I badly need a right hip replacement but I'm terrified .. I have never had an op before

Hi Julie, last december I was just like you, terrified and contemplating my first operation since I had my tonsils out sixty odd years ago. But believe me, the operation was a doddle - you go to sleep, you wake up, your done. I was having a conversation with the anaesthetist - blinked - and carried on the conversation not realising that I had been out for over an hour. Back into the ward for a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Certainly for a few hours I was trussed up with tubes and wires but they didn't worry me. Next day I joined the other post op patients shuffling up and down the corridor with my zimmer frame and feeling silly that I had worried so much. Second day being checked over by the surgeon and physiotherapist - got dressed - went home. Never any pain, just a bag full of pills, and a leg to take special care of for a few weeks. I was fortunate in having a wife who likes to fuss to help me in and out of bed, put my socks on, lace up my shoes. The only downside of the first weeks at home - putting on weight and having to watch daytime television. After four weeks, catching a bus into town for a coffee and a sticky bun, driving the car to the clinic. Six weeks - digging the garden. Looking back I am convinced that the hip operation was less stressful than a trip to the dentist.

Hi Julie,

I find it so sad when I hear this wight issue as I was a private patient and when I said to my surgeon I was a bit over weight he said so are we all! It made no impact on my op as I was paying. I feel its just an excuse to keep the cost of the NHS down and waiting lists shorter. Good Luck as the op will most definitely change your life as it has my life.

Hi. I was just getting over a planned surgery to my right ankle when I had a fall off my crutches and broke my right femur up high near the hip joint. The weight issue is more about making life easier for you. After the op their will be no weight bearing for a short while,so the less you weigh the easier it will be to move around with your walking frame. That extra weight will just add to your exhaustion levels etc. Its been seven weeks since my operation and although I have no pain I am still using my frame until I feel a bit stronger. I am going to upgrade to a walker with wheels this week. Although it was not a hip replacement,recovery time can be a bit longer with a fracture. Good luck.

Hi Julie,

I was exactly the same as you in 2017, scared but knowing I needed the operation. I could no longer dress myself, sit, sleep or walk without the nagging 24 hour pain. As a nurse and only 52 there was a long way for me to go at work and with a first grandchild on the way! But as a nurse I worried myself silly about the anesthetic / post - op complications etc, etc, but trusted my surgeon completely. I was a little overweight but was never told I would be refused, and had lost 2 1/2 stone in the year up to surgery coincidentally through a diet club. Fast - forward to life after surgery - what a difference! I now look after my toddler granddaughter without too much difficulty, and can get down to the floor to play and so on. Like many here, I do still have aches and pains in the new hip from time to time, but it's such a small price to pay for the value and quality that you get back to your life I think it's worth the shot! I'm now getting early signs of trouble in my other hip. And this time round I won't be waiting until I'm so miserable and compromised to return for surgery. Of course you are scared, it's completely natural. You will be absolutely fine and glad to have taken the plunge once it is all over. I wish you the best of luck and look forward to seeing you posts on 'the other side'