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Just an update at Day 5 after Rt THR

Posted , 11 users are following.

maryboo
maryboo

Surgery was Monday. THR with posterior incision. The first day and night was ok, 

The pain was well controlled with narcotic and a muscle relaxer  and I got up and walked a little. Tuesday the PT people came and we walked the hall and did more exercises.  They weren’t hard or painful to do, but I felt like I had been run over with a truck after.  Arms sore, hip painful on the outside and groin. Got on more of a set schedule with pain meds and slept in longer chunks of time. Weds. I went home. Still on regular med schedule, with my husband waking me up at night to continue.  Slept between pills at night.  Pain was more intense and it seemed that the hip was now fully thawed out from anesthesia. Uncomfortable staying on my back all night.  Thursday, same intense pains, groin pulling, leg noticibly swollen, outside IT band sore and tight.  Knee hurts. My leg is longer - the surgeon said it was -and I feel like I’m walking on a slant. The plan is to fix that when he does the other hip in the fall.   Friday, today, leg very much more swollen, upper leg down through the knee and even my ankle.  Those compression stockings are difficult to get on but I bet they are keeping the swelling down. 

All in all, I am glad I got it done.  The awful pain in the groin and hip joint have been replaced with surgical incision pain, groin pulls and butt pain, which I can manage with meds and ice, lots of ice. 

Those who have gone through this know exactly what I’m feeling right now.  To those who are waiting for their surgeries I say, do it.  It is well worth it.  The pain I am having now will fade, every time I get up from resting, I feel like I can move a little better, so it’s going the right way.  Thank you all for the encouragement.

5 likes, 28 replies

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  • margaret83786
    margaret83786 maryboo

    Posted

    My surgery is in 10 days .. I have needed a hip for two years .. compared to the everyday pain I figure can’t be much worse .. thanks for your info 
    • melody39324
      melody39324 margaret83786

      Posted

      Everyone is different, Margaret. I’ve been really lucky and have had minimal pain and discomfort. From about Day 2 I was in less pain than before my op. Am now at Day 16 and more or less off pain meds altogether.

      I did two things to prepare beforehand and I think they helped. The first was to do pre-op exercises and Aquafit to try to get my muscles as strong as possible.

      The other was to listen twice a day to Guided Imagery for Surgery. I used this before this op and a resurfacing on my other hip 10 years ago. I am sure they helped both operations go smoothly. The one I used was by Belleruth Naperstack who has a website called Health Journeys, but there are others. I just like her. She’s American but has a very soothing voice, not at all grating like some female American voices. (Sorry, Americans 😀wink Even if you listen to it for a week beforehand it could help.

      i now listen to the post-Surgery affirmations she has. I don’t know if it has helped me be more pain free but it’s nice and relaxing anyway.

    • m05
      m05 margaret83786

      Posted

      I am 4 weeks out of first thr op and post op went really smoothly so far, just one tip for at least a week before surgery make sure you keep well hydrated sure it helps all the best.
    • maryboo
      maryboo m05

      Posted

      i can second your advice to keep hydrated.  It makes you feel terrible otherwise and doesn’t help the constipation either.
    • maryboo
      maryboo margaret83786

      Posted

      Hello Margaret,

      How are you doing?  I’ll be about 4 weeks now. Hopefully your pain is better and the presurgery pain is a distant memory. Be well.

    • margaret83786
      margaret83786 maryboo

      Posted

      I am so blessed .. no pain .. all gone .. after pt little sore but ice cures that .. I can stand without pain .. I rome around at night trying to get comfy but each night getting better .. all the best to you 
  • Ducksoup
    Ducksoup maryboo

    Posted

    I broke my hip and got a new shiny one three months ago.  I have no idea when it broke because the pain was at first a traveling bugger, allowing me to get around, ride a bike, and swim.  The last two weeks prior to getting my new hardware was a day to challenge of living with increasing pain, in and out of my doctor’s office, the emergency room, the local hospital, etc.  All, including me thought it was my devil of lumbar stenosis.  My goal was to hang in there till my appointment with the eurosurgeon.  When I crawled in his office he admitted me for tests which, were painful themselves.  I would often teach my Spanish caregivers new English vocabulary in the process.  After being prodded, poked, and pushed for two weeks, the electomyelogram showed the crack and cutting was quickly planned.  That was three months ago and I was totally cleared today.  

    The whole ole recovery process has been an adventure and sometimes a nightmare.  All this time my wife was ironically on the surgery wait list for a hip.  Now I get to see the process again.

    • maryboo
      maryboo Ducksoup

      Posted

      Dear Duc soup,

      Glad it worked out well for you and wishing your wife a non troubled recovery. Sounds like you had a hard time getting diagnosed.  How are you now? Are your legs the same length?

    • Ducksoup
      Ducksoup maryboo

      Posted

      Legs are the same length.  I am actually doing well.  Spent most of the day at a local ski resort volunteering for the Spanish cross sci championship.  Only taking Ibuprophen on days like this.  Wife’s surgery We’d.  Hope all goes well.  
  • Guest
    Guest maryboo

    Posted

    Good luck.  I had mine done 3 months ago.  They had to make my leg 2 cm longer to make it even with the normal one.  After walking for decades on a slant it takes the body a long time to get adjusted.  I still feel tilted and can walk without a limp only when I try.  The more tired I am, the longer the leg feels. 

    I spent the first month mostly in bed, drugged up on pain killers just to take the edge off of the discomfort of the stretched tissue.  Stopped all pain killers after 6 weeks then promptly tore a muscle. Now taking naproxen 2 times a day which helps a lot.  The torn muscle should be healed in another week or so. 

    Before the surgery I could touch my toes while standing.  Now I can barely reach below my knees.  I was told it will come back but can take a year or longer.

    • maryboo
      maryboo Guest

      Posted

      Dear Tiffany,

      i know how you feel with the longer leg. I’m at 6 weeks Nd feel like I’m walking tilted also.  It’s killing my knee on the operated side and creates spasms For me in both legs.  My surgeon was unwilling to do anything about a lift for my shoe till I heal more. He said I would adapt to it sinc I was probably walking crooked the other way for so long.

      touching my toes is a distant dream for now, like you. We’ll get there. Good luck. Keep the faith.

  • maryboo
    maryboo

    Posted

    Hello again my metal friends,

    sorry for the delay. Time just got away from me. I am 6 weeks post Rt THR tomorrow and I wanted to give you an update.  I did have a problem which no doctor here can explain.  the Physical therapist was the only one who said he had seen this many times. I fainted one day in week 2 while brushing my teeth one morning.  Not from pain. I called to my husband who put me down on the bed before I fell on the floor.  Went to the ER and was admitted for a few days.  After many days of ruling out a stroke, clot, or a heart attack I was sent home without any diagnosis or explanation of what happened.  My symptoms were this.  When I was laying down my blood pressure would rise to 179/89 with a headache but when I would stand up it would go back down to my normal 100ish/60ish. Orthostatic hypotension is just the reverse, when you stand it goes up, and goes down when you lie down.  Anyway they didn’t know what to do with me, and I was sent home to see my cardiologist who basically said it’s not cardiac, goodby. I paraphrase.  I kept checking my BP and was sure to stay hydrated and these symptoms continued for many days after I came home.

    From reading I came across studies in a medical journal of anesthesia that described these symptoms as a side effect of spinal anesthesia in fast track patients with hip replacements. Here in the US a lot of patients are fast tracked, getting up and walking hours after surgery, which I did. Currently the symptoms appear to be gone, but it was scary that every time I laid down, which was often, my BP would spike like that. When I got up it would go down again.

    Now at 6 weeks,I am walking most times without the cane. Still pretty tired and like others not much appetite. I am still on aspirin for anticoagulation, hip precautions, and still get muscle spasms at the end of the day or at night. The operated leg is 3mm higher on my op report and when I went for a checkup he said it was about that plus some swelling which would go down. He put the smallest prosthesis he could because my bones were small.  I still deny that small bone thing. Still feel like I’m walking tilted.

    Question. Has anyone had anything like this? And did it just go away?

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure maryboo

      Posted

      Maryboo, thanks for the link it explains a lot for many that have this issue after surgery, 
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