Ill be 3 weeks post op on wednesday and im getting really frustrated and disheartened with my recovery. Im still taking loads of pain killers because my stupid body doesnt process pain like it should so i have a high pain threshold but experience more pain from an event than i should..complicated.
the big problems are that im unable to fully weigh bear on my op leg. it hurts and is too weak so i have no hope of ditching the crutches or even dropping to just one. im religously doing the exercises but cannot open my hip very far due to the extremely tight abductor tendon. it just wont let up. if i bend my knee up when lying down and allow it to drop outwards it just wont go beyond about 25 degrees. i know its all because my leg has been lengthened by an inch but dont know how im supposed to adapt to that if my muscles/tendons are too tight to work. So frustrating.
Give yourself time three weeks is nothing everyone is different some heal quick others don't I was unlucky I have only just gone back to work week and half ago after having my op end of October and still get groin pain which consultant has said I mite need a steroid injection but I look bac to this time last year and the bit of pain I have now to year ago I am better now than then. Just take the painkillers and give yourself time. Be patient xx
dearest helen ... you will probably get a lot of "it takes time ...etc." responses - and that is the truth ... we all know about the frustrations and beating our selves up for not doing better, feeling less pain, doing more .... and we ask ourselves : why does it take (me!!!) so long???? I don't know about you, but I was in a bad shape prior THR surgery - compared to that I am doing actually pretty good, come to think of it ... I am 10 weeks today -just did some household chores and feeling shooting pains in hip, thigh and back .... Darn it !!!!!
be kind to your self and accept that for now this is what is - your body is healing and doing her best - I will do the same, I think :-) big hug -
Hi Helen, it will get better slowly. 3 weeks is a very short time when you consider what was done. Have you looked at an op on Utube? I did and it gave me a wake up call. Although THR is routine it is still major. Anyone recovering from a simple break of a leg bone takes about 6-8 weeks to get better. We have suffered far worse than this. Do your exercises, trying each time to go a little further. I stood in the same place each time and had a land mark to get to eventually, mine is the magazine rack- at 10 weeks I am there, guess I need s new landmark
Little and often is the key xx
I no exactly how you feel. When I was at your stage I pushed myself so hard I had a dislocation, it's now 6 weeks since they manipulated it back in.
So I suggest you just go slow. My muscles were so week to start with as I'd been using a walking stick for 2yrs before the op, nobody told me to take it easy, I was doing the excersises 4 times a day, I started hoovering & other chores which I shouldn't of been doing. I've taken other people's advise on here & I don't feel so alone anymore. I'm sure you'll be unindated with replys of help & support on here. I've learnt so much from the lovely people in this forum, they've got me looking up instead of feeling down. I hope you feel better soon, there's no rush to recovery just in your own time. X
Hi Helen! Sorry to hear your story. It takes time to recover. I am 11weeks today and even now still have issues as I have oa of my right knee and am still on stick! So feel helpless! Also I am a carer for my hubby who also has oa of lumbar spine,hips and knees and deaf and severely sighted. I am having regular spa sessions as my hydrotherapy pool therapist is fully booked! Also I will have reflexology on a regular basis! But all we can do is listen to our bodies! Regards Amanda
I was exactly in the same position as you at 3 weeks - loads of pain killers unable to bear weight and feeling down. Then later in the 4th week things started to change. Now at 4 weeks and 2 days I am able to take less painkillers, can walk around the house with 1 crutchm and do longer walks with 2 crutches and although I am still not taking the whole weight I feel so much better. for me walking seems to be the key - only half a mile a day with crutches and at the end I feel tired and a bit wobbly but my leg is stronger and I just have the feeling that it won't be long before I can put my weight on the leg properly.
I haven't done the exercise you mention dropping your leg to the side. My hardest one was standing and lifting the operated knee up - couldn't do it for weeks without terrible pain but now I can do it ok.
My leg feels longer too and it does make walking strange. I'm not sure if it is any different to before though as when i had my other hip done years ago i felt the same and it wasn't longer.
I was getting worried that I wouldn't improve and I was wrong. You have still not reached the 3 week mark so try to be patient and I am sure you will see gradual improvements. Try not to overdo it as well - I tried to put weight on before being ready and it really hurt - now I am just waiting till my body tells me it is ready!
Hi Helen. I took loads of pain killers for 4 weeks and then gradually reduced them. I am 5 plus weeks and only just beginning to weight bear for more than a split second on the operated leg. After 3 weeks, there are tiny changes where you will begin to see light at the end of the tunnel. Very hard time for you, I wish people had been more honest, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, I could use other words that would describe the first few weeks..... But it does get better🏃
Hi Helen,
i had my op same day as you. The physio in hospital said total weight bearing, give her sticks. I had had 2yrs on crutches prior to the op. I used my own crutches to leave hospital, and am still using them. I listen to my body and do my exercises to the extent I can manage. I cannot fully weight bear, but it is gradually feeling stronger. I am still on pain relief, and use it so it is bearable, but I know how much I can do. The pain is due to your body healing, and if you didnt have a certain amount of pain, you would be tempted to go beyond what is safe. The pain I have now is so different to the excrutiating pain I had before the op.
We are healing from a pretty brutal op, and I wonder if you are expecting a little too much from your body. I feel that I am doing well in camparison to how I was prior to surgery.I am sure that if you really think about it, you are too. The story of the tortoise and the hare comes to mind. I am quite happy to be the tortoise, I am heading in the right direction.
Give yourself a hug Helen, you are doing great.xx
you're all right. im expecting too much of my poor battered body. i know i have to be patient but when i read how people are back doing normal things 2 or 3 weeks post op i start to wonder if im being a wimp or something. its good to hear that others are in or were in the same place as i am. i think a decent nights sleep would help a lot. ive always been an emotional wotsit but its getting pretty ridiculous just now. when i was pregnant with my youngest i started crying over tiny socks. i feel quite similar just now. getting upset because i have no clean trousers or because i get my stupid compression stocking stuck and have to shout for help.
Thanks for reminding me im normal (ish)
Yes you are quite normal. Don't get too stressed about it, deep breaths and relax. You will get there and you will be surprised how 3 more weeks will make a difference. Keep on with the crutches, they do help and don't worry if other people are walking without at 3 weeks, this is more of an exception than the norm. Best wishes to you.
I know how you feel, I'm into my 7th week since my dislocation, please just take your time, not easy for me to say really, I was one of those that pushed themselves, knowing how others were coping & I wasn't! I thought...right I'll show them!! & here I am!! DISLOCATION! Now I'm the one in tears! Because I tried to be like the miraculous one! I found out the hard way, you just have to take your time, now I'm the one in tears every night coz I didn't listen!! Please be kind to yourself & take your time, hugs sent your way. Xx
Julie think you are too hard on yourself. The dislocation could have happened for a number of reasons. With my fragile bones I take great care all of the time and then got a compression fracture of the spine turning over in bed. Sometimes the unexpected happens. Needless to say I followed all the instructions to the letter but it could just as easily have happened to me. At least you are now on the mend xx
Thanks ann, omg! You'd think work war 3 had broken out, I'm so upset I've taken myself to bed, I just can't stop crying tonight. Too much time to think when I'm sitting here all day! All the things that I could be sad about have come out in a big fat blubber! My husband is oblivious to my crying, I'm so good at hiding it from him! I'm just so scared. X
Think I may now belong to the depressant forum!
Julie did you read my thought for the day?
"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass it is about learning to dance in the rain"
Confide in your husband if possible and get him to watch the op on Utube- it really brings it home to you how major it all is and makes you be kinder to your self
Think about the positive things, we are so lucky to live in a country where we can all get treatment for free.
Xx
Thank you ann, my husband knows how upset I am, he's been brilliant form the start, I just try & keep it from he coz he worries so much, he phones me during the day when he's at work to see how I am, 9 times out of 10 I'm in floods of tears coz of something so stupid!! I lay in bed from 8pm till 3am fighting to get some sleep. My worst nightmare is my weight! The 2yrs I've been waiting for a diagnosis I've put on a stone, since then it's crept up to just over 3 stone! I don't have any clothes that fit me, I am usually 12-14 now I'm an 18 which has just knocked my confidence sky high! But I really must keep telling myself that there are worse people off than me. X
Julie, ive had 5 years of surgery dealing with the joints that have given up. First was a chilectomy of my right toe which failed, then then a joint resection which failed and finally a fusion with metal plate, 8 screws and a bone graft. i had to wear a pot for 3 months and use crutches for 4. Then my left toe started to seize and i went in for a fusion straight off. My hip degraded badly in that time as i had to wear a heel bearing shoe for 8 weeks. I ended up using crutches for 6 months and coming very close to ending my life. ive never been so crushed by life as i was back then. I tried to hide my mood and my tears but my husband knew. i had support from the crisis team who came every week for 6 months to talk to me. It was a miserable year for me but i came through it by talking. you have to talk to someone about how sad youre feeling. your husband, a friend, gp, us.
im struggling this time mostly through fear of the last time but im ok. i will be ok even though i know i have to do this again next year with the left hip and probably again in a few more years with my knees. My future is pretty shakey but i have a brand spangly new hip and i intend to climb Scafell at some point this summer.
Big hugs Julie. It will be ok.
Helen please don't despair. I to felt exactly like you at 3 weeks. I thought I was recovering at all. I read posts from people far along then I was at the same time and got very depressed. Everyone here has felt like you do but really it does get better. Your body was just put through the ringer, this is a,major surgery. My,turning point didn't come till week 5. I kept a,journal while recovering and now to look back on it at 11weeks I realized I was making progress every day something was a little better and mentally I felt better to. Every little accomplishment was a triumph no matter how small it seemed. You will get better it just tales time
Helen, those people that say they bounce back in two weeks are not the norm, lucky them they were able to but many factors are in play, age, amount of disability one has prior to surgery, the surgical approach used. I had no one to prepare me for after surgery, I had no clue what to expect and like you when I started to read about Mr so and So walking with no crutches at two weeks I thought I was an utter failure at 3 weeks out still using a walker, in pain, thinking I'm doing everything I was told by the phy.therapist and going now where. Boy was I wrong. When I found this forum and the awesome people here who helped me realize that I was not alone well then I started to just concentrate on MY recovery at MY pace. I am now at 11 weeks and doing awesome and you will to.