THR Two New Hips in Six Weeks

@JoeKnows I have spent time in Bakersfield. I am quite familiar. But now, well...now is different. Wisconsin is Wisconsin. Saturday night we are expecting first deep freeze. I like the change, really.
 
I love this weather, @lovesstars ! I like having it be cool enough in the house that I have to wear a sw ... Oh no! BF just called to say the stove delivery guys are on their way.

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I just carried Albert upstairs, holding onto the railing, and put him in his room. Jeez Louise. I feel all right but no more of that! Yikes!
 
@EL11 hahahaha and you thought I would be putting up the wallpaper by myself. Look at you, on DAY 9 carrying Albert up the stairs while holding onto the railing.
:yikes::yikes::yikes:
 
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@lovesstars Yeah, unbelievable. My boyfriend called from the hospital while the old stove and dishwasher were being moving to the garage and the new ones brought in. I told him I carried Albert upstairs and he was properly horrified. I said it was an act of otherworldly strength in the face of necessity, like the mother who lifts a massive truck to save a child. Then the handyman called, as he's coming over later to assemble the garbage and do some other minor tasks, and I told him and he was even more horrified. I didn't bother with the mother/truck/child comparison. I like to get as much mileage out of these anecdotes as possible.
 
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Ten days out, EL11 and it sounds like you're doing well.
Albert is a cutie. I'll bet good company too.
Post op already next week. Always nice to get reassurance from those visits.
I hope you have a nice day and weekend.
@EL11
 
I'm basically doing well, @Layla ... pretty ouchy on the left side this morning. Thanks for checking in.

Wishing you the same!
 
@EL11 yep I was wondering about how you felt after that stairway adventure. At my end, thus far I have only done the 15 stairs up and done once per day — but yesterday for the first time — it could not be helped — I did them FOUR times. At 1 am I was up in so much pain I thought I would begin vomiting again. Stupid, stupid me. This morning sworn to couch and ice.
Like hitting my head against the wall — learning the lesson again and again.
:banghead:
 
These things are delayed, @lovesstars - in fact I was watching some baseball commentary and there was mention of a top Boston doc telling the Sox manager that a pitching injury can manifest three weeks after the initial strain. So one day after is nothing.

I'm icing on the couch right now myself. I have not vomited from pain but there were moments over the past week when I felt as if I might. Albert is snug in his room. He'd rather be down here, but there's a lot of drilling and other noise going on and it's better this way. I've been up and down the stairs once and will try to avoid another trip.
 
Ah — drilling — the appliance installation is going on. Here I finally have no workmen and Daisy (pup) is relaxed with no strangers in the house. R has returned from France, thankfully.
 
That sounds peaceful. I’ve retired to the family room couch.
 
THR friends,

I had my 11-days-out visit from the physical therapist. I may have mentioned that I accidentally booked a different service from the one I used for my first hip. This guy concentrates on educating the patient and focuses on just walking, daily tasks etc. I asked permission to add some of the exercises I was doing last time, mini-squats, heel to butt, back leg extensions etc., and he said yes to all but not too many reps. I know I could just walk or do nothing, but having a variety of tasks to do does fill my day! Here are a few nuggets I picked up during our conversation and as he watched me walk with one crutch, which he said I was doing awesome ...

He confirmed that osteonecrosis added to the general arthritis will make the post-op pain worse, which is one reason I'm dealing with more pain this time. He is only in his mid-40s and expects to have a THR within 10 years —from my own OS—has had arthritis since he was 2 and is edging toward the dreaded "femur death" as well.

I have been worried about tapering off the oxycodone because I have definitely experienced, along with the chilled-out feeling and pain relief, less mental clarity, like one of the posters here who wrote up something for work and was grateful his 20-year-old son saw it and pulled the plug. I've done my own little amateur clinical trial and I sometimes replace or miss words while typing when in the oxyco-zone. He said at 30 mg a day, there would not be undue withdrawal and I could even split a pill in half along the way. He also said the pills are at their peak efficacy an hour after you take them. Good to know if you have to sign any important documents at noon and you take an opioid at 9 (kidding). The advice you receive/experience you have may vary, hipsters

My blood pressure was high during my last few PCP appointments before any of this, like over 150 for the upper #. I tried Lisinopril and got a cough some people experience with that drug, a choky one ending in bringing up a ball of phlegm, echh. For a singer, no bueno, not that anyone would like it. Ever since I got out of the hospital for the first time on 7/31, my BP has been normal. I keep wondering if it is artificially low because of the meds, or normal because of the diminishment and then the elimination of arthritis pain in my hips. He thinks the latter, which of course would be my preferred answer. We'll see when I'm no longer on any medication. But as all of us in the forum know, chronic inflammation is different from recovery pain. It creates a certain kind of stress psychologically, it eventually dominates your life, and there's a physiological reaction that kicks in too, the name of which I forget.

Well, it filled a few minutes of my day to write that. Only an hour and 20 minutes till I get ready for the nurse, and I do believe I could use a snack! Time is rolling right along.

Happy healing vibes to all.
 

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Very interesting @EL11. I was just saying saying yesterday it felt like the oxy took 45 mins or more to kick in, which seems long. I'm taking a low dose but it's pretty effective. Had to take one at 4:30 am when pony leg woke me up kicking in the sheets thereby creating enough pain that you can't ignore it. And yes, so correct about that OA pain creating BP rise. I was also very fatigued before surgery during the OA pain filled months. The more severe the bone on bone got, the more tired I'd be. But like you say, a different kind of pain and a different kind of fatigue from the post op type. I still feel like the right side is the slow learner in the hip family here, one full week out now....no stairs, no 10 min walks, no 5 min walks. But I am cultivating a new patience and learning the fine art of pain management for the first time in my life so.... Patience. A Virtue I'm told... My hubby is a singer and also takes BP meds but found one with no impact on the voice, cough thing. He fiercely protects those vocal chords like the Hope diamond! And has not lost any of his high range, so common as one ages. Good healing vibes to you, you're doing great, especially for only 11 days!!
 
Patience is what we all need, @1stSurgery, that's for sure. You're 4 days behind me. I felt a subtle shift just a day or so ago in my walking comfort. You might be due for a shift pretty soon, let your bone-homies know when it happens!

My boyfriend takes that medication with no problem, as many people do.

The nurse was just here, BP still on the money since 3 hours ago ;-), Oxygen 100%; she couldn't get my blood, which has been a problem since I was a tot. They may not require it again.

Since I am home a lot anyway, I well remember the arthritic fatigue, napping half a dozen times a day and not waking up refreshed.
 
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Hi @EL11
Stopping by to send you some love and a virtual hug.
Read your post over on lovesstars and my heart goes out to you, you've had a rough week.
May the coming week bring you comfort, peace and the rest you need! :loveshwr: :console2:
 
Aw @Layla, thank you.

I'm fortunate in a multitude of ways, and I never forget that. I read this article a few months ago about the discovery that gratitude makes you happy rather than the other way around.
 
Aw @Layla, thank you.

I'm fortunate in a multitude of ways, and I never forget that. I read this article a few months ago about the discovery that gratitude makes you happy rather than the other way around.

Funny coincidence @EL11, my sister and I were just talking about this. She has embraced what she refers to as an "attitude of gratitude". I am trying to follow her example, and pare down my inner b*tching monologue, focus instead on the miracles all around.

Hard to stay focused though, when your bus is late. :)
 
But today, @EL11, after Appliance Adventure and garden dead-heading...are you more sore?

Today I am a little less sore, thanks for checking :). Yesterday I thought I'd try for 4 oxy only: 2 before doing my own pt, 2 at night. It worked out fine; mostly, I slept well and long. I've had only Tylenol once so far today and did the exercises, icing right after. Thinking I will religiously take the Tylenol every 6 hours. I didn't do any gardening yesterday, but I did visit the garden and change the seed in one of the bird feeders (couldn't figure how to get the top off the other one and will ask the handyman to do it when he comes by, pathetic as it seems).

Tomorrow is my OS appointment and I am making my list of questions:
  • I think I know the answer, but if you could confirm, why does it hurt more this time?
  • May I take Advil now?
  • When will pt end and could I have an order for pt outside the home? Which place is best? (He is a sports medicine guy and should have an opinion).
  • How much more do the hip replacements weigh than my natural hips did?
Re this last item, there is a reference I see everywhere that the artificial hips weigh 3-5 lbs, it's more than the hips you got rid of, so you might expect to gain "a few pounds." This is not good enough. I've been trying to lose 6-7 lbs for a year or so. "A few" is what, 3? Maybe 5? Also, might I be carrying water weight for more than 2 weeks? I have generally been eating less, and was disappointed to see that my weight was up a couple of pounds. Sorry to seem obsessive. I'm very much hoping that in a month, I can exercise for reals.

@lovesstars, how are you doing? I have not been looking around the forum as much today, but was thinking about your description of daily weeping, wanting to burn things, and waiting on your mom as you clank around in the walker. I hope your family has been a comfort, including Daisy.

People think cats are aloof, but Albert is so snuggly and has been even more so this past week. I'll be lying on the couch with wedge, and he every so carefully makes his way to the top of the wedge or to cuddle under my arm or on my lap, even when there's an ice pillow there he has to carefully avoid.
 

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Please report to all of us what the doc says about the weight of the device. Helps all of us!
We are all entitled to be obsessive in our own ways. Especially on our own threads. My thread is a disaster right now. Everyone posting on how they squat to relieve themselves. Oh my! :yikes:

I am bumping along, thanks for asking. On the couch on ice now, come what may. I need to save my energy...for at least today. Little Daisy is a godsend. Rainy and cold here. Cinnamon tea helps too.
 
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