Right Hip Replacement

Morning all,

Day 4

Woke up this morning feeling stiff but otherwise fine, my temperature was down again, I had some breakfast and then the nurse asked me if I wanted to try having a shower today which I jumped at, you never feel your having a good wash when it's just a basin and a facecloth. Got to say I was a bit wary getting the dressing wet but the nurse said she'd be changing it today anyway so that was ok. No problem with the shower and after I'd dried myself and put a T Shirt on I called the nurse thru to change my dressing. What I forgot to tell you on day one was that I'd had a heavy bleed, all normal according to the nurses and the surgeon when I spoke to him. They didn't remove the dressing, just cleaned me up and put another dressing on top of the original. So now was the time to get it changed, you women must be mad paying to get waxed! Ow and Ow again! The nurse was pleased with the wound, she said it was very neat and looked good so she cleaned me up and applied a newer, smaller dressing. The surgeon came round to see how i was but decided because of my previous nights high temp to keep me in one more day just to be on the safe side which I was fine about. I had more physio, this time they took me to some stairs and showed me how to go up and down them, it was so easy and completely pain free. Later that day the occ therapist took me to a room that was made up like a kitchen just to make sure I could do stuff on my own if no one was there and again I could. We decided that I should get a tray on wheels delivered to the house so I could make something in the kitchen and wheel it thru to eat in front of the tv :-).

End of Day 4...

I am really interested in your stories and tips wilky and mb9 please keep them coming, I'm finishing my jobs at weekend that give me a week or just over till my opp, how long did other people keep working for I will be glad to finish to be honest.

Mb9 are you back to your pre arthritic self I mean are you fit can you walk normally without a limp etc, I can't wait until summer I can't remember being normal and I promise never to be lazy again.

Wilky no shower until day 4 god must be feeling rather grubby by then how about brushing your teeth? Nothing worse than having a gob like ghandis flip flop, and how do you remember not to bend to far sometimes you can't help it like turning in your sleep etc.

Still waiting for my letter from hospital 15 days to go and still not a clue on what to expect on the day. Keep the stories coming keep well both of you x

Omg just had my hospital letter got to be there at 12 15 afternoon opp is this good or bad? Panicking now as it seems real was beginning to think they forgot about me lol. Have to go to pre opp clinic next Tuesday what do they do there?

X

Don't panic! pre-op clinic they weigh & measure you, take blood pressure, ECG & urine test just to make sure you're ok. Worst thing about an afternoon op is probably not being able to eat all day!

As to my former self - I'm not typical. Broke my hip 7 years ago and had it all screwed together. Screws were now working out of the bone which was deteriorating, so that all had to come out and get nice new hip. I'm walking ok, no sticks now, but do feel a bit like a rolling sailor! this apparently is due to needing to build up muscle after the op and not using it for 6 weeks. I can already tell it has improved in a week. Went for my post op check last week and can now have a bath - yeah! although allowed to bend etc it will no doubt take a few weeks to actually be able to. Good luck Tina - it will be fine.

Hi Tina, as mb9 says don't worry, the pre op is a scoosh! I stopped working on the Sun before my op but that was only because Mon and Tue were my rest days that week.

I was still able to wash so it wasn't that bad Tina and I was able to brush my teeth every day, the first day they brought me a cup of water and a sick bowl to rinse out in and then I was able to use the sink once I was up and about. They teach you how to bend down while you slide your operated leg out behind you at the same time to avoid the 90 degree angle that you shouldn't go past. You won't roll over in your sleep, not for the first few days anyway in my experience, you'll feel It when you move too far, I don't mean your in agony or anything, it's just uncomfortable.

Mb9's right, the worst part of an afternoon appointment is you won't be able to eat but they'll tell you all about that at the pre op.

Day 5...

Really not much to say, most of the day was spent waiting for my meds to arrive so I could be discharged.

I decided to go home in our own car as waiting for transport would have taken ages. I phoned my wife once my meds and discharge papers were there and then said goodbye to the nurses who'd looked after me, my wife bought a card and a box of chocolates for me to give to them when I left. The physio had told me the best way to get into the car was to back into the car and pull myself back towards the drivers seat watching my angles then to bring my knees up and swivel round, it sounds more complicated than it was and it never hurt or felt uncomfortable, it's the exact opposite for getting out.

It was great to be back in my own house and some stuff had been delivered for me from occ therapy.

I take it you received a questionnaire regarding your home environment when you got your letter? my furniture is too low so they delivered a chair and my toilet seat is too low so they delivered a commode like thing that fits over the toilet.

My wife and daughter have looked after me brilliantly since I came home and I'm making really good progress, I do my exercises every day as I was told and they're getting easier and easier. The only problem I've had is in my own bed, like I said previously I think it might be my mattress but hopefully that'll get sorted once the blow up mattress arrives.

Well that's me up to date. I'm one week post op today.

It wasn't anywhere near as bad as I'd imagined and would recommend it to anyone who needed it and I would also tell them not to worry. I've been told my left hip might need replaced at some point and I'd get it done in a heartbeat.

Thanks to all the staff at Forth Valley Royal for looking after me.

I'll post more as the weeks go on and give you all an update on how I'm doing.

If anyone has any questions please get in touch.

Wilky13 :-)

Thank you both so much for your stories both of you I feel so much better now after reading them I really have. I did get a questionnaire had to measure height of loo, bed, easy chair and dining chair that's another thing I'm not looking forward to is sitting in a hard chair for ages numb bum comes to mind but won't be forever and after reading all this I'm actually looking forward to getting it done and getting back to normal.

Are you ok with stairs I am a bit worried about that and also getting to the loo in time as that's the first thing I need when I wake up I'm really stiff first thing in morning now and from what I can gather this gets a lot worse after.

Thanks again tina x

The chair they provided me with is a big leather chair and is great, it does get uncomfy after a while but i just get up and go for a walk around the house to take the pressure off.

Stairs are easy, you get taught how while in hospital, going up you lead with your good leg and use your sticks and coming down you lead with your operated leg and use your sticks.

I'm a bit stiff in the morning but only cause my leg is swollen and bruised, i've been told i'll be like this for about 2 weeks, my toilet is downstairs but its no bother. Have you ever had a dead leg? The stiffness is like the feeling you get after one of those for a few days.

What's your date for going in?

Don't worry about hard chair - put a cushion under you ! also the district nurse advised me to keep my leg raised a lot to reduce the swelling. I found the best way to do this was to sit sideways on the settee with my legs up. Rather tricky getting up at first but soon got the hang of it, leaning on a crutch and pushing off the back of the settee.

They teach you how to manage stairs before you leave hospital. Yes, you're very stiff when you first get up in the morning. I found that taking a pain killer and moving my legs about before I got up was a help. Fortunately my loo is quite near my bedroom- but I know what you mean....

Thanks to both of you for ideas will keep these in mind when it's my turn, I'm going in on 27th march 2weeks today it's a private hospital but also caters for nhs patients as they said in my letter as your an nhs patient I will be charged for phone calls, meals for family and visiting for nhs patients is between 3-8 pm so in other words it might be a private hospital but your not going to be treated as a private patient lol that put me in my place.

That did make me chuckle but never mind wont be long now and I would certainly be feeling a lot more nervous if I hadn't found this site x

I had my right hip done in July 2012 and my left done in October 2012 I was terrified but to be honest once you go to sleep (epidural) the next thing I remember is being woken up and being asked how I felt.

The pain in my groin had gone the cuts were tender but the pain killers keep it at bay. Just remember the pain you are in at the minute will go and you will only have to deal with a little discomfort.

Well that's me 2 weeks post op today!

I've got to say I'm feeling fine, I had my staples out today, 28 of them and I was a little worried it might hurt but 26 of them didn't :-) only 2 stung and that was only for a second or two. The district nurse came to the house this morning to remove them and she was in and out in 10 mins, all done, she said it looked great and as far as she was concerned she was now discharging me from their books too so that's great.

I can't believe I was so worried before I went in, there really is nothing to it, in fact I said to my wife that if I need to get my left one done it wouldn't bother me, it might come to that as I have arthritis in it too but not as bad as was in my right.

I just wish the weather would clear so I could get out and walk a bit, this snow is doing my head in but hey that's what you expect when you live in Scotland I suppose.

I'm doing plenty of walking around the house but its not the same.

I'll give another update next week, hopefully I'll get out a bit before then...

Hello everyone,

Glad to hear your doing so well wilky really pleased for you, I went for my pre opp check yesturday temperature was 37.4 they said that was a bit high and today I had a phone call today to say my white blood cell count was 12.3 which is a bit high and I may have an infection somewhere but I feel fine I made a quick visit to doctors today in case I needed some antibiotics and he gave me a quick check up and said he can't see anything wrong with me to give me anything and temp was fine today I have to go in on Monday morning for another blood test just hope it will be back to normal or there will be no op for me on Wednesday he said he can't see why it wouldn't be and they are just being cautious god I'm going to be worried about that now until Tuesday when I get the results.

Hope you manage to get out soon wilky keep up the good work x

Hello everyone

Sorry I've been a bit late getting to you but I've had a bit of trouble logging in anyway here I am.

My opp was done on Wednesday after all the trouble with the bloods the 2nd test was normal, got there at 12.15 as told to do saw the surgeon etc and didn't get to theatre till 6 what a wait that was I was last on the list for that day.

Got back into my room at 9 15 ish not bad at all didn't sleep much that night was awoken every half hour by nurse checking me over.

It's now Saturday and I've just got home so that's not bad is it and I don't have stitches it was glued anyway will post some more soon as I've not long got in and need a cup of tea.

Good to hear that you've had it done and that you are now home. Hope all is going well. That did sound like a long wait on the op day, but you got through it. Let us know how you are getting on.

That's brilliant, see, told you it wasn't that bad :-). Just remember, don't rush things, do as the doctors and physio's told you to do and you'll be fine.

That's me 3.5 weeks post op now and I've been into town with my wife, we also had a trip to the local garden centre and, when weather permitted, I've been out walking too, about 3/4 mile I'm up too so not bad. I'm still a bit stiff but I guess that'll wear off as i keep doing my exercises.

Glad your home and all went well, keep us updated on your recovery :-)

Iain