I have apprently got a really bad hip and need a replacement, was told this in April and go back in July to give them an answer, I know I have to have it done and I am talking myself in to it, but I am so scared of the unknown, all you brave heros of mine who have had it done, tell me how much pain you are in afterwards, what the physio is and how long you were in hospital, honest so worried. Sue [57 in North West London]
I had mine done on 21st Feb, was in hospital 2 nights, off work 6.5 weeks, uncomfortable but the pain is different from before, no pain noe unless I do too much but I am back playing golf and mucking out my horse ( no riding yet) I would tell anyone who is suffering to get it done, I now have my life back as could hardly walk any distance before, I was also scared but had nothing to worry about, Go for it, will be worth the wee bit of pain etc x
dear sue .... welcome to this wonderful hippies forum - you will find a lot of support, advice, tips and love here - we are all in different stages - some of them like you (just found it) , some pre-op, some having surgery right now and the one who had THR surgery -
of course you are scared of the unkown -- that is normal - and noone, no matter what they say, can help you with that - but it can take away the sheer panic and fear ....
Just ask your questions as you think of them ...
there is one thing I have never read here and that is: I wish I had not done it !!!!
How are you doing right now? Are you in pain?
I was in denial for a long time ... so I know what you feel ...and it is not going away, Sue ...
warm hug and please come back
dont be scared. its a piece of cake compared to a lifetime of hip pain. recovery is slow but steady and the pain decreases pretty much daily. im 6 weeks post op now and am still a bit stiff and sore but SO much better than i was 6 weeks ago before the op. immediately after surgery your pain will be monitored and you will be medicated accordingly so you wont ever be in loads of pain. once home its a case of moving little and often, doing your exercises and resting for the first few weeks. by the time you get to 6 weeks you'll be climbing on chairs and falling off on the the stairs .....only kidding, thats not recommended.
oh helen !!!!
Hi Sue
I am in south London Surrey and have had my first THR in March and my other hip is sheduled for July, it is difficult to give an answer as reading the group everyone is different, my hips were so bad that my surgeon told me he had not seen such a bad pair of hips, after the op yes I was in pain and was fed morphine by the nurses as I needed it, I was discharged after 3 days and yes I still had pain but with my pain killers and a bottle of oral morphine it was not to bad, afetr the first week my pain subsided quite a lot, enen though I had a fall, I was able to do the excersise the physio's had gave me, I consider myself very lucky and had a great surgeon as I am now 12 weeks post op and have no pain or other discomfort to my leg it feels like a new leg, I am limited to what I can do but this is due to the othe hip which is sheduled to be done in july, can't come quick enough, I would recomed the op to anyone but there are others whose experence was not as good as mine so you will have to decide for your self hopefully others will give you their account which should then help you decide
Good Luck Ron
Hi Sue
I waited in pain for 4 years. I was really scared and I have to have the other one done in a few weeks and I am still scared. What ever is scaring you talk it through with your surgeon. Honest it is worth having it done rather than suffereing. I have a needle phobia and everything I asked my surgeon to do he went out of his way and did it for me. Same with his team. They were great. Try to build up a bit of a friendship with them. Honest if you tell them what is scaring you they will understand I promise.
THANK YOU EVERYONE, its so good to have people there who have been through it and can give advice, all I get is "I know some one who had it done and they have a much better life" I know I will once it settles now I have read your stories and know that I have friends here who can help and advice me better than any one else, so once again thank you all for being here. Sue
Hi Sue
I am 61 and until this struck me down, fit and active. As an ex nurse and with a mother and sister who had also had it done, I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for, but I was still scared - we all are!. I had my new hip on June 4th so am now 13 days post op. I was admitted the afternoon before and was lucky enough to be first on the list. There had been talk of a spinal anaesthetic which scared me more than the op as I had meningitis when I was 5 and had loads of lumbar punctures, but I told everyone how frightened I was and they were SO kind. If you are offered a spinal I'd say go for it - it was amazing! A small jab as the local goes into the skin and then NOTHING. A shed load of sedation meant that I knew nothing at all until I was back in the ward.
I will not lie to you, my leg felt like lead and the scar was sore BUT they are very anxious that you don't feel too much pain because they want to get you mobilised as soon as possible and you can't do that if you're in pain, so you get plenty of analgesia. In addition, the pain is entirely different to the OA pain - there's no pain in the groin at all. I was up on a zimmer frame the next morning (it would have been the same afternoon but I'd lost quite a bit of blood and they didn't want me passing out) moderate but bearable pain from cut only and graduated to elbow crutches the next day. On day 3 the physio showed me how to do stairs and I was discharged!.When I went for my pre-op I was given a booklet with 4 exercises to do as soon as I got back to the ward, 4 more to be done whilst in bed but after the physio had been to make sure I could do them and then 4 more to do once I was upright. Since arriving home, I have been doing a bit more each day, going for short walks and yesterday managed 1 mile.
Sue, I hope this rather long but true account will put your mind at rest. Your OA is not going to get any better, it will just get worse and worse so you are going to have to have this operation at some stage. My advice would be to have it as soon as possible. The sooner you have it done, the sooner you'll get your life back. We are ALL scared but this is an amazing forum and the members will see you through it.
Good luck
Rosie xx
Hi. I had thr in February - yes I was scared - but can honestly say I wish i' d had it done sooner, and can't wait for the other one to be done. X
Hi Sue
Just had a RTHR on 10th June and been home 2 days. Please, please have it done. The arthritis gets so bad that that you feel you cannot carry on. Mine deteriorated rapidly since Xmas and my surgeon said that the joint had collapsed when he came to operate. Immediate pain is controlled with medication, but quite bearable.
The mental and physical relief after having it done is wonderful.
Don't delay get booked in. I had to wait 40 weeks for my op!
Kind regards Linda
I had my second one done Apr 24 - home from hospital on the 4th day. I had epidural and was awake. I would do this again - however if you don't like the thought of hearing what's going on and smelling you can ask to be sedated with the epidural. The epidural gives you quicker initial recovery than a general.
I was sick on the second day - morphine doesn't agree with me! but was fine after that. People vary in their response to all the different drugs. Some are sick like me others not. You do need strong painkillers initially. When you go home the need for them gradually recedes.
You are up and walking with crutches very quickly.
Again when at home people recover at different rates. For me the first three weeks were quite hard but then aroung the 4th week I began to notice daily improvements. Now at just over 7 weeks I can walk without sticks. I have been able to go up and down stairs normally for nearly 2 weeks.
There are different methods for sealing the wound - I had clips, some have glue, some have stitches. I had bruising around the wound and below it. Some have bruising down the leg and swelling of the leg. I was just swollen a bit round the wound. For my first op 15 years ago I had no bruising at all and now swelling so you can see how it varies from hip to hip.
People also have different physio regimes. I just had 4 exercises given to me in hospital to do on my own - others seem to visit the physio. This might depend on your hospital trust or the state of you hip.
In summary I would not hesitate to have it done. Yes there is pain in recovery but the original pain of the hip has gone and i know that the operation pain is getting better all the time.
One point to think of - the longer you leave an operation you might find that your hip gets worse and your muscles get weaker and it may take longer to recover. It helps if you are as active as possible before your op so your muscles are strong. I can definitely see a difference between my first and second op where in the second the muscles were weaker and it is taking longer to recover.
7 weeks on though I am being more active I am doing bits in the garden, going for short walks, shopping, driving and feel so much more positive. I'm 62 just a few years older than you.
Hope this helps - I've tried to be objective!
If you have any other specific questions - ask away!
Hi Sue, and welcome to our wonderful world of hippies!, ok I get that your scared of the unknown so was I, like you I put it off for 2 years until the pain was unbearable, but in the end I got my first THR in nov. last year, the opp. was a breeze, didn't feel a thing, had a spinal , and then some sleeping meds (I V) but it's not a G I. woke up felt numb from the waist down, spent 1 hour in the recovery room , then was taken to my room, that night, after the spinal wore off pain from the wound was bad , but nothing like the excruiating pain before, take all the painkillers they offer you for the first few days, you will be up within hours of your opp depending on what time of day you have it done, the physio comes round gives you cruthes and tells you how to use them, then you take your first few relatively pain free steps! and your on your way, next day you try the steps, if you can do them ok, and you have no other health issues, you will be sent home, job done! so hope this helps, bare in mind everyone is different, but in general this is how it goes, I'm going in for my other hip soon, so good luck, and keep us posted,
Lynne.
I have a real phobia about hospital and had no choice but to have this done or end up in a wheelchair or else I would've avoided any surgery. I can honestly say the op was actually a doddle. The worse part for me was post op having to sleep on my back for the first few weeks. I also had a bit of constipation for a week.
I would agree with everyone; you will not regret it.
thank you, for your advice and encouragement, i have bone against bone hip and I walk with a bad limp as I also have displacement of the hips so hopefully they will fix it all and I will have nice straight legs for the first time in about 2-3 years. Sue
You could well have a big improvement. I have walked with a limp most of my adult life I was born with a dislocated hip and the pelvis on that side is much smaller so leg length appeared very different. As a result of that i got severe arthritis in that hip which was replaced 15 years ago. I stiill limped after that though not as much. Then it got worse as the other hiip has some displasia and got arthritic along with stabbing pains and leg muscles giving way a lot. Now I've had that done even at 7 weeks my partner tells me I am limping less especially when I get going. Hopefully you will find the same when you are done!
dear sue get it done you are only young and the pain will go away eric is now 86 and he has had 2 hip replacements and a shoulder as well but his first hip was done 10 years ago and is causing problems good luck xx
Hi Sue LTHR done 4 weeks ago. It's not a walk in the park but I hope to dance there in a few months time Go get it done best thing I ever did it's not easy and it's not painless but it is a different kind of pain because you know it will go away in a matter of time. xx
Thing is Sue the pain just get worse and worse, and in the end you just cant walk...I was so close to getting like that, I am 55 in Sept, sept 20th, now I am in need of the left one doing, but I can get about so much better already in just 5 weeks, but I am still on Naproxin 500mgs once a day, and blood thinners, High blood pressure tabs because of the left that is getting worse by the week,
I was in terrible pain before the first operation, even with double the painkillers I am taking now, dont be scared, take control of your life and get it back again...
Love and Kind regards Ian.
Hi Sue,
Whereabouts in north west London are you? I'm local to here too and if you would like to meet for a coffee and a chat if it helps? I had my op in February and like you was terrified and it's the best thing I ever did. Let me know.
catrin