprised it hurt you. Did you not read the warning in that article which says
NOTE: if you are a THR patient and not less than 8 weeks post op, it should be safe to do these BUT don't do them aggressively and if you get any pain in or near the actual hip joint, STOP IMMEDIATELY!
Since you are only just 8 weeks post-op, you most certainly should not do it!

Treatment includes
- rest and gentle exercises like short walks and short periods on a stationary bike with no resistance
- using over the counter pain killers such as Tylenol
- get a LARGE gel pack, freeze it and sit on it!
 
Thank you, @Josephine - I’m very grateful for you sharing your expertise. If I may, I do have 2 additional questions -

From the article, it sounds like it could take awhile to go away.

I know you can’t predict the future, but do most people get better in a few months or is it usually longer?

I haven’t done any exercises but was planning on joining a water therapy class for people with joint problems as soon as I’m cleared to go in the pool.

Should I wait until the pain abates or will the gentle water therapy help?

And to answer your questions
. So am I to ignore the front?
yes, the pain is just in the back of my leg, not the front.
And I didn’t do the stretch - I stopped immediately- much too much pain!

Thanks again!
 
Well I've had it twice and and both times it took many weeks to go away. I never did any stretches but did sit on a large ice pack most of the day most days! I also just took Tylenol 1,000mg 4 times a day which, while it didn't actually resolve the pain, certainly eased it.
 
Thanks, Josephine- I’m sitting on an ice pack and will try Tylenol again. I’m not happy I have it, but it’s certainly better than something going wrong with the actual hip hardware!
 
@Knitquilt I had very bad pirformis spasms post LTHR. I found gentle hamstring stretches from a seated position helped ease this. Gentle is the operative word though - nothing aggressive. Here's an article from our Library.
 
Thanks @Jaycey. I appreciate the article and will try the hamstring stretches a bit later this morning. I will be gentle - the Piriformis stretches were way out of my league!

How long did the pain last for you? And do you think you did anything to cause it?

I’m wondering if walking up the stairs foot over foot before my body was ready caused this as I was very cautious otherwise.
 
How long did the pain last for you? And do you think you did anything to cause it?
Within a week or so I could stretch the spasm out. I have to say that the pain really stopped me in my tracks. All I could do is make it to the nearest place to sit and stretch until it eased.

I really don't think I did anything to cause this. It is very common after THR. I also have lower back issues so that may have contributed. The hamstring stretches ease sciatic pain as well so I still do them several times per day.

I don't think walking up the stairs would cause this. Just getting active can irritate the piriformis. Try sitting on an ice pack as well.
 
Thank you Jaycey - I ‘ve tried a few of the gentle hamstring stretches and they actually feel good when I’m doing them. And sitting on an ice pack is probably helping too - glad this didn’t happen in the middle of winter-

Also happy to hear that I may not have caused this - I’ve been trying to be so careful not to overdo.
 
I ‘ve tried a few of the gentle hamstring stretches and they actually feel good when I’m doing them.
Great! Be very gentle at first. Your hamstring is probably very tight. I do these stretches several times per day especially when I am sitting at my computer. "Multi-tasking" :heehee:
 
Well, today is my two month anniversary for my left hip and I’m way late in posting my progress.I could give a myriad of reasons, but it probably all comes down to procrastination. Last Friday I finally saw the surgeon’s assistant because my 6 week post-op visit kept getting postponed. Frustrating- especially since I was in pain.

My hip itself looks fine but I have a lot of inflammation which is causing me pain. Because I’m going on a mini-vacation in a week, she put me on a 6 day course of prednisone which she said would clear up the inflammation the quickest. I haven’t taken any steroids before so I was hesitant, but so far the only side effect is a rosy glow on my cheeks - no blush needed for me! The prednisone began to work the first day - I hardly have any pain - unbelievable!

Does anyone know if the effects last after the steroid course is done? I’m hoping the inflammation will stay gone!

Things I have learned from the second surgery-

Should have down it sooner!
No two surgeries are the same - yes, I know I read it here on BoneSmart over and over
I was WAY less anxious with second surgery
Drinking Gatorade up to a few hours before surgery was wonderful in that I went into surgery hydrated
A spinal with sedation was so much better for me than general anesthesia- just a bit of nausea and I was able to come home the next day instead of staying in hospital for 4 days
Tell anesthesiologist about nausea- he put something in the intervenous to help

And last, but not least -
My husband is a VERY patient man and a great helper and I owe him bigtime!
 
Oh Yay!
Not quite so bumpy recovery.
Glad to hear you are doing well.
My husband is a VERY patient man and a great helper and I owe him bigtime!
Ditto for mine.
 
Hi @Knitquilt
Happy to read you're doing well.
Have fun on your mini vacay next week.
Safe travels!
 
Thanks @Mojo333 and @Layla! We cancelled our vacation this summer so I’m very anxious to just get away and relax. We rented a house right on the ocean and although it will be cold, it will be so relaxing to see and hear the waves, look for ocean birds, hunt for sea glass ...

As an added bonus, our son’s soon to be in-laws live 30 minutes away from the cottage, so we invited them to dinner - this will be the first time meeting them.
 
Happy Tuesday!
Your getaway to the ocean sounds lovely any time of year. I'm sure you'll thoroughly enjoy the time spent there. It will be a well deserved break after two months of recovery.
I hope you have a pleasant first meeting with your son's soon to be in laws.
Take care and have a great week!
@Knitquilt
 

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