My hip is done

Zimmer

@alwayssewing I can't believe you were able to walk out of hospital the day after your op..... that's amazing. I hope your recovery period will be as good.

Thank you for providing further information on what to expect during and after the op, you ladies @Janlyn @JPT @Nurina have helped us all so much. I am looking forward to my ops now, instead of worrying 😊

Bevdav123

Thanks for updating us, I hope you have a speedy recovery, I’m 4 weeks post op, and I also need the other hip replaced, but I’ve got a feeling that I’ll be waiting a while for it to be done. Take care Bev

alwayssewing

Day 8

Thank you everyone.

Each day I get a little bit better but still need to keep up the pain relief regularly as well as ice packs when I need. Nights are better than the first time, I can even lie on my good side for a short time which relieves the pain a bit, I put a pillow between my legs to support the hip. I could not do that for four weeks with the other leg because my right leg was too painful. After the op the pain is different, more bearable as mostly it is muscle pain. I have a lot more bruising coming out this time.

I struggled a few days ago with the socks, Neither of us could pull one on the good leg and after a few tries my husband refused to even attempt it on the operated leg. My legs were a bit swollen so I went to bed and raised up my legs on pillows for a while.

The nurse called me from the hospital to ask how I was doing and she said forget the socks and just exercise, use the ice packs if I need and not to worry.

Today I went to my GP's surgery to make an appointment to have the clips out next week and they had no appointments available so I have to go to the next town to get them out, Only fifteen minutes down the road but a bit annoying. I shouldn't complain really.

Tummy injections finish tomorrow thank goodness then I start the aspirin.

Janlyn

@alwayssewing You sound to be doing really well, but don't try to be brave - keep up with the painkillers until you know you don't know them. Thank goodness you're okay without the socks - I imagine you must have been too swollen for them, I know my legs and ankles were swollen for a couple of weeks at least.

I'm sure you'll be relieved to stop the injections, I didn't find them easy to do, the aspirin is a lot easier.

Take care.

Zimmer

What are the tummy injections you speak of please.

alwayssewing

@Zimmer they are to prevent blood clots after the operation. They are given for 10 days. The nurse in the hospital did the first one and they can show you how to do the others, They go into a pinched fold of flesh near your belly button . My daughter in law did the rest of mine. Then I have a months worth of low dose dispersible aspirin, one a day, which I take for about a month.

@Janlyn I have been giving myself a talking to and am still taking painkillers regularly because I know they make a difference to a successful recovery. I just hate what they do to me. I keep reminding myself it's not much over a week since. My legs were swollen so I'm doing what I did the first time round and raising my feet up when I rest and before I go to sleep as well as making sure I drink loads of fluids. It does work well.

Janlyn

@Zimmer I had exactly the same injections and aspirin regime as @alwayssewing but some people haven't had the injections and instead had different tablets and/or compression socks. I don't know whether it depends on the surgeon, hospital or patient as to which you get.

@alwayssewing it's awful if you don't cope well with the painkillers isn't it? I was okay with the paracetamol and took them for weeks but not with the stronger ones. The nausea and constipation was so bad I preferred the pain and felt that feeling well and a good diet would help most. But you're right to remind yourself it is only just over a week and you're doing so well. Good luck with your swollen legs, fingers crossed they'll be fine soon.

alwayssewing

Week three yesterday. I seem more impatient this time round because I thought it was four weeks.

I'm doing well then. I walk a bit around the house without crutches. It isn't as bad as the first time but the muscles in this leg are weaker so still a bit like a rolling ship. I will work on it slowly.

I only take codeine before sleep now along with a naproxen and a couple of paracetamol as per hospital pharmacist's instructions. Hopefully I can drop some of those soon. My knees are not too bad but I can't go completely pain relief free because of them.

I came down with a cold yesterday so I think my immune system isn't quite right yet.

I'm managing a few jobs around the house, doing the washing, most of the cooking and general tidying up. I even did more gardening but got attacked by mosquitos so have had some nasty bites to deal with on my lower legs. Thankfully I had a bottle of TCP so have the itching under control and nothing is infected. Not a lot we can do about the mosquitos as the allotment is right by a canal.

Janlyn

@alwayssewing you are doing well. Poor you - a cold and being attached by mosquitoes - I hope you're feeling better soon.

olivia_b

@alwayssewing sorry to hear that you are feeling under the weather, I have heard that a lot of people have colds currently so there is definitely something going round at the moment. You are doing brilliantly and week 4 will come around quicker than you know it. Keep going, you got this!

Nurina

I'm happy to hear that your second legs is getting easier. I can't wait to have my second one done because I'm having a lot of pain now. Take care

JPT

@alwayssewing sorry to hear you have been feeling under the weather, I think our bodies take such a battering with this surgery that they can't fight everything off despite all the drugs etc. hope you feel better soon so you can get back to proper recovery, you've been doing really well. x

Bevdav123

@alwayssewing i hope you’re feeling better and that your new hip is healing too. Give yourself time and rest .

Trish9556

Hi @alwayssewing

It was interesting to read this and your comment on the blood thinner injections.

I have to do mine for 28 days in total and finish on Sunday. Amazing how different hospitals and surgeons prescribe these with wide variations in the length of time to have them. Mind you, i don't have to take aspirin afterwards which may have something to do with it?

Trish xx

alwayssewing

@ Nurina thanks. I still have a couple of scabby bits on the scar and I am fairly sure one is actually a stitch. My daughter in law said it's not unusual for them to do the last bit as a stitch rather than a clip. She's going to have a look in a day or two.

@JPT I'm just coming out the other side of the cold now thankfully.

@Bevdav123 I am feeling a lot better now thanks.

@Trish9556 I bruise so easily my whole tummy would have been black after 28 days of injections .

alwayssewing

May be too much information for some……

I soaked the scab that seems to be a stitch while in the shower today then gently lifted it off. It looked very red around the whole thing yesterday, about the size of a ten pence piece. Today it was a little smaller but still angry looking. The hole it left is about half a centimetre deep and filled with gunk. I cleaned it out with TCP then wiped more over it and left it to dry. I could see a couple of black bits that look like the other part of the stitch, they should continue to dissolve. I will keep an eye on it and phone my GP if It doesn't improve.

I didn't have any stitches with my other hip and I think they may have had a bleeding problem with this one so stitched that bit instead of putting another clip in. There was a compression pad dressing over the wound when I came back to my room.

I'm still under the weather for some reason so I'm taking special note of diet, etc to make sure I'm getting everything I need. Just a sore throat and sinus problem but it is slowly easing. I am managing without crutches now so I am making some progress in spite of my knees trying to stop me.

Janlyn

@alwayssewing Oh I do hope you start to feel better soon. But agree you are making progress. And it is helpful to give your information on your scab. There are some similarities with the issues I had with mine - in the end mine appeared to just take longer at one end than the other and all that happened in between. Your theory sounds valid.

Take care.

Trish9556

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/724053#Comment_724053

Hi

Just a suggestion but, if you still have an unhealed point on your wound i would get it checked by your surgery.

You're just ahead of me in your recovery (5 weeks next Monday here) and i was advised by my nurse that if my stubborn area didnt heal after a few days to go back. That was when i had my staples out at 12 days. I had to keep it clean and dry, chamging the dressing daily to check the discharge which was a thick yellow🤢

A week later it had luckily cleared up.

Trish xx

alwayssewing

@Trish9556 I've just had a look at it and I think I caught it just in time. It was white not yellow thankfully. It has now shrunk in depth so not far off the surface of my skin and it looks clean, the redness is now a faded pink with a bit of redness inside the wound bit. That was where I cleaned it back to raw skin. I did show it to my daughter in law who has done nursing and she said keep an eye on it and call the surgery if it didn't look right. It looks like it should with a thin smooth scab over it now.

@ Janlyn my other leg was absolutely fine and this one was fine over all the staples and that part has healed beautifully but the stitch they put in at the end must have been deeper. I'm still battling a sore throat so I know my immune system isn't right yet. It is not helped by having to take lansoprazole and I know from my last blood results that it caused my white cells to be a little low. I only have today and tomorrow of aspirin then i'm knocking the lot off. I can take paracetamol if needed as well as codeine if its bad. I can use voltarol sparingly on my knees but I have found a knee sleeve that helps a lot so now my hips are ok I may just use that and exercises.

Janlyn

@alwayssewing it makes sense it's the end stitch. It was an end stitch I had a problem with and my surgeon explained that he paid particular attention to the end stitches so that seemed to explain it. Good to hear it seems to be on the mend now but good advice to get it checked if you're unsure. I used to take a photo each day so I could be sure it was improving and I wasn't imagining it.

It's so good when the aspirin and lansoprazole stop so I hope you start to feel better. It's good to just take painkillers for pain and not as a matter of course isn't it?

alwayssewing

I saw a physiotherapist today and he is pleased at how well I'm doing. He has advised not to go swimming until the last bit has healed completely which I knew anyway. I have some new exercises to strengthen my leg muscles and he has also said he would prefer I use at least one crutch if not both when I'm out and about which I agree with. We also discussed my knees and having them replaced. He said it would be best to put it off for at least six months so my hips heal well and the muscles have time to be stronger. I can do whatever it takes to ease the pain in my knees such as wearing a knee sleeve and using pain relief regularly and keeping them mobile. I also need to raise my feet more often in the day for a while as my ankles were slightly swollen.

@Janlyn He had a look at the scab and said it looked ok but repeated to keep an eye on it. It looks as though it is healing nicely now. I am glad the tablets are finished with now including the naproxen. I have some if I'm really desperate but I hope I don't need it. It will take a little while for my tummy to get back to normal as I've gone from one extreme to the other. Its happened each time I've stopped taking the medications in preparation for each operation.

Janlyn

@alwayssewing that's good news. Sounds good to wait six months before getting your knees done too. I actually noticed a massive improvement in my strength around five to six months, after thinking I'd got as strong as I was going to get.

Good luck with your scab - it sounds to be going in the right direction!

alwayssewing

9th week update of my right hip replacement.

I am back to the swimming pool three times a week now doing some of my physio in the water as well as walking and sculling on my back. I am getting a bit stronger and can walk a bit better with a much straighter stance. My knees are my biggest problem now with stiffness and cracking and grating.

I see the physiotherapist again on Monday. I still struggle with a couple of the exercises he gave me as they are painful and that makes me cry, not as much as at first but enough to wonder if they should have been a bit further down the recovery road. I didn't have these particular ones with my left hip.

I am feeling much better in myself now. I ended up researching what else I could do to boost my immune system as I already have a good diet and came up with probiotics so checked what kind to look for. Probiotics with prebiotics and high numbers were recommended. I found some on amazon, not expensive and good reviews so I went for a 2 month pack to see if they made a difference. There has definitely been an improvement, especially in my gut. I knew the pain relief and protector tablets caused me problems but the difference now is amazing.

I am a much more smiley person now and friends have commented on it. We don't realise ourselves just how much chronic pain affects us over the years.

Trish9556

Hi @alwayssewing

Try reducing the intensity or the number of repitiions of the new exercises - some of mine cause me discomfort so I adjust as necessary but still do them. For example, if you were rolling your hips then adding an exercise band, remove the exercise band but maybe do a few more without or just do one or two with the exercise band? (hope that makes sense lol).

Good luck for Monday - I have a physio appointment too (9 weeks) which she didn't think I would need but booked it for my own piece of mind.

Love n hugs

Trish xx

alwayssewing

@ Trish9556 Thank you. I was worrying about getting told off, I think because its a different physiotherapist with a different manner and a man. The other one , a young woman, was more considerate of my age and the other problems affecting my legs. I will cut the repeats down to 15 instead of 30 till I feel more comfortable. It was the Hip Abduction-side lying that is most painful to do, so lying on my side, raising and lowering my leg using the weight of my leg to build strength. I can do the same movement standing with no problems.

On another note. I drove the car today!!!!! I didn't drive far, just a loop round town then up to the Spar shop, back into town to pick someone up then back home. It didn't hurt my legs at all and I was fine with the driving, I thought I would be nervous after so long not driving.