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Bilateral THR Serenity Strikes Doubles

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@Serenity41 You are doing great!!
Just a quick comment on the adhesive. I kept trying to get it off myself, and had some on the other leg, too. I finally asked the home nurse and she got out several packets of wet toilettes that had some anti-adhesive remover stuff on them and that got it off with a breeze.
 
@djklaugh Thank you for the reassurance. I nap when my body tells me to. It is its way of telling me it needs to heal and I have learned a great deal of that here. I am listening to my body more carefully and letting it take charge of my recovery. It was a little difficult to do, but I am managing. My legs are feeling less and less log like which allows me to move around more freely and not be so stiff. The swelling is still there and I am not so worried anymore as you said it took you 3-4 weeks to see improvement. I will continue to ice and elevate.

@fulafoto Yes, it is a good thing that my hips are second to my back. I hope I continue to have a great recovery as well. I being very careful and as patient as I can be. Reading other recoveries helps me gauge my progress and helps me understand what no to do. This is definitely a learning experience and everyone is different.

PT came out again this morning. There have been no changes in my exercises. This was my 3rd session. I am not complaining though and will take what I can get. DH is at work this morning. He went back 1/2 days this week. I feel confident with my walker and can get around really well. I do get tired mid stride sometimes depending on how much walking I have done and have to pause and regroup. I am going to have DH get me a pedometer to track my steps as I would like to walk a little more every day without overdoing it. Baby steps.
 
@MajorHeidi Thank you for the tip. DH ended up getting a wash cloth out with alcohol and he was able to get rid of all the nasty adhesive. I had it all the way up my mid back. They did the left leg first and bandaged it really well so they could lay me on my right side to take care of that one. It was a sticky mess, but it has been resolved and I am grateful.
 
@Serenity41 So pleased your progressing at a good rate and you seem to be doing really well especially with the patience side of things... Good that you are gauging yourself and a pedometer is a great idea I reckon and yes everyone is different and all you want to gauge your recovery on is you and you getting better each and every day :)
 
@Serenity41 I bought a Fitbit and it tracks steps, miles, calories, sleep, and has vibrating alarm clock.
Cool thing. I kept resetting the targets for a little bit more each week.
 
@Serenity41 what an awesome story to read about your recovery. I too am in awe of your double surgery. And you are getting around really well at this point.

I like your idea of a pedometer and @MajorHeidi comments about the Fitbit. Might be time to get one to see what kind of mileage I'm making.
 
Wow. You are a superwoman!
We had surgery on the same day, and I only had 1 hip done. Like everyone else I am in awe of you as I cannot even imagine what it would be like to not have an unoperated leg to rely on.
Well done!!
Ally
 
@MajorHeidi You have been so helpful! Thank you for the information on the Fitbit. I am going to have to Google it and see what I can find. It sounds amazing. I want to purchase one this weekend to help me track my recovery.

@LadyJune @fulafoto @Allycat :thankyou:

June 10th:

Today was a very busy day. PT was here at 9:00 am. There are still no changes in my exercises. I asked him if we could walk outside on his next visit and he said yes. I am so excited as I am getting a bit bored with PT and being inside so much. He comes out again on Thursday. I am now working part time from home. I worked 4 hours today. My son came over for a surprise barbeque for my DH. It was an early Father's Day present from my son as he will have to work all day on Father's Day. He is a sushi chef. He grilled ribeyes, chicken, sausage, corn and pineapples with brown sugar. It was so good. This is the most I have consumed since surgery. We also had fresh fruit salad. I was able to cut back on my pain medication and hope to continue to do so as my body allows.

June 11th (one week out):

I woke up a bit achy this morning in my thighs. I stopped waking up in the middle of the night for pain meds. I did my PT exercises and worked 4 hours from home. The nurse came out at noon. She examined my incisions and check my blood. I am being monitored because of the Coumiden. My levels are a bit high so reducing Coumiden 6 mg to 4 mg with a recheck in 3 days. I am still wearing the TED hoes (5 more weeks). My incisions still look great. I am so happy! (I still need to post the pics) My skin is very irritated and raised from the adhesive. I asked the nurse today if I could leave the bandages off during the day and reapply them during the evening before bed and she said it would be ok. Thank goodness as my skin needs a break. I never did have any drainage from the incision. My bruising has been minimal. I do have lots of swelling around my hips and upper thighs. My DH calls me J Lo due to the size of my hips. :loll:Overall I am doing pretty well.
 
That all sounds really great @Serenity41 and an outing outside will be terrific for you! That meal also sounds so delicious - lucky you guys!!!!

Glad you can take the bandages off during the day too - that will definitely give your legs a break and should ease the discomfort for you.

Great report and I hope you keep going so well :)
 
Sounds like things are going really well and your barbeque sounds wonderful @Serenity41. I chuckled about your swollen hips...I was rather upset/surprised to see how large my left hip was after surgery. Told DH that if I needed lipo before this surgery, then I would definitely need it after.

We are getting rain in our part of Texas...how about you? We need it so bad and since its not storms we will take all we can get.

Hope you have a great day!
 
Hi @Serenity41!
Just wanted to say hello and let you know I am about a week or so behind you, bilateral hips on 6/5/14. Glad I found your thread. I too am doing well, am home on crutches: walking and doing stairs as tolerated.
Keep in touch!


Bilateral direct anterior THRs on 6.5.14
Female, age 34
 
@Serenity41 , just catching up with your thread. Sounds like you are doing great! Following all the mantras - well done! You'll be dancing in no time!
 
@fulafoto Thank you for your kind words. My skin is doing a lot better now that it isn't covered up so much. I have shiny patches where my skin was ripped off. I also have some blistering. What a relief it has been today to have them off allowing my skin to heal and breath.

@LadyJune Hi there neighbor. I hope you are doing well. I need to pop over to your thread for a visit. No, unfortunately we have not received any rain today. It has been thundering and lightening, but no rain. I sure hope we both get some as it is much needed. And your right we will take what we can get.

@DosCaderas Welcome to Bonesmart. I am glad you found us and are doing well. Have you started your own recovery thread? I would love to follow you and your recovery. I am actually only 2 days ahead of you. I had my surgery on June 3rd. I am glad you stopped by and please do keep in touch. It is nice to meet another bilateral with a surgery date so close.

@Jaycey Yes, definitely following the mantras. Thanks for stopping by.
 
Today is 9 days post op. I woke up at 3:00 am last night to a horrible pop in my left hip. The pain vibrated down my leg and up my back. I was freaked out and screamed out for my husband. He had fallen asleep on the couch (poor guy has been exhausted). I got up and walked but the pain in the joint still lingered. I was freaked out at this point as my left hamstring also felt very tight. I ended up taking a pain pill and my DH helped me back in bed. The pain was relieved once I was laying back down and I eventually fell back asleep praying to God. I woke up sore and achy in the left hip joint. PT showed up at 9:00 am. I told him what had happened. Ray examined me and said he didn't think there was any damage to the implant. I was sleeping with my legs slightly elevated at the time of the pop. There was no swelling or pain upon palpation to the hip. I also told him about my hamstring. He examined my left hamstring and said I had pulled it. UGH! We ended up doing gentle stretching exercises to loosen it up. The stretching initially hurt, but upon release it felt good. After several minutes of this, I was able to complete the PT exercises but we didn't walk outside. I am still struggling with why this happened. I may have over did it yesterday. I dialed it back a lot today. I only worked 2 hours, rested, elevated and iced the remainder of the afternoon. My left hip is doing better but it is still bothering me along with my hamstring. I plan to take it easy again tomorrow as I am sure with additional rest this will all sort out. A minor setback.
 
Whew... I am so glad you don't appear to have done anything to the hip @Serenity41 although I think I would have freaked out too... Best idea I think to scale it back a bit for a few days and pleased your skin is on the improve as well!
 
@Serenity41 Whoa I'd be freaking out too if that had happened to me! I'm glad you had the PT fellow take a look and I sincerely hope all is getting back to relative normal by now! I'm going to tag @Josephine as well - perhaps she has some idea what happened. Sending you cyber hugs and healing vibes!!!
 
What a night you had!! Hope the rest and icing will continue to help and maybe others will have words of wisdom. The fact that your PT guy was able work out the pain is a good sign.
 
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