Well here I am at day 5. I am "dismissing" my caring friend officially today, as I am happy that I can cope without her. She won't be going very far away (two streets!) and I have lots of friends and neighbour available to help at the drop of a hat. But I feel confident now that I can begin the road to normality, and I am keen to do it!
My first day home (Thursday) I was soooo tired! The effort of getting home exhausted me, but before having a nap on the sofa I insisted on making lunch. Just soup and rolls, but I wanted to make it myself. I told my friend all along that she was there to make sure I did not harm doing things, not doing them for me, and she's stuck pretty well to what I wanted. I have been sensible - so things like vacuuming etc., I have had help with. But basic day to day stuff is down to me. Scruffy floors won't kill me, but not eating might!
As anticpated, the first night home I used every trick in the book to try to sleep on my back, and had every aid going to help me do so. No way was anything working. The spine just was not having it, and it was that that hurt - not the hip! So after a couple of fruitless hours I threw everything in a heap on the floor and reached for my trusty pillow, which I had been using before the op due to the pain from the osteonecrosis. In seconds I was fast asleep and got a full nights sleep - the same again last night. I know we aren't supposed to sleep on our sides, but sleep is healing, so I compromise had to be made, and this is it. With this pillow and and a leg lifter I can get in and out of bed and sleep well, all on my own. The last two mornings I have woken really well rested and raring to go, and so I won't complain about the fact that I am sleeping ten hours straight - my normal is seven at most. I know I need it right now!
Exercise is getting easier, although I haven't ventured outside yet. That is on the schedule for today. I have a really good range of movement, although it still does differ a bit during the day. There's nothing that I can't do, but sometimes I can't do it at one time, but can at another. I'm just going with the flow - I'm up to my maximum in all areas already, and just pushing an extra one or two if I feel I can. I know not to push too much as my physio (I had one before this) had already read me the lecture on not overdoing it either. She knows me too well!
Pain, almost non-existant! I have accidentally "touched" the scar area when moving (for example, last night getting into bed), and believe me, it lets me know not to do that! But it's to be expected that there will be occasional brushes with objects, and I'm going to discuss with the GP on Tuesday a schedule of reducing my meds a bit - I've been on very high levels of painkillers for a long time now (morphine patches for the last 5 weeks), and I know that with the other stuff going on I can't just throw them all away once this is over - but I hope to get a significant reduction. If I could aim to reduce just to my co-codomol and gabapentin, I'd be a happy bunny!
Problems? Well, ok folks, who was the idiot who didn't tell you that you need two grabbers in reach? Because you need a grabber to pick up the grabber that you dropped on the floor!
And tips? Well this one came from my regular physio, who is really, really experienced and qualified. She told me that, within the bounds of caution, the "rules" about bending and stretching etc., are vased on no clear clinical practice! Her and some colleagues tracked the progress of THR patients for three months after surgery, and the dislocation rate was not related to following the rules or not - it was a lottery! She advised to loosely follow the rules (so no sitting cross legged, because that is silly), but otherwise approach movements with caution and listen to your body because it is going to tell you what it wants to do. So I haven't been blatently breaking the rules, but I feel so much more relaxed about moving around and trying things.
My curent goal is to be well enough for my dog to come home on Thursday next week. He's a 14 month old border collie, well trained and very savvy - but boisterous because that's his age. He hasn't fully grown up yet. But I miss him, and every time I do something I am seeing him out of the corner of my eye, or expecting him to appear! I won't be able to walk him properly yet, but I have a loaned scooter which we have been using for some months already, so he can accompany me on my growing walks, and still get his mad runs around the park! The physio looked at me like I was mad when she discovered I didn't have a small dog, and kept repeating the mantra "but he could pull you over" despite the number of times I told her that this simply wasn't going to happen because trained intelligent dogs didn't pull their owners over!
Anyway, I know I am not out of the woods yet. But when I first discovered this forum it was a great place to get information, but felt kind of scary since the majority of the posts were about stuff that went wrong. Understandably, and it is a serious operation and for some people it doesn't have the anticipated good outcomes. There's still no guarantees for me either, and I accept that. But I hope this helps anyone about to go through the op, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it is daylight!