How should I be? 3 weeks post THR?

pollyana

I’m not sure if I’m doing ok or not… three weeks post 2nd THR . I can’t recall how I was 5 years ago. But three weeks in I thought I would be less tired and sore. Good news is that pain is low and mobility is good

Im not sure if I’m pushing it too much or being impatient or just low mood and tired. I’m Walking about 20 mins per day and going out for mini trips locally a couple of times a week.

When will I start to feel more like myself? Should I be aiming for 6 weeks?

Does anyone have any thoughts about 3 weeks in? I have a bad case of ‘feeling sorry for myself’ too 🤣
I’m so lucky to have lovely supportive friends and family and plenty of things to occupy me. But my sleep is disturbed and I think I’ve slightly pulled something in the muscles around my new hip - which I’ll check with my physio.

It just feels hard and I don’t know whether to back off and rest more or just pull myself together…

Any thoughts welcome …

MaryL44

H @pollyana Sorry you're finding it hard. I'm going to say the thing that everyone says: we're all different both in our experience of pain and in our recovery times. However, for what it's worth, I had a THR about 2 years ago and the memory does fade but I'm pretty sure I was still in shock at 3 weeks and probably walking about the same amount as you. At 3 weeks you think it's all taking too long but give it another 3 weeks and you'll look back and think you recovered quickly. If you can't remember how you were 5 years ago it's because it was unremarkable. But, if you'd kept a diary, you'd probably find that you were as fed up as you are now.

I have a phrase I often say - nothing lasts. Stop worrying about how you should feel and deal with how you do feel and if you want to rest just do it.

Mary

pollyana

thank you @MaryL44 that is helpful….nothing lasts as you say… so I will just carry on for now and wait for the body to do its healing.

In an other 3 weeks things could look different: I think I’m wondering about Xmas events and wondering what I’ll be able to do… and perhaps I need to just see how I am and not over commit.
Thank you 🥰 for your kind words

MaryL44

Yea, @pollyana I'm with you on the over committing. My husband constantly plans events and I don't like to say no. Then, if I end up cancelling, I feel guilty. I'm learning to say "Yes, I think so but if I don't feel like it when the time comes I may cancel" Managing expectations!

Good luck with your recovery. Keep us informed about your progress.

Nurina

I can't recall my surgery from 10 months ago, so I understand you don't remember yours from 5 years ago. What @MaryL44 says is spot on.

It's around the 3rd week when many of us have the "frustration attack". Before the 3rd week everything was about healing the wound, pain, stiffness and we should start to feel bettee from here but it's much slower than we think. There are too many things going on, nerves reconnecting, muscle fiber rejoining, ligaments reattaching. The visible wound is just the tip of the iceberg and under it there is a lot going on. I didn't believe people saying that the recovery is 6-12 months and now that I'm in my 10th month I'd say that's totally accurate. Patience. I think that aiming for the 6th week to start feeling like yourself is a good approach and if it's sooner, it'd be great. Take care

Janlyn

@Polyanna all of the above, Nurina and MaryL44 are spot on. I think to add that lack of proper sleep makes us feel awful. And I found everyone around me seemed to think I was okay, just like that! I think around 3 weeks the 'fed-up' phase kicks in. Then suddenly you find you have made progress. Then you stall again, then make more progress. Good news is that you keep feeling you've got as far as you can with recovery then you recover further and get stronger, or at least that's what I did. I'm almost 12 months post-op and my last bit improvement came in September.

It's hard to be patient, but if you can it will help, take care and believe you'll feel better soon.

pollyana

oh my goodness you’re all so right… I’m so glad I posted as I was feeling frustrated and fed up and you’re literally ok your own with your thoughts… I find others expectations hard as we look fine toddling about, but as you say @Nurina there a lot going on under the surface taking energy for healing. Are you medical? That’s pretty much what my physio said yesterday!

@MaryL44 that’s a great way to phrase it… i worry about offending people…but that’s a good plan…

Thank you @Janlyn too… it’s a longer process than I recall…patience and boundaries I think…

I’m having a daily lunchtime rest and that’s pretty much my fav part of the day

last time I went from my thr in 2019…into Covid 2020 and everything was different so perhaps that’s blurred my mind on it all…

Thank you so much for your support, its much appreciated… 🙂

Nurina

Hi @pollyana I'm not medical. I have a degree in Biology and studied cells, tissues, injuries and healing processes 2000 years ago. I've never worked as a Biologist though. I still remember studying the incredible effort to heal and connect everything in its place. Our body needs time, resources and patience for this miracle to happen. I wish we could be like Wolverine who heals any injury in seconds!

Janlyn

@pollyana - I love that your lunchtime rest is your favourite part of the day - you're listening to your body and giving yourself time to recover. It will all be worth it in the end!

Trish9556

Hi @pollyana

You're doing brilliantly, just keep telling yourself that. Your body will soon let you know if you do too much.

All surgeries are different so we can't compare right with left and definitely not one done five years ago. Methods and implants change, we change and, regretfully, the older we get the harder it is to recover from anything, let alone major surgery.

Know your limits, stretch yourself with doing more when you can and keep the Positive Mental Attitude. PMA has helped me recover quickly from so much in life, maybe because it was made up of my maiden name initials, maybe because of the way I was brought up to get up and get on with it when I was ill. Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today and if it's not, there's always another tomorrow.

Keep up the good work

Trish

alwayssewing

@pollyana

I can't add much else to what others have said , you are doing really well so far. 6 weeks and 12 weeks are good times to reflect on how you feel.

I had both hips done in 2024 and both recoveries were a bit different.

In the information I received from the hospital it stated that it takes 12 weeks to recover from the operation itself. Healing is from the outside in.

After that everything starts to heal in other ways and you need to keep up the exercises to make your legs strong and recover as much range of movement as possible over the next few (12 )months.