Ive just got home and im so glad to be back. the hospital staff were wonderful. no complaints in any way there but it was too damn hot. So happy to be back in my normal temperature house again.
unfortunately, due to the extent of damage to the joint and muscle wastage, he had to put a longer implant in so that it would be stable and not dislocate. the downside is that i now have one leg an inch longer than the other. Has anyone else come up against this? what did they do to correct it? the surgeon said it wouldnt be a problem for very long because the other hip will need doing within 2 years but thats still a long time to walk around with such a big discrepancy in leg length.
Hi Helen ... welcome home ... seems a big discrepency to me too ... maybe you can have an insert made to compensate for the difference ... maybe you can get a referral to a good podologist who can make an insert to compensate for the difference ... make sure it is okay to do this though ..
The docs no best Helen and they wouldn't have done it by mistake! I had mine done a year ago and walking fine now, I'm sure you can an insole in shoe as I have in both now which helps, throw the grabber away as it's a nightmare trying to get socks on lol and don't take any jokes from friends changing your name to EILEEN!!! gd luck nick your be fine
Hopefully the discrepancy won't notice once the implant settles down. I was told at pre appt hip lesson that hospital can arrange for shoe inserts or additional heel wedge to level you out If It causes a problem.
Look forward to reading about your recovery. My op due soon.
Yes, I was quite shocked the first time they got me up and I was so unbalanced. My first choice up after they measured me and said I was off by xxxx centimeters and the doc said he'd prefer to give it some time to settle down. I just had my 6 mo. Chk up and they insist that I am equal, yet I still feel a difference. My physical therapist also believes I am equal and I am starting to believe that this is a mental thing. But I put heel lifts in my shoe and found that it worked pretty good. I bought them at the cobbler but you can also buy them online. Btw I have had scoliosis all my life and have one a pretty bad curvature.
the surgeon said i was about an inch taller on my op leg but that would lessen as things bed in and my muscles repair. im seeing physio in 3 weeks and they will deal with the discrepancy then apparently. in the house im ok if i wear a shoe on my good leg and nothing on my op leg. it evens me out a bit. i was a bit gutted when he said the left hip was also quite worn. i havent really noticed because the right one was so badly damaged. he doesnt expect it to last very long.
i struggled with pain after surgery due to the pre-exisiting chronic pain condition in the operated leg but the staff were great and kept messing about with pain med combinations until it was under control. Almost passed out in the loo the first time i got up which was a bit embarassing but its common so i got over it. bp dropped into my boots 80/40 and my o2 sats dropped abruptly. other than that it was a textbook recovery whilst in hospital. im in pain now but thats to be expected after a tiring day.