Tips Wanted - 65 and anxious

actorbird

new member
Joined
Sep 16, 2019
Messages
1
Age
69
Country
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Gender
Female
Hi! My name is Gill and my surgery is scheduled for 25 September. I live in the UK and would love to have some tips on preparing my house for surgery. Also how to conquer my nerves. Over to you! (By the way I am 65 :scare::heehee:).
 
Hi Gill. I bought a raised toilet seat and two grabbers, and then discovered I could have borrowed them for free. Check with whoever is doing your op whether they will be providing them. I was loaned a thick waterproof cushion to raise my chair seat height. It was a godsend in the early days. I bought a fancy leg cushion from Amazon but didn't really use it much. Make sure that you don't have any trip/slip hazards. I made loads of curries/casseroles etc and froze them. It meant that all my hubby needed to do was cook some veggies to serve with them. They were really useful in the early days too. The nerves I can't help with but we all understand exactly how you feel and will be here to hold your hand all the way through it. You will find so much support on this forum. The mods are all brilliant and if you need a bit of advice then you only have to ask and they will respond.
 
@actorbird - Hi Gil! And welcome to BoneSmart!
Getting your home and recovery room prepared is a good thing to think about, for sure.. plus it helps you feel in control a bit, especially when you feel a little out of control with the appointments and tests, etc.

Bonesmart has some great articles to help you with this, I'll leave it here for you to read:

If you are at the stage where you have joint pain but don't know for sure if you are ready to have surgery, these links may help:

If you are at the stage where you are planning to have surgery but are looking for information so you can be better prepared for what is to come, take a look at these links:

And if you want to picture what your life might be like with a replaced hip, take a look at the posts and threads from other BoneSmarties provided in this link:

So, these should help keep you busy for a while :heehee:.

I was a nervous wreck too, with my first hip surgery. I found BoneSmart and read some of the recovery threads and found them very reassuring. If you are into to mindfulness or meditation, that is another way to help ease your nerves.. I did this and kept telling myself how lucky I was to live in a time where Hip surgeries are so successful. I hope this helps and please keep in touch and we will help and support you while you are waiting.

Do you have your surgery date set up? If so, can you please post it here and we will get it placed in your signature. We need the date and which hip it is.

:flwrysmile:
 
Ok, I see the date now!! So we just need which hip it is.. Thanks!
 
One recommendation I have that someone else had posted on the site. If you are looking at getting a raised seat for your toilet instead of the ones that bolt on get a bedside commode, you can take the pan off and you can slide it over your existing toilet. We had to take off the toilet seat but that was minor. Our toilets are older models and pretty low, even for me at 5'2" . Plus they have arms on the side that help with sitting and standing, especially if you have restrictions.

Also, either invest in an ice machine, you can Google them or at the very least make sure to have plenty of ice packets on hand so you can ice constantly. Even if you don't have major bruising and swelling it does help with the pain.

Welcome, this is a great site, folks are friendly and it sure helps fill in all the gaps for what you're not told by the medical folks.
 
Welcome. Lots of information and support here to help with the nerves.
 
Hi @actorbird and welcome to the place where you can get great answers from "those who know"
:)
If you are looking at getting a raised seat for your toilet instead of the ones that bolt on get a bedside commode, you can take the pan off and you can slide it over your existing toilet. We had to take off the toilet seat but that was minor. Our toilets are older models and pretty low, even for me at 5'2" . Plus they have arms on the side that help with sitting and standing, especially if you have restrictions.
:yes:
Yes, this was helpful.
I didn't want to be cleaning that stupid pan:eeeuw:

Grabbers will be super helpful. :wink:

On the preop nerves issue...I will say though I was obviously tentative and anxious...I was also excited to know I was going to get my life back.
My hips had me constantly uncomfortable, sleep deprived, and old before my time.
Now...I'm double hippy happy!:chuckmarch:
 
All I bought was an upright armchair from Emmaus, which I sent back after 6 weeks, and Skechers slip on shoes as laces are impossible for a few weeks. The NHS supplied a raised toilet seat and two sticks. I made sure all key items were easily accessible and placed cushions on a kitchen chair.

I thought I would be very nervous as I had not been in hospital for anything before. However I badly needed the operation and knew I was in the hands of experts for whom THR is a routine procedure so on the day I was not nervous - just looking forward to getting a much improved life. I had a spinal with heavy sedation so I knew nothing about the op but came around very quickly. The hospital staff were brilliant and very supportive and reassuring.

The worst thing was putting on and taking off the compression stockings - I couldn't do this by myself.
 
Oh yes...I forgot, but HertsHippy's post reminded me. I did have a recliner.
Many on here swear by one, and many didn't have one.
I still love mine!
 
I live in the UK and would love to have some tips on preparing my house for surgery. Also how to conquer my nerves.

My first hip surgery (left) is September 24th, and I was diagnosed after several months with avascular necrosis. I live alone and purchased a raised toilet seat, a reacher, and a clothing stick to aid with dressing. I went through my clothing to determine what would be easy to put on when dressing.

I'm lucky that a friend is coming to stay with me for two weeks.

As for nerves, I can't give you advice as I'm pretty much freaked out at the moment. I had a meeting with the pre-op nurse earlier this week and cried during the meeting. She told me it was OK to take a sedative the night before and when I arrive at the hospital ask the anesthesiologist for something to calm me. Best of luck to you...
 
@actorbird Hi Gill! I am also in the UK and had my THR just over 3 months ago. You should be told at your pre-op about what is provided by the NHS for your recovery . I was given a raised toilet seat plus a toilet frame ( both were invaluable), which I believe is standard. Also given crutches. I bought 2 grabbers off Amazon and a memory foam cushion
You will also need a comfortable chair which is not too low and has arms to help you to stand up. I also had a shower stool, but I only used it a couple of times.
Everyone is nervous, but this forum is fantastic - keep on reading and posting! I was so worried about the operation, but it was over before I knew it - almost an anti-climax!
Try your best to relax and find some enjoyable things to do as you wait.
 
@actorbird welcome! Re those nerves-- what do you do before/during a performance? My career has been as performing musician, mostly orchestral and chamber music, and very early on I somehow taught myself to pretend I wasn't nervous. That somehow gives me the actual ability to be not nervous.

As my first hip was my third huge major surgery (I started with the "female stuff" in my 20's) and I knew from being here just how good the results were likely to be, I was actually not nervous at all for either hip. As a life-seasoned worker, I knew that my surgical team were just as good at what they do as I am at what I do.

Once you get to hospital and are maybe overwhelmed with panic, Tell Them! You can be given something early on to help calm you down. any of that help at all?

Re toileting-- you could not pay me to get a riser for my toilet seat. The amount of energy spent cleaning it would take away from my recovery. I had anterior approach, and even so couldn't bend comfortably for a good while. My toilet for the first hip was a nice high one from the 60's. We moved, and this house has toilets designed for very short people. I used my late mother-in-law's commode chair, which was a godsend.

Best of luck next Wednesday!
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • Jaycey
    ADMINISTRATOR Staff member since February 2011

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,167
Messages
1,596,863
BoneSmarties
39,356
Latest member
JanieMarie
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom