Post Op Sleeping Position

That makes sense.  What I was querying, though is the amount of disturbance immediately post op, until release from hospital.  

Are you saying that you were fully awake for the three to four days that you hospitalised?  As I said in another post, I am preparing my Kindle to keep me entertained during those rather difficult days, post op.  How effective, this will be, is yet to be seen......

I will go ahead and try to get used to sleeping on my back, although i am aware of the wedge between the legs and the fact that one is totally immobilised.  It will be one hurdle pvercome, because of course I willhave to remain ike that, until I have the go ahead to sleep on my side.

The cat naps are enough. I did not feel tired in hospital - the pain relief can make you feel wide awake. I looked very well most of my visitors said, despite no sleep for a few nights. I felt fine if not especially enjoying being awake at all hours. Make sure you have plenty of charged phones and a laptop for the odd film etc. I watched Kirsty's homemade treasures and light entertainment is best.

You are just lying in bed all the time, you haven't got to do anything during the day, so it's fine. I slept much better once I was home - and slept when I needed to. It was all okay I promise.

Thinking of you on Thursday Michael - it is a big deal and most of us feel nervous - but it is over in a twinkling and you will soon feel so much better.

Thank you Rose. This forum has eased my thoughts tremedously! I am so glad I stumbled across it.

The forum is entirely invaluable and should be recommended to all hip patients. Any question you have, someone on here will know the answer, no matter how unusual.

It is also helpful to have a support network of people who know exactly what you are going through - and that the things you experience are normal and nothing to worry about. You will be fine. I was terrified but did it and so glad I did!!

Good afternoon, Michael,

I do not have an op date yet.  Am rather at the beginning of this voyage, and because I am almost completely on my own - no family, other than a daughter who does not drive, and main support system - still in San Francisco, I need to be well prepared for any and all eventualities.  

It is my right hip that needs to go, too.  Should have been done two years ago, but circumstances prevented this.  Think you are right about the cat naps.  The amount of drugs that they pump into you, and the monitoring, although necessary and precautionary is likely to be the cause of a lot of side effects and irritation, unfortunately.

Good luck on Thursday.  It is always the apprehension and nerves leading up to the event that are worse than the event itself, I have found.  Once you are there, and going through all the preps, you wont have any time to think, and from what I understand, the medical staff are well aware that this is a very nerve wracking situation for the patient, and they will take good care of you, before and after the op.

The last time I had an op was in San Francisco for a hand operation.  They used a general anaesthetic and the anaesthetist spoke with me, until he put me out.  Woke up in the ward, surprised.  

Think most of these ops are done with a spinal or epidural with sedation, though.

Let us kow how you are after the op.

 

Thank you Susie,

Good luck with arranging your support system. I was interested to note that at my pre-op with the physio, he said that I should endeavour to walk around the house without crutches from the get-go as it will speed up the process. He also said that the new hip should be able to bear my weight immediately. So, although I am expected set backs and bad days, I am generally optimistic that I will not be an "invalid" by for a few short days (you can hear the "old hands" thinking - yeah, right!  ​).

I was initially put off the surgery by my GP, who told me that although the surgeon thought my condition warranted a THR, he (my GP) thought I was too young (55). I was so buoyed to be told I was too young that I dragged my carcass around for another 8 months before deciding that the pain and discomfort was too much. So, back to another GP for a referral and within a month I was on the waiting list and scheduled for 6 weeks after that. So, all in all, once the decision had been made, it was all rather quick.  

You are correct that most ops are under local anaesthetic, but I have decided to opt for the general anaesthetic as I am too squeamish to listen to all the sawing, drilling and such. I have had a GA before and do not fear it.

I have also lined up lots of TV series online and am ready for a few weeks of R&R (always read the small print ;-) ). I shall no doubt share my experience here.

Michael

Michael - where are you in the world? It is interesting that you have been recommended to walk without aids straight away. Are you having a total or partial hip replacement? I don't think I could walk without crutches initially so I am intrigued by the advice you have been given...some from Australia were on the super pathway hip replacement but I am

not sure they walked with out aids straight away. It is interesting the diversity of advice!

I am on the Kent/East Sussex borders. And although I am an NHS patient, I have the very good fortune of having the operation in a local, private hospital. Not sure if that means anything. 

And I am in line for a THR (due to OA) with full ceramic kit. 

It is most intriguing that so much of the advice varies to such an extent.

Wow yes the same operation as me, and same hardware too I have just been told by two different physios not to walk with a limp, and use a crutch until then.... as have most others on the forum - so interesting you were advised to walk without them straight away after your operation. I have to be honest it was hard enough WITH the crutches, I can not imagine being advised to walk without them! But maybe someone on the forum has tried it and can advise you better than me.

Ps If you need to use crutches after your operation, please don't feel discouraged in anyway. We have all had to use them for weeks and possibly months.

Some of us have also had mixed experiences with pushy physios, really your recovery should be decided by your consultant - definitely not a physio. I would be wary of a physio giving me advice like this Michael if I am honest....

I whole-heartedly agree with you.

I was quite stunned when he said that I should try and walk without any aids (within the home) straight away. And, no, I shall not do so until I am confident that I will not collaps!! 

Physios have a reputation of believing that the patient should always push themselves. But there is a balance between what they say and what your body says. 

I hope you are happy with you "hardware" (love that phrase). 

Michael

So happy with the operation and the hardware! It is great, and a much better experience than I anticipated.

The recovery does take a while and needs patience, but a positive attitude such as yours will help you so much.

I don't think you will go far wrong if you listen to your body and rest when you need to as you have suggested. I am learning the hard way!

Michael, I was told in no uncertain terms to not walk without aids until I can walk without pain or limp. There is no reason to push faster than that. All of the physicians that I have consulted said that it doesn't make you stronger to walk without them, it just forces your body to compensate for weakness with other body parts, which then get injured. That was my experience also. You get plenty strong walking with aids, and your poor surgical leg needs lots of time to heal from all the insults done to it during surgery.

I hope you will listen to your body and not push yourself. If what they say to do hurts you, then stop. It's not like when you are healthy and working out and pushing your muscles to get bigger and stronger. Then a bit of pain afterwards is understandable. But not after what your bones/muscles/soft tissues go through hip replacement!

Oh thamk you Annie. You are absolutely pushing on an open door. Your two paragraphs summed up the process much more eloquently than the physio. 

And, from my experience of over-compensating with my "healthy" leg (pre-op) has meant that I can feel the muscles and joints crying out for some relief.  

Good Evening, Hogtog,

My surgery will be at a local private clinic, too.  

I have commented in the past, about the variations in not only the advice given on the site, but the differing experiences, post op, in terms of sleep deprivation, hourly blood pressure checks, noise levels, pain relief and varying levels of pain, etc.  

I have reached the conclusion, that it is very much a question of picking through it all and identifying and relying on those regular contributors who know what they are about.  Reading between the lines of some of the more worrying posts, as very often there are underlying and pre-existing conditions that have to be monitored, post op, that cause some of the post op complications that they are reporting.

The main factor, is how rapidly our own bodies heal and reacts, our overall general health pre op, and what sort and how much, exercise and physio is done pre op.  Two years after my second xray my arthritis was moderate to severe, and I was referred to physio.  Was given a sheet of exercises, that I have followed, but with the occasional lapse, and that was it!  Still doing them, they help, and because my last xray taken in November last year, showed mild arthritis in my other hip, I have started Krill oil, and am now working that hip as well as the other, in the hope of prolonging its "active life!"

The one thing you need in your recovery is patience, something i am learning, oh and also a good grabber. 

Suexx

Relate to what you are saying.  I was put on physio for over two years - one visit, and a sheet of exercises, and that was my lot....!  

I am not usre which way I shll go with the anaesthesia, but probably an epidural or spinal with sedation.  There are reorts on the site that people sleep through, anyway.  I think that the spinal and epidural are the safer option for the elderly and those with upper respiratory issues or cardio vascular.  I may be wrong there, but that is my take on that, for what it is worth!

What happens in the few days after the op, I think depends a lot on the genereal pre op health and fitness of the patient.  I used to do a seven mile run in San Francisco, but that was quite a while back now, and because of the two years on physio, I have not been able to get much exercise, at all, and that is not good for cardio vascular, either.  In reality, I should have had the surgery two years ago, and not allowed myself to be steered into two years of physio.  The OA has deteriorated in the two years, although, I do think that maintaining the exercises, has helped with the pain.  Also, I have come to the conclusion, that pain depends a lot on where in the joint, the major damage has been done.  

Reports that patients are reduced to walking bone on bone, before anything at all is done, is just shocking.  How can that be?  Is this down to the patient's choice, or negligence on the part of the medical professional taking care of that patient, I wonder?

I think you are very perceptive!

I am lucky in that I am otherwise fit and healthy. I am currently a postie and so walk about 10 – 12 miles a day.

It is with some regret that I must say I am one of the “bone on bone” people. My hip had been deteriorating slowly for so many years that I thought it was part of the normal aging process – which in a way, it is, I guess.

 I eventually saw my GP and asked to be referred to a physio as I thought it was soft tissue problems. He thought he would start with an x-ray and see how it went from there. So, in my case, it was my ignorance and arrogance that I am fit and well.  In my defence, I have only been a postie for a couple of years and it was since doing this active work that the pain became a problem. 

Unfortunately, I was already aware that I had arthrtis in San Francisco.  It First showed in my hands, putting me out of business as an Interior Designer tehcnical drawing was too fine detail, following botched up surgery on my dominant hand!  I was aware of a problem with my right foot, as it was not "going down" properly.  However, it ws not arthritis, but a genetic problem that my mother had in in her right hand, and was passed on to me, and my daughter, so arthritis was dismissed on that basis.  However, it was diagnosed about four years ago in my right hip, and the GP concerned steered me away from surgery because I "would get MRSA!"  So, two years later, xray - moderate to severe, and two years after that, November 2015, severe deterioration - surgery!

I have the strong belief that recovery really does depend on general fitness and health.  Obesity, bone conditions, such as osteoporosis or genetic problems, lack of fitness, etc., all contribute to the mixed postings concerning recovery rates, pain, etc.  As I have said, they have to be picked through, and we have to read between the lines, before becoming unduly alarmed by some of the more dire reports post op.  It is a bit of a minefield, and I have found that there are people on the site that are more "centered" in the feedback and advice they give.  Those are the people to listen to.

Physios are usually very fit people, used to handling other patients, most of who aren't in as bad shape as we are after years of OA.

I was also advised to walk around the house unaided after my op.

I was quite fit and healthy, my OA deteriorated quite quickly to bone on bone and I had my right hip replaced 14 weeks ago. I was never issued any crutches, had a walking frame on the day of the op, and after that it was 2 sticks. When I went home I was advised to walk as much as possible and try and be unaided around the house. Maybe day 4 or 5 I forgot to collect my stick after brushing my teeth and from then on I only used 1 stick when I went outside.

Everyone has different experiences, and I'm sure my next hip op in a couple of months time will be different again, but that is how my first one went.

It's pretty near impossible to plan and prepare for being post op as everyone's experiences vary so much, many factors contribute to this, surgeon, age, fitness etc I think I was very lucky after reading some of the experiences on here but like I said I was quite fit and healthy, and relatively young - at 50 - for a hip replacement. Some times tho things are just 'difficult' for whatever reason. I don't suppose anyone in any job has the same result 100% of the time, there are always going to be variations.

It is an absolutely fabulous, life changing operation tho 👍🏼

Thank you for your reply Billie. You have been an inspiration to me :-)

I am beside myself with anticipation and excitement . I can't wait and it is fabulous to hear your account. 

Very best of luck to you, and keep us informed 👍🏼

I was absolutely petrified of having mine done, I delayed far too long if I'm honest, but now I have more of an idea what to expect I won't be quite such a nervousness wreck next time 😃

Ooh and by the way I was 'talked into' having the op with just a spinal but because I was so scared they gave me two tiny little pills to calm me down pre op, I remember swallowing them, then feeling woozy then waking up in my room wondering why I had a great big cushion between my legs! Turns out they'd done the deed and I was a fully fledged hippie 😂

Good Evening, Billie Maw:

Good result!  that is definitely the way to have it done.  It's amazing what to little pills can do.  Any idea what they were, because I want some, too....!