my son is waiting for a hipreplacement

kirstine

hello,

my son 14 is waiting for a hip replacement. Dose anyone know what gose on between getting put on the waiting list to him going into hospital for the operation?

valval

hi quite a few have had them done so will be on to let you know just wanted to say hi and i hope he does not have to wait to long for it good luck val

snowball

kirstine wrote:

hello,

my son 14 is waiting for a hip replacement. Dose anyone know what gose on between getting put on the waiting list to him going into hospital for the operation?

Hi kirstine and welcome to the forum, sorry i can't help much i know there are other parents on here with children who have arthritis, it might bee a good idea to post this question on the young peoples forum. Hope this helps.

Julie

speedalong

Hi Kirstine, I don't know if it is different for children, but for adults - you are on the waiting list, in the main you get called for a pre-op appointment (blood tests etc) and then you go in for the op. You need certain adaptions at home whilst you are recovering eg raised toilet seat, gadgets to help with self care, your bed and chair need to be a certain height etc and this is all sorted out by an OT. The main challenge is dealing with the pain and lack of mobility as you wait. Is your son having physio? The better the condition of the muscles around the joint before surgery the better the outcome after - so if he isn't having physio it is worth asking for a referral.

14 is very young for THR, poor thing. Hope it improves his quality of life.

I had mine done at 30, they did not cement or glue it - they bone grafted it with bone chips. It was all metal. When I was in hospital all the older folks were up and walking the next day ... I was on bedrest and then had weight bear restrictions for the first few months. So if you read other posts on rapid recoveries - he maybe lucky enough to be one of those, but he might not. My replacement is now 13 years old and I have no pain in that hip.

Speedalong

dorcas

Hi Kirstine and welcome to the forum although I'm sorry it's in these circumstances.

I haven't had a THR but wanted to offer support and to let you know that we are here for you at any time...so keep posting. x

Speedalong has given you some great info and advice and I'm sure there will be some more peeps answering your post who have had THR and can advise you on what to expect.

Iris x

frogmorton

Hi kirstine

No advice really, but wanted to welcome you and let you know that this site is very supportive and we will be with you if you need us every step of the way.

Please take care and have a good easter.

Personally i'd give it 6 months max before asking how long the list is...but then again I am impatient

Love

Toni xx

speedalong

Toni said,

Personally i'd give it 6 months max before asking how long the list is...but then again I am impatient

Well I must be more impatient ... (prob because I'm waiting too ...) The government timescales are 18 weeks from the time your GP makes a referral to the time you start treatment ... This could mean GP refers you to ortho and ortho says op - op in 18 weeks!! However gets more complex if other treatments are tried first - then the 18 weeks starts again. NB some hospitals are honouring the 18 week timescale in all ops but orthopaedics and trauma ...

You can look up your chosen hospital and see what the average waiting times are for the op on
http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx

I've gone from dreading the op to counting the days .. would really help now if I had an actual date. How does your son feel?

Speedalong

kathbee

Hi Kirstine

Sorry to hear your 14 yr old needs a hip replacement.

I had my right hip replaced 3 months ago and after I had
seen the ortho surgeon I was put on the waiting list.
Next I was invited to a group hip meeting, there were
5 or 6 people there and we got to know just what would
happen during the hospital stay, after care, aids that we
could have, physio, anything we wanted to know about we
could ask. I found it very helpful.

The next thing was a pre-op assesment where bloods were
taken and many pages of notes and blood pressure, meds
taken etc.

My op took place 9 weeks after I had first seen the ortho
surgeon, but because I couldnt walk hardly I did phone the
secretary and ask if there would be a cancellation could I
be put forward for it as I wanted it done asap.

Lucky for me there was a cancellation and I had about 5 days
before Iwent in, although I was in over Xmas but I didnt mind
after all I have had 65 other Xmase's, but someone younger
or with a young family wouldnt have wanted that I reckon.

Bear in mind that all health authorities have such different
time spans and guidelines, even the surgeons do things
differently. I think the norm for our area is around 15 weeks
wait.

Glad to say that all went very well indeed.

Good luck to your son, any other questions please feel free
to ask.

Kath

hileena111

Hi I'm 7 weeks post op....and it was about a couple of months from referral to the date of op.
Everything else in betrween is as others have said....group physio appt. pre op assessment, and the op....

Love
Hileena