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Hip replacement booked for 19th Dec

Posted , 14 users are following.

vickie1976
vickie1976

hi,

I was born with dislocated hip. literally I was born on the left side with the ball only no socket but through my life never stopped me doing anything, but always had a limp. As I have got older the hip is riddled with arthritis but causes me no issues, but its taken its toll on my right hand side and I've been struggling since 2o17 with pain in the right hip and gradually got worse to the point struggle to walk, cannot bend down, cannot fasten shoes and crawl upstairs. I'm therefore having hip operation where I've been told I will be awake and feel tugging etc to which does not phase me, what phases me is do you have catheters fitted? I don't do dresses or skirts and it says to take this type of clothing for recovery. I'm hoping other females on here can put my mind as rest regarding this and how long before you can wash your hair etc . I'm on gabapentin 300g x 3 times a day, along with ketaprofen at night and 10mg of morphine twice a day to help me function and control pain. I am looking to eventually be pain free and feel like a person again and not a hindrance to others. I just a little disappointed that the hip born with doesnt need operating on yet as no pain from it so will still after the op have a limp as my left leg is 4cms shorted than mine right and apparently cannot lengthen the leg even slightly. sorry rattling on here.

on another note been very informative being able to listen to everyones stories on here 😃

1 like, 141 replies

141 Replies

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  • joan23085
    joan23085 vickie1976

    Posted

    Answers to some of your questions:

    (I'm 74; total hip replacement in Feb 2019.)

    I didn't have a catheter.

    I wear joggers or trousers all of the time - I don't own any skirts or dresses, and certainly was not buying any specially - this was really no problem.

    I washed my hair (in a basin) the day after the operation. Showers with care shortly after that.

    Others will say more!

    Good luck,

    Joan

    • vickie1976
      vickie1976 joan23085

      Posted

      that is reassuring to hear Joan.

      glad I dont have to buy clothing i wouldn't wear too.

      can I ask how long after the op before you started to feel confident walking etc?

      thanks for replying

      vickie

  • julie1717
    julie1717 vickie1976

    Posted

    hi. my experience of this OP and others as a retired nurse unless you've got bladder issues I doubt theyll catherteise you plus they like as much as possible to be intervention free ( drips tubes catheters) to prevent the risk of other infections esp immediately post OP. but ask at your pre OP.

    from the aspect of clothing it is much easier if you can dress in dresses / skirts until you can bend easier ie 90 degree rule as most of these can go over your head. ok i know that men wear trousers so you can too just very loose ones as early days your leg will swell a lot.

    you may find cos of the meds you're taking now you need the same or even less post OP but I'm sure theyll know best. just make sure you take them if you need them. main thing is to move as much as possible post OP and forever really and if you're pain free you'll do that.

    Shame they cant shorten your leg atm but I'm sure they know what they're up to.

    best wishes anyway and leg ys know how you get on 😃

  • Beckford_Jane
    Beckford_Jane vickie1976

    Posted

    Hi Vicky

    Your story is the same as mine.

    I agree get the right hip replaced but i also think that to preserve your back and even you up your consultant should be looking at the left side.

    It is usually possible to lengthen the short leg by using a longer femoral stem.Who is your consultant?

    If you have a catheter it will likely only be for a day or two so I shouldnt worry about that.

    I will just mention that you might feel like your new hip makes your leg longer , this happened to me and I got very upset as like you I already had a significant difference. It did settle and shorten when I started walking on it.

    Post op you will be relying on your shorter leg , you will really need a good shoe with the necessary built up heel otherwise you are going to struggle!

    It will be so worth it and you will be much better off but do see if anything can be done about your shorter leg.

    Best of luck!

    Jane

    • vickie1976
      vickie1976 Beckford_Jane

      Posted

      hi jane

      never wore built up shoes and consultant never mentioned I'd need to, just said I maybe kept in longer than the norm. I always wear reiker boots with zips now wa find they support me better.

      I'm with prof kay at wrightington hospital. I'm worried about the raised heal as tried in past but I couldn't get used to them as always walked with a limp... so always had normal shoes/boots. suppose they will now discuss this if needs be after op now.??

      thanks

  • ptolemy
    ptolemy vickie1976

    Posted

    You will feel so much better after your op. Everyone in my ward had a catheter just before the op which was taken out after a few hours when we had got out of bed. It sounds like you are having a spinal anaesthetic. I think they are brilliant. I had no sedation as I wanted to know what was going on, but you can have different levels, some people don't know what is going on at all or you can take music to listen to if you want. I was able to shower in the hospital so no problem washing my hair and I have a shower at home too.

    • vickie1976
      vickie1976 ptolemy

      Posted

      thanks for replying.

      hoping no catheter but will go with their judgement. I glad to hear about super and washing hair as the occupational therapist said could not shower fir 6-8 weeks and to buy special caps to wash your hair from amazon. all the recovery vids I've watched too seem to say you cannot wash or shower and getting so much mixed messages. tbh all I want Is to br able to function again as walking is like dragging my leg and not a walk. stairs getting harder and harder and just want a bit of normality

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy vickie1976

      Posted

      I was not even aware when they inserted the catheter before my op and when they wanted me to get up to walk they just pulled it out, it took half a second. I was not even aware I had a catheter.

      I know how you feel about getting upstairs, just before my op I felt I was climbing Everest.

      My gosh, not being able to shower for 6-8 weeks, that is ridiculous in my opinion. You can get dry shampoos as well, but a proper shower is much nicer.

  • jen86183
    jen86183 vickie1976

    Posted

    Hi Vickie,

    As someone already said wear joggers after your hip op, it will be cold anyway. I never wear skirts or dresses normally but, I did take one to the hospital as I did not know what to expect.

    I was sedated and knew nothing of the op, I was woken 1 hr 50 mins after having the spinal. A nurse put a catheter in as soon as I was woken up, I said I did not want it but, she said they need to empty the bladder and see how much urine comes out, still frozen so did not feel it. Later in the evening in recovery she wanted everyone to pass urine again, if you could not then they catheterized, the ladies passed water the men needed help, apparently it is common for men to have a problem, again it was measured.

    The day after my op a nurse told me I could shower if I wanted to as the clips were covered with a waterproof plaster so I did, no problem showering.

    Good luck for the 19th.

  • damaris.m
    damaris.m vickie1976

    Posted

    hi

    where are you having your op as i think it depends a lot on your surgeon

    i am currently on day3 post 2nd THR

    • vickie1976
      vickie1976 damaris.m

      Posted

      i am having it at wrightington under prof kay. seems to have good reputation

    • damaris.m
      damaris.m vickie1976

      Posted

      Hi Vickie

      See the link i put in below for the information relating to your hospital - its pretty much the same as mine was.

      i had a different hip condition as a child and it was my "good"'hip that went first The “good” leg was originally longer but and very damaged because of the strain onnit through my life and had become a bit embedded into the joint. I had, like you, never worn built up shoes. After the first op I ended up with quite a marked leg length discrepancy again and that was the reason for my second op as it put a lot of strain on my diseased hip. I did get a stress fracture in the first one, probably as a result of the leg length discrepancy and maybe doing too much but the fracture wasn’t anywhere near the prosthesis.

      I hope all that helps

  • jools2512
    jools2512 vickie1976

    Posted

    Hi Vickie,

    I wanted to wish you well for your upcoming surgery, but also wanted to say 'where on earth does you OT come from?' It's a bit old fashioned to tell patients they can't wash or shower for goodness sake, and I'm sure you would feel a lot worse as strip washes just don't do it. I was in the shower on day two after being installed on a high shower chair and managed by myself with care. Modern dressings mean that you are able to get them wet. I continued the process at home with my very patient hubby making sure I was ok, and he also put clean dressings on after as instructed by the hospital. I did not get any infection and now it's hard to tell what has been done unless you look carefully. I would say observe the 90 degree rules to the letter. It's amazing how adept you get at even putting trousers on with your grabbers! your need for the pain killers you take will lessen over time and you will feel like a whole different person!

    • vickie1976
      vickie1976 jools2512

      Posted

      well that was a useless post yesterday...

      today my hip has dull ache by 4pm and done only few jobs round house without bending. where staples have come out itching like mad.

      so 10 steps forward and 20 back...

      now in bed resting watching tv and hoping dull ache in hip just my body saying too much...

    • damaris.m
      damaris.m vickie1976

      Posted

      oh dear, I am sorry. You will have days like this but it will pass. It can be be depressing especially if it lasts a few days. often it will be becuase you have overdone it a bit.

    • sally48449
      sally48449 vickie1976

      Posted

      oh dear .. just rest for a while now and youll hopefully feel better in a day or 2 ... maybe youve over done it at the 2 week mark .. like ive said its very early days for you .. sending hugs

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