hi everyone, I've not been on here for several months. Quick recap, though don't want to bore.... born with hip dypsplasia (hip out of joint... was not noticed at hospital, and not discovered till I was three, I had an operation to put the joint back into the socket I think it was a pelvic osteotomy. Anyway All was well with it apart from I was not good at sport and couldn't walk as far as others However I had no limp and walked relatively normal .... fast forward to my forties and I began to have problems, I couldn't walk far without getting pain, my flexibility decreased greatly, the worst thing was I develped a imp. Now I wasnt in excruciating pain when just going about the house, but a lot of tasks like walking any distance became a challenge and high steps were out too. I knew I was nearly bone on bone about 3 years ago, but got cortisone at my Drs surgery and more invasive with a needle in theatre into between the hip joint.
Anyway I put this off for years, because I could sleep ok, walk about house ok and thought Icould keep,going, at the end of last year though my outside walking became more limited and knowing it would just get worse I took the plunge and said to the consultant in January to refer me for a THR .i went for my assessment in March and was told my op should be anytime, well three months later and I'm still waiting, I knew there was a shortage of staff beds etc, but I got fed up and put it to the back of my mind, hence why I've not been on here unpacked my hospital bag and forgot about it a bit. I was also told that it might not be till maybe September but they were not sure. So my husband today was going to look down the private route..then out of the blue today at 9 am I get a phone call there has been a cancellation can I come in for a THR this afternoon..😱😱😱.... by 2pm i was gowned up and away to theatre ... I didn't know whether I was coming or going in my head as it happened so quick. I had a anterior approach I believe with a ceramic ball and plastic cup and I think though right now I'm not sure they put a substance in the cup that makes the bone grown over it, but to be honest I'm not sure. I also had an epidural with sedation which was definitely not my intention before, the very thought of hearing anything scare me rigid ... the Anethetist was lovely though said I could have the GA if I wanted but that the epidural and sedation was becoming an ever more popular choice, he also said that the thing everyone says is about hearing things during the operation and he was on hand to make sure that did not happen. So I was down in theatre from about 2 till 5, came back and apart from being sleepy I was fine, I've not so far moved out of my hospital bed yet which I will have to soon as they want me to try and go to toilet, but feel ok. Though I've had morphine tablets and basically everything they are offering me .
Apolgies ifnthis is a bit of a ramble I'm still in shock that yesterday I was sitting in my living room with no op in sight and today that's it done... I've spent nearly all night texting friends as no one knows I'm in hospital,. I will try and keep updating my post, I'm a bit concerned that I fee too good atm, and despite being tired will have obs taken all night so I know I will generally feel worse tomorrow.
Do hope that's not too much of a waffle to read ....Lizbet 😁
For me the 2nd day was the worse, but then they had my pain medication messed up and I was not given any until that night, so that could be the reason. I was discharged on afternoon of day 3, was still fairly uncomfortable but got home, slept in my own bed and day 4 I was up, showered and dressed for the day. I have been more tired then usual and find myself a bit achy in the mornings but that is all. I cut my pain pills in half and take ½ of one each morning. I have kidney issues and cannot take NSAIDS (aspririn, Advil, ibuprophen etc.) or I could probably manage fine with that. I also figured out it's all the activity of showering, dressing, fixing hair etc that makes me achy first thing in the morning. The rest of the day I am fine. By evening I start getting a bit tired and achy but sit down and watch tv and relax. I am 5 weeks post op. I went from walker to cane in about 2 weeks time. Now I can walk a bit with no cane but only short distances in my house. I get a physical therapist that comes once or twice a week and shows me new exercises to do and encourages me to try walking without cane etc. Since I had knee replacement last year and then severe hip pain, I have been using a cane for awhile now and it scares me to be without it, even though I seem to do fine. I guess the more frequently I start not using it the more I will get comfortable being without it. I have no stiffness in hip, I still have it in my knee as it is on same side. It might be my restrictions as I had posterior, not letting me do many things as knee stiffens up when not bent regularly. All in all, I am thrilled with my hip outcome. I have 3 more weeks of restrictions so will be thrilled to have those over with, but all has gone very well for me. I hope yours goes as well. Good luck.
Wow, that would have knocked me for a loop! At least you didn't have too much time to worry about it! Both my girls were born with hip dysplasia but both were diagnosed as babies. I had never heard of the condition when my first daughter was diagnosed, but when my second daughter was born I told the pediatrician that I thought she might have it, too. He said he didn't think so, but sure enough she did!
Same problem here except mine wasn't found till I was 17.
Had hip replacement and a bone graft last year. Am great. Waiting to have the other hip done.
I didn't have any opiates after day 1. No pain killers at all after 2 weeks. Compared to what I had been experiencing beforehand the slight pain I had after op was nothing and very different.
Hi Peggy, it sounds like your doing well , especially now you have no stiffness there that's great. I'm expecting the pain to get worse before it's better and my hip feels very heavy just now and is throbbing a bit, I've just got some painkillers and a cup of tea. I should be sleeping it's nearly quarter to 5 in the morning but I'm wide awake, just can't sleep well on my back. I did try and get up to go to the toilet in a commode but suddenly felt very sick and dizzy so had to abandon that idea. Strangely I don't feel sick or dizzy in bed. Anyway thanks for your reply, and it's great your delighted with the outcome ....Lizbet 😁
hi Anne , it certainly did, I was in panic mode, not just to get everything together I needed for hospital but to get my head together too. Your right it gave me no time to think. My dad had hip dysphasia too, but he was born in 1930 and they thought it was caused by his breach birth as there was no word about hip dysphasia in those days I don't think, or ud there was his family were never told. I don't know how the Drs missed me at the check up the kids get before they leave hospital, probably just unlucky, but when I got it treated at 3 they said they were not sure of the success because I'd been walking about with a hip out of joint so long. Anyway it was as I said successful, my dysplasia was in my left hip, I've read it's far more common in girls than boys and more often in the left hip, though not always .... very strange. It was the first thing I asked the Drs to check when I had my boys too as I knew by then it ran in families and it's a lot easier to fix and be a success in newborns I believe.... take care and thanks for your reply .... lizbet 😁
That's great Denise, so pleased it has been a success for you, I'm praying I will be the same. My one fear apart from the recovery process itself was, what if this op makes me worse? I think it was why I kept putting it off, hopefully I will be like you 😁.... my body clock has went to pot though and I'm wide awake at 5 am, and a kind nurse has brought me a cup of tea . Anyway thanks for your reply .... lizbet 😁
Hi Lizbet, that was such short notice! Well done with being brave and going ahead with it. Hope you got a bit of rest last night. I found the nights were complete rubbish, but apart from that I had a really good pain free recovery. I was lucky. I wish you all the best, take all your meds to begin with, Judith
Hi Renee, am ok, yesterday was a bit of a struggle, I began to feel very sick, I got liquid morphine, and later on more tablets, everything from paracetamol ibuprofen, a nerve tablet for nerve pain which I can't remember the name, and laxatives and later more morphine, by night time I ended up not just feeling sick but being sick. I told them I didn't want more morphine as it was making me too drowsy and I thought it wasn't agreeing with my stomach. My hip pain has been mild whilst I'm in my bed , but yesterday and today I've been feeling awful sick wise and also the laxatives have kicked in too so I've been at the toilet a lot too. All in all I've felt like I had a sick bug these past few days but I'm sure it's the sedation, morphine, trauma of op etc that's wiped me out. The phisio came round to see me yesterday I've got exercises to do in my bed, and she also had me up for the first time. I was terrified as I thought my new hip would give way or something silly. She had me on the Zimmer frame and I just walked around the bed it was ok and not nearly so scary as I thought . Today I'm still feeling squeamish and not myself, but I've walked a wee bit of the hospital corridor and it was ok. They tried me with walking sticks today which was ok but I felt more vulnerable with them than the Zimmer frame. Apparently my Dr has said for me to use crutches for 6/8 weeks, because they will give me more support than sticks. I think this is because as well as having my hip replaced they cut and lengthened the tendon in my groin as well. I had said to my consultant that I struggled to straighten my leg after years of curling it up in bed and curling it under my other one whilst sitting, I also used to stand on my tip toe on my bad hip. I felt though I didn't know that I had shortened the muscles in my leg and this made me limp more.
The consultant said after the op he was happy with the leg length and actually there was not much in the first place. He also said the muscles were very tight and that's why he lengthened the tendon as it gave me more movement. I hope this makes sense, I learned today I was in theatre for 4 hours which was longer than I thought, the consultant said my operation was a bit more complicated because of my history, my cup was rotated , and femur was cracked, muscle not quite in the normal places because of position of hip joint etc .. so I think they had a lot to do whilst in there., and I lost a bit more blood than expected They said they could not guarantee my hip might be perfect but I would have a great improvement, that's good enough for me as any improvement is better than none.
one thing which is a plus just now is when I'm moving my hip there is no more clicking and crunching sounds coming from my hip joint... it was forever doing that before, so that's good.. Many thanks for replying .... take care Lizbet 😁
I know I think it was the best way, I'm still really in shock about it all, having had a hip condition for most of my life then wham it's fixed . I obviously knew this year it would be at some point but with such short notice I had no time to think as you say.
I feel ok apart from the tablets making me feel me feel like I've got a bug, I'm now just taking paracetamol atm, as my stomach is churning. Leg not too swollen which I was expecting but I'm thinking that's to come when I'm walking more, I took into hospital two sizes of slippers as I thought my foot would swell up but that's not happened yet . Many thanks for your reply... Lizbet ....😁
Hi ahi Judith, yes it was quick I was in a hospital gown before I knew it on Thursday haha. Well as you might be reading I have been taking all the meds but I've had to cut back a lot as they made me feel very sick and very drowsy. I'm managing ok with just paracetamol just now, but I will ask for stronger if I need it. Though I think I'm definitely staying off the morphine it made me feel so ill.
Im the same as you re night time... I'm napping during the day, then at night only sleeping for very short bursts, and then I'm wide awake. I HATE lying on my back and cannot wait to lie on my side again. I will be counting down the days haha..... many thanks for your reply ... Lizbet 😁