New Hip Day

Lilymary

My new hip is finally about to happen(!) so someone suggested it might be helpful to others for me to keep a bit of a blog going. It's good to know that despite the 4.7m on waiting lists (don't get me started...) that things are showing signs of moving again. We can only hope they start making serious in roads to helping those who have had to be sidelined during the pandemic, it's been such a tough time in that respect, amongst so many other difficulties right across society.

After a year of waiting, I heard 3 weeks ago that a date had been set (tomorrow) for my surgery, which didn't give me much time to clear my desk and put everything in order. It couldn't come soon enough - my hip is now so bad that I can barely manage a short trip round the shops, the physical aspects of my work are now near impossible, and I'm in constant pain in at night - there are no positions that are comfortable any more. Even getting round the house now requires a stick, although I keep forgetting it so limp around somewhat melo-dramatically. Walks outside or any exercise indoors is far beyond me.

I'm going to the Wrightington in Wigan, so had my preop, MRSA swab and covid test there over the last few weeks, the covid test came back negative today so we're off!

I've been going through the MRSA decolonization - daily showers and hair washes with a product the hospital provided, along with sticking cleansing goo up my nose for 5 days, and clean towels and sleeping in clean sheets every day. The clean sheets have been nice. The constant changing beds and laundry not so.

I'm due at the hospital at 0700 tomorrow, which means a 04.30 rise, which will be near miraculous for me. I'm rarely awake by 0800. I don't suppose there will be much sleeping involved tonight. By the time I get there it wouldn't surprise me if they have to wake me up for the pre-med, it won't be the first time that's happened!

The OT rang earlier this week and I have bits of useful equipment delivered, incuding sock slider, grabber, trolley, raised loo seat and crutches. No breakfast, drugs, deodorant, body or face lotions, no make up or hair products (including conditioner) allowed tomorrow, and no leg shaving for 3 weeks 😳. I will rock up, wincing with pain, bleary eyed and looking horrendous, I almost feel sorry for my surgeon 😅

I'm trying not to think about what's ahead tomorrow, even though a friend "kindly" filled me in on all the gruesome details of her surgery in advance. I would rather not have known to be honest. I have a good surgeon at a great hospital, so I'm just going to throw myself at their mercy and let them get on with it. Me fretting won't make a jot of difference, even if it's hard not to. But I'm packing extra chocolate just in case to cheer myself up 😏

stickywicket

Excellent advice from Crinkly. I do hope it doesn't seem as if we're 'ganging up' but I assure you, if it does, that we're ganging up FOR you not against. Frogmorton, Crinkly and I have, between us, far too much experience of orthopaedics and I do realsie the tremendous presuure of running your own businesss in such circumstances as my son in USA has his own and the demands are relentless whatever the current circumstances.

You are getting there, though, and I'm pleased that exercises are increasing. Some time ago I saw my local physio in an effort to improve my mobility. The exercises she gave seemed futile - far too little - but all our family, including me, have been very impressed with her before so I went along with what seemed stupidly minimal. The first thing was I could do them and doing them made me feel I was, at least, doing something. As directed, I began, very gradually, to increase the repetitions. That made me feel smug! Even more gradually, I realised she had, as usual, been right. I was steadier, stronger, better able to do very mundane stuff. That was my motivation to continue.

Post-op our progress can seem dishearteningly slow and there are days when we seem to go backwards. But, if we proceed as directed by our physios, we really are able to look back and see how far we've come. Not, necessarily as quickly as we would have liked but, as Crinkly says, tortoises have their assets too.

I think my days as a 'bum inspector' are now over and yesterday he had a 'trial walk' to the podiatrist's to ensure he can do it later this week. 56 steps there and 56 back. He's confident. Just as long as they don't close the schoolyard's short cut. That would mess up his calculations!