Struggling, femur puncture, dizzy, nauseous

[tmelty]

Hello,

New here. Struggling w post op. discovered that during op the stem punctured thru my femur. Very sore. Now I also get didizzy and nauseous when standing. Not feeling good at all 6 days after surgery.

 

[swimlikeafish]

Hi, I'm new here too. Sorry to hear about the problems you are having, I'm only 9 days post opp and don't know about the problems you are having. I assume you have contacted the Hospital and surgeon about this. What did they say? I can only imagine that the stem puncturing the femur has added great amounts of pain to an already painfull area. I assume the stem is not still protuding through the femur and that he/she fixed you up with some mesh or something before closing you back up. Maybe the stem peirced some muscle, nerve tissue aswell. I am not medically qualified in any aspect. What pain killers are you on? Have you got any other problems like blood pressure or diabettes ? I only hope the pain subsides very soon. you can get light headed when you stand for the first time but would have thought it should be ok by now. I was very nausious and vomitted a couple of times after the anaesthetic but that went away by day 2. Let us know what the professionals say. They do say that smoe people suffer far more pain than others not quite sure why. Masyber someone here has a had similar experiences and can ease your worries a little. Take it easy.

 

[Cookie42]

Just learning I had a femur puncture would be enough to make me dizzy! I was plenty sore and my surgery went well, so the soreness might just be from the operation itself. Your body has been assaulted and is letting you know you need to take it easy. In fact, after 6+ weeks, my major soreness is gone, but some is still there, especially if I haven't treated myself with respect!

I think a few others here have also had femur problems and I'm sure they'll respond.

All shall be well. All shall be well. All shall be well. I use that mantra a lot!

 

[lncrwley]

My femur split 3 weeks after the surgery. I really don't have anything good to say that would cheer you up. I'm still working on trying to get past it myself.
Did they wire your femur? My wires feel like they are working their way from the inside out.
I wish you better luck than I'm having.

 

[bellaroma]

Hi Tmelty

My femur fractured during the operation, not sure if this is similar to your situation, the pain, nausea will subside as you heal, so please search around on the forum. I am on partial weight bearing restriction because of the fractue and to me almost 3 weeks pot-op that is the most annoying to me now, so it does get better. Are you on any restrictions?

 

[puddle fish]

Ouch I feel for you guys with the breaks, my legs are sore and the muscles are grumpy enough as it is. I still get a bit dizzy if I overdo it or get up two quickly.Its getting better slowly but Im not very paitent.

 

[Jamie]

Hi, tmelty....welcome to the forum. I'm glad you joined us, but so sorry to hear of the problems you are having. Hang in there.....things will improve with some time. I'm going to tag our forum nurse, Josephine, so that she can comment. Please continue to post to let us know how you're doing....we care about you!!!

 

[Poppet]

Hello Tmelty

Welcome!

So sorry you have this problem, lets see what Jo has to say.

I assume you are home? If not were you dizzy in hospital?

We're you given any blood?

What pain medications are you taking, name, strength and dosage..

If you are able to provide this information before Jo comes to visit your thread, it will save her asking

Are you resting, elevating, icing?

You are very early in your recovery 6 days, it will improve but lets wait for Jo's expert opinion

p.s. could you pop your surgery information into a signature please... Here is the link to the instructions, thanks

https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads...-please-and-surgery-dates-in-signature.15218/

 

[tmelty]

Thanks for the responses. I'm still dealing w some dizziness when I stand up. But, thx to a ton of support from my wife and some changes in meds, I slept a solid 8hrs yesterday. I really can't remember much about the last week. I'm very disappointed about the femur puncture and LLD. I saw an X-ray of my new hip, they had to use an alternative stem (they had to use a different stem because they had such a difficult time w first stem) and it looks very long . I'm concerned about the integrity of femur. I felt like I didn't get a very clear answer when I asked about that. Thx for all the responses.

 

[Poppet]

tmelty;

Pleased that you had a good nights sleep, makes all the difference for sure!

It would be great help if you could provide some answers to my questions for when Jo drops by

Also I added the link for you to add your surgery details into your signature, when you feel up to it

 

[swimlikeafish]

Glad you got a decent sleep. I think your femur should mend over time. Bones are an amazing thing. I hope your dizziness subsides and that you continue to get many a good nights sleep.

 

[tmelty]

Poppet-

I was given 300 cc's of my own blood in a transfusion during recovery. I lost over 600 in surgery and 300 in recovery ( given back thru transfusion)

I was taking Norco, Lyrica, Tramidol, Celebrex. I will look up dosage. I was disoriented, had depressing thoughts, couldn't sleep, and was throwing up ( w chills and sweating) for 2 days.

I'm off Norco and Tramidol. Taking Oxy codone (only half dosage). Still prescribed Lyrica. Taking Phenergan to help w nausea. Feeling better.

Experiencing, grinding pain in my left knee (never had this pain previously). While I don't know exactly, my guess is that my LLD is greater than 1/2 ". I was walking yesterday but my gait was odd due to LLD

I'm icing 4x day 45 mins each.

Elevating.

 

[Josephine]

Hi there and welcome to BoneSmart. Please don't worry about that punctured femur. Since you had it 'braced' (so to speak) by a longer stem then it will be perfectly stable and you shouldn't give it another thought. The hole, presumably created by the tip of the stem, wouldn't be painful like a fracture so you shouldn't have any extra aches and pains from it. So I would expect that the aches and pains you are experiencing are just normal post op pain.
I have some questions to ask you:
1. what kind of pain meds are you taking, what dose and how often?
2. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping and PT?

You might also find these helpful
Pain management and the pain chart
How Long Does Healing Take ......
Chart representation of THR recovery
Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy Drain for THRs
Elevating your leg to control swelling and pain
Activity progression for THR
Some suggestions for home physio (PT) and activity progress
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

 

[Anniepops]

Hiya, welcome to BS. Try not to worry about the LLD. Most of us hippies have a noticable LLD post surgery. It takes a few weeks for it to settle down once everything has settled into place. Knee pain is also common, gawd know what they do to our bodies during surgery but it does involve some major knee jerking that's for sure . This too should subsde after a few weeks.

Take care

Ann

 

[Damn!]

Hang in there tmelty. I'm so glad to read that you are getting some quality sleep. You need lots of rest to heal. Hopefully the dizziness will be behind you soon.

Keep icing and elevating, it really does help. In fact, if forced to choose ice over pain meds, the ice would win with me hands down.

Have a restful and painless rest of the weekend.
Tammy