Very scared Newbie, lots of concerns.

[Midchild54]

Posterior from my experience is like a hook cut. The curve starts on the buttocks and run down the side of thigh. Usually around 10 inches, give or take. It is the most likely for dislocation, hence the 90 degree restrictions. My OS does them in about 45 minutes because he has done so many of them. Anterior is front of thigh, about 5 inches with very few restrictions and quicker recovery, however, there is greater risk of nerve damage. The best way to really learn about the different approaches is to Google it. You will find a lot of info about each one. If you can stomach it, there is even videos where you can watch the entire surgery. Hope this helps.

 

[chalcedonian1]

I understand your issue with your daughter, I have worked with many autistic adults and ones with Asperger's as well, one can't look at/judge her behavior and attribute it to being selfish or truly non-caring, it just will be what it will be. Having a carer in your home for an hour or two a day is the same as having guests in your house, and if that doesn't happen often, perhaps you can start to invite people over for a 10 minute cup of tea between now and June every few days so she becomes acclimated a bit better to others being in the house for short periods of time? As for your puppy, you don't have a big garden, but it sounds like you might have some area he can go in. I have stood at the top of the stairs in the house with a very very loooooong leash for my 80 pound English Lab who is quite strong and he is actually quite content going in the same little area every day. I hold onto the railing so I am completely secure and I rein him back in like he is a Shetland pony, it is quite funny! You really cannot/must not postpone your surgery - when I considered doing that because "it was too soon for me to get my life in order", one of the consulting surgeons took me quite aback (thankfully) and said that I could of course do that, but he would hate to see me be an "emergent care victim" - meaning, if my hip/femur collapsed or crumbled further or suddenly, I would be sent to the emergency room where an operation would then take place immediately and not under ideal circumstances either. It never occurred to me that my routine where I compensated for pain would not last me "forever" - I just assumed I could keep on doing what I had always done to make up for the pain with Aleve and a cane or a deep limp, etc. That is absolutely not the case, and if you are thrown into an emergency situation where suddenly your hip gives out completely, you will have far worse to deal with than your daughter dealing with strangers in the house and your puppy being fear aggressive. If you are fearful of the surgery as well, please read through the forum and see how many people do so well! I am now just over two weeks out and doing great! I am alone during the day, and doing laundry and making small meals, etc. I suffered one day of pain in the hospital, the rest has been completely doable, and I did/do have the expected fatigue. It would be a pity to put yourself at risk, or even in danger, to postpone because of the issues you mention, you might wind up making things terribly worse. There just has to be a way. Good luck!

 

[zauberflöte]

@Kay9 :lol: I don't mind dogs, but being a cat person myself have a little bit of drool-phobia!
I had direct anterior-- right down the center front of hip fold and thigh, scar 10cm or 4in long. It was lovely not to have to sit on the incision! But all approaches lead to the same outcome. I did have a couple of restrictions that were caused by too many cooks at the soup! Was not to rotate leg inwardly, nor to cross legs. The extra cooks had me shuffling around taking baby steps for 8 weeks! I will get that sorted out before next hip-- I was extremely stiff and paralyzed in the op hip by the end of the restriction period.
My nerve damage took the form of a numb patch on the skin by the incision. It is still fading. I was not fussed-- had exactly the same thing on my belly from a hysterectomy.


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!

 

[yamandy]

@Kay9 Hi i was just perusing your pre op thread, it certainly seems like you have your plate full with all the concerns you have to deal with before surgery. I want to thank you for taking the time to help cheer me up while your dealing with so much. I hope you will be able to get the situation with your daughter and dog sorted out by the time you are scheduled for the surgery. Best of luck and all the well wishes i can send your way.

 

[Legin]

Im sure all will be ok. But its always difficult with the waiting too much time to think and to be honest do research which gives us more to think about. Im lucky in that I try not to think too much.

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[Hoppy Nanny]

Hi @Kay9
I've just caught up & been reading through your posts .....jeez..what an awful lot you have on your plate! But you've got such a sunny disposition that I know you will cope with all this & come up smiling!
One thought on your daughter & changing the duvet cover.....could you just not use the cover as a top sheet & put duvet on top....just for a month or so!
I had the posterior approach 18 months ago.....please though don't get caught up in the anterior v posterior approach and which is better......if the posterior is what your surgeon does best ( as was the case with mine) then it will be the best outcome for you.
I had to have 12 weeks of precautions but they were not onerous....just sensible don't twist or bend or cross mid line...those grabbers helped so much. I also had to sleep on my back ( I was dreading it as I've had back surgery) but it was fine! I slept quite well with no back pain. Was not allowed to sleep on either side for 12 weeks & I still sleep on my back now as I've got so used to it.
I was crazy worried about dislocation but no need.....it was all fine....it's everyone's fear whether they have whatever approach....so you are normal like the rest of us!
My sis had TKR & had to send her dog into care for 2-3 weeks.....she was worried when he came back as he was a puppy but huge....but he seemed to sense that she needed space & kept away from her.....but she used her walker as a sort of shield when she sat down.
Think it will be great for your Mum to have some focus after losing your Dad...it may help her too!
Just to say.....thinking of you......you have certainly found the right site to be on.....BoneSmart is just the very, very, best!!
Take care...Chrissie x




Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum

 

[chalcedonian1]

@Kay9 It sounds like your family does not have the capacity to be very sympathetic at this point, this is common in families when one member tends to be chronically ill with one health issue or several, or has children who have special needs. Whether your family is sympathetic or not, this is major surgery; however, in the US, there are over 3,000,000 hip replacements done successfully every year and the recovery from this surgery is just amazing. I am now just about 2.5 weeks out from my surgery and am doing extremely well! If you can opt for a spinal with medication, I would suggest that over General Anesthesia, it helps with your recovery a lot. I had a spinal with meds, and saw/ heard nothing, remember nothing, and felt good when I woke up. Most concerning is your dog, I hope he can be put in a crate at times so that you are safe walking in your own home - you cannot let him bowl you over or hit your incision area with his head by accident etc. In my humble opinion, no matter how much we love them (and I have three), animals should never rule the house, you should! So far as anticipating this event, this time is really the hardest. At some point you may have to stop yourself from thinking about it any further, I decided to do that as I had thoroughly researched my surgeon, the hospital, the operation (I had the anterior approach, to look at my incision you would NEVER know I had major surgery), I posted on this forum etc. Best to use that energy getting your house and home ready, do shopping, get your clothes ready, etc. This calmed me, I just didn't want my emotions to run amok any more than they had already, and the more I talked/thought about it the worse I made myself, so I stopped that stuff cold turkey. I was amazed how calm I was the morning of surgery! And you will soon be posting on the other side. I have a number of health issues too, I put them in their proper place so they don't rule my life until they show their ugly little heads, and then I do whatever I need to do to get better. BTW, I have a close relative who had quite bad diverticulitis and he now takes "Colace" every day, it is a tablet that forms a gel in the intestines and can be taken every day of your life with no consequence. Since taking this after two massive diverticulitis attacks, he has had no further ones and barely worries (and even if he did, his dr. uses the antibiotic treatments and would not resort to surgery unless as a last, last, last resort). Keep your chin up, try to stop worrying so much, put that energy to positive use for yourself, it doesn't sound like you have a particularly supportive family so you need to be extra especially kind to yourself!

 

[Kay9]

@Midchild54 thanks...I so dont think I want to look at any videos of surgery though Although that may change as I get closer to the date.

@chalcedonian1 thankyou, your posts were very helpful to me. Ive kind of re-evaluated the way Im looking at at, re thinking of postponing. You are right, my Daughter would be far more traumatised if I was suddenly rushed into ER due to a hip collapse, and we hadnt had any planning etc. its a very good point, thankyou for making it. I know in a lot of ways Im not going to have tons of family support and Im prepared for that now, I think. It was just a bit of a shock when I realised their attitude to this surgery and my recovery, and I felt scared, but forewarned is forearmed, Im accepting that this is MY journey to take, and if I get on their nerves, so be it

@zauberflöte I so wish I was having Anterior, so I dont have to sit on the wound! im sure I will learn to "perch" a certain way though

@yamandy , nice to hear from you, how are doing!? I felt so sad for you! . I hope each day gets a little easier, and that you can somehow get help WITHOUT having to wait for a 3rd dislocation, what a crazy thing! Will have my fingers crossed for you.

@Legin very true words! Ive read SO much, Im suffering over-load of the brain! Not that it takes much. Im trying to step away from all things HIP a little.

@Hoppy Nanny ( love that name!) thankyou. Its good to hear from someone whose had posterior surgery. But 12 weeks of restrictions!!? i hope I dont get that!
Great idea about the Duvet cover though, I dont know why I dont think of these things! Anything you can tell me about the surgery ( as long as it doesnt scare me) would be a big help.

 

[Kay9]

@chalcedonian1 can I ask a few questions about spinal v G.A ? Is it 100% certain that you dont hear/feel anything? Or is that only if you have a sedative too? How long are you unable to move your legs?

Yes I will have to be careful with my dog banging into my wound, he is a very large strong dog and although hes not young,he's still pretty energetic.
Im looking into possibly hiring a mobility scooter so I can exercise him for greater distances than I may be able to walk for a few weeks. But Im also going to stop,over-thinking it all so much, its draining me, all the worry of it.

 

[zauberflöte]

Mobility scooter sounds awesome and brilliant to me! Watch the dog doesn't make you walk so he can ride it :lol:


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!

 

[Legin]

Chortle get the one withgo faster stripes

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[Kay9]

Mobility scooter sounds awesome and brilliant to me! Watch the dog doesn't make you walk so he can ride it :lol:


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!

Ive got visions of him trying to get into the little basket they have on the front of them That would be good if he was a yorkshire terrier or something, I dont think many of the baskets are made to accomadate a Rhodesian Ridgeback

 

[Kay9]

Chortle get the one withgo faster stripes

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[webbie73]

Oh what a visual!! What a great idea to use a scooter for exercising your "little" dog!

 

[Legin]

Nice one tho lass but jesting apart really good to see you thinking things thru to resolve problems.

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[glynis]

Hi Kay-9

First of all, my apologies that I have only just now grasped "Kay-9", and previously called you Kay. This is particularly inexcusable, in that I worked on Dr Who publications for many years.

I just wanted to comment on the Anterior v Posterior debate. Lying in traction in Peru, not speaking Spanish, and having zilch knowledge of human anatomy, it never even so much as occurred to me to question what approach my surgeon was going to take. I had Posterior.

When I got home to UK, I went to have the surgery checked out by a UK orthopaedic surgeon, and by this time I had heard something of The Debate. He said that in his view, Anterior was a bit of a fashion issue. New Surgery On The Block, sort of thing. He said he preferred Posterior, as he "could see what he was doing".

Now, call me old fashioned, but I just feel a soft, warm glow, at the idea of a surgeon, wielding a great many knives and scalpels, intent on invading my tiny body (well, 5 foot 7, and just over 10 stone, is not exactly petite, I suppose - but still, it's the only one I've got), and being able to "see what he is doing".

I don't remember the restrictions as being all that arduous. I reckon you are naturally more cautious anyway, having had major surgery. And the time goes very quickly. Hard to believe my accident was on New Year's Eve 2009. (And, before you jump to any conclusions, it was at 8.30am.)

I am off to USA now for 3 weeks. Will check in on you on return.

All the best.

Glynis

 

[craftdee]

Hi @Kay9 I know you have "extra" on your plate... and some of those issues I can't comment on, having different issues myself... everyone on here seems to have something but some of the things you are expressing concern about I can relate to and share my experience of. I had Posterior Approach for my THR as my surgeon needed the clear field of view that it affords (which Anterior does not), as glynis says. I was devastated when I found out as I had just got my head around having the THR and thought I could "manage" an Anterior but not Posterior... but in the end you want the best result, if Posterior was going to improve the chances of getting that then Posterior was the approach I was going with.... and as it happens, it was fine, didn't even have to "perch" as the wound is more to the side of the butt than on the sitty down bit !

I had GA because the anesthetist at the pre op appointment would only say I "probably wouldn't hear anything" or at least "probably wouldn't remember it" and the hearing thing freaked me out. The anesthetist on the day of surgery was much more empathetic and said he thought GA was the way for me to go only as I was so strung out about the spinal/sedation route and I would not be as relaxed as they'd like with spinal... ironically if he'd done the pre op assessment I think i would have been able to go with the spinal and sedation, because he said he could have me sedated enough that I wouldn't hear anything... but by then I'd had two weeks to work myself up into a lather about the "probably" part.

You do HAVE to have sedation with it or you will be wide awake, if you have light sedation you may be able to hear, but if you ask for heavier sedation... tell them, and make it CLEAR that you don't want to hear anything... you should be fine. Sedation means you are asleep but still breathing for yourself, essentially with GA your breathing is "taken over" for you for the duration of the op. I had an excellent experience with GA though, so if that's the way you want to go (it is your right to choose) or end up going due to factors beyond your control you'll be fine with that too - there are risks with GA, different than the risks of spinal/sedation but there are benefits too (my legs weren't numb at all, I was up on two crutches within an hour or so of returning to my room post op) modern GA is so much more 'user friendly' than it used to be

I know exactly what you mean about overthinking it all.... it's so very draining. You think, talk, and plan about that hip for months. The waiting is the hardest part of the whole process, by far. Recovery is so much better... there are many more things within your control, and you are so much more able post op, from very early on, than you can even contemplate pre op. My head was full of "what ifs" and "I won't be able to's" - as soon as I'd had the surgery (I mean from five minutes after getting back to my room!) it was more... "okay, what can I do to help myself recover", and the answers were positive; there were things I could do! Most of the what ifs didn't eventuate and the I won't be able to's were more "I can do if I think about how to's" It just felt so much better, not feeling like "stuff" was happening TO me


Bye for now
Donna

 

[chalcedonian1]

@Kay9 spinal v G.A ? Is it 100% certain that you dont hear/feel anything? Or is that only if you have a sedative too? How long are you unable to move your legs?
Is it 100% certain that you dont hear/feel anything? Or is that only if you have a sedative too? How long are you unable to move your legs?

Hi, Please ask your doctor about the sedatives with the spinal (which was given in my side BTW, not in my spine). I have absolutely no memory of the operation or even being given the spinal! I believe that it is fairly 100% if you have the Versed and other sedatives with the spinal you do not hear a thing, but do ask. I was told it is almost always better to have a spinal than to subject your body to General Anesthesia if you have the choice, unless there are specific health reasons to otherwise have GA. I could not move my legs for maybe 45 minutes, thugh I certainly did not want to (!) as there was plenty else going on, then I could wiggle my toes, and up my leg went the feeling gradually, so within a couple of hours I was back to normal. My legs were encased in the squeezers and I was still a bit drugged feeling so not being able to move my legs was not a bother at all, and I asked the nurses how I was doing so I would not fret as they came in and checked up on me. The whole period of time right after surgery went by very very quickly. And then I was up on crutches right after I went to my room and was walking down the hallway, used the toilet normally etc. It all will be over before you know it.

 

[narnybose]

@Kay9 Oh sweetheart take a deep breath, you are in the UK so if you ask they will provide aids on loan, your recliner will be fine as a normal chair, I would be careful you don't want to recline and get stuck. Go onto utube put in hip replacement recovery and there are lots of videos that will help. Your dog will survive without walks for a while. Can you shop on line just for a couple of months that is what I am going to do they deliver for me. I cannot begin to understand how anxious you are about your daughter she is the one you are terrified for. Practice with your grabbers I can now dress and lift the cat bowls off the floor etc. Try sitting with your poorly leg out in front of you so you don't break 90 degrees. You are overwhelmed I wish I could give you a cuddle as do so many people on this forum rant rave on here we are all here to support each other . I send you my best wishes Mags xx

 

[Kay9]

Hi Kay-9

First of all, my apologies that I have only just now grasped "Kay-9", and previously called you Kay. This is particularly inexcusable, in that I worked on Dr Who publications for many years.

I just wanted to comment on the Anterior v Posterior debate. Lying in traction in Peru, not speaking Spanish, and having zilch knowledge of human anatomy, it never even so much as occurred to me to question what approach my surgeon was going to take. I had Posterior.

When I got home to UK, I went to have the surgery checked out by a UK orthopaedic surgeon, and by this time I had heard something of The Debate. He said that in his view, Anterior was a bit of a fashion issue. New Surgery On The Block, sort of thing. He said he preferred Posterior, as he "could see what he was doing".

Now, call me old fashioned, but I just feel a soft, warm glow, at the idea of a surgeon, wielding a great many knives and scalpels, intent on invading my tiny body (well, 5 foot 7, and just over 10 stone, is not exactly petite, I suppose - but still, it's the only one I've got), and being able to "see what he is doing".

I don't remember the restrictions as being all that arduous. I reckon you are naturally more cautious anyway, having had major surgery. And the time goes very quickly. Hard to believe my accident was on New Year's Eve 2009. (And, before you jump to any conclusions, it was at 8.30am.)

I am off to USA now for 3 weeks. Will check in on you on return.

All the best.

Glynis

No problem with calling me kay
Thats a very helpful post, thankyou @glynis . I shall feel better about the posterior/anterior debate now. Ive been getting more and more worried that im having posterior but you have helped put my mind at rest, thankyou. Im very envious that you are off to the USA for 3 weeks, its my dream to go there! Have. A fabulous time

@craftdee , what a great post, thankyou so much! Its kind of made me want a G.A now. Im going to re-read your post again in the morning, its gone 1am here and I have to be up at 6am So Im going to have to try sleeping now....but al I can think of are hips, hips, and more hips. I cant switch off!

@chalcedonian1 , oh...well now Im leaning towards wanting a spinal and sedation again. I cant seem to keep an opinion for more than 10 seconds. Again, i will read your post again in the morning, but thankyou for your valuable input and advice.

@narnybose aww bless you, what a lovely caring post. I wish you were with me right now to give me that hug, overwhelmed is definitely how Im feeling! I tried a practice with the sock-putter-onner-thingy No idea what its called....didnt get on at all well and gave up haha. Then I tried the dressing stick...again, no good. Will have to google how to use them. Thankyou again for your kindness. I really need to sleep now, but even when I do I dream of hips. I dreamed the other night that I was in the supermarket and next to a promotional booth with a woman promoting an Ice Machine, was a promotional booth with a woman promoting a hip surgeon...for DOGS,!