New Hip Day

stickywicket

Well done on your marathon. I do hope a midnight tango doesn't result. Mr SW will require similar stamina next week as he has booked himself in for a session with the village podiatrist as neither of us can currently reach his toe nails.

I agree, it's interesting how many successful variations there are - gaiters or no gaiters, stockings or no stockings,

heparin or no heparin, crutches or sticks,, stitches or staples, meds etc. All different: all successful.

Onwards and upwards.

Lilymary

Not sure what happened, but I woke up at 10.20 today, despite my husband’s best efforts to rouse me at 08.00! I’m hoping my body did some serious rebuilding overnight. I suspect I’ll find out when I attempt tea and toast.

Lilymary

What’s wrong with this picture? 🙄

Jewels

Err the grabber should be in your hand lol 🤣

frogmorton

That is GOOD news I think sleep is almost certainly healing you @Lilimary.🙂👍️

Stop chucking the equipment on the floor😁

Lilymary

Is it ok to not exercise at this stage? it’s day 10 post surgery and I’ve hardly left the chair, and even had to have a snooze after dinner. (Came down for Sewing Bee of course). Just want to sleep today.

what little walking I’ve done is getting better, I can stride forward a bit more now, but any lateral movement is still uncomfortable. The shooting pain in the groin is still a worry top - nerve damage I suspect, hoping it will heal, because when it fires off it lights up my entire leg. Oddly the moan thing that starts it off is a full body stretch, which is going to get pretty inconvenient.

Anyone else reading my ramblings, do feel free to chip in with your own THR tales, I’m sure everyone’s experiences are different to some degree, and it’s really helpful to hear other people’s stories.

frogmorton

Well @Lilymary

I've not had my hip done so can't answer your exercise query properly (your neighbour though should know?)

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/hip-replacement-surgery/

There are exercises at the end of this article you could always run them by your neighbour before starting or the private physio you saw when you were in real trouble???

I am so glad you are catching up on your sleep though :)

Take care

Lilymary

Thanks @frogmorton , I’ll start building up to those.

Not feeling very heroic today after another painful night, but I forced myself out for a walk round the village, going a little further every day, 1.6km, 2,400 steps in 50minutes, followed by tea and a lie down. This is hard work.

Jewels

You'll get there hun and you will be so glad to be able to walk with no limp I miss not being able to walk properly you'll have to do a few miles for me 😁💐

Lilymary

I’ve been told I may be overdoing it, any thoughts?

Lilymary

frogmorton

Hmmmm.....I think you'd know @Lilymary

My gut tells me if things are getting worse not better????

Who reckons you are over-doing it? If it's someone who you think knows their stuff maybe cut back - a little????

Lilymary

Hi @frogmorton , it was a friend who had a new hip a couple of years ago (same surgeon). She’s about 10 years older than me, but another keen walker. She was one of those who had multiple dislocations, and who had revisionary surgery recently. My surgeon said he remembered her (most people would - She’s a force of nature). She did say she was doing over a mile a day with one stick after 6 weeks, which the surgeon said was good, but she also admitted the reason hers kept dislocating was because she fell over a lot. She’s been a huge support to me recently, but is currently stranded in Europe by the travel restrictions.

Lilymary

Well I made the mistake of trying to do simple every day stuff today. Like wash my hair, make a few business calls, meet a couple of girlfriends for coffee (including the very slow shuffle to and from the house), fill in my VAT return (2 hours before deadline), and tidy selects parts of the house so the district nurse visiting tomorrow to sort out my dressing and stitches won’t think I’m a total slob who has abandoned all pretence of being civilised.

My client burned my ears for half an hour, so that when my friends arrived to collect me I was still in my nightie with no make up on, my blood pressure plummeted at the coffee shop hastening a dash to the loo and an abbreviated brunch, with trips to the loo punctuating the rest of the day and evening, (oh how I enjoyed all those trips up and down the stairs, and the raised seat is as comfortable to sit on as a couple of scaffold poles), my hair looked like I’d been electrocuted, pretty much everything I picked up during house cleaning hit the floor and I kept crashing my crutches into furniture as they dangled painfully from my arm or slid onto the floor, and which were eventually hurled across the room along with some very choice language. (Then of course I had to work out how to retrieve them.)

I’m staying on the sofa tomorrow. And the telly had better not break down.....

Lilymary

The night was not much better than the day, my entire body went into full on Argentine tango mode, 🙄 but two positives today.

1. i can now lie on my back with my knees bent up (my left leg really didn’t want to do that manoeuvre till now)
2. a lovely district nurse has just removed 26 staples and changed the dressing, and other than one very small area, it’s healed well. Mr LM was very impressed. It’s pretty sore now, so another excuse to surf Netflix today

My foot periodically puffs up or turns blue, so we’ve improvised a footstool to prop it up. Something else for the cat to climb on. I am now full of drugs to sort this mess out, so will relax and let my poor confused body get on with it.

stickywicket

Glad the staples are out. Mr SW was up at the health centre a couple of days ago for the same reason. He, too, had just one that the nurse wanted to keep an eye on so I'm now on bum inspection daily but it seems to be healing well.

I tend to agree with frogmorton re the 'doing too much'. I think maybe your body is asking you to ease up a little. Even meeting with friends takes energy. As do 'work emails'. And all, presumably, with the leg down not propped up which allows better 'drainage' post-op.

I've always been told that exercises are more important than walking and it makes sense to me. In daily life we might go through the same movements but not to the same extent. I've just watched Mr SW doing his. I can't see how he'd, otherwise, need to lift his knee so high or stretch his leg out quite so far behind him. Certainly not to hold them there briefly. I believe it all helps to 'bed in' the new joint and strengthen the muscles. Just my viewpoint, though. KBO as we say in this house 😉

Lilymary

@stickywicket It’s been too painful to do exercises so far, specially moving the joint laterally, and the joint clicks on some movements too. Maybe I should start toughing it out. Nurse said to listen to my body, it will tell me when it’s had enough. Mr LM very impressed with my scar. The nurse asked if I wanted to see it before she took out the staples, but I chickened out.

frogmorton

Well what a tale of woe yesterday was.

I am with Stickywicket (are we ganging up on you? If so it is done from a good place honestly) you did an awful lot yesterday.

It's lovely your friends wanted to have a coffee and catch up with you, but that alone must have been exhausting and as for work🙄 least said apart from - behave young lady!!!😁

You were a keen walker pre hip so I imagine getting back to it is something you desperately need for your mental health if nothing else, but steady as you go!

Well done getting your staples out and for healing so well externally. Remember that - it's EX-ternal internal takes longer. I hope you can do some of the exercises soon even if it's only part way? Did you tell the nurse about your 'blue' foot?

Being able to pull your knees up when on your back it good - things are improving😊 another pat on the back for you from me.

A steady day today? More Netflix? I know it's boring, but recovering from major surgery takes time ((()))

Lilymary

Thanks @frogmorton , it helps to hear this from fellow arthrs, as the advice from all other “reliable” sources is so conflicting. But then they are catering for so many previous levels of fitness and age ranges, there’s no ”one size fits all”. A friend who had THR last summer had very little pain and no bruising, and was walking her dogs within 4 weeks. But she is a ski instructor and alpine guide, so her body is in a whole different league to mine. I’ve also heard of someone who was back to riding her horse in 7 weeks, so she would have had amazing muscles to start with. I’m not trying to keep up with them, it just shows how much bodies heal differently, and maybe the fitter ones recover faster. (Mine has been in slob mode for several years due to a past bout of CFS followed by OA).

I made a better job of a few gentle horizontal exercises in bed this morning, including heel slides (yay!), as the soft tissue and crushed nerve pain is now reducing a bit, and will try a few very gentle standing exercises later (eg move foot one inch to the left - I’m not kidding...). I may go out for a much shorter walk later, just to stretch my legs a little.

sadly I must do some work today, but I’ll pace myself and do it in short bursts.

re blue or puffy foot, I’ll keep up with our makeshift foot rest and remember not to sit still so long, as the circulation in my left leg obviously needs help (the right foot is as normal). I’m still on blood thinners for the full 6 weeks post op, and given that I usually have low blood pressure, that’s probably playing havoc too (she says, like she knows anything about the circulatory system 😅).

Looking forward to being able to get to the hairdresser tho, Mr LM and I look like we’ve been lost in a jungle for a year. Just need to be able to navigate the perilous steep steps up to their door. I’ve only had my hair cut twice since Jan 2020, and Mr LM’s last appointment clashed with my hospital discharge. However, I’m rather liking his new wavy locks, so perhaps this will become a lasting legacy of lockdown?

Jewels

Keep up the good work hun 👍😁

Lilymary

Short walk with extra buttock clenching today 😬😂

Jewels

Nycc🤣

crinkly

I make no apology for joining your slow-down gang!

As you wisely say, Lilymary, 'no one size fits all' and your new hip is yours alone and so is unique, as is your body. After every joint replacement it's essential to set realistic small targets, following only the advice of those who treat you while heeding the reactions of your body. The surgical procedure is merely the beginning and the harder part of the journey follows it as the prosthesis beds in to its task and the surrounding soft tissues accommodate to its alien presence. Orthopaedic surgery is not gentle!

When you consider that a straightforward fracture typically requires 4-6 weeks to start significant healing and that it can take up to a year for surgically cut muscle fibres to realign themselves completely it's a miracle that we can start weight-bearing within days of hip and knee replacements. To be walking as you are sounds like great progress that must not be turned into a battle between 'healing' and 'determination'!

Painful memories of the first post-op week or two will fade but there is no rule to state how long healing will take in your unique body. Muscles that have become weak through previous loss of mobility will start to regain strength at a rate specific to you and not to be confused by comparison with others. It isn't a race to perfect fitness or uniformity but a journey to be the best and most comfortable individual you can be.

(Thankfully I haven't needed hip surgery but before my RTSR I was aware that outcomes are variable. At times I needed to wait longer than anticipated before progressing to new exercises yet my Physio was always encouraging. Two years on, my shoulder is by no means 'normal' in terms of range of mobility nor is it always pain-free but importantly it is vastly better than before surgery. I'm told I have achieved a good result; I'm grateful and can adapt to its remaining limitations.)

Keep up the good work without feeling the need to rush ahead, bearing in mind the success of Aesop's tortoise. Forget about hares - you are doing great and we are all gunning for you at this challenging stage of the process.

Lilymary

Thank you @crinkly , for your reassurance, wise words and encouragement. As I have close connection with two people who had multiple dislocations (one happened in front of me) I am very anxious to get this right. In addition to the two amazing women mentioned above, my sister is indomitable and after two knee replacements and brutal physio she was soon back at work as an aerobics teacher. So I have the two extremes of role models, making it really hard for me to know where to pitch my own recovery.

I’m self employed and had foolishly reassured clients I would still be working soon after surgery, albeit less physically active, but I find I’m so preoccupied with my physical condition and discomfort, my progress and my hopes for recovery that I find it very difficult to focus on anything else. I’m also incredibly fortunate that this is the first time I've had surgery of any note since childhood, and I don’t think I’ve really got my head around what’s just happened. Seeing the wound now the dressing is off was a bit of a wake up call, perhaps that’s a good thing, but if I’m honest it’s left me a bit shaken.

on the plus side today, Mr LM has shown the nursing qualities I married him for (which I discovered during a catastrophic holiday where I ended up in A&E after rearranging my face on the airport concourse and had to eat soft food for two weeks and looked like the elephant man - we got engaged anyway!) and is not remotely squeamish about wound checking ❤️

frogmorton

What great advice you have had here @Lilymary !

We are all so different and unique and our recovery will be unique to us too. It is not a competition or race. Well said @crinkly tortoises get there too in the end🐢

Suddenly though you are getting there exercise wise - heel slides included! Go you🙂👍️ Short walks are also good - for you in particular as you like to walk.

I went back to work after 9 weeks following my back surgery. Even then my brain wasn't functioning as it had. How on earth can it? You've just been through life-changing surgery, you aren't getting (good) enough sleep and are in pain too. It was easy to think you will be doing all the paperwork and calls etc prior to the op isn't it? I expect though it being your own business you need to present a professional and competent front to your clients🙄 Not easy.

I think I probably said it took me a full 12 months to feel almost 100% normal again after my back surgery. Having said that you will feel far better than you do now even in as little as a week or so you really really will.

Keep up the good work that's what I say!