@lee0605, congrats on being 8 weeks out. Since you and I sound a bit alike, I'd love to share some things I learned when I had my first hip replacement in April 2013 and how I'm applying this hard-gained knowledge to hip replacement 2, which I had done 16 days ago. I was a three-sport athlete in college (field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse) and am a highly competitive and A+ type personality. The first time around, I kept pushing myself, as I felt I "should" be doing this or that, and in the back of my mind, I thought, "I was an athlete. No pain, no gain." As a result, I would overdo it and set myself back. I also had a lot of down days, as I was not meeting my own expectations and standards, as well as the bar that was set by friends who said they were doing amazing things at two weeks, etc. I remember seeing my surgeon and saying I was kind of down because I seemed to be behind the curve and that everyone I knew who had hip replacements were doing this and that so much earlier. He confirmed I was behind the curve and also that my friends had reconstructed memories. He told me he would have patients telling him they were doing xyz at two weeks when he was looking at the file and seeing they did it at five weeks. That made me feel better.
Fast forward, this time around, I have taken it easy and the only thing I'm listening to is my hip. If I think I should be walking a mile, I will walk 1/2 a mile. I have been doing the exercises they gave me at the hospital, but I only do one set of 10 at a time, 3-5 times a day, spread apart. I am doing no formal PT (my surgeon believes that it does more harm than good at this point, as people push too hard) and am just walking in the neighborhood or park. I rest a lot and am not doing any work from home, as I did the first time. I am enjoying the time off.
Guess what? Since I relaxed, my recovery is going *much* better. At the hospital, I skipped the walker and went straight to the cane. I went off all narcotics at 14 days out, and I can walk around the house without a cane and go up and down stairs normally. I only have had one depressed day. While I may start adding the meds back in when I start exercising more, it feels fine right now. The old me would want to push my exercise regime much farther, but the new me says what's the point? Slow and steady wins the race.
Even though you're a couple months out, honor yourself by slowing down a bit. Do half of what you think you "should" do. If you're having pain, cut back. Take tomorrow off and just do your activities of daily living. You will thank yourself later.
Best wishes!
Canada
