I am 6 weeks post op LTHR. Recovery has gone very well physically, mentally tough ( boredom, frustration, cabin fever). I live alone and am wondering how much housework others are able to do at this point.
Cleaning off countertops, cooking and putting things away are fine. Cleaning bathroom counter, sink and toilet are OK. Laundry is hard because it's in the basement so that's 3 trips per load ( one to put laundry in washer, one to change clothes to dryer, third to take out of dryer).
It's the FLOORS! I have dogs so there is alot of hair - everywhere. Vacuuming is exhausting. Getting it out with one hand, carrying it upstairs, moving things out of the way. The floor needs to be mopped so badly but that is way beyond me right now. I have no physical stamina after years of arthritis pain and then the surgery. My hip doesn't hurt but I'm sweating and exhausted after 5 minutes.
Should I keep ignoring my floors for now, hoping in a few weeks I'll be able to do them or do I bite the bullet and hire someone to come in and help?
Happy Thanksgiving - I hope someone is having you over for a good gobble!
From where I sit, you are pretty amazing! No way I could manage the stairs with the hamper to do our laundry at 6 weeks with my first hip (late Feb 2016) and I just got sh** ( polite, but never-the-less) from my physiotherapist for exceeding partial weight-bearing with my 2nd hip at 2 weeks post.
Seriously ... I would hire someone to come in to do the floors plus and leave you feeling good about everything. And if you like them, book them to come in and help for a while until you are truly back. You may not have have experienced all the joint-realigning 'fun' yet but there is still lots of healing going on.
How are you managing with the dogs ... I hope you have help with them too.
Now is the time to take care and conserve your energy, this hip needs to last you a long time.
With hugs from Ottawa (sure hope you are not out in the Prairies with the snow - what kind of cruel joke is that)?
The dogs are great. They learned to stay away from my cane very quickly. They are great calm dogs and are lovely for a cuddle when I nap.
I have to get my other hip done soon too. I'm aiming for spring so I can walk outside after. How the heck did you do yours in Feb with all that Ottawa snow?!?
Why couldn't you be weight bearing this time? Or do you mean you are hobbling about without your walker?
Hi, re housework confess for three weeks I hired a cleaning lady then at six weeks managed alone, try one of those mops which you can put a moist floor wipe onto I find that very useful on smooth floors, as for carpets only solution is to hoover I too have dog a pug who moults constantly, it's awful. Good luck
Well Feb was grim but soooo glad for the surgery that ..."Yyes please sir as soon as you can. Oh, two weeks ... yikes! Oh well ... of course. Thank you (tears welling up big time as I realize this was really going to happen).
As for afterwards ... the ice, the snow, the stairs, the boots ..it is all a blur that my hubby and I try to forget with so much sad stuff happening in the family at the same time as well. Some things should not be revisited too much 😂😕.
As for weight-bearing - my surgeon is cautious to begin with, but super cautious as I have severe osteo. It is frustrating as I feel good otherwise and cannot find a sitting position so long days seem even longer. But ... I am moving forward.
But!!! No bone on bone ... I appreciate this so much.
Re timing your next thr ... it seems to be a bit of cap shoot - need to have hip #1 good enough to manage the operated hip, but don't want to wait until hip#2 gets too bad and that seems hard to estimate as the slide accelerates quickly once begun. But spring sounds good - absolutely need to be able to get out and about or one goes stir-crazy.
After my first surgery I think I started to sweep and mop after a week and a half I was dumb!!! three weeks later I find out I dislocated my hip not sure how or when. Two days later I had a hip revision and was non-weight-bearing for six weeks!! 😫 today marks a little over 2 1/2 weeks that I've been able to bear weight and walk. Yesterday I started using crutches. Was using walker. I look at my floors and cringe!! 😖 I have a dog but he's outdoors he's a French mastiff over 120 pounds ! It's been hard but I have managed to stay away from the broom and the mop and vacuum cleaner!! I don't want to take any chances but I would think six weeks with no problems you should be OK. my therapist had told me I still needed to wait another four weeks after my doctor released me from non weight bearing. Best of luck. Take it easy and slow. Remember the blt! Hugs, LD
I think I might agree with the others except that your other posts seemed to tall about about a bad 2nd hip and both kneesj giving you lots of grief ...
I had major ovarian surgery in my teens and was told that sweeping and vaccuming are an absolute no-no as it really puts a strain on you. Kept this in mind after my hip surgery in December and just tolerated messy floors. If you can afford to hire someone to do them, great, if not, don't look too hard until you are stronger.
Roomba is a great help and a simple long handles dust mop. No pushing or pulling heavy vacuum .
i have several dogs and cats it can be messy, in all honesty a room be cost is well worth it it really cost no more than a good vacuum, and you can programme it to run any time a day or week.
There are are many available on Amazon some are inexpensive for use while you recover.
all us hippies have to stick together. Keep the suggestions Rollin in.
As I work full time, I have a cleaner for 1 day a week anyway but since I've broken my hip, I'm home and the housework drives me crazy through pure frustration of not being able to complete. I'm due my surgery in 19th Oct and I've asked my cleaner to increase her hours so she comes twice a week until I'm back on my feet. Otherwise, mentally I won't cope. I don't care how much it costs but I've told my husband, he can pick up an extra shift in work, which he is good at, to pay her to do what she is good at. Win win ☺️
great comments --- I have not much to add here - I also had someone come in to clean - vaccuum cleaning is too heavy and awkward - mopping the floor ? well I did a shotty job with that - my main concern was the bathroom -
I did buy a cordless Dyson ... light weight -
Go for it, darling - It is only temporary and I found it such a treat ...
My mum always used to say that anyone who didn't like the state of the dusting was welcome to leave. In other words, don't fret about it. See if that old adage that it stops building up if left long enough is true! I hope I'm doing as well as you are post-op. I'm due to be in in four weeks, and like you I am on my own and with a dog (young border collie). I've arranged for him to be in kennels for the first week I get out, but I couldn't do without his company any longer!. We've spent the last month or so playing a new game which is "move that" and "fetch that", so that he can be my own living grabber!
Just do what you can, and forget about the rest. It isn't often in life that you need to and get to put yourself first. This is one time you have to.
Thank you. I keep saying that to myself but of course when you are sitting there, have done nothing productive all day, the guilt teases you. And we know guilt is a useless emotion.
This recovery is mentally tough. I was prepared for physical pain and limitations, but have been blindsided by the way it screws with your head.
Oh yeah! I think it is the harder component by far and for those who are more isolated ...
As you noted earlier, my first thr was in the middle of our winter and that really hampered outings but the biggie is the hit to our sense of self as self-sufficient caregivers. Being dependent for extended periods of time with lttle sense of 'accomplishing' anything is very, very hard.
And when you try to push through, too many of us end up with set-backs ... grrrhhhhh 9the in famous rolder coaster).
The worst blow was my other hip flaring up 3 weeks after my surgery. I felt betrayed. I thought I would have more time to rebuild the operated side before going in to get the other hip done. It didn't even hurt before! And the pain is much different - pain in knee at first, now in hip and all the way down the leg.
I have hardly been taking any pain meds at all because my operated side never really "hurt". Just a dull ache that was bearable. Plus after years of being on daily ibuprofen, I wanted to give my body a break from meds.
I've decided this morning that I'm going back to the meds. My operated hip is not going to improve further if I'm not increasing my movement and doing my exercises. My state of mind will improve when I can take my pain away temporarily. My liver will just have to deal with meds for 6 more months til I get my other hip done.
That was NOT a rant ... Scott Reid in the weekend paper re Trump was a rant ( although maybe not so much since I agreed with his messages).
You, on the other hand .. made some pretty neutral observations and damn smart conclusions!
I didn't face the betrayal thing - I never thought my hips were the issue except for reduced extension - I thought it was all just part of ongoing back issues ! When I saw my surgeon he told me both hips were completely shot and asked which bothered me the most 'vause he would go with that with nothing else to consider. So I knew going in that both would be done. And if my osteo hadn't been so bad, I would have had a bilateral. Looking back, I think I was lucky to get them individually even if it took longer.
Re your meds - I think you are wise. It is important to avoid getting depressed from the pain and having that impede progress. Think about using hydrotherapy as well. It really helped me manage symptoms while waiting for my surgery as I am allergic to Ada and anti-inflammatories. A clinic here called Liquid gym also has specialised jets which are amazing at reducing swelling via stimulating the lymphatic system - this was worth the sessions alone but salt water therapy and exercise (even underwater treadmill and cycling machines) were pretty phenomenal to use. And of course in TO the array of entertainment and music offers amazing spectrum of distraction ( if the budget and body) permit it.
Take care and write anytime - definitely not a hardship to listen and encourage a fellow hippie.
Oh dear, I had the same experience and it was not fun - funny you mention feeling betrayed - exactly how I felt - as if one hip was not enough ... had the 2nd Hip surgery 6 months post-op from 1st -