Right Hip Replacement

Hi, I'm 66 and had a THR on 21 January. I also was terrified. I refused to have an epidural as I don't trust them and had a general anaesthetic which was fine. The pain was well controlled in hospital with morphine and I came home after 3 days. Nearly 6 weeks on I've been very careful not to bend too far etc but am now able to walk without any support and have even gone out alone on a bus.Good luck - I'm sure ot will be fine.

That's good to hear about the pain relief and I'm glad you're getting on fine with it and getting out and about. I think I'll go with the general myself and when I wake up it'll all be done. Thanks for your reply :-)

Wilky I seem to have sent you a message rather than posting on here, so I will briefly write what I said as it is useful for others too. I had both my hips replaced 3 years ago and to say was I petrified would be an understatement, I put it off until I was virtually in a wheelchair. I was also relatively young at 52. The general anaesthetic also provides pain relief, but I was given a morphine drip under my control. I too thought the skin would burst open when the metal staples were taken out 10 days after surgery, but of course it didn't. I was in no pain whatsoever at any time, in fact the utter agony I had been in was removed to my utter relief. Follow the instructions on sitting/standing/lying to the t - when you're sitting avoid bending forward to pick something up etc. It is normal to feel scared so don't feel bad about that - for me it has been one of the best things I have ever done in my life and I wish I had also done it earlier. I've also inspired one friend to get her hip replaced as she had avoided it for years as she was too scared. You will get your life back. Let us know how you get on!

That sounds really positive, thanks for letting me know that everything went well for you. I'm in tomorrow morning at 8 so not long to go now. I've had a lot of people telling me its changed their lives for the better so I can't wait to be able to walk pain free again, it seems like its been such a long time since I did that! Walking pain free is one of those things you take for granted until something happens, it affected my work life as well as my social life, I used to enjoy climbing the Munro's, I'm hoping to be able to do that again at some point in the future. I'll post on here and let people know how I got on, they tell me I should get out either Fri or Sat so watch this space.

Good luck tomorrow.... and afterwards. Don't be surprised that you will not feel 100% for a few days! Having been told the pain would be gone I did not factor in discomffort from the operation and initially round the wound. When you get home keep taking the painkillers. I discovered that if you stop to see how it is, then it takes time to build up the effect again.

Hi All, well that's me got a new right hip!

I was nervous as you know on the days leading up to surgery but when I woke up on the day of the surgery I was fine, it was a feeling of "right, lets get this done" I had to be at the hospital for 8 am, it's only a 10 minute drive and after we arrived I was taken almost immediately. My wife was able to come thru with me for while. The nurse went thru all the checks, then the surgeon came and explained what he was going to do and asked if I had any questions for him. The anaesthetist came for a chat as well and I was all set to go. I said goodbye to my wife and she said she'd come in to see me later. I was taken down to theatre at 9.15 and I was in the recovery room, waking up at 11.15 so not long at all. I had pain from the op initially but that soon went with painkillers, the rest of the morning/afternoon to be honest was a bit of a blur, my wife was allowed in to see me at 14.30 and stayed for an hour but she said I was either starting questions and not finishing them or just sleeping most of the time but she said it was still good to see me. My wife and daughter came in to see me at night and i was much better. the pain was manageable and if i started getting sore i just had to tell the nurse and she got me more painkillers. i've got to say the doctors and nurses were brilliant with me. I was on a drip for the first night and also had two lots of antibiotics intravenously but that was all.

I'll tell you about day 2 later...

So glad all went well for you - can only get better now.

6 weeks on I have just had y check up and the surgeon said I can now do anything I am able to. Rather stiff from lack of bending etc, but the future's bright!

That sounds good. You've done it! Look forward to hearing more...

Hello wilky13

So glad things went well for you I came across your story while searching for info on thr as I am having one in two weeks 27th mach and am also really flippin scared I don't know what to expect how long I will be in for etc, am still waiting for my letter from the hospital telling me what time to go in so I know nothing right now.

I'm still working 3 jobs at the mo only reason being I don't get sick pay and have a mortgage by the time I get home in the evenings I can hardly walk, have just found out I am entitled to esa benefit of 70 pound a week but this still leaves me around 500 a month short so hoping to go back to my cleaning jobs asap, as I'm 46 I'm hoping I will be fit again in around 8 weeks or am I kidding myself? I really don't know, never had major surgery before my osteoarthritis only gotvreally bad this last year or so and now have huge cyst on the femoral head which could collapse at any time so the surgeon said.

Am looking forward to hearing how you are getting on over the next few weeks good luck x

Hi again, Tina you'll be fine, not sure when you'll be fit to return to work tho, everyone's recovery time is different and you'll need to listen to what the doctors say and your own body...

So, Day 2...

Woke up feeling ok, the nurses had been in and out all night taking my temp and BP and giving me pain killers. I had breakfast and waited for what was to come next, first was a wash, which i did mostly myself, the only places I was unable to reach was below my knees as I was told under no circumstances was I to bend my hip more than 90 degrees as there is a chance of dislocation. Then they changed my surgical stockings, very fetching on a guy lol, I need to wear these for 6 weeks, my wife or daughter will change them for me. I was then taken down for an X Ray to check everything was ok. The surgeon came in a bit later and told me everything looked great. Then in came the occ therapist for a chat, she also gave me a couple of things to help me, a sponge on a stick for washing the lower part of my body in the shower and a "grabber" for picking things up from below knee level. She showed me how to put shorts/trousers on with it and I found it very useful and easy to use. Then physio came in, the part I wasn't looking forward to. She was great tho, along with a partner they swung my legs off the bed and got me to my feet and walking with a Zimmer, all pain free, yes!!! My leg was stiff and a bit nippy near the wound but as for the hip joint, nothing :-) they gave me a long piece of tubigrip to go around the sole of my foot and I was able to pull on it and lift my leg onto the bed, a bit awkward to start with but soon got the hang of it. After lunch the occ therapist was back to see how I was getting on and then it was visiting time. After that the physio came back and got me to do 4 different exercises, bending and stretching the hip, everything went well and I was well pleased.

End of Day 2.....

God how well are you doing wilky, hope I get on as good as this. How long were you in hospital for? I read your story a couple of times so u could imagine it in my head of your daily routine, it's not sounding as horrific as I'm imagining it to be.

How are you coping with sleeping on your back I'm not looking forward to that at all.

I've not been very well the last week or so been acheing all over not just the hip and so tired I don't know if this has got anything to do with the arthritis.

Keep up the good work looking forward to hearing about day 3 x

Hi again, time for the next instalment ....

Day 3

Woke up about 3:30 in a bit if discomfort but nothing bad, I don't normally sleep on my back and the fact you can't roll on to your side either way made me a bit uncomfortable but I called the nurse and she brought me a painkiller and I soon fell off to sleep again. The nurses were still coming in pretty regular to take my obs. I had some breakfast about 8:15 and then decided I would get up for the toilet as doing it in the cardboard bottles while lying in bed is not easy, I used the tubigrip as I'd been shown and was soon on my feet holding on to my Zimmer. I got to the bathroom ok but for whatever reason I couldn't pee, I think I was trying too hard and strained a bit much, not a good idea! The next thing I knew I was really light headed and luckily there was a nurse in my room at the time, she saw me coming out of the toilet and shouted for assistance, it ended up with 4 nurses getting me back to bed, I was white as a sheet and sweating like mad. I soon recovered and the nurses said I'd been overdoing it "but I only went for a pee" I said, still too much too early I was told. I'm glad to say that has been my one and only "turn" as they called it. My surgeon came in to see me later that day and was once again happy with the reports form both physio and Occ Therapy who'd both visited me twice that day, physio even took my Zimmer away and swapped it for 2 walking sticks which were easy to use too. By the time I had visitors that night I'd walked halfway down the corridor and back all unsupervised :-) the pain was minimal and the surgeon says if I carried on like that I'd get out the following day, Friday, I was operated on last Tue 5th March so that was only 3 nights in hospital. Unfortunately on Thu night I started running a temperature and had a bit of a cough, a doctor came to see me and listened to my chest and she said there was a bit of crackling and wanted it X Ray'd. it all came back clear which was good and so they started me on a course of antibiotics. Apart from feeling hot, I was feeling good about myself and everything I'd achieved today :-)

End of Day 3

Hi Tina, I was not at all looking forward to sleeping on my back and initially found it very difficult. However, I learned to stack up 4 or 5 pillows so I was on a slope rather than lying flat, and that helped. I also took pills to help me sleep and found I then stayed assleep all night. The only downside was that in the morning I was very stiff and it took me a while to get moving with some pain killers.

That's something I might try mb9 as since I've been home I've found it more uncomfortable than in hospital, it might be that my mattress is softer, I'm not sure. I've had the district nurse in today and she's going to supply me with a blow up mattress to go on top of my own to see if that helps. You're right about being stiff but its the same if you've been sat on the chair or laying on the couch for a while.