Hi all, not wishing to sound like a total wimp, but am being admitted on Friday morning for a total hip replacement. It's not the actual surgery I am bothered about as I have total trust in my surgeon, its what to expect afterwards. For instance, once I am back home, how soon before I am able to go out and about (I realise everyone's recovery is difference and that I can't drive for at least 6 weeks). I have been invited to a couple of social functions within the first 4 weeks I am out of hospital, do you think I will be able to go??? Also, how big and where will the incision be (I know I will be able to ask these two questions before I go down for the op), but any tips or information on what to expect afterward would be helpful. Thanks everyone
Hi Nadine,
Welcome soon to be new hippie member. First thing good luck and best wishes to you for Friday, we be all thinking of you and then a speedy recovery.
From my experience I am nearly 5 weeks post TLHR, out everyday walking with one crutch but some of the walk no crutch bit by bit. The wound is clean but tight and very much pain free except if overdo my walks in which case I take some ibuprofen . Overall I might be behind others in recovery but its not a race and am happy with how everything is going.
I first went out two weeks after my op using both crutches to a dance evening when friends gave us a lift. Sat in the front seat with the seat pushed well back, experienced some soreness getting in and out of the car but had a smashing evening. As for my incision....I have a craving scar running from the very to of my hip to quarter way down my thigh on the side but easily covered in shorts. I had 26 staples for the wound plus numerous internal stitches, with the staples removed pain free with no required anaesthetic in about 10 mins. Washed it every day with plain water, no soaps, after the dressing came off until about a week then started soaps. So far so good.
I hope this has helped but no doubt other hippies will share their experience and help you. Take It easy, pace yourself, relax and very best wishes to you.
Ho nadine, surgery for me at least was a breeze, till following morning( didnt get back to ward till 9 pm so spent night in bed slleping off anesthetic, worked out well iguess) when i woke up ( about 6:30)it felt like a small elephant sittin on my leg. Not painfull as such just stuck! but by 10:30 id had breakfast in chair next to bed havin walked to loo n washed using frame, by that afternoon i was zoomin round ward on two crutches within the week i was on one crutch at home, get tired quick tho by two weeks on static bike, at three weeks went togym class- balance on trampoline , step over hurdles , do squats etc.... Be aware i was on enhanced recovery prog and had "superpath" operation- only one or two surgeons in uk most at gym class were 5 weeks post op) depends also on individual fitness and surgery collateral damage eg how much muscle is daged pulled around or cut. None cut for me but still weak in places. Bear in mind low seats and low loos may ne unsuitable. Atb jay
Hi Kevin
Thank you for your reply which has been most helpful. I think I am going into panic mode now the op is so close !!! I will keep you informed as my my progress once I get back home after the op.
You sound as if you are doing well, you take care and good luck with your recovery.
Wow, way to go Jay. Although I don't expect my recovery to be as fast as yours, it is good to hear other people's experiences. Will keep everyone up to date after my op, you take care
Nadine,,my first real venture out of the house to grocery shop and was at 19 days. I'm sure I could have gone out sooner but I wasn't mentally ready for it. I worried if It would be to much to soon. That's just my experience but everything I've been told say the best exercise you can do is walk.
Hi Susan, thanks for sharing your experiences. Think it's fear of the unknown that's making me panic!!! Will keep you posted as to my progression after the operation x
Nadine,
Fully understand your pre op nerves, had them myself, but my quality of life now s noticeably so much better in regard to less pain from my hip pre op. So for me it's been well worth going through with it.. Yes do keep in contact on this forum as we are all here to help and support
Hi Nadine! Welcome to us hippies! Its really good and people on here very supportive! Firstly please make sure you have help in eg someone who can do cooking, cleaning,washing etc! You need to focus on you! I am 5 weeks post op today!! But still a way to go! Invest in grabbers so you can put your underwear on and trousers or skirt! No bending! You will have to wear Ted stockings for 6 weeks! Hope this helps! Regards Amanda
Hey Nadine
Yes welcome to this lil community. As you'll get from the replies we are all climbing the mountain very differently. Your GP clearly has faith in the hospital of choice - so relax and think of England! Where are being done?
Just to add to Kev....In and out of cars as a passenger is fine but don't overdo it. I used a plastic bag on my bum to swivel round which helped.
Bye
Mic
X
P'S. Using lavender oil on scar after permission to shower on day 10.
Hi Jay...
Greetings. Someone says no squats ever ...some one else said after 3 months...and u breeze into them. Bit confused.
Cheers
Mic
Hi
i played for a concert at two weeks! We checked out the disabled toilet and even bought a mobile one so I didn't not over stretch my leg. People are quite helpful when you are on crutches but be aware of children running into you. Have had meals out and travelled distances in the car but you have to rest. Also some of my shoes didn't fit as a bit swollen and my jeans were definitely a no no as they hurt my operation site.
do what you feel you can cope with.
good luck
Hi mic , you may have heard the saying more than one way to skin a cat? Depends on the way you were taught! and so it is with hip surgery, the op i had was the equivalent ofkey hole surgery. My scar is only 3.5 inches long on the side of my thigh, i had no staples, just dissolvable stitches. Its only been done in uk for a year, longer in usa i believe. The physio i saw after op for two week check works as part of team with surgeon and reckons within amother 12 months those having "superpath" will not have usual 90 deg rules etc... As the capsule around joint is kept intact so hip cant dislocate. Dont get me wrong at 4 weeks now and if i go out the house i take two crutches! Still major surgery! Muscles are stretched and my skeletal stance is different now than before op as hip had no cartilage in it so my leg back to proper length after years of compensating . The op you have must suit you and your surgeon to ensure best outcome, a surgeon with 99 percent success rate aint likely to try to learn a new way of doin things just for fun! take care , listen to your body , your surgeon and your physio. Atb jay
Ted stockings? !!! Ask for claxane if you dont want to wear them. Its an injection you give yourself in stomach daily for about 28 days not as bad as it sounds and i can wear jeans or a skirt or whatever atb, jason
Nadine, dont panic !! :D my nan( dads mum) had about 5 new hips!! Im sure she had more than two revisions on one side and two on the other. She lived to 96 and only for the last couple of years was she not mobile. I have a builder living next door he was back up fixing roofs within months of his hip op a year or so ago, i think he about 70. Hip op is a very standard procedure these days. And my nan would prob only have needed a couple of newer prosthetics. Atb jay
Hi Nadine,
I think the overriding message here is that it's worth it. I almost backed out at the doors to the operating theatre as I was that scared. Very odd seeing as I have had lots of surgery in my life, some of it far worse than my hip replacement and I had never been this anxious before.
I was was really worried about the recovery but apart from lak of sleep, I've been amazed pretty much daily as to how much I have been able to do for myself. I thought I would be pretty much useless and highly dependant on others for at least 6 weeks. I remember being worried that my hubby was going back to work after I'd been home for a week but I needn't have worried as by then (1 week and 3 days post op) I was pretty much self sufficient. We were both amazed at how quickly I advanced in those early days.
You should wake after the op without pain due to anaesthetic and
Hello Nadine. I am 18 days post op. Have approx 6 inch cut on side if thigh. Dressing on for a full 14 days. Looks like a pencil line as only 1 piece pf gut used, no staples. Had a spinal block which kept me numb for 4 hours, needed a catheter but at least no groggy feeling after. Leg felt very heavy and needed to move it with help of my dressing gown cord. Has I not had low BP I would have been up and walking within 6 hours. Physio had to wait till I was stabilised before beginning exercises. Had one day of rest. Leg felt like a ton of concrete had beef deposited inside. This was fluid retention and General swelling. Improvements daily and home on day 4. Sleeping on back problematic for me. Day 16 fluid retention gone, no pain killers since day 15. Now walking 2 miles with both crutches and will continue for another week. Indoors I can manage with one. Wound still tender to touch. My surgeon does not believe in the stockings. Given clot busting injection daily while in hospital and now a small aspirin daily for 4 weeks. I am on a 8 week recovery as severe osteoporosis so must obey the 90 degree rule till then. Every surgeon is different, mine very experienced and does around 200 per year. I do the given exercises daily. Today I walked 2 miles by self.
Hope this gives you confidence. I am 66
Depends on what part of the country you live, you will get told different things at different hospitals. I had an epidural and light sedation which sent me to sleep anyway. I was told not to get in a car, apart from getting home, for 6 weeks even as a passenger and definitely no driving for 6 weeks. My scar is about 6/7 inches long and I was glued and had stera strips. It is on the side of my hip. I think you will be okay to go to your social functions as long as you are careful. You will be able to go for short walks a week after the op as long as you take the crutches. I didn't have to wear any sort of stockings as the hospital I was in put ankle pumps on for 24 hours, which squeeze and release your ankles to keep the blood circulating in your legs. So there you are, we are all different and the treatment and advice we get is according to which hospital we are in. Good luck with your op and recovery. Do as they tell you and you will be okay.
aHi Nadine,
Like you I was panic stricken but it was much better than I ever could have imagined. I woke up without pain and they got me up the following day. The physios stood at the end of my bed with a walker and I thought they were mad! Getting me up the day after major surgery. Good luck to them but it wasn't too bad. The rest of the day I was in and out of bed using the walker, the day after that they got me on crutches then I was allowed home.
After that I improved on a daily basis and by 2.5 weeks post op I was getting around occasionally without crutches, just a few steps at a time but without pain. I have my six week check this coming Friday and it's flown over. At the start six weeks seemed forever but it's over already.
The best advice I got was to listen to my body, to rest when I felt I needed to but also to push myself a little and keep on top of my painkillers if I needed them. Make sure you have at least 1 grabber and some way to attach it to you or your crutch (I used sticky backed Velcro as if you drop your grabber you are stuck).
Above all, please try not to panic . I nearly backed out at the operating theatre doors. It isn't anywhere near as bad as your imagination can lead you to believe it's going to be.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Ali xx
Yikes sorry. Ipad went haywire here!