I got my surgery date!

Hope it all goes through 4 you I know what your going through & feeling I’m waiting to been 38 weeks now for My 3rd knee replacement and 40 for my spinal op I have had my other knee replaced 2 and hip your be ok yes it’s painful but meds are there and I believe take the meds in hospital the sooner Im able to move the quicker the recovery just annoyed me sleeping on my back after and having my long grabber to pick things up fun getting your knickers on 😂😂

its so 💕ly your daughter is helping you & I did have 2 springers spaniels when I had my 1st replacements but what I found fascinating they hold back and calmed right down as they knew I wasn’t good amazing that was

Have a wonderful Xmas & New year 🎄💕🎅

Did a bit of tidying up for you @Mini , hope that was OK Yx Admin

Congratulations :) I had my hip replaced in October. I actually did have some complications (lucky me!) but they've cleared up beautifully and yes, I’d do it again if I needed. If you want to chat, please let me know. You’ll do really well.

Hi @Limpingandinpain Check this short video on getting in and out of a bath for a shower after a hip replacement: https://youtu.be/kC7o7wg5tOM

I had a general anaesthetic for my hip replacement as this was the preferred choice of the anaesthetist, not sure why but possibly because I've a history of some back problems and I've some family history of ankylosing spondylitis. While I could have challenged this decision I was happy to fall inline with the preference of the experts even though I understand most hip replacement operations are done with regional anaesthetic plus sedatives.

I was in hospital for two nights. The first morning after my operation I was able to shower myself and only needed a little assistance with getting dressed, mainly with the compression stockings. After getting home I managed showering and dressing just with the aid of an easy grabber and a sock puller. I didn't have to wear compression stockings as I did the anti-blood clotting self injections.

Remember hip replacement is a very common operation. According to the National Joint Registry hip replacements have been performed in the UK since the 1960s and in England and Wales there are approximately 80,000 total hip replacement procedures performed each year. I had my hip replaced in late September and, like most, I had no major problems and I'm now in much better shape than I was before the operation. I concentrate on helping myself by doing the exercises before and after the operation.

Hi @Limpingandinpain I am guessing you have had your pre-op by now so this may be too late. I did have an ECG at my pre-op. I was in a room with 2 female nurses and the door was locked. I had to unbutton my blouse but I didn’t have to take off my bra. Electrodes are placed in various areas and it’s over very quickly. Other than blood tests they also needed a swab from inside my mouth and one from my groin, the latter they asked me to take myself. Nothing else was invasive

For the operation itself, I was wearing a standard hospital gown which covers all of your front. I had a spinal anaesthetic plus light sedation. I walked to theatre (at this point also wearing a dressing gown). I sat on the edge of the operating table and the anaesthetist put a cannula in my hand. Uncomfortable but not painful. They then got me to lean forward. One assistant held me rock steady from in front and another from behind. Then they applied a bit of local anaesthetic onto my back and then put in the spinal. Unlike an epidural, it’s a few seconds and then the needle is back out. You feel a bit of pushing and shoving while they are putting it in, but that’s it. Then your legs start to go warm and heavy and they roll you into position for surgery. They can vary the amount of sedation through the cannula depending on how out of it you want to be. I stayed a little but present, but appreciate that’s not everyone’s choice. I would definitely recommend a spinal rather than a general anaesthetic. The instant they stop the sedative you are fully alert, and there’s no nausea. The spinal keeps you paralysed from the waist down for a few hours so there’s no immediate post-surgery pain.

My surgeon wanted me to use compression stockings but not blood thinners - surgeons vary in what they prescribe. You will be probably be offered opioid pain relief at first. They tried me on Oxycodone first but I didn’t get on with it - hallucinations and vomiting. I then tried codeine but I didn’t like how it left me feeling spaced out, so it was paracetamol and ibuprofen only for me. I was ok - off all of it with 2-3 weeks.

I do have a walk in shower and was grateful for it. I don’t think I could have got over the bath sides in the early days, especially as I have a large free standing tub. I needed to stand on yoga blocks to get into it prior to surgery.

Good luck. Please try not to worry, they have seen it all before. All of the nurses who dealt with me in hospital were lovely and caring, and it was always a woman when anything sensitive was involved. For example you will need help with dressing whilst in hospital. I had a 2 night stay, the first male nurse I saw was the person who discharged me.

well done :) so pleased it went well for you

Good luck for Monday

Good luck @Limpingandinpain , just surrender your body to their loving care, they've seen it all before, they'll be very reassuring, and they'll take good care of you. And you'll be surprised at how well you cope when you get home. LM x

Hi @Limpingandinpain , you’ll find the arthritis pain in your hip will be gone (hooray!) but you may have some soft tissue pain while everything knits itself back together. I’m not a typical case as my body went full drama-queen on me, but assuming I AM an atypical case, I found I only needed the oramorph on about 5 occasions at night in the first week or so after I got home (warning - it’s more runny and sticky than you’d expect!) and paracetamol, and I was surprised at how quickly I could stop taking those during the day. For me the nights were worst, so I took a few paracetamol before going to bed and only took oramorph if the pain really kicked off in the night to help me get back to sleep. Several of my hip-py friends have found all they ever needed was a few paracetamol every now and then.

Personally I’d be reluctant to take codeine and oramorph at the same time, specially during the day, as they’re both strong opiates, but see how you feel. Presumably you know not to take paracetamol AND cocodamol, as you’ll be doubling up on the paracetamol dose if you do.

But hobbling about during the day actually seemed to help and was less uncomfortable than sitting down. It will also help the healing process, but listen to your body and don't overdo it. I didn’t need the codeine at all, which was a relief as the constipation it caused was awful. Sitting or lying on soft pillows dealt with the rest.

Top tip, sit on a lovely soft pillow in the car on your journey home, and if the car seat is built up a bit at the sides, pack it up with a cushion under the pillow, as the edge of the car seat may press on the incision, which will be a bit tender. My husband got fed up with me saying “Are we nearly home yet” through gritted teeth!

Try not to worry this weekend, once you’re in the hospital they’ll take over and get you sorted, you won’t have time to worry, and it will soon be done before you know it.

Hi,try not too worry about the pain afterwards. As others have said, my hip and lower back pain stopped immediately after the surgery, and the soreness and bruising was nothing compared to the previous pain. The hospital gave me a combination of paracetamol and codeine and after 4 days I just took them at night, until 7 days. I am now 4 weeks on, and have done my exercises daily and gradually increased my daily walks so I m now doing a mile most days, with no pain whatsoever in the operated hip. It's a long time since I could do that!

Try not to worry and do let us know how you get on next week

Hello Limpingandinpain - good luck with your op. I need to have both hips replaced and will be interested to follow your progress. I saw my surgeon on Friday and he had just been informed that they can start elective surgery on 1st February. He hopes to do my first hip end Feb/early March and the second one 12 weeks later.

l’d been worrying about how I would cope after the first surgery with the other hip still needing to be done. He said that I would be able to weightbear on the newly operated hip FOUR hours after surgery! I was very reassured by this because at the moment I can’t weightbear on either hip!

As Coddfish says, a step to help you get you onto the bath board will help. Like you, I can’t lift my legs, separately or together, so have a step to help me get into bed. I’ve found that approaching the step backwards helps, then you can lift your lower leg and foot back by bending the knee. I’m not sure if I’ve explained that very well!

I’ll be thinking of you this week.

Patx