1. Community
  2. Operations and surgical procedures
  3. Hip Replacement

My mother''s hip replacement at 93 years

Posted , 4 users are following.

lucy58148
lucy58148

My mother had a paryial hip replacement 4 weeks ago after a fall and fracture. She is 93 years old and beside mild heart and kidneys conditions related to her age she was in general good health and was mobile although with arthritic pain. The post operation has been difficult but she seems to be slowly recovering although her wound opened a bit and it's taking time to heal. She also feels pain in the hip when she walks and sitting in the loo.

I wonder if there others with similar experiences with elderly patients and experiencing pain when walking.

Thanks

Lucy

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • peggy15811
    peggy15811 lucy58148

    Posted

    I'm not your mother's age but am 70 with diabetes and kidney disease. My actual surgery went well, not much pain, but PT is hard for me, especially stamina and walking. I was not able to do much for 2 years prior, a knee injury, then knee replacement and now hip replacement. I started regular outpatient physical therapy yesterday. I hope to get my stamina back and be able to walk without a limp. It takes longer the older we are and especially if we have not been very active prior. I think I will get through it and hope your mother will too. It is wonderful to not have the hip pain. I would describe what I have now as hip (and body too) weariness, not really pain. I tire easily and get achy. That should lessen the more I do. I also had pain sitting on the toilet seat, be sure she has a raised one. I put these stick on pink gel things on mine for awhile. They pull right off when you no longer need them. They help, as you are often sitting right on the scar. I had no issues with my scar, it looked healed by the time I got home from the hospital, but had staples removed in 10 days. It's been no issue, I cannot even feel it. Just keep your Mother's clean and ask the doctor soon if it does not heal up. Best of luck to her. Hip surgery is not a super long recovery but can be challenging.

    Regards,

    Peg

    • lucy58148
      lucy58148 peggy15811

      Posted

      Dear Peg,

      It's very helpful to hear your experience. The difficulty with assessing the pain my mother feels is that she did not complain of hip pain prior to the fall, she felt most pain in the knees but she is too old to operate the knees. Now she complains of pain when walking and seems to come sharp by the way she responds with a sudden jumpy reaction. When she is still she doesn't complain of pain unless she moves.

      The slight complication is that her blood test gave a raised value (PCR) for inflamation and the doctors suspect infection. They want to give her two strong antibiotics for a month that may weaken her further. There is a possibility the blood result was due to a urine infection after she pulled the catheter off twice post operation but the doctors prefer to asume it's bone infection to be on the safe side.

      It sounds you are recovering well. How long ago did you have the operation?

      Best wishes

      Lucy

    • peggy15811
      peggy15811 lucy58148

      Posted

      I am post op  9 weeks today. I do fine and have no pain if I am almost totally inactive, but I want to regain my strength and get back to normal. That is the hard part after a long period of inactivity. Everything I do to get stamina puts me back in my chair with some pain and physical therapy causes me about 2 days of barely being able to walk. That is where I am right now and it harder then the surgery as I so want to get back to normal. Through all of this I turned 70 and physocologically that was a big hit! It's like "OMG" I'm an old lady and picture myself never active again. I feel about 40 or 50 and have never had a big thing about age, but having so little stamina and pain when I try to advance and turning 70 in June has just really hit me! I've always been an independent person making it hard. I am trying regardless and hopefully in a couple of months this will be mostly behind me. I guess the age won't get any better, but if I can move right without pain, I will deal with it better.

      My Nordic Walking poles came today. Now I have to learn how to use them! If they truly help I will be very happy, but it's still too hot to walk here (Las Vegas). I wonder if my therapist would let me take them there and use them?  I'd best ask first, the facility is not too big and don't know if he is familiar with them. I need to watch YouTube videos on using them as they are different then trekking poles. Anxious to be able to try them out. 

      Regards all,

      Peg

  • ptolemy
    ptolemy lucy58148

    Posted

    My father broke his hip at age 90 and had a hip replacement. The one thing it did do was give him a voracious appetite. We thought he would never walk again as it was a nasty break, but he just carried on as before. 
    • lucy58148
      lucy58148 ptolemy

      Posted

      I have heard of many patients that have had such trouble free recovery which is great! I haven't heard as much from others who may have struggled but recovered!

      Thanks for sharing your experience

      Best wishes

      Lucy

  • renee01952
    renee01952 lucy58148

    Posted

    dear lucy. 

    is your mother in a senior citizen home or care facility ?

    Amazing that she is walking ... 

    Of course I don't know what kind of pain she feels but it seems quite normal - she just had major surgery and some bone repair done - 

    it is important to keep the wound area clean and closed if there are openings or leaking ...is someone changing the dressing ?

    I volunteer in a Senior Citizen centre and recently met a woman age 89 who had hip surgery due to a fall about 8 months ago - she is walking well behind her rollator ( 4wheeled walker) - pain was more from surgery than hip, according to her ... still has stiffness though, especially after sitting too long -

    give her big hug Lucy and let us know how she is getting on

    big warm hug

    renee

     

    • lucy58148
      lucy58148 renee01952

      Posted

      Dear Renne,

      Thanks for your helpful response. Its reassuring to hear other''s experiences. Its hard to assess what is her age, her hypersensitivity to pain from her mild demensia or what is a problem that needs addressing.

      My mum lives with my sister and me. It's a full time job and I am considering taking a career break. She has mild demensia too but she is collaborative and easy to look after apart from her low apetite that is tiresome to manage.

      My sister is a general practitioner and she is the one changing the dressing daily and at times twice a day.

       

      It's very helpful to hear your experience. The difficulty with assessing the pain my mother feels is that she did not complain of hip pain prior to the fall, she felt most pain in the knees but she is too old to operate the knees. Now she complains of pain when walking and seems to come sharp by the way she responds with a sudden jumpy reaction. When she is still she doesn't complain of pain unless she moves.

      The slight complication is that her blood test gave a raised value (PCR) for inflamation and the doctors suspect infection (white blood cells were within normal range). They want to give her two strong antibiotics for a month that may weaken her further. There is a possibility the blood result was due to a urine infection after she pulled the catheter off twice post operation but the doctors prefer to asume it's bone infection to be on the safe side. However we need to also consider her overall health and quality of life, we feel the traumatoligist it's going for an 'over kill' in case of infection....and we fear this may not be the best outcome... thus wondering if others out there also felt pain that was not linked to infection. Also it's important to add that my mother has not had medication for pain or inflamation since coming from hospital. She was in hospital 4 days.

      With Best wishes

      Lucy

    • renee01952
      renee01952 lucy58148

      Posted

      hi lucy, 

      what a wonderful thing you and your sister are doing ... 

      I understand what you are saying ..

      I am a bit surprised that your mother was not given any inflammatory or pain medication ...Why not? 

      I and most of us here (if not all) on the forum had these medications prescribed - 

      is she on any blood thinners? 

      I am not a doctor, but I think her UTI might have contributed to the outcome of the bloodtest - I had an UTI when I got home from the hospital and was prescribed anti biotic for 5 days .. 

      How is her UTI treated right now? 

      I think that it is normal to experience pain after this surgery - considering her age and condition, healing is taking place, perhaps at a slower pace -

      I would think that a bone infection would also be a consisten pain and not only when walking ...

      Oh Lucy, I wish I had better answers for you, but I don't -- Maybe just follow your gut feeling -

      angel blessing 

      renee

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.