I am a 51 yr female I must have an full hip replacement next month, and I have no one to help me.
What is the best way to get through the initial 6 weeks without help please?
It can be done alone but it's a little tricky.
Make sure you have the kit with all the helpful aids. Reaching tool. Sock aid etc. you could freeze yr meals ready for a couple of weeks.
Talk to the OT about everything you will need.
Also, check out Rocketman's. Profile. He has lots of helpful links for you to read.
Good luck.
Dear Michele
It nay seem daunting but if you are reasonable fit and healthy it really should not be a problem.
Of course it would be useful to have someone there to keep you company and look after you but not essential assuming everything went well with the surgery.
Make life as easy for yourself as possible with some frozen meals, abd a means of transporting drinks and food around your home. I suggest that it would be wise to invest in a cheap female urinal to save trips to the toilet and do get a seat riser for your toilets and a stool for the shower or sitting on while washing. A so called perching stool is a help in the kitchen for sitting on when preparing food and doing the washing up.
A strap can be handy for helping to lift your leg up when getting to bed and a grabber tool too. If you are in the UK you will be able to get stools, toilet riders and grab tools from the Red Cross.
When I had my hip revision last year at age 76 basically I coped on my own same with my total ankle replacement this year.
We are all different of course so just because I was able to cope does not mean that you will!
Best of luck Richard.
I went into 2 weeks of inpatient PT rehab. Was the best thing I could have done. I have help but they taught me how to do personal care and things I needed to do on a daily basis. It was a tremendous help.
Hi michele,
Cook and freeze food and make sure it is easy to reach in the freezer. Keep all cooking pans etc within easy reach, on work surface if necessary. Have a table closeby with TV remote, book, pen anything you need to occupy yourself. If you are in the UK you may be loaned items for revovery e.g chair for shower, trolley on wheels, grabber, sock aid, long shoe horn. I hope I have covered most things, you will not be bending down therefore leave things out if in bottom drawers.
Hi there ,
I had my hip replacement 14 weeks ago when I was 51. I live on my own but did have my sister who I stayed with for the 1st week. After that I went home and coped alone.
I had prepared a months worth of food and frozen it, moved everything to a height that meant I wouldn't be bending. The biggest problem you will face is changing your surgical stockings every 2 days without help. You won't be able to bend to pull them off or put them on. I arranged for friends to come every 2-3 days to do the stockings.
Also be prepared to get b fed up and a little tearful at 1st. But the satisfaction you get when you realise that you did it is amazing. Try and sort out a network of friends for the stockings and take one day at a time. If I could do it I'm sure you will be able to. Good luck
Lucy
Hi Michele, Make sure the hospital know you will be home alone, they may keep you in longer to check you are ok. I was going to be alone and looked into booking into a convalescent home for a week. The hospital also offered convalescent care that you could pay for. As it turned out my sister was able to come and stay and that helped a lot as to begin with I was sleeping most of the time. I had bought in ready meals for the freezer and made sure I had raised toilet seats, Booster cushions on my chairs to get them higher. Measure the distance to the floor from under your knee to get the correct height. Grabber tools, slim umbrella stands in each room so I could keep my walking sticks and grabbers nearby and upright rather than having to put them on the floor. (This was a tip I read on line from someone who’d had the same op) A yoga strap on my couch and on my bed were really useful in helping to lift my operated leg up and down. I set a timer on my phone for medication. Speak to your district nurse so they can come and check your dressing. My wound needed re dressing after a few days and the nurse came out to do it. Have loose clothes to wear. The first week or so is mainly resting and doing your exercises. I watched tv, read books and snoozed a lot. Hopefully you will have friends who can pop in to help you if you need anything. I was fine showering as soon as I was home as I had a waterproof dressing and have a walk in shower. You can get long handled sponges if you need to strip wash rather than shower so you dont have to bend down. . I probably could have managed very well on my own if my sister had not been available. I was nice to have help and company but not essential if you are well organised. I was 60 when I had my op last year and had done quite a lot of exercise in advance to prepare myself so I was given the ok to drive again at 4 weeks (but waited to get it in writing) so at 5 weeks I was back to the gym to do circuit exercises from the physios and walk and exercise in the pool. It was nowhere near as difficult as I anticipated. All the best for your op and recovery
Ann
I didn’t have support stockings, my consultant doesn’t recommend them, but there is great device to help putting on socks that was very useful. I wore bed socks to keep my feet nice and cosy. There is an online company called complete care shop that does all sorts of good gadgets. A bedside table was useful too. Argos sell quite a few aids like raised toilet seats and frames but your district nurse might be able to get those things for you. All depends where you live and how helpful they are.
The number one help is THIS FORUM - so you're in a good place already, it has helped me through three recoveries from hip operations.
There are many resources on the internet, I have just added a new series of American information pages that are good to my website - Look for "Health Pages" in the "online resources" page.
My website address is in my personal info here ...
http://patient.info/forums/profiles/rocketman-sg6uk-907025
and at the bottom of the moderator's "useful resources" page at
http://patient.info/forums/discuss/thr-useful-resources-487147
Best wishes
Graham - 🚀💃 🤸 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hi Michelle I was 53 last year having my new hip and live alone , I managed brilliant , firstly I made sure I had my shopping delivered every week by a supermarket and they always unloaded for me
a grabber is useful , I also bought a walker with a seat so any drinks I had or meals I could safely get them to the table .
somedays were difficult but not as bad as I thought they would be .
i was driving after 6 weeks though not far as still very weak on the operated leg
good luck with your op and speedy recovery x
I’m scheduled for surgery on Sept. 19 and they already have me down for rehab. I can’t stand this horrible misery anymore, I’d have it done tomorrow if I could. I’m not dreading it I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know much about the rehab, anything at all actually except that I want it.
Best wishes to you!!
My sister came to stay for a week when I got home. The only trouble was she decided to spring clean the house!! The most useful thing was my grabber so I could pick things up, in fact I still use it being lazy. I got shopping delivered and the delivery man carried it through to the kitchen for me. I had some very good friends who came round and brought goodies with them. After a hip operation chocolate has zero calories! I had a wonderful thing given me by the hospital so I could lift my operated leg into bed. You can use a dressing gown chord if you want. I had had a walk in shower installed. I found I did not need a stool and just leaned back on the glass. I was really worried about how I would get on when I got home and found I actually could do most things. I did not have a special chair and I used to go upstairs to my own bed. My insurance Company told me to wait six weeks before driving and I did my first drive with a friend. I suppose I was a bit nervous. You will be amazed how much you can do and you will be very pleased you had the op.
Good idea to either have someone stay with you for first few days or go into a rehab place. It can take some adjustment with initial recovery.
Is there a option to go into temp convalescence for two weeks until your up and ready for managing on your own? I did thst the third hip revision. It was the best thing I ever did.
Hello Michele, don’t fear, you’ll do well I’m sure. I’m 70 and had my thr 8 weeks ago I too live alone and am new to my neighborhood so l don’t have friends nearby. Like others have said I made many meals and froze them, stews, meat balls and spaghetti, chicken soup. As well as waffles, sausages, fresh fruit, box cereals, salads etc. I had groceries delivered. I too got a toilet seat riser, cane, grabber, sock helper and a really long shoe horn, and a walker for which I bought a tray to,attach and carry meals from the kitchen to table. These things are available on line. Tv tables can be helpful,too. Ask hospital if you can receive home rehab a couple of days a week for two weeks or more. It’s great to do the exercises and have someone to,talk to. Rest rest rest. Don’t rush your recovery. Be kind to yourself. Safely enjoy your showers, put on a dab of cologne if you like that. I did. Have loose comfy gowns or house dresses to wear and shoes or slippers that just slide on. I wish you a safe and speedy recovery. When it’s all done and your having your recovery you will be surprised and proud of yourself. It’s a real,accomplishment. Best of luck to you.
Bring this up to your medical team. They will see that you get support
Well done to you, and thank you so much.
I am seeing the surgeon next week and shall bring up that option, but it’s pretty doubtful.
I hope your third revision works for you.
Thanks Amanda, that is reassuring to hear how you coped- and coped well. Well done you.
Hi Karen, Iknow that awful pain feeling, as I am sure we all do on this page. You have the right attitude and I really hope it goes well for you- good luck.