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THR SuperPath RTHR - done deal

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First of all....God bless your boss! BUT......are you 'cray-cray'? You mowed your lawn?????...and you aren't even two weeks out? And you really think PT this morning caused 'some discomfort'? Maybe, just maybe....it was the lawn? ~ I'm ribbing you here (hope you can take it) ....but this is your time to be really, really nice to yourself! I, too, hope you don't have any surprises! Good going!
 
Interesting reading your progress @doubledip. I didn't track my steps with RTHR in January but with the LTHR in April I treated myself to a fitbit so I could keep up with steps and sleep. I started logging steps on 4/16. My OP was 4/11. I used a walker or the cane most of the time and for the first week or two I was mainly inside my house or at PT. Using the formula that 2000 steps = 1 mile, I logged a mile every single day from 4/16 to 4/30 with many days equalling 2+ miles. Fitbit log says I had 18.97 miles from 4/16 to 4/30. From 5/1 to today my log says no day under 2000 steps with a couple of days equalling 7000 steps and so far for 19 days of May logging 31+ miles. Mostly this is from walking around in the house doing light housework and doing some walking in the yard or when I'm out on errands. I have not mowed the lawn -- yet -- but I can see how just slowly walking behind the mower and using it for balance might be doable. I do pick up dog poop - almost every day. We have four dogs and a one acre back yard so I get a lot of walking in doing poo duty. I don't bend. I have a shovel contraption with a long handle and with a little spade to scoop the poop into the shovel and keep walking and scooping. I think it is amazing how much walking we actually do during a day just going from room to room. Who knew? From the walking site promoting 10k steps a day (for healthy people - not hippies) they say that "A sedentary person may only average 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day." I've been pretty sedentary with two hips replaced in three months but my goal is the 10,000 steps a day, every day. I've gotten to 7,000 a few times lately but I am not ready to push and I won't be ready until about that three month mark for left hip. I have six week check-up with OS next week.

Take care and rest between your sprints. I find that if I go out or to the store and walk a lot, I feel better to come home and ice and elevate for a while. So much healing going on after this surgery that the energy drain shows up quickly. Yes! Sleeping can be quite a trick. Fitbit is logging my sleep cycles and I'm restless or awake frequently during the night. It IS hard to find a comfortable position.

I hope your boss is understanding that you may have good and bad days back at work. Part-time at first might be a good thing, kinda like a trial period. I know I have great energy and do lots some days and the next day I bonk. Keep up the good work and the positive attitude. --julie
 
@Nana2-8 I can take a good ribbing. But really, I don't think I'm overdoing things. Sure I get sore each day but it hasn't been debilitating and each day over the past week I've noticed improvement. So I'm optimistic based upon what I've experienced so far. When I'm sitting or lying I'm icing and I've had no need for Oxy for 3 days. My best med is Etodolac which works wonders.

@Squirrellymom Julie it appears you're doing great! I think I'm going to head over to Home Depot and pick up a scooper for the dog poop. That's one of the several things I didn't prepare for adequately prior to surgery. The Fitbit would also be a good tool in particular to track my sleep (although I'm not sure how that works). Talk to you later Julie.
 
Day 15. Woke up this morning with increased pain. Yesterday I walked around 4,000 steps which is pretty typical as of late. In the evening I attended an awards ceremony for my oldest daughter's high school softball team (MVP of the team BTW) and ended up sitting for 2.5 hours in a chair. As the night progressed my pain got worse. The pain radiated from my hip through the outside of my thigh, kind of like a pulse. Post-surgery I've rarely sat upright in a stiff chair. Typically I'm either laying and icing or walking about. This being able to sit thing snuck up on me.
 
Remember to give yourself some rest days too. I used to take a small cushion in my bag or sit on my jacket if I was going to have to sit on hard chairs. I found the height of the chair was important and I'd be uncomfortable on lower chairs. I still aim for an aisle seat so I can get up if I have to.
 
It's been a few days and I've been busy with my kids. In general I see improvement each day even though some days the improvement is small. For example, when I drive my right leg has been getting tired when I'm pushing on the pedal after around 15 minutes. Today I noticed that that tiredness was non-existent. Small victory but improvement. Each night I am sore but each day I end up doing more because I fell like I can. I often forget my cane because I just don't think about it. I usually pay the price a little for forgetting it but the reality is the cane is not the first thing I think about when I get up, which is progress in my opinion. Back to work on Tuesday. A little nervous because I am planning on spending the whole day in the office to get caught up on what's been happening over the past few weeks. I will probably work from home as necessary after Tuesday.
 
Sounds like you are making great progress! Sleeping is tricky, isn't it! Here I am awake after 3 hours. Figure I'll just read a bit then try again!


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@jomarie58 Yes, sleeping over the first couple weeks was tough. A couple hours here and there. Now I can sleep through the night but my dogs tend to wake me up at first light. I'm going to follow you because I'm doing my second hip in September and I'm very interested in your progress. When I talked to my PT last week she told me that the recovery for each hip is typically different. Best wishes in your recovery.
 
Day 24. Back to work. Harder than I hoped. First 5 hours were not bad. Last portion of the day was difficult. Even though I did log slightly more steps than usual I believe it's sitting in my desk chair that did me in. I'll play it by ear tomorrow and may work from home.
 
@net0girl it didn't feel all that amazing yesterday, but based upon what I've read I'm progressing well. SuperPATH is the approach used on me. I zeroed in on this approach as well as the surgeon after doing research. So far so good but each day has it's challenges.
 
Oh i have never heard of that approach. Hope your day goes better then yesterday

TRHR May 20th 2016
 
Day 26. I have to admit I'm struggling. I have shooting pain starting above my knee and going down the side of my calf. It's really impacting my sleep at night and causes extreme cursing during the day (when the kids are not around). Past two days I've worked from home. Had PT today and she told me to take it easy on the basic exercises until I meet with my surgeon next Tuesday. While she worked my soft tissue I was in extreme pain. Hmmm. Lessons learned for round 2 (TLHR) in September. I'm guessing this is a phase. I've read at about 4 weeks many of us have a setback. I'm hoping to get back on the recovery path soon.
 
Jaycey said:
Take the around the clock as prescribed until you start forgetting doses. Part of your sleep issue is that your pain is not well managed.
Click to expand...
Pain meds tend to scare people, and they should to a degree. I remember some advise I was given following back surgery a while back. "It's easier to stay ahead of pain than it is to chase it." Pain meds help us during our initial recovery with little things like sleep :) I'm a recovering alcoholic and am acutely aware of dependency issues. If you have pain, pain meds work against the pain. They do not provide any kind of 'high'. It's the high that those of us with substance abuse issues chase. In the post-op world the high does not exist. I took oxycodone for just over a week after my surgery. Then I forgot a dose...:)

Kyle
 
It's my one month anniversary! It's amazing how the pain can come and go. I've made it into work the past two days with minimal and manageable pain. I had a 30 minute period of time today when I didn't even notice my new hip - just walking around with no pain or discomfort at all! At night I'm still aching in both hips but nothing some ice and heat can't handle. My follow up with my surgeon was postponed till next week which is a shame. Hope all is well out there.
 
Day 35'ish. Minor update. As of yesterday I no longer need my cane. It's interesting because I've realized for a while that I can skip using it but I preferred to have it just in case. Now I don't feel there's any need at all. I don't have any sense of stability issues possibly jumping out at me. Pain in the evening and first thing in the morning still needs to be dealt with but again it's manageable. I'd say my biggest challenge is my incredible desire to take naps in the afternoon. I've never been a napper, now I have an incredible desire to take that nap. Healing of course. Not sure how long this will last, but I'm sure over time this too shall pass.
 
How funny you mention the naps! With My first hip the sudden need to nap made me crazy and had me feeling out of control of my body....this time, shucks I just close my eyes and nod off when I need to! So good to hear you are walking unaided.... Hope to be there in a month or so!


RTHR 1/15/2016. Posterior approach. Due to AVN. LTHR on May 26, 2016.
 
Glad to read that you're doing so well by your SuperPath, it's been interesting to follow your progress.
Curious, as I understand it, in SP, the femoral head is removed as opposed to the hip being forcibly dislocated, did you have much pain and bruising in the hip area or your leg?
I'm getting the anterior (SP not offered in my locale) and am concerned about the manipulation of my leg on the hana table and the post op pain it will produce :flabber:
 
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