THR Frustrated

[anny]

Hi @ Josephine thanks for your help....fire away!

 

[GrannyC]

Your tag for @Josephine didn’t seem “to take so I tagged her here for you. You can’t have a space between the @ and the name or it doesn’t work. If you made the @ sign and immediately start typing the name, the name should pop up and you can click on it. That way you are less apt to make a typo. I learned this early on from my own mistakes and others corrected me several times.

 

[anny]

Thank you @GrannyC ....that was well spotted. Even when I'm not sleeping I'm a bit fluffy headed! You're right, I am lucky to be able to sleep so well, think I must be making up for all those sleepless nights beforehand

 

[Josephine]

Okay, here y'go then!

It would be very helpful if you would answer each one individually - numbered as I have done - in as much detail as you can then I'll come back as see where you are

1. what approach did you have for your surgery? Anterior, posterior, lateral? You can look here to see the various types THR approaches or incisions

2. what are your pain levels right now? (remember the 1-10 scale: 1 = no pain and 10 = the worst you can imagine. And don't forget to factor in other forms of pain such as soreness, burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching, swelling and stiffness).

3. what pain medications have you been prescribed, how much are you taking (in mg please) and how often?

4. are you icing your painful area at all? If so, how often and for how long?

5. are you elevating your leg. If so how often and for how long?

6. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc., and

7. are you doing any exercises at home? If so what and how often?
This is the most crucial question so please help me by using the format I have left as an example
(which means please make a list and not an essay!)

Exercises done at home
- how many sessions you do each day
- enter exercise by name then number of repetitions of each
etc., etc.

Anything done at PT
- how many times a week
- enter exercise by name then number of repetitions of each
etc., etc.

 

[anny]

Thanks @Josephine, here goes.....

1) Posterior approach

2) At rest approx 1-2, when moving maybe 4......find it hard to call it pain as it's a bit achey, a bit stiff, leg down to foot is swollen, but no sharp pains. Also feel as if there's a lump under the dressing, but not as big as the tennis ball some people describe

3) Paracetamol 500mg "2 every 6hrs when required".....taking total of 8 per day
Tramadol 50mg "1 every 8hrs when required".......take 1 at bedtime as it makes me a bit woozy
Naproxen 500mg "1 twice daily when required"......take 1 morning and evening
Aspirin 100mg "1 per day".......take 1 pd
Metaclopramide 10mg "1 every 8 hrs when required".......only taken once for nausea since home
Zopiclone 7.5mg "1 daily at bedtime when required"........Take half dose

Every time a new nurse came on shift they seemed to tweak my meds, (and I was a bit befuddled too) so I didn't have a clear idea of what I should be taking, as the instructions say "as Required"

4) I ice the incision area for up to an hour approx 4 times a day

5) Elevate leg just about every time I sit down, which is most of the day, I have a lift recliner. Also spend time in bed but only have pillow between legs, not raising feet.....maybe that's why my leg is swollen?

6) Pottering round house, tidying kitchen, going to loo (upstairs), fetching book, 'advising' husband on cooking .....I'm fairly lazy really!

7) Hardly do any formal exercises......10 heel slides before I get up
maybe 5 side slides in bed
leg extensions in chair (if I remember/feel like it....about 5 reps)
I do a lot of ankle twirling and foot flaps when sitting, as my ankles get a bit stiff.....was doing these pre-op

Thought I'd get more onto the exercises when I stop feeling so sleepy

No physio since I left the hospital 5 days ago, can join "Joint class" at local physio when I'm ready

Hope I've not left anything out, I really appreciate your advice Josephine......have a good Easter weekend

 

[TinyMom]

@anny - sounds like you are making good progress, overall. Hope you can get your meds straightened out. Like you, I’m sleeping a lot - more than I ever have in my adult life. I like your theory that it’s just to make up for the sleepless nights prior to surgery!

I’ve had some swelling, like a lump, around both of my incisions, too. Mine have been shrinking - I’ll be glad when they’re gone. Hope yours go away quickly.

Take care, and hope you’re having a nice Easter!

 

[AgilityDog]

Happy Easter @anny

 

[anny]

thanks @TinyMom and @AgilityDog ......hope you're both having a good weekend and the Easter Bunny has been generous

 

[Mojo333]

One week out...I think you are where you can expect to be at this point.
This recovery business sure isn't for wimps, right?
Wishing you a happy Easter and a better week ahead.
Keep that ice going all you can!

 

[hikejunkie]

Hiya - I was told not to take any NSAIDs while taking aspirin. I can’t remember why though! I was, and still am, icing a lot more than your schedule and I iced everywhere, not just incision area. Those heel slides first thing in AM before getting out of bed feel great, don’t they?

 

[Jaycey]

I was told not to take any NSAIDs while taking aspirin.

Because aspirin is a NSAID. Here's an article from our Library Medications: acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) and NSAIDs, differences and dangers

 

[Josephine]

2) At rest approx 1-2, when moving maybe 4. Find it hard to call it pain as it's a bit achy, a bit stiff, leg down to foot is swollen, but no sharp pains. Also feel as if there's a lump under the dressing, but not as big as the tennis ball some people describe

Got it

3) Paracetamol 500mg 2 every 6hrs when required. Taking total of 8 per day
Tramadol 50mg 1 every 8hrs when required. Take 1 at bedtime as it makes me a bit woozy
Naproxen 500mg 1 twice daily when required. Take 1 morning and evening

You might find it better to take the paracetamol with the Tramadol. It's a very good combo and each enhances the other very nicely. Then you shouldn't need to take the Naproxen which is an NSAID and not very good for you. See the article Jaycey posted above.

4) I ice the incision area for up to an hour approx 4 times a day

Jolly good!

5) Elevate leg just about every time I sit down, which is most of the day, I have a lift recliner. Also spend time in bed but only have pillow between legs, not raising feet. Maybe that's why my leg is swollen?

Don't think so. Do remember (as if you needed me to remind you!) you're only two weeks out so swelling is perfectly normal at this point.

6) Pottering round house, tidying kitchen, going to loo (upstairs), fetching book, 'advising' husband on cooking .....I'm fairly lazy really!

Quit the kitchen tidying. It's too much! Did you read this article in group that Layla posted for you in post #15? You should especially pay attention to this one Activity progression for THRs

Hardly do any formal exercises "hardly any"??
10 heel slides before I get up maybe 5 side slides in bed - heel slides are not appropriate for hips, they're for knees! So stop doing them!
leg extensions in chair about 5 reps - nor do you need leg extensions
I do a lot of ankle twirling and foot flaps when sitting, as my ankles get a bit stiff - these are really for when you were not very mobile as a preventative against clots. No need to do them now

Thought I'd get more onto the exercises when I stop feeling so sleepy. No physio since I left the hospital 5 days ago

Another thing you obviously missed was the BIG TIP at the end of the recovery articles which was this
Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

 

[anny]

thank you for setting me straight @Josephine ......I was aware of the BS mantra about no exercise but it's hard to ignore that feeling that you have to put in the hard yards to recover. I will now happily abandon any pretence at exercise for the next few weeks and will also tweak my meds to cut down on the Nsaids.....funny how a few years ago paracetamol was the Big Nasty and ibuprofen was preferred, and now it's reversed....hard to keep up!

Just a quickie.....is it usual to become more aware (ie slightly painful) of the incision area now (9days) where I didn't feel anything previously? I'm assuming nerve endings are waking up and icing is all it needs......

 

[Josephine]

it's hard to ignore that feeling that you have to put in the hard yards to recover.

That's a major old wive's tale. I'm not sure where it came from but it's wrong, wrong, wrong!

I will now happily abandon any pretence at exercise for the next few weeks

I didn't say 'for a few weeks' I said stop them completely!

a few years ago paracetamol was the Big Nasty and ibuprofen was preferred, and now it's reversed.

Actually it was ever so but the facts about NSAIDs was one of the top Best Kept Secrets ever!

 

[AJinNH]

Hey @anny I’m guessing that as our incision heals it starts to pull a bit on the surrounding tissue because it’s tightening up.
I developed an allergy to the adhesive patch they put over the original sterile dressing, and even though it was removed 5 days after surgery, over a week later and I still have an itchy, angry outline where the adhesive was. I’m just glad it’s not closer to my incision. I knew I had an allergy to surgical glue, but never had a problem with adhesive. You can still see the outlines of the round leads that were on my chest too, even though I shower daily. Something new to add to the list.

 

[BeBe]

@anny climbing stairs?! With Things in your teeth? Maybe my spasmy thighs are serving a purpose after all!
Honey take it easy! Hard though isn't it? The "not doing" part is difficult.
My incision is also just starting to wake up. Not hurt or anything just that I can feel it more now. I do ice almost 24/7.

 

[anny]

Haha...snap BeBe, we were writing each other almost identical posts! Yes it's difficult to describe the incision feeling....sort of being aware that it's there, not really hurting. And I only carry very small things in my teeth....that's the drawback of crutches, can't transport things.....but then I have no idea how you'd do stairs with a walker. 'Not doing things'.....we know it intellectually, but oh, the temptation to 'just do this little thing'

 

[anny]

"I will now happily abandon any pretence at exercise for the next few weeks
I didn't say 'for a few weeks' I said stop them completely!"

oops yes ma'am
@Josephine .....I do appreciate your advice, truly

 

[AJinNH]

@anny I have a backpack to carry things around with my crutches. Actually I have a few, a big one and a couple of smaller ones. I leave them around the house so I don’t always have to carry them around in case I need one. Also, do you have any aprons with big pockets? They work great too.

 

[Josephine]

Jolly good, @anny

By the way, I think you might find this useful How to use the quote feature