LTHR 7th January 2019 at The Sire Hastings Sussex- Journey so far

I thought it may help some to understand my journey to date. I will try to update as I hopefully progress further.

I am just approaching my 66th birthday and my left hip had been getting progressively over a two year period and was now seriously effecting my ability to work and my life in general.

I have private medical insurance and a much younger neighbour had recently had a THR by Mr Hugh Apthorp at The Spire in Hastings Sussex and had recovered so fast and so well he said it had changed his life and would highly recommend both the hospital and certainly the surgeon.

I therefore got a referral from my GP saw Mr Apthorp on the 12th November 18 and booked myself in for the op straight after Christmas. My pre op was on the 20th December 18 where i picked up my crutches and some post op exersises from the physio, had an ECG, blood test etc ready for the big day.

I was a little nervous but in all honesty I was more worried about my wife sitting waiting for two to three hours for me to come out of surgery having done it a few times for her I know thats not a nice wait.

On the day of the op I arrived for my 7:30am admission where we were very well looked after by a very nice nurse. The surgeon Mr Apthorp and the anaesthetist both came to see me, the surgeon drew an arrow on the correct leg and the anaethetist explained what was going to happen, I was having a spinal block injection and general anaesthetic.

Just after 10am I walked down to theater had a cannula fitted then I knew or felt nothing until I was in recovery. Soon after coming round I was taken to x-ray and the radiologist said I have a lovely new hip. Then back to my room almost exactly on time as my wife had been told that was around 12:30pm.

I cant quite remember the exact timings but what seemed to be an hour or so after I was offered a sandwich and cup of tea and ordered my evening snack. At around 5pm I was testing my new hip with a short walk in the corridor on crutches of course, amazing to think I had major surgery just a few hours earlier.

That night wasn't the best night I have had as I find it very difficult yo sleep on my back and it also did seem to take a little while to get pain under control though it wasn't as painful as I had expected it was enough to keep me from sleeping.

The next day was much improved and I sat out in the chair all day and had a much better nights sleep. I was able to walk to the bathroom and so didn't resort to a bed pan at any time, though the nurse needed an assistant to be sure I supported on the journey should I have needed it.

Day three was really a shower, breakfast, a blood test to be sure bloods were ok, physio to be sure I could walk up and down stairs and then going home meds and dressings and then I was away home by 11:30am with a follow up wound review and physio booked for two reeks later.

Arrival at home was a little scary at first as very I quickly I realised I didnt have the grab rails around the toilet or in the shower, my wife was concerned she would be able to look after me. By the next day though we were confident we were fine and every day since has shown an improvement over the previous day.

The most difficulty part of my recovery to date has been sleeping. I am normally a side sleeper and found it very difficult to sleep or even get comfortable on my back. I have also found that discomfort and pain has been worse at night than in the day time. In fact several days I have not needed much if any medication during the day but at night I have needed it so have been taking a couple of paracetamol at bed time followed by another two half way through the night with a back up of one codein if needed. Pillows, three behind me and one under the top of my legs. That said I am now beginning to see the night discomfort start to decline and am beginning to sleep better.

The discomfort I have experienced has been similar to sciatica with pain in my knee. I have also had a numb thigh on the non operated leg which in the night can also feel like boiling water on my leg, not sure if that is a result of the spinal block and how long it will take to recover hoping it will.

I have made sure I have carried out all my exercises during the day both standing and bed. I have also been walking outdoors from about day five, first on two crutches then after a week on one crutch. At the end of week two I am up to just under a mile outdoors each day with one crutch. Interestingly I am finding my hip works really well and that shows how unfit I got because I was not able to walk.

Today was my wound review and first physio follow up at the hospital since my op. I had changed dressings twice at five day intervals as advised on leaving the hospital, and a couple of days ago decided to leave the dressing off as it looked so good, just less than 4 inches long very straight and perfectly neat having been internally soluble stitched and skin glued, the scar will be minimal when healed. All was good with the wound.

My physio follow up went really well during which my exercises were checked and then I was given some additional exercises to carry out at home, then I was asked to walk down the corridor and back with one crutch then no crutch and it was then suggested using no crutch whilst in doors at home.

I am fortunate to be able to work from home so started doing that one week after the op though to be fair and unknown to my wife I was answering email the afternoon of my op! I continue to work from home this week but next week will be traveling back into London on public transport to work.

Hopefully my progress will continue as well as it has to date but I will keep you updated or please do ask if there maybe anything I can help with or put your mind at rest on.

My next appointment at the hospital is on the 15th Feb with Mr Apthorp and Physio, hopefully I will be running by then!

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