I'm home after having my hip op and i feel yuck

denpen

HI
It will get better, trust me, I am 16 weeks post op THR now It is hard just after the op mobility is really bad and the operation pain dosent last very long to be honest I expected the pain to be alot worse although I was on morphine as much as I could get I would press that button as often as I could.
My leg felt a lot longer too I told my physio who measured it and its 1" longer but before it was 1/2" shorter, so to me that 1 1/2" longer than it was before, But saying that it doesnet feel as bad now. The hospital staff do vary I asked a nurse for a bed pan and was told I couldnt have a bed pan because they were getting our tea out then she said unless you are desperate. like I wouldnt have asked if I hadnt wanted to go I should have wet the bed that would have sorted the problem out.
Anyway you are home now and the only way is up, it is a long recovery so take it easy, be pampered if you can get it, and you will soon feel a improvement.
Denise

speedalong

Just popping in to say hi, and hope you are coping ok ... remember post-op state is temporary and a means to an end.

Speedy

efleure

skezier wrote:

Hi Efleure,

Its so hard t be positive while in pain so well done! It takes time and you have done so well so don't forget that. Hope you have a good afternoon and that the sun is shining there? ((())) and it does get better. Cris x

Thanks Cris...yes the sun has been shining here...does help even if it's only through my windows....thanks again.x

efleure

denpen wrote:

HI
It will get better, trust me, I am 16 weeks post op THR now It is hard just after the op mobility is really bad and the operation pain dosent last very long to be honest I expected the pain to be alot worse although I was on morphine as much as I could get I would press that button as often as I could.
My leg felt a lot longer too I told my physio who measured it and its 1" longer but before it was 1/2" shorter, so to me that 1 1/2" longer than it was before, But saying that it doesnet feel as bad now. The hospital staff do vary I asked a nurse for a bed pan and was told I couldnt have a bed pan because they were getting our tea out then she said unless you are desperate. like I wouldnt have asked if I hadnt wanted to go I should have wet the bed that would have sorted the problem out.
Anyway you are home now and the only way is up, it is a long recovery so take it easy, be pampered if you can get it, and you will soon feel a improvement.
Denise

Thanks Denise...i managed to have a disaster with the bedpan as the nurse kept pushing it too hard so it jabbed my hip...she wasn't very pleased when i wet the bed and when i ended up crying...oh well, it's just a memory now...will pamper myself once i get past these horrible first weeks..my family are more the there's your dinner, see you tomorrow type, but my little ones are very good at washing my yucky feet....thanks for the kind words..x

efleure

speedalong wrote:

Just popping in to say hi, and hope you are coping ok ... remember post-op state is temporary and a means to an end.

Speedy[/quote

Thanks Speedy...i will try to remember that rather than think this is it now...x

kathbee

[quote="efleure [/quote]

Thanks Denise...i managed to have a disaster with the bedpan as the nurse kept pushing it too hard so it jabbed my hip...she wasn't very pleased when i wet the bed and when i ended up crying...oh well, it's just a memory now...will pamper myself once i get past these horrible first weeks..my family are more the there's your dinner, see you tomorrow type, but my little ones are very good at washing my yucky feet....thanks for the kind words..x[/quote]

Aw, your little ones sound lovely and are doing their best
arent they, bless em.

Dont know how I would have managed if I had kids at home.

I too found that there was the odd nurse or so who could be a
bit 'naughty'. Mostly they were kind and helpful. But I guess they
cant all be the same.

Hope you are getting along nicely fleure.

Kath x

chris7

Hi Efleure

I'm still looking in to see how you are and I will admit personally storing away all the good advise you are being given. Sorry I can't advise and sorry to see you have posted about the swelling on another thread elsewhere. I know you will get support and good advise there too.
Hang in there. Just sending him incase you need him.



Chris x

ikesother

Hi, Hope youre having a better day today! It will get better, remember its early days :shock: Everyone recovers at different rates and has different medical histories, so what may work for one person, doesnt always work for another. I had my THR and its been like a text book recovery, but a friend of mine, whose of a similar age hasnt been so quick or easy to recover from it. Take one day at a time, and this forum has been a big help for me. Take care jk

dreamdaisy

Hello effleure, I hope things aren't too bad today. Very wise words from ikesother, I hope you read them. Rest, do your exercises, and think positive thoughts. DD

efleure

kathbee wrote:

[quote="efleure

Thanks Denise...i managed to have a disaster with the bedpan as the nurse kept pushing it too hard so it jabbed my hip...she wasn't very pleased when i wet the bed and when i ended up crying...oh well, it's just a memory now...will pamper myself once i get past these horrible first weeks..my family are more the there's your dinner, see you tomorrow type, but my little ones are very good at washing my yucky feet....thanks for the kind words..x[/quote]

Aw, your little ones sound lovely and are doing their best
arent they, bless em.

Dont know how I would have managed if I had kids at home.

I too found that there was the odd nurse or so who could be a
bit 'naughty'. Mostly they were kind and helpful. But I guess they
cant all be the same.

Hope you are getting along nicely fleure.

Kath x[/quote]


Thanks Kath...my youngest have been amazing...very helpful and kind and they've had to put up with my foul moods and depression which has really reared it's ugly head throughout all this...and yes some nurses were kind, but was horrified at how many were just going through the motions, with barely concealed boredom and annoyance at being summoned...and don't start me on the night staff...the experience has put my oldest one off the idea of training as a nurse...ah well, i'm home now...thanks again Kath..x

efleure

chris7 wrote:

Hi Efleure

I'm still looking in to see how you are and I will admit personally storing away all the good advise you are being given. Sorry I can't advise and sorry to see you have posted about the swelling on another thread elsewhere. I know you will get support and good advise there too.
Hang in there. Just sending him incase you need him.



Chris x

Thanks Chris...he's lovely...x

efleure

ikesother wrote:

Hi, Hope youre having a better day today! It will get better, remember its early days :shock: Everyone recovers at different rates and has different medical histories, so what may work for one person, doesnt always work for another. I had my THR and its been like a text book recovery, but a friend of mine, whose of a similar age hasnt been so quick or easy to recover from it. Take one day at a time, and this forum has been a big help for me. Take care jk

Thanks so much...yes, it's not good to compare to others sometimes...i seem to be so much more slow and weak,etc compared to others who have gone through this, but i'm trying to get over it and just go at my own pace...frustrating though! The forum is definitely the biggest help, emotionally and fact wise. Without it I'd be completely lost . Thanks again x

efleure

dreamdaisy wrote:

Hello effleure, I hope things aren't too bad today. Very wise words from ikesother, I hope you read them. Rest, do your exercises, and think positive thoughts. DD

Hello DD..not too bad today thanks...trying to think positive...and trying to just calm down about it all...thanks DD x

julie47

Hi efleure

just wanted to say I hope you are feeling better. Love the teddy hugs from toni to you. (don't know how to do that)

No advice from me sorry but the bloke next door had his hip done and he is now doing fab. (not doin hurdles but walking nicely)

Hope that helps
Julie x

dreamdaisy

Your current predicament ( and the surprise at how rough it has been) prompted me to look back at the first few entries in my 'Diary of Wounded Knee'. I began this in April 2002 when it became abundantly clear that life had changed forever and for an unknown reason.

It took two years from my second referral to the hospital to my first knee operation. (If I knew then what I know now I would have been far more pro-active, but I believed that people knew their jobs and areas of expertise and I believed what they told me. That naivity has long gone. They all know nothing.) I saw the orthopaedic chap in October 2001 and he was set on doing an arhtroscopy, despite the fact that my knee was about 21" in circumference. By the time we got to Feb 2002 it was 27", both old and new inflammation, and set solid like concrete. He then realised that an open synovectomy was his only option, and a fairly easy operation became a huge one, much to his, mine and the nurses annoyance. Suddenly I wasn't an 'in, stay one night, out' patient. They didn't have a bed for me long-term - but that was their problem as far as I was concerned. I had enough to deal with. I had about 6 hours in theatre and so much bandaging I couldn't do the physio's exercises - they blamed me for that, twerps. My thigh and calf muscles were wrecked by the op. I only managed one of their exercises two years after discharge. I though about ringing to tell them - yay! I've done it! I've done the exercise you said I had to do before you could send me home! Twerps.

Six months later and a ton of physio too I was still on crutches, and still with a fat knee, much to everyone's annoyance, my own included. Hell, I was deluded in those days, I thought the op would cure it all. I only had the one fat knee, nobody knew what was causing the inflammation. I thought it would all be better. The swelling never really went down - after all his activities in my joint and the fact that the inflammation came back immediately, well, it wouldn't, would it? I have a lovely (not) 10" scar and I am sick and tired of telling people that no, I haven't had a knee replacement. Fifteen months later he had to repeat the op. In November 2003 he did an arhtroscopy of the right knee, we got that one nice and early, and in Ocotber 2006 I was diagnosed with PA.

My point is this: your swelling will go down but it won't do it overnight. Your lovely new knee will work, but only once it is settled in and everything else has adjusted around it. This won't happen overnight either. You will be able to walk, eventually, without any sticks or crutches, but only once everything has settled. Doing the exercises will help to reduce the swelling - even a gentle massage once the scar is healed will help. Oil the scar once the staples/stitches are out, but rub that in very gently: it will help to keep the new tissue elastic and pliable, helping you to move your knee without too much discomfort. Also, from time to time, review how far you have come. You are making progress but, because you are in the middle of it all, you cannot necessarily easily judge how far you have come. We all heal at different rates, we all react to meds in different ways, don't put pressure on yourself.

I envy you - you have a good future if you do things correctly now. I'm still blundering about on crutches and willl remain so, thanks to a late and rather clumsy surgery, and the fact that my knee joints are beautiful. It's the gunk that surrounds them that gets me! Do your best to be a patient patient, and be kind to yourself. DD

frogmorton

Blimey DD

that IS a sad and sorry tale

B*gger!! is all I can say

Effluere Was just calling in to check how you are doing and hoping that times is beginning to heal for you?

Love and hugs

Toni xx

speedalong

Well that was a disaster wasn't it, DD. Brave of you to risk surgery (even though they timed it right on the other knee.)

My first THR wasn't as much as a disaster as your first knee - but the muscles are VERY weak and wrecked ... that's what scared me this time round. Still hate that leg ... went for an ambitious walk with S today - where was the pain worst?? Old THR leg ... newer hip bearing up nicely considering.

Speedy

speedalong

Hi Efleure - you don't have ticklish feet then?!

Are you wearing TEDS?

Have posted on your other thread.

Speedy

efleure

Thanks for the continuing good wishes from all. DD, that's awful. You do start off by trusting all the med staff, and only begin to realise that a lot of them are just walking text books, who cannot relate to patients who do not fit the mould exactly. My consultant saw me two years ago, looked at my x rays, and said he couldn't understand why the technician who had taken them had written severe degenerative arth in both hips. He then said that because of my hip dysplasia I would probably have to have a hip replacement earlier than usual, about in my late sixties, but for now i should just take more ibuprofen. He ignored my pain, and didn't want to hear that i was finding it hard to walk. Two years later he replaced my hip at 48. No big deal compared to other stories on here, but it made me feel a fraud, and confused me. I'm sorry you have suffered so much and continue to suffer. It does make me realise that, hopefully, I'll get beyond all this and be better than i was eventually. I will try to be more patient, and be thankful. Speedy, I HATE MY TEDS...don't see why i have to wear them AND inject myself every night with that stinging C stuff....ah well, it's not forever....x

efleure

frogmorton wrote:

Blimey DD

that IS a sad and sorry tale

B*gger!! is all I can say

Effluere Was just calling in to check how you are doing and hoping that times is beginning to heal for you?

Love and hugs

Toni xx

Quite.....thanks Toni..better bit by bit x

efleure

julie47 wrote:

Hi efleure

just wanted to say I hope you are feeling better. Love the teddy hugs from toni to you. (don't know how to do that)

No advice from me sorry but the bloke next door had his hip done and he is now doing fab. (not doin hurdles but walking nicely)

Hope that helps
Julie x

Julie, thanks...any good- outcome hip stories are great! x

dreamdaisy

EXACTLY effleure - it's not for ever! Yes, it's tough now but you are getting on with it, you are working thro it, and you will succeed. Come and moan to us - we know what it's like. DD

efleure

dreamdaisy wrote:

EXACTLY effleure - it's not for ever! Yes, it's tough now but you are getting on with it, you are working thro it, and you will succeed. Come and moan to us - we know what it's like. DD

xx

speedalong

Hi Efleure - I changed my jab time to the morning and did it before getting up so that I had got it over and done with. I did it whilst still in bed as I was more relaxed in that position. We had a heat wave whilst I was wearing my TEDS and it was unbearable at night!

Speedy

marion1952

HI Efleure

How many days post op are you now?

The worst of the operation pain should be over by now, but if you're still anaemic that will make you feel very tired (pity you didn't have a blood transfusion - that really make a difference to my energy levels).

Best wishes

Marion