My THR recovery diary
Comments
-
Yesterday was a better day. Went to the beach with my friends, walked along the shingle using my walking poles, ok but really slow going. Managed to walk up and down a stoney cliff path which was a good achievement. I'm better at sitting on low benches now so that helps.
Woke up this morning with sharp pains in my scar, lots of different but hurting but it doesn't last fortunately. I can at least sleep for quite a time on my good side which is lovely.
Going to have an easy day at home today as friends are going home and I have had a busy tiring but nice three days.
0 -
Sunday was a complete write off. Pain in my thigh and scar kept me from doing anything much. I know I shouldn't Google things but femoral stem pain seems to fit the description. I will ask the physio on Wednesday about it.
At least I am walking around the house completely unaided and it's just going up the stairs I can't do normally.
1 -
Sorry to hear that JPT, hope your physio session will help out. I have my first physio tomorrow.🤞
2 -
@JPT I am 17 days post-THR and have read your recovery diary with interest. You seem to be doing remarkably well despite the ups and downs, which I gather from reading other posts are quite normal. I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad day yesterday. Having walked on shingle a number of times when fully fit, I know how hard it is on the legs, and hope this is the explanation of your new pain.
I was discharged in the evening of the day following my op. The pain kicked in with a vengeance during the night and I resorted to morphine for relief. After that I managed to bring the pain more or less under control with a selection of the painkillers I was given by the hospital. I've tried different ones but the combination that now seems to work best for me is Tramadol (which I was using before the operation), usually once a day, supplemented with paracetamol three or four times. By Day 4 I could walk around the house with one crutch. At the start of the second week I had my first short walk outdoors, no more than 300 yards. I stepped that up to walking to the local shop, not much more than quarter of a mile round trip. When I saw the physiotherapist two weeks post-op she cautioned me against increasing the walk distance too quickly and gave me half a dozen exercises to work on daily.
I thought all was going really smoothly until I had the clips removed (on the same day as I saw the physio). The nurse noted that my thigh was still quite swollen and booked another appointment two days later to check it. The friend who gave me a lift stopped at the village pharmacy while I collected my wife's prescription. As I walked back to the car, I noticed that the right leg of my black track suit bottoms was very wet. At home a few minutes later, we discovered that the wound was leaking copiously. After some mopping up a fresh dressing was applied and the seepage seemed to have stopped. We changed the dressing each day before the next appointment, at which there was another cascade when the nurse removed the overnight dressing. She called in the consultant to inspect the wound. He decided that there did not appear to be any infection, but prescribed a course of antibiotics to be on the safe side. Two days have passed, with some leakage continuing from one small hole in the scar which has not healed. That's where I am at to date, with another appointment with the nurse tomorrow.
I feel very well in myself and am pleased with the improvement in my mobility, but can't help worrying about why the scar hasn't completely healed, 17 days after the operation. Most of the posts on this forum suggest a maximum of two weeks for the wound to heal fully.
2 -
Day 48
My thigh is still quite painful so back to taking ibuprofen regularly.
I did walk unaided around the village from the car to the chemist then around two supermarkets pushing trolley only. I don't feel that confident or steady so I did have my walking pole handy. I think if anyone bumped into me I'd probably fall over! It takes a lot of concentration to try to walk properly it seems.
I also managed to get into the passenger side of my little low sports car. I can't get my leg to bend enough to get in drivers side though so more physio needed as that's my op leg that has to go in first. It's a start and I am really happy that I now think I will be able to drive it again in the not too distant future. As long as I can park away from everyone to have the doors open fully.
Overall a better day again.
3 -
@JPT Walking without aids is nice, isn't it?
I struggled the first time I jumped into the driver's seat. My husband used the car before me and I found difficult to bend and reach the lever under the seat to move it closer. I couldn't drive for months and I noticed I lost a little bit of practise. Now, I still struggle a little bit to go in and out if the park spaces are too narrow and I can't fully open the door.
A thing that maybe you know but I didn't: You need your doctor's permission to drive because if you have an accident, you will not be covered by your insurance. Another of the thousand things they should tell you.
3 -
@Nurina thanks, yes, I did note that I need the consultant's sign off to drive. I have the consultant review next week and to be honest I'd be surprised if I can get in the driver's side then, it's too low and I'm not flexible enough yet! I'm determined not to give up my sports car but I do remember that getting in and out of it or down and in and up and out was getting harder! And I did need to park where noone could park next to me!
We'll see, keeping fingers crossed.
1 -
That's exactly what I'm concerned about, as I have a 3 door BMW compact with bucket seats. I find it difficult to get in and out of now, let alone post op. I've raised and pushed the seat back as far as it will go, but it's still low and difficult to get into.
I've been looking into getting a swivel car seat and a car cane
2 -
Physio session #3 today
My thigh pain is nothing serious but a pulled muscle which the physio worked on with some ultrasound treatment to ease it. Thank heavens for that, it was really getting me down.
Physio happy otherwise, some resistance exercises to do for getting up off low chairs etc and going upstairs. I am walking about outdoors without sticks now, still slow and I carry one of my walking poles just incase I get tired and need some support.
I have to talk to the consultant next week about clicking in my hip and the longer leg length which I am annoyed about as I am lopsided when standing. Let's see if he says it will balance out when I have the other hip done! Hopefully I am years away from that though so the alternative is a slim wedge in my shoe. How does that work when you are barefooted or in flip flops in the summer?…
Otherwise onwards and upwards x
2 -
Hi @JPT
I'm happy to hear it's just a pulled muscle.
I felt too one leg shorter than the other and it was very strange because my consultant told me I don't have a discrepancy. I went to an osteopath and he said I had my spine uneven due to the posture sleeping on the back, limping, walking with crutches. One side of the pelvis was higher than the other. He aligned my spine and I felt the legs even again. He recommended me to make the bridge exercise often because it helps to align spine and pelvis. Take care x
1 -
@JPT I imagine, and hope, that soon you will be able to get into your car and drive. I know it's a long way down but I certainly found, to my surprise, that it was so much easier than pre-surgery. I hadn't realised how difficult it had become.
Thank goodness your thigh pain is a pulled muscle. Something I definitely learned was that the right amount of exercise was better than too little or too much, hard to judge what is just right though. And definitely not too much walking, which is easier to judge, or at least for me. If I go too far my thigh gets painful and sore, but several short walks are okay.
@HarryB Sorry to hear your wound hasn't healed yet - mine actually took around six weeks and didn't heal properly until I had finished my blood thinners. Could it be the blood thinners that are stopping yours healing? I had dissolvable stitches so I didn't have too much leakage but I was like you, worried that everyone seemed to be healed in two weeks.
0 -
@Janlyn Thank you for that information. I thought I was out on a limb (sorry, no pun intended) in the wound not having healed at 3 weeks. I was told to stop the blood thinners two days ago. Today I saw my surgeon, who decided that swift action was advisable to minimise the risk of infection. So tomorrow I'm being admitted to hospital for some kind of vacuum treatment. If that doesn't do the trick he will have to re-open the wound to flush it out. And I thought I was going to a football match on Saturday … hey ho!
0 -
@HarryB - maybe if the vacuum treatment works you will be at football on Saturday, and maybe now you are off the blood thinners it will heal quicker? But it is good to hear they are clearly looking after you well and taking all precautions - you don't want an infection at this stage. Take care, or at least hope that they do!
1 -
Week 7
Today I removed the raised loo seats, cushions etc and got my house back to looking normal. I am just careful when sitting down to go slowly. So far so good.
I managed to do a bit of light gardening this morning and that felt great.
This afternoon I managed to walk without sticks to the marina, got on the boat with some assistance and slowly got used to being on board. It's easy to get too complacent but I just tell myself to slow down and think. The big test will be in two weeks when we take the boat out for a weekend away. Hoping for no wind and sunshine to make it easier.
My leg is quite sore if I have had a busy active day or if I sit too long and the clicking is really annoying when raising my knee or stretching it out. I don't know what can be done but I hope it can be resolved.
Otherwise all is good.
2 -
@Janlyn I'm now in hospital hooked up to the vacuum machine for at least two days. I had to wait a long time to be admitted, as the hospital is different from the one where I had the surgery. As to football, I think I can watch the match on TV - not quite the same as being there, but my daughters will cheer on my behalf!
I hope your recovery is progressing smoothly.
0 -
Definitely we forget a lot of things until we look back and realise how much progress we are actually making. Good to hear the ultrasound has helped - exercises are so important to get back to our old selves.
1 -
@Janlyn Thank you. I saw my consultant today. He said the VAC machine is doing its job and will continue until Monday morning. Even though there is no significant sign of infection, he thinks it will be advisable to replace the plastic components of the implants to remove risk of infection of the metal elements. While it will be frustrating to have to restart my recovery, I am in the hands of experts and will go along with their advice.
Today I've had the pleasant distraction of seeing my football team win a crucial match and gain promotion. Onwards and upwards, in more than one respect!
0 -
@HarryB I'm so sorry to hear you're having such a tough time, but fantastic that they're being cautious. I had read about how careful they had to be regarding infection going to the implant so better safe than sorry and I hope you're back out and about soon.
At least you had a bit of good news with your football team!
0 -
@Janlyn I had surgery this morning to tackle the possible infection. All appears to have gone well. I feel a bit of a fraud, feeling really well but on an orthopaedic ward with patients some of whom are clearly suffering quite badly.
@JPT apologies, I feel guilty about hijacking your recovery diary. I think I should start a new discussion on unhealed wounds and VAC treatment.
2 -
I can't believe it's coming up 8 weeks! Tomorrow is consultant review day. I'm a bit nervous as I don't know what he will say about my hip clicking all the time I raise my knee and straighten it. I'll report back afterwards.
Mostly now I'm getting around easily but cautiously without walking aids. I still wake every time I turn over so my sleep pattern is a good 8 hours but disturbed frequently.
My wound and underlying area is always sore as I walk further and do more exercise but it's a reminder of the healing happening.
I've been so much more sociable out and about and my friends are truly amazed at my recovery.
I need to now find a pool to swim in to help further. I notice now how little exercise my hubby wants to do now that I can go out on my own! So it's down to me to get on with it all without him lol! I walk every day, he doesn't...
I will mostly today be walking, going to a local meeting, gardening and sorting out things for charity such as my stiletto work shoes, 1 I don't work any more, 2 I am nearly 56 and they don't suit me, and 3 I don't want to risk falling over in them and undoing all the good work. I have become sensible...oh dear lol!
3
Categories
- All Categories
- 21 Welcome
- 18 How to use your online community
- 3 Help, Guidelines and Get in Touch
- 10.8K Our Community
- 8.9K Living with arthritis
- 87 Hints and Tips
- 211 Work and financial support
- 722 Chat to our Helpline Team
- 4 Want to Get Involved?
- 385 Young people's community
- 9 Parents of Children with Arthritis
- 38 My Triumphs
- 122 Let's Move
- 24 Sports and Hobbies
- 18 Food and Diet
- 237 Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- 21 Community Feedback and ideas
- 312 Chat and News
- 21 Val's Cafe
- 277 Chit chat
- 9 News
- 5 Tails From The Cafe