operation in 8 days, losing sleep!

By just letting it go, Angela! 

Hip replacement is the safest major surgery and has great outcomes. And you  wouldn't be having it if you didn't need it. There are lots of things in your everyday life, like driving or crossing the road, that are just as dangerous! If not more so! 

Telling someone not to worry is a pointless exercise - you need to convince yourself not to. It's ok to be a bit nervous. Most people are. But your alternative is what? Spend the rest of your life in more and more pain, with more and more limitations? 

The vast majority of people waltz through the operation. Most of us here have. And the few here who haven't, well it is really awful luck for them, but they are definitely still alive. The death rate is zero point five%. That's incredibly low. And that is based on a mostly older age group - a fair number of people who mist have hip operations are at an age / in a state of health where they would ideally never have an operation at all if they didn't have to have it. 

You are going to be absolutely fine Angela. And there is always someone here, any time of the day, to tell you that! 

Don't worry about being overweight, I was (and still am) more overweight than you when I had my op. They wouldn't do it if they thought you weight was dangerous. I'm no expert, but I would have thought sedation was better if you have asthma. I left my next of kin a list of folks to contact if things went wrong but of course they didn't use it. 🏨

Hi Angela,

So glad you found us.  Breath.   I am just 15 days post-op.  I was also somewhat fearful of dieing, not for anything other than like you I'd only ever been in a hospital to have a chile 30 years ago.  

What helped me, first you have opted for the safter anesthetia (I did not), and my fear about anesthetia was based on information I heard as a child.  Apparently, things have changed drastically over the years and that is now one of the safest parts of the procedure - regardless of which type of anesthetia you get.

Still because of my age (61) and being a single mom to an only child I wanted to be sure I had "certain" things in order.   I actually already had them but wanted to revisit (living will, health care power of attorney, regular will, etc.).  And then I left little love notes hiden in special places in my home for my daughter, sister, brother and dad.  It made me feel better so I did it - I wanted to know that I had done everything I could and guess what it kept me busy.

They are your fears and therefore they are real - try to keep yourself busy with happy productive things.  I spent good time with my daughter and sister before and we had a "what if" conversation.  Now I know that is not for everyone but our family is pretty open about those things.

I expect to be reading your posts within hours of you coming out of recovery.  AND THEN you will be one of "us" encouraging others because you will know first hand exactly what it feels like to have gone through this.  I knew my family members really had no idea what I was thinking (scared).

I will say reading this forum day and night really really really helped.  Its like our secret friends who only understand.   Isn't that wonderful.  And as someone else said because we are from all over the globe there really are people on at all times of the day and night.

Reach out but most important BREATH, count slowly and BREATH again.  There is nothing you can write here that someone else has not felt.  This is a safe place to converse and that will help take some of the weight off your partner and child - believe it or not, they may be scared too.  

So glad you are here

I am sixty one and I had the surgery last Wed. You will probably find in the few days before the surgery that you actually become calm and matter of fact. I hope so because you will be so glad you had it done very soon and you need to do it .. I already am greatful despite all the obvious pain and immobillity.. it is a different kind of pain that is tolerable and improving. I had a spinal and I have a severe scoliosis. He had to try several locations but I was surprised how tiny the needle was and how little it hurt. I woke up two hours later  fully alert and ready to eat and was walking two hours later .. I did stairs the next day. You cannot jinz things..Your chance of dying is about one percent or less.. but you are going crazy for good reason. It would not be normal not to be crazy or be bartering with yourself and imagining the various outcomes.. You face the saw and power tools and incision alone. No one likes to think about this but you are forced to.. This will soon be in the rear view mirror and you are going to be so happy.. believe me....alll the besst to you 

You will be fine! The first week is difficult but gets much better after that. you will have flexibility back in your hip and that is wonderful!

God Bless You😊

We will all be thinking of you Angela.  There are thousands of people having this operation daily and we are fortunate that our surgeons are among the best in the world.  I had the same thoughts as you and even went as far as updating wills,writing down passwords etc to make it easier for family if anything happened to me. As the time approaches for your surgery, just think about the new you that will come out of surgery.  Sure, it is tough at first but the terrible hip pain you endured prior to surgery is gone.  Best of luck and let us know how you are when you are up to it. 

Hello Angela

Im so glad youve found this forum. It helped me so much before my op 11 weeks ago. This was my 17th op, 16 of which I had in the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford. An amazing place. One of the best in the world. Do you live in Oxford now? Despite the previous operations, i was more scared than I had ever been of having the complex hip reconstruction that I had on 30 January. All your fears are shared by all of us. I can honestly tell you, though, that if I ever have my left hip done i will not be as scared. We are so lucky these days. Doctors and nurses are amazing, anaesthetics are amazing, in fact it all is. Also, it really is one of the safest procedures you can have. You will be amazed at your progress afterwards, each day you will notice youve improved a little more. You might get some discomfort but the pain relief is superb. I think Ive had more discomfort from muscle ache when getting moving than from the actual hip itself! 

If it makes you feel in control of the situation then I think it is important to put everything in order, do those things, do whatever feels right. you wont jinx things and mentally it will probably do you good and keep you busy. 

Your family will understand what your going through Im sure, so try not to worry too much about them. This is a time for putting yourself first, theyll cope. Be kind to yourself. Very soon you will be the other side of your op and on the road to recovery moaning about the surgical stockings!!! 

We all understand on here, so feel free to moan away if it helps. thats what this forum is for and we have all benefitted from it enormously.

Sending love and hugs - oh and dont worry about your weight, that wont be an issue at all and we've all been there. 

Look after yourself, keep busy, do things that make you happy> this is about you so be kind to yourself xxxx

Hi Angela,

im so sorry to hear you are so stressed but youth is on your side and I'm sure you will recover quickly.   I had an accident so I didn't have time to worry about the op as it was done the next day at 8.30pm and I had only fallen at 6.15 pm the day before.

i had an epidural and I didn't feel a thing and I was having a cup of tea straight after the op which you wouldn't be able to do with aenesthetic.

The day after I was up and doing a few steps, I was only in an NHS hospital and I couldn't have wished for any better treatment.  All I can say is the poor nurses are overworked and some doing 12 hour shifts.

i was 75 last Sunday and feel pretty good considering that I was on the trauma ward and had a lot of bruising due to the fall.

Just keep your chin up and don't worry about the epidural, you sort of go into a trance, suppose it must be like being on drugs. Haha.   Margaret.