THR Up, up & away!'

Status
Not open for further replies.
Actually what with the gorgeous TEDs I don't need socks. I used the sock gadget preOp #1 due to stiff hips and after I'd got past the TEDs stage, and then again ahead of Hip #2. Now, During the day, I wear slipper booties and if I go out husband applies pull on boots. The sock gadget will come into its own once you ditch the TEDs as your hip will still feel a bit stiff. You also need a countdown app on your phone - to the day you throw those crutches in the bin. What a blessed day that will be eh?
 
@doopy I ripped off the waterproof bandage at 4 days after first shower. Thereafter it was a nice feeling just to
Place gauze with paper tape over sutureline covered with steri strips. Yep! Clean and neat!
 
@SwimGirl , can't imagine an outside pool! Even indoors ours is often a bit chilly. When I was at school in the 1960s we had to swim in an unheated pool 8 months of the year - we were hardier back then!!

Do you know, I wonder if I might consider volunteering next Christmas like you do? We have v good TV adverts around now re the Salvation Army & I always think they are marvellous. Look! - maybe you'll be passing on the baton across the globe for me to pick up! Wouldn't that be another brilliant thing to come out of all this international bonding?!
 
@Miss Muffet , yes, those TEDs at least keep my feet warm, not to mention marginally more protected from all the sharp stuff which mysteriously seems to be lurking on downstairs floors (yet another splinter in foot, further to shard-of-glass débâcle).
11 days and counting till the crutches go out the window!! And I'll check out the sock gadget - I have a drawer full of nice , unworn socks to catch up on!!
 
@doopy Am worried about your precious feet and lurking dangers. Is it possible to get some of those slipper socks with pimply rubber bottoms. They'll protect you and also give you some grip for walking. Try Amazon for speed and convenience?
Personally I'm fascinated with my incision. It gets photographed most days and I keep a record to follow its progress. The body is pretty amazing - it wants to heal. The stingy feeling you're getting is probably the crusting I'm experiencing with mine.
Am a little brighter this morning after a long nap yesterday and a solid six hours kip last night. Cleaners coming later so the husband suggested a brief outing for lunch. I'll feel jaded later on so will need to program in another nap I suspect. Really must look at those cards this weekend - does looking at them count as doing them I wonder? Why do seemingly simple tasks take on a more onerous identity at the moment? I really long to get back to cooking and managing my home again. The husband's cooking is ok (with a few blips) but I feel I want to seize back control. I have a mountain of books given to me which are just ornaments, as I cannot contemplate getting my brain around them. I downloaded the complete box set of all the original Cold Feet series and loving them. That's about it!
 
@Miss Muffet , yes, I so agree about wanting to take back control of the house - I think that's naybe why there are so many odd sharp bits on my floor - I sadly enjoy vacuuming but darent do it - I tried & the body got confused, thought it was some kind of crutch & instinctively leant on it & of course it shot away from me!
Ok - I'll take a sideways squint at the scar -I'll sneak up on it so I'm not too shocked. The bed is full of steristrips this morning (which I was told was ok).

Yes, what is it with books? After a lifetime in the book trade & a husband who's an EngLit lecturer, we have many thousand books & reading is our lives - so why am I reading nothing but weird humour stuff on my Kindle? Husband gave me several pre-op & keeps asking if I'm enjoying them! Ummm...can't even focus on big articles in serious newspapers.

My comfort routine is BBC tv from about 3.30 in the recliner each afternoon - I drift off during Escape to the Country & wake as Pointless starts - talk about pointless!! But a nap is good, & im glad you feel good after a night's sleep. I envy you having husband on hand - mine leaves the house 6.30am & returns 7.30pm & even has an Open Day tomorrow - it's a long week alone. But Xmas hols approach.
My Xmas cards made it in a box to next to my recliner - like you, does that count as any progress, or must I open the box too???!
Have a great day, it's cold out there!!
 
@doopy just a suggestion - you might want to transition to 1 crutch before totally ditching them. One will give you the stability you are used to having but still give you a bit more independence (one hand free to carry something).
 
@Jaycey, yes, thanks, that's a sensible idea - I mustn't let my crutch phobia overtake common sense! I also got a walking stick ("proper" type) from The Red Cross, which I plan to progress to after crutches. Believe me, I'm being v careful - nothing is going to jeopardise all the surgeon's great work & my suffering!!
By the way, sorry for clogging up this post with trivia - meant to send some of it as PMs but was half asleep. Apologies to those around the world to whom my daytime tv schedule meant nothing!!
Will be more restrained in future & stick to relevant hippie stuff!
 
@doopy I agree with Miss Muffet--it's all useful info, even if we can't get BBC tv here in the US--it gives an insight into how one person is coping and might help someone else cope--or at least not feel alone in watching daytime TV! (Now if we spent our posts talking about the plots of the shows we watched, that might be a problem!)

I love your comment about reading material--so true. I'm an editor and writer by profession and signed up for an online writing course thinking I'd have so much time on my hands. Ha! Focus?? No way. I think we need to work our way slowly back to previous levels of functioning. Because my hip isn't usually painful I forget how much healing is still going on and how much trauma my body withstood. Now that I'm 5 weeks out I want to spend a little time each day either being more social or more productive but not expect too much from myself. And my body clearly lets me know my limits.
 
Thanks everyone! So kind!
@gertie , I agree with you - because I seem to have been so lucky in have very little pain since Day 1 (but was in agony pre-op), I sort of forget what a massive hit my body has taken. My muscles ache after pottering in the kitchen, but I think that is partly due to standing awkwardly when have to park the crutches for a few moments (e.g. Washing up). I'm ok without them, but OS & PT have freaked me into thinking that if I put weight (sadly, rather considerable!!) on my leg then I'll be undoing all their good work. If I listened to my body I would probably find it easier but I'm obeying orders!
Can I enquire how far/much people are walking around the 2-3 week mark? I don't think I'm doing enough, but am alone most of the day & don't feel quite safe yet in the road outside on my own.
 
There is no set timetable for walking any distance during this recovery. Just do what you feel comfortable doing. Cold and damp weather does not promote outdoor activities anyway. Until you are off your crutches I don't think you will be able to do much strengthening. Easy does it!
 
@doopy, it sounds from your description above that your surgeon is not allowing you to be full weight-bearing on the surgical leg, is that right? If so, is it for any particular reason? Sometimes they have that restriction if you needed a bone graft, for example. Many surgeons say that it is fine to put full weight on the leg after surgery as tolerated. I've recently had gluteal tendon repair surgery, and am on 20-pound flat-foot weight bearing of the surgical leg for 6 weeks to allow the tendons to repair properly and not pull out from their sutures on my femur. If you have a restriction, have your OS and PT given you a date when you can ease up on it and go full weight-bearing?

Regarding your question about activity levels, this BoneSmart page has good information. Activity progression for THRs After my THR last year, all I was doing for walking at 2-3 weeks was from room-to-room in my house as needed.
 
Can I enquire how far/much people are walking around the 2-3 week mark?

With the caveat that everyone's recovery is different, here's my experience. I was fully weight bearing from the beginning, on a walker per doctor for 2 weeks and then on a cane. The area around where I live is pretty level and smoothly paved. I walked a bit outside starting at around 1 to 1 1/2 weeks, with the walker and always with a friend--first couple of walks were just down the driveway, then a bit further and a bit further. At the 3 week mark the in-home PT gave me permission to walk outside with a cane by myself. I began to increase distance but that came to a halt last weekend b/c of sharp pain in my knee on the non-op side. The knee is quieting down so I'll cautiously try walking outside again. Not today though b/c I'm going out to lunch and that will most likely do me in!

I think you're wise to be cautious about walking outside alone as long as you're on crutches--they are sometimes hard to manage especially on uneven terrain.
 
@gertie @Jaycey @Krista ,
Thank so for the feedback - the OS said something about not stretching something (muscles? Tendons? Ligaments?) on the operated leg - it was a v straightforward op, no grafts etc. But he told me this on Day 2 during his 5 second visit whilst I had been dozing - all he did impress on me was the no weight-bearing for 4 weeks.
Good to know not everyone was out walking miles in the early days!

By the way, a tip for anyone? I just got (from Amazon) a set of 5 remote control plugs - you plug them into wall sockets then you can plug anything you want into them (lights, tv etc) & then turn everything on & off at a touch of the remote! No complicated set-up - just plug & go! Such a help as so many of my lamp switches are impossible to reach at the moment! (Apologies if I'm way behind and you are all using them already! ). Here when it's getting dark around 4pm it's so much less depressing than sitting with just a harsh overhead light, & I can turn stuff off from my recliner as I sink into a doze. I'm going to buy loads for all over the house (& then will mislay the remotes, of course....).
 
The remote control plugs idea is a great one! I will definitely use it if I ever have surgery again.

No weight bearing on the surgical leg is difficult. Have you had any follow-up visit yet? If not, and if it was only a 5 second visit when you were Day 2, you may not have remembered exactly right, and you might want to call his office and verify that instruction. It is unusual to have that restriction, although sometimes partial weight-bearing is sometimes required. At any rate, you are already 2 ½ weeks through.
 
Yes, most people seem a bit surprised about the non-weight bearing, inc the PT, but then I'm free from the 90 degree rule & no sleeping restrictions, so I guess it is swings & roundabouts.

Thought I'd post about my first big trip out yesterday: tomorrow I will be 3 weeks post-op. Because I'm mostly alone all day except for a couple of hours with my mother-in-law (husband leaves at crack of dawn, returns to eat and go to bed!!), I think I've probably been over cautious and self-protective, although the blasted compulsory crutches don't encourage independence. So yesterday evening we went to a local supermarket - not a vast one, such as I imagine you have in the USA, but for anyone in the UK - a calm, sedate Waitrose! This is just food-only (i.e. not aisles of homewares etc), and it was a little crowded but as I said, a key word to describe the type of customers at this store would be sedate and considerate! (unlike some others, where it's like a rugby scrum). So I pottered around on my crutches, with husband fetching the purchases - I felt like some mad old "grande dame", officiously pointing at my every desire with the end of a crutch!! My ability for speech just disappears when I'm concentrating on staying upright!

I was on my feet for about an hour, conscious of the fact that the PT would have had a fit - I was tired and not picking my feet up properly, not using the C-O-G (crutch - operated leg - good leg) routine, and shuffling, and quite possibly twisting occasionally. Given that I haven't walked further than round the house, I nevertheless thought I was doing ok. After about 30 mins my operated-side buttock (sorry!) began to ache, and then sort of along the scar line, but just a gentle ache. I sat down for most of the evening (which I'd do anyway!), but this morning I am quite stiff and achey. My "good" hip had had a steroid injection and manipulation during the THR, which had almost totally removed any of the severe pinching-type of pain I'd been getting, and I was sad to find this had returned when I was getting in and out of bed (the OS warned me it was just a temporary fix, 3 months at best). But in spite of the achyness, now I come to think of it, just prior to the op that trip would have had me in agony and resting in pain for 2 days afterwards, so I must remember it is progress. Today I have done a few chores but am suddenly exhausted, so back to the recliner with my laptop. My shoulders and palms of my hands certainly know all about it too!! Meds-wise, I'm just taking a 200mg ibuprofen occasionally, (plus blood-thinner), so I'm not really taking any significant pain-relief now. Psychologically, the trip was a treat - lovely Christmassy goodies, and everyone in a good mood. The staff at this company are famed throughout the UK for their customer service, and they were all so charming to me, chatty and asking if i was ok, and the checkout girl refused to let me have my bags to pack and insisted I just stand and watch (whilst husband fluffed about a bit!). And then she made my day by saying I looked far too young for a THR!!! And after stocking up I now can have something other than toast for my lonely lunches!!
 
@doopy So great that you are finally getting out and about. You may have aches and pains after walking at first. After all you have been non-weight bearing since your op. Easy does it. Your strength will quickly build. Well done!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,180
Messages
1,597,057
BoneSmarties
39,364
Latest member
All2Gd88
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom