I had my THR last Monday and came out of hospital on Friday. I seem to be in a lot of pain and discomfort today, and this evening on getting in/out of bed, keep getting a sharp pain from the wound site which I've not experienced before. There is a lot of swelling in the area, and the bruising has really come out now, but just a bit concerned that I may have pulled a stitch or something. Also, when the hospital discharged me, they didn't tell me where and when to have the dressing removed.
Hi Kathy it is 10 days to two weeks, you must arrange a visit from the District Nurse to see it this week, yes it is awful untill the dressing comes off...please keep up with the bed excersises as the wound heals, it is so important, press your leg into your bed and hold it...every few hours, around the clock...And keep in touch here. Ian.
Keep taking your painkillers, you will need those strong painkillers for about 10 -14 days, then you should be able to step down to lessor strength, but don;t do it all at once, change out one strong pain killer, say breakfast, for one milder one, keep taking the strong ones to sleep for a little while yet.
Isn;t the bruisng colourful, but that does go away, supresing how quickly.
Does your cut feel hot, and red, if so see your GP for a start, he will probabaly be easier to see than the surgery team.
My hospital sent me home with a list of do's and don;ts, and amoung the instructions were not to leave the house for 10 days, and on the 10th day go to your regular Dr for dressing change and or removal, he changed mine out for a lighter gauze from the really strong feeling glad wrap or shrink wrap that partically covered the side of hip and leg, you could see through it, had lots of gauze and dressing underneath, good for showering as no water was getting into that baby, but very uncormftable in some ways. Great fun getting off as well, but the edges had started to curl up a little which gave the nurse something to hang onto.
I got district n<rs÷ to visit everyone gets swelling
Hi Kathy, I would phone the ward that you were in and ask to speak to the nurse in charge. They should be able to advise you about your pain and your dressing. Good luck
Best Wishes
Ann
Getiing into bed sit if possible on the operated side of bed, half way down at an angle and use arms to pull yourself diagonally towards the head board until the bed itself has lifted the leg, The cut through muscles cannot do it. Then straighten up. Pain and swelling can be relieved with ice packs.
Normal. Ice and pain pill
Hi kathy,
welcome home !!!
Being back at home from a stay in the hospiatl takes some adjusting - your bed is different from theirs and also the routine is differentl - this can be unsettling ..
you're early days in recovering from a major surgery where your leg was heavily manipulated - Not sure if you had anterior or posterior approach -
You had dissolvable stitches which will disappear by it self - has someone checked your scar recently?
I am assuming that they did in the hospital since you had hydrotherapy 2 days post-op ...
swelling and bruising are normal - unless the scar is hot and painful and you have a fever --- if so, make an appointment with your surgeon or go to ER/Urgent care to rule out infection -
How are you getting on otherwise? You know you can come here anytime you have a concern or question, okay?
be gentle with your self -
big warm hug
renee
Thank you for your responses and support everyone, it really does help to not feel so alone in this. I don't know anyone that has had a hip operation and I am only 51 myself so Hubby doesn't know anyone either. I have no idea of what is normal and what isn't.
My Husband is impressed how easily I seem to be getting around now, even though I feel very unstable on the crutches, but I'm sure that will come with time. As it's only been a week since the surgery, I am not able to weight bear fully yet, although if standing I can stand for a short while on both legs unaided.
I am starting to find that I have 1 good night and 1 bad night. Last night was a good night where I got 7 hours sleep, whcih was lovely as the previous night was not even 4 hours.
Hubby took me out for a quick lunch yesterday and I have to say that it was lovely to get out of the house. We just went to a pub along the river and then stopped off in Bushy Park for an ice cream in the car before coming home. It felt good to do something normal.
My appetite still isn't quite there, but as I start to move around more I'm sure that will come back.
I have my first outpatient physio appointment on Thursday afternoon, at which time I will ask at the hospital about my dressing and wound as it hasn't been checked at all since the surgery. The Nurses checked the dressing before I left the hospital and it was secure, but I have noticed a bit of seepage of fluids through the gauze so will ask about this on Thursday.
I tried to get up normally from a chair last night, completely forgetting about my hip, and oh boy did it let me know! The pain was unbearable! It eased off, but I won't make that mistake again.
Anyway, have a lovely day everyone, and thank you again for just 'being there'.
Kathy xx
Hi Kathy, definatley call the ward you were on, my hospital had an early discharge team of nurses they came out to see me at home the day after i was released and then over the weekend to check my wound and redress it. I had dissolvable stitches so had to keep mine covered for four weeks as they didnt want the knicker line to rub against it. Have you tried putting an ice pack over the area? I was also told by the nurses to go to bed for two hours every afternoon as it helps with the swelling, It certainly helped me. The sharp pain could be the nerve endings. The brusing comes out in stages and the swelling is normal for some time.
I will call the ward and see what they say. I vaguely remember the surgeon saying that the internal stitches were dissolvable and the outside was glue, but I could be wrong. I have stopped sleeping in the afternoon as I find that I can't sleep at night, but I have just chilled out on the sofa for a couple of hours, so I assume that counts.
Hi Kathy, take it steadily, you sound as though you are doing well. Good to get out for lunch, it used to cheer me up enormously. When I went out it made me feel part of the real world again!
Good luck with your sleeping, I found the nights were pretty rubbish, but it does get better!