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THR Seeing the Light!

lovesstars said:
So let’s see how this will go. This morning I DROVE THE CAR to take my mom to an appt. While she was at the appt I took a nap, laying down. Then I drove her to a restaurant and dropped her off to have lunch with my son, popped into my favorite store in town for 15 minutes (yes, with walker), drove through Walgreens to pick up more meds and came home. SO FAR SO GOOD. :fingersx:
Click to expand...

Well that is admirable indeed! I'll bet it was nice to get back to your bed after your excursion. Get a little tired out, some stimulation from the outside world.

I agree with @Mojo333 that another month could make a big difference.
 
Reading about squatting and being concerned about toilet heights at restaurants has me feeling a bit ashamed. I did not realize how much easier the whole “standing to pee” made getting out and about with this surgery. I went to quiet a few restaurants with my wife in the third and forth weeks. I was concerned about waking to far (which I did of course), being in pain while sitting, and not being hungry... but never had to worry about the situation when I went to relieve myself (and I drink a lot of water when I eat, so I pee at least once at a restaurant). So my hats off to all you ladies out there who brave a restaurant in early days... it is not something I think I could do. Hope that doesn’t sound chauvinistic... It is meant to be a compliment. As my wife’s labour and birth of my child clearly demonstrated, you women are definitely stronger than us men mentally.

Cheers
 
Hope you are did okay today, @lovesstars--you are a couple of hours ahead of me on the west coast, so I'm hoping your day has drawn to a close and you are parked on a sofa or your bed with an ice pack, weary but grateful to have gotten through another day. I know this recovery is slower than you'd like, but you are going to get there in the end and when your new hip is fully working and pain free, these days will be a distant memory. I suspect it's like childbirth--we forget all that's involved in childbirth, so new baby/new hip is what we need to focus on.

And, ugh @wonkyhipoy, I hadn't even thought about restaurant bathroom facilities and the challenges they might present! I haven't ventured out of my house (only 7 days out) but believe a restaurant would be a huge challenge for me--not just toilet seats, but sitting on a chair or bench for anything over about 30 - 45 minutes! Argh...
 
Although my recovery has been slow in some respects, the Clavadel Recovery home I went to 5 days after the op had seated 3 course lunches and suppers which we could join in with or we could take the meals in our rooms.

The food and company were fantastic. We all complained that the dining chairs were too squishy and were given orthopaedic aircushions that raised them up. As mentioned here, sitting for 30 minutes or more was painful so I “invented” the Clavadel wave in that I would say “excuse me” and half get up, clench my buttocks and then sit down again. This relieved the pain. Other people thought this was a good idea so you could spot the Hippies from the knee patients as, all around the room, the Hippies did this. So the Clavadel Wave was started... The staff thought it was hilarious.

The point of this was that, even in Week 2 I was having an excuse to dress and put makeup on and socialise. Not everyday but I had very kind friends and family visiting too. It made me feel “normal”.
 
Update on yesterday’s overactivity: yep, I am super sore. Leg is a little bit loggy. In spite of Tylenol and Tramadol (on both) — still moving slowly and with pain at 6. No, not planning anything but couch and ice today.

Silly, silly me.
:shocked::shocked::shocked:
 
Aww, so sorry. Rest, ice and hopefully you'll be better quickly :elevate:
@lovesstars
 
Oh, couch and ice are your friends--hope you recover from overexertion today, and are feeling relaxed and more comfortable by day's end, @lovesstars. That was me yesterday--parked on my bed most of the day with ice packs. Feeling much better this morning, with enthusiasm for starting off week #2!
 
Dear @EL11 and other friends:
I am burning things in the fireplace. Lots and lots of things. Throwing matches from admirable heights. Wearing actual soft jeans. Taking my tramadol and Tylenol and Celebrex. Ordering out Mexican food for dinner. Did I mention that I am burning things????

It is cold and rainy here. No we do not have heat yet. There is a problem with the boiler control panel (yes, we have radiant heat under the stone floors in the winter) and apparently they are having difficulty getting parts.
My mom leaves in two days so at least she can go back to California to be warm.

I have been distracting her with Mozart in the Jungle.

If you are looking for me I will be the one on ice machine, under a wool blanket next to the abundantly blazing fireplace, eating tamales.
 
Aww @lovesstars ...I hope you're cozy and staying warm and icy enough, (!) with that blazing bonfire you've got going there! Sending you some of our hot California sunshine today. We have plenty to go around. Would make quite a split screen image, a dozen or so of us all laying on our various furniture with big ice packs on our hips and legs. My hair is in its ubiquitous post-op ponytail that allows me to extend denial between shampoos. In the bed, on Ossur ice.... Surrounded by long handled things. What a vision!
 
@lovesstars That all sounds pretty nice, though I'm sure you'll appreciate being able to have heat again. I'm wearing soft jeans too, the kind with no zipper. I'm looking forward to having a fire in the fireplace, and booked a chimney service for 10/22. My boyfriend just called from the hospital and said he'd bring home some kind of takeout, as there's nothing much here. I don't think Mexican, as that's more of a going-out thing for us.

@1stSurgery I like the split-screen idea. Re hair, I just had my first color and blow-dry since 9/15. There was a lot of construction in front of the salon and I was nervous going down the front steps with my crutch and making my way around the barricade to my Uber guy, who did not offer to help at either end of the trip I'm afraid. On the couch with my Flexi-Cold pack after the excursion. My hair feels super soft and not a grey root in sight.
 
First hairdresser appt! That's always a biggie, congrats @EL11! I had mine done right before surgery this time. Somehow when they took away my femoral head, my bangs went away with it. I can't get them to return! It's now a middle part, like it or not. Bang free.
The hip bones connected to the...bangs??
 
lovesstars said:
Love the image of my femoral head with bangs!
:rotfl:
Click to expand...
If you could only see my femoral heads screen test video!!
it sort of did have bangs....
I think we may be the only place in the world that finds femoral head humor funny.
 
1stSurgery said:
First hairdresser appt! That's always a biggie, congrats @EL11! I had mine done right before surgery this time. Somehow when they took away my femoral head, my bangs went away with it. I can't get them to return! It's now a middle part, like it or not. Bang free.
The hip bones connected to the...bangs??
Click to expand...
Thanks! Yeah, the first time my surgery was Monday and I had an appointment Saturday. This time, for some reason I felt I needed color the week before, and the guy who does my hair flatly refused to do the color again a week later because it was crazy. I put some home color on my roots the weekend before hip #2, even though I knew it was ridiculous.

That's very interesting about your bangs, maybe Ripley's-worthy. I hope you have video documentation, before and after with a layer of your hair now refusing to point downward from the hairline. I mean I can't even picture it.
 
Maybe the anesthesiologist had secret desires to be a hairdresser and took away my bangs in a fit of anti-bang sentiment? ("It's just all wrong for her face! The bangs ...they have to go") . Ask my husband. Had bangs for about...oh, 30 yrs! He hasn't seen them anywhere either since surgery #1. One day I stood with the hairdryer with bang hair rolled tightly around the round brush, commanding them to obey. I got a roll of hair split down the middle on my forehead. Not attractive. So I'm just going with the 70s middle part thing. Very hippy. :) Yes I have photographic evidence of before and after and of the past 30 yrs. my hairdresser kind of got them back for a few hrs. There is a country song in there somewhere.

My bangs ran off with my femoral head...
and I ain't never heard from them again....
 
Hope today is a better day.:SUNsmile:
Ebb AND flow recovery goes.
You will get there, @lovesstars :console2:
 
@Mojo333 i am glad you wrote to me...was going to reach out this morning. So I have been walking away from the walker in the kitchen...using nothing at all during those times in the past two days. Then 1 am last night woke up in SO MUCH pain. So much!!!!

Now I get that I am not ready for that....that I have to stick with assistance for longer. I don’t know if one crutch would make that much of a difference. I should just stay on walker, I guess. Opinion? @An54 i remember what you said about your walker at six weeks...but did you just go to nothing or did you use cane/crutch?

I stood on one leg at the kitchen counter this morning and still have discomfort. So I guess I am not ready yet....?
 
Hi @lovesstars
I'll weigh in, I'm sure many will. I went from the walker to the cane, never just took steps on my own
in an attempt to graduate from the walker. However, my first day on the cane I overdid it and was sore. I spent the next day on ice, not doing much and then I was okay. Do you feel you overdid it walking totally unassisted? I'm sure your gait was very guarded and you were tense in anticipation of pain or any sign of weakness you may have felt in your op leg. Wondering if it was just too much? I'd stick to a cane or crutch for a bit if you're trying to move forward. I'm sorry you're hurting. I hope it eases soon. Try rest and ice for today. Let us know how it goes.
Hugs
 
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