THR my new life as a bionic person

Denis68

@Janlyn thanks for posting your diary it's been really helpful and interesting given we were so close in operation dates. I think your idea of posting changes after your appointments this week makes sense. I'm certainly view this week as a significant watershed in my recovery. Always assuming the consultant and physio agree that I'm progressing well and can get back to work in some capacity

Take care

Denis68

@Nurina @Janlyn apologies for getting confused and posting the above in the wrong place.

@number1puppys@Nurina I have enjoyed reading your diary entries to and it's help me seeing how we are all different and I need to listen to my body as much as anyone or anything else

Nurina

@Denis68 Thanks. We are all different and follow different paths due to many circumstances but what matters is that we all end being in a better place than before.

When I was diagnosed with final stage of OA I was totally petrified. I started watching videos from Youtube and Social Media from private clinics doing miracles with no pain and no restrictions. People riding bikes two days after the surgery. Dancers doing the split three days later. A man running up and down stairs two hours after, without even holding the handrail!. All fake. Many of the accounts from countries where they sell hip replacements like cars because they charge 70000$ for an outpatient surgery sending people home right after it.

Thanks to the diaries from real people here, I knew what was ahead of me without expecting a speedy recovery and knowing we all are frightened. I hope my contribution is helping others. X

Janlyn

@Nurina I think the splits is the only thing my physio warned against 😳🤣

@Denis68 I agree we are all different, but we have many similarities and sharing our stories can only help so long as we remember to go at our own pace and in our own way. 😊

Nurina

Day 20

Second visit to my physio. He explained that my discomfort is due to the several tissue layers that are healing under the skin creating a scar each. He said I was doing very well because my small body and my willing to get better. He's taught me new exercises targeting exactly the most painful place in my bum. 1.Sitting down and up without holding the armrests. 2. I have to do what he called the "Saturday Night Fever" movement to help my brain to understand I can use that side of my body. It has to be a slow and controlled movement, not as fast as Travolta, of course...yet😂 Another exercise is while sitting, resistance band on my knees, feet together and open-close kneew like a butterfly movement OUCH!. The third, while sitting with straight back, lifting my kneeI just an inch and hold SUPEROUCH!. I've ended feeling a little bit sick because the exercises where really painful. My bum is on fire and not happy.

Apart from the physio, I don't use crutches at home and I can do the washing up and cook like nothing happened. Stairs up and down holding on the handrail. When I go up, I use the 'good leg goes to heaven' rule but I can go down bending both legs.

Have a nice day! X

ItsjustLisa

@Nurina thank you so much for sharing your journey. I've really enjoyed the way you've portrayed your struggles and it's helping me immensely. (Just building the courage to get myself back on the waiting list for THR).

Looking forward to reading more and wishing you well, good luck with the new physio exercises and thank you for the humour you manage.

Have a lovely day too 😊

Nurina

Thanks @ItsjustLisa I'm so pleased I'm helping you. It's not an easy decision but if you decide to keep going, you will not regret it. Good luck x

Janlyn

@Nurina I really can't believe three weeks ago you were about to go in for your op. You're doing so well. Your physio's advice is good and makes a lot of sense. I imagine three weeks ago you could never believe you'd be doing those exercises albeit a little painfully, but cooking as though nothing has happened - wow!

Nurina

Day 21

That's unbelievable @Janlyn Thank for yoir support.

It's my 3rd week-a-versary. It looks like a million years ago when I arrived to the hospital. My husband couldn't stay with me because of the Covid restrictions and I was alone and frightened in my room for hours, waiting for my turn. My surgeon told me later, that I was his 3rd surgery in the same day. If I could have seen my future in a crystal ball I wouldn't be that scared.These weeks have been fast and terribly slow.

It's true we forget the pain easily, don't we? I move much better and GZ is shrinking. I can sleep 6-7 hours at night and that's helping a lot. The best part is not just the pain gone. Emotionally I feel more positive with a brighter future ahead. My job is very creative and I haven't been able to focus on it for months, if not years, with negative thoughts and brain fog. I was having a walk yesterday and I saw one of my colleagues, who has seen my change from a jumpy happy girl to an old sad disabled lady. He almost cried of happiness when he saw me. I can't wait to go to my job and see the world with new eyes.

Have a nice weekend! X

Janlyn

@Nurina I can identify with all you say! Seven week-a-versary for me tomorrow and those long hours of waiting went on forever and then the fast/slow recovery. But yes, we forget the pain so easily - a little like childbirth!

Sleep makes everything better - no wonder those first couple of weeks are extra hard. But emotionally it gets so much easier when there are positives - and a slow realisation that life is returning to normal, the normal we never believed would happen for us. Just the normal things we can do again. Not avoiding doing things or going places because they're too painful. I felt I had aged many years in a short time but now I feel back to my normal - please don't do what I did though. I was so excited to show my dentist my new mobility I think I overdid kicking my legs around and was a little sore when I got home - over it now though!

Take care, x

Denis68

@Nurina, @Janlyn I agree, it feels so much better to be on this side of my Op and moving towards improvement rather than the opposite before the operation.

I can see how each week has brought more improvement and more things added to the list of what I can do

Nurina

"@Janlyn Chan kicks her dentist" is a good tittle for a martial arts movie. 😂

@Denis68 We can't be worse than before. It's a little frustrating sometimes, when we are a little bit sore after doing too much but we know it's a "good sore" and not a bad one. Slowly we can do things that weren't able before. How amazing is that? X

Nurina

Day 24

I had a terrible Trendelenburg gait months before the surgery due to the pain and the weakness of the hip abductor muscles. My husband hated me when I said that I walked like a gorilla. After surgery, I still have it but doing the exercises with resistance bands and pilates ball, my muscles are getting stronger and the Trendelenburg gait is much better.

My back is currently very sore because of the unnatural sleep posture. I can't do floor exercises to do stretching but I'm going to try seated exercises. There are many light seated exercises for Seniors on Youtube that can be adapted to "hip replaced" people as long as I follow the restriction rules. According to the NHS calculator, I'm officially overweight and that's not helping my joints and my recovery. I'm starting today an intermitent fasting 16:8 with the help of a calorie counter app. If I don't lose anything, I'll join a Slimming World group which is 1 mile from home, in our language: 3000 steps.

It's a sunny day here. I think I'm going to walk to my studio to say hello to my colleagues.

Have a fantastic day x

Janlyn

@Nurina Well done with your exercises - it's good to hear your muscles are getting stronger and your gait is much better - amazing really for just over three weeks. I think you'll be really amazed at your improvements in another three weeks.

Hopefully you'll be able to test a bit of side sleeping soon. Strangely I often find myself waking up on my back now, but I start off on my side and I think it's the moving that helps. It's so unnatural to sleep all night on your back without moving position, no wonder you're sore.

I was intermittent fasting, but 14:10 for a year or so before surgery. I had always exercised and kept my weight down but had to do something else when I couldn't walk so far. Good luck with it, but I do think that it might be easier for you when you start to walk further. I keep a track of my calories on my Fitbit and I've always fairly easily managed to keep within my zone but after surgery I was over each day until a week or so ago. I didn't worry as it was more important to get everything else sorted, but now it feels good to be back on track. It seems it just takes time.

Hope you had a good day walking and meeting your colleagues, x

Nurina

Day 25

@Janlyn My physio said that if we could sleep on our wound side from the beginning, the pressure would make the tissues to heal much faster. I hope you can feel that now you can sleep on your side and without thinners.

Everytime I visit the physio, I feel he is totally against all the restrictions but they have to follow the protocol and consultants rules. He told me that, when the surgeon are replacing our hip, he moves the leg in all directions to give it the full range, bending the knee over our chest so the hip goes much beyond 90 degrees without dislocation so with a normal use, we shouldn't dislocate.

I've been using my phone to measure steps but I'm going to start using a fitness watch to be accountable and see my progress. At the moment, I'm not walking much, around 2000 steps because this gait and my current weight are hurting my back, my other hip and my knees. I've lost 2lbs in three days and I'm doing strength exercises so my walk will be easier soon. Patience...

I wanted to have a walk this morning but it's far too windy to go out on my own with crutches and gait.

Have a nice day x

swimmer60

@Nurina

I'm 14 weeks in and my scar is almost invisible and the wound has healed brilliantly but....I still feel really uncomfortable sleeping on my operated side.

Nurina

@swimmer60 I'm sure that it'll happen to me in two weeks when I get my permission to sleep in my side.

Janlyn

@Nurina I like your physio - he describes so well and reassuringly what the surgeon did to check security of your new hip. I hope they all do that? A friend told me she had been told it's safer to sleep on the operated side than the non-operated as it's easier to keep everything in line - I'm not sure I do though, my duvet is all over the place when I wake up 😳

Patience and Perseverance are my physio's words, along with Pacing. I'm sure with the exercising you are doing, weight loss and time, you will find yourself so much stronger. It actually came as a shock to me when I realised how strong I had suddenly become, it had been a long time since I had been able to stand on one leg - my bad leg.

At your stage I wouldn't have dared go out in the wind and I wondered if I should on Sunday. Hardly anyone was out and it was windy/rainy. But I actually had my longest walk yet - to the shops, got a few bits and pieces, and home again. It's amazing what a couple of weeks and an increase in strength can do for you - you'll be there soon!

@swimmer60 so sorry to hear you feel uncomfortable sleeping on your operated side. Good news your scar has healed so well though. I actually find my operated side more comfortable, although it's the side I used to sleep on so I suppose that might be why. Up until a couple of weeks ago I used to get a sharp, stabbing pain occasionally from my operated side but it seems to have gone now. Is it worth asking your physio/surgeon why it's uncomfortable?

Nurina

Day 27

Updates of the day:

I can use a normal toilet. I've only used the raised lid toilet at home until now. I can go anywhere, anytime. Yayyy!

I can climb up and down stairs using both legs, not just using one and dragging the other.

I walked 2.5km around a beautiful village with a seafront near my home which I haven't visited for months. I enjoyed the fresh air on my face and the sound of the waves without thinking about the excruciating pain in my groin or my back. I felt very emotional and very lucky.

I slept soundly 7 hours and a half. My timetable has been erratic for a long time and I miss my normal routine. I've started setting up a sleep schedule of 11pm-7am. My plan is to start some work from next week.

I've lost the 3.5lb I gained after surgery. My next target is to lose the 12lb I've gained since August, when I stopped walking. I need to lose this weight before increasing my steps to avoid more damage to my other hip and knees. Meanwhile, I'm doing stretching and strength exercises. I still have a bit of Trendelenburg gait when I walk without crutches at home but it has dissappeared walking outside with just one crutch.

Can you believe this is happening just in just four weeks after my surgery?

Have a nice day. X

Janlyn

@Nurina Yes, I can believe it is happening in just four weeks from surgery - well done! I do think we only realise what a bad state we were in when we start to go back to 'normal'. I only have to see photos from the last few years to wince with the pain I was in, although I wasn't always aware at the time I was in pain.

I think now you are walking up and down stairs normally you will find your strength improving and also I'm sure your gait will improve when you ditch the crutch. Those lovely Spring days will be here soon and the seafront and village will be even more appealing.

Well done with your sleep - I'm aiming for those times but I'm struggling a bit - must try harder, and I will.

Hard to believe it is only four weeks since it was all ahead of you!

Nurina

Day 28

Today is my 4th week-a-versary and I can't believe how good I feel right now and how bad I felt four weeks ago. That's helping me with my decision to have the other hip done soon. In another week, I will stop taking the blood thinners and in two weeks, I'll visit my consultant and I hope I get permission to sleep on my side. My watch says my sleep quality isn't great and I don't have much deep sleep. Of course I don't. I wake up one-two-three times at night because I'm very uncomfortable. My husband has been sleeping downstairs since my surgery. Bless him. I hope he could sleep in our bed again and normalise what hasn't been normal for several weeks.

I still walk limping a little bit and my leg tends to go outwards. I suppose it'll be corrected when my abductor muscles gain strength. The exercises are painful, I'm not going to lie, and my bum is on fire for a while after doing them but I know they are the ones I have to do. Slowly I can do little things that make me happy. I can't believe I don't need support to use a normal chair. I was having lunch with a friend and I totally forgot about the hip until I have to grab the crutch to leave. Still afraid of slipping on the wet pavement. My crutch slipped on my front door and it was scary. If it's rainy, I prefer to walk with someone.

Have a nice weekend! X

ItsjustLisa

@Nurina I had to come back to see how you were doing and it looks like you've improved massively 😁.

I can't tell you how grateful I am for you sharing your "bionic" journey, it was the "bionic" that drew me because it sounded just like something I'd say myself.

Thanks to you and this community, the support here and the honest accounts post surgery, I've made an appointment next week to get myself back on the list for replacement so thank you so much ❤️

Have a lovely weekend too

Nurina

Thanks @ItsjustLisa I hope I helped you in your decision and you don't have much waiting list in front of you. Meanwhile, try to be as fit as you can. That's very important. It'll help you a lot in your recovery.

Take care x

Janlyn

@Nurina lots of steps forward there. It's the little things, like stopping taking the blood thinners, that make a difference isn't it? Another step towards normal. I think it's not so much the sleeping on your side that helps as much as being able to move normally and toss and turn if you want to. Pre-op my Fitbit used to measure my sleep at Good with an occasional Fair or Excellent. After the op if it registered at all it was always Poor. Now it is usually Fair with an occasional Good or Poor - so progress, however slow.

I feel sure your leg will straighten itself with exercise, walking and time. If it hurts (in a good way) it's most likely helping.

I understand you being cautious walking but it's interesting it's your crutch that slipped. My physio told me not to be frightened of slipping and if I did I was just as likely to hurt another part of me as my operated hip. I did find I was more steady without a stick that slipped in the wet. You will get to the stage, I'm sure, where you'll get home and remember you've left your crutches somewhere!

@ItsjustLisa well done on making your appointment. I really hope you don't have to wait too long, but as @Nurina says use this time to try to get as fit as you can - it really does help. Organised too - it made such a difference to me when I got home that I had put the clothes and shoes I wanted to wear at a level I could reach easily. I got my kitchen better organised too - might sound like little things but I thanked myself when it was just that little bit easier.

Take care, x

Nurina

Day 30,

Yesterday I walked around 5000 steps looking for Pokemon with my son just using one crutch. My back and bum started to ache and I felt the old pain of muscles pulling my back from the hip again. I'll have my physio appointment on Tuesday and I'd need an explanation for this pain because I'm really concerned. Do I need to use both crutches until my gait is more stable? Is it because the other bad hip? Is it because my abductors are shortened and stiff? Is it a normal pain that everyone else has? Will the pain dissappear if I keep improving? Why am I having this pain?

Apart from that, I climb up and down stairs like a boss, I'm sleeping much better. I didn't wake up last night. I've attempted to do a little back stretching using a yoga strap on bed. It's not the same than stretching on the mat but the floor is too far at the moment.

Today is a sunny day and we'll go to look for new Geocaches and have a lunch. I hope my back behaves well.

Have a nice Sunday. X