Since having a left hip replacement 7 weeks ago, I seem to be suffering from reactive depression

I wonder if the oil is good on faces?

Hi judy i think that the oil would be fine for your face. It has a pleasant smell too. It can also be used for stretch marks etc..

The youtube videos are useful too. As ever i waited in all day for a medical professional and they dont show. I was expecting my physio to come to help me on after being given the all clear to weight bear on Monday. She said she couldnt do Tuesday but would come yesterday and she didnt. I dont know about all of you but i dont particularly like chasing people up all the time.. but after waiting eight days for a district nurse to sort out my dressing too it feels like this is something you have come to expect to have to do. I think others need to know this happens a lot. What you expect or are told will happen frequently does not in my experience.

So i went out walking again yesterday twice and with both crutches and i got to walking using only one crutch inside the house too which i was pleased about after such a long time only bearing weight on one side. I just tried to build my confidence up and it worked although it felt very strange to lean on my operated leg after so long. Whether i am doing the right thing i just dont know..but i cant stand being inside any longer.

Yes you are doing the right thing John. Just try to go a little further every day. If you overdo it your body will let you know, and play it by ear next day.

I read an interesting article yesterday about ignoring the pain and carrying on. I. ''ll try and find it . I'm on my kindle so I'll try on my computer later.. What I do remember is that scar tissue has pain endings,so when you stretch it it hurts. It also is made of fibres which look like a coiled spring.As you stretch them through exercises they lengthen, then they shorten again, so first thing in the morning they are tight, but not as bad as the previous morning. So this is why the morning stiffness improves. Now you having had 2 ops you have more scar tissue than most.

It's bad form not to ring a patient when you can't make it. I was on the Community for 8 years. Emergencies can happen where you have to drop everything. You should I hope get a phone call this morning.

I think you're doing the right thing john. Your body will certainly let you know if you're overdoing it. I think you should contact the physio today if you don't see them. Up wards and onwards.

Well i waited for half the morning and eventually walked out and went around the block using one crutch for the first time.. I managed that just fine. Then i decided to ring the physio as i was expecting her yesterday. She said she'd bring a stick and would walk with me etc when i saw her last. I didn't have her number so rang the hospital number and was given another number which i tried.that lady was unpleasant and told me to ring the hospital back... I got cross as i am fed up with being fobbed off and told her. We rang the healh centre and they couldn't help either. Etc etc. We gave up after five phone calls . My physio rang later to ask what i wanted!! I told her i was expecting her yesterday and she said she was only expecting to ring me but of course hadnt anyway... She came out later, no stick and walked out with me to see if was doing it properly. I was supposed to have learnt this by osmosis i suppose. She asked what my surgeon had said about the way i was walking. I said he didn't look at me walking at all.

We then discussed driving and she said i should get back to it.. Out the blue... Last friday she was nodding her head about driving this week.. She says she will ring me next week to discharge me.

In my experience you are mostly on your own for follow up to this operation complications or not. Do not expect any help much unless you are prepared to get very awkward... Expect to feel down due to lack of sleep and any consistent advice.. Research it all yourself and be ready to make many of the main decisions yourself. Dont expect any interest at all from your own doctor or health centre at all. Expect to make many phone calls along the way and dont expect any joined up care..

Thanks again everyone for your support. I have had more support on this forum than any from the professionals.

Hi John, it's very sad that you've been left feeling like this. As a n urse still employed by the nhs, when you are stronger I think you should make a formal complaint to the health board, about the system. It's the only way to highlight shortcomings and maybe make it better in the future. I don't know where you live but I didn't have problems with care or aftercare but still left very much to get on with it, and got most help and info from the forum. I know as a health professional that poor staffing levels cause a lot of problems but that doesn't make it right. Good luck with your rehab, take it easy and you will find your own way despite everything.

Why Don't you contact the Pals service at the hospital. They are there for just this sort of thing. I seem to remember it's only you driving. Perhaps it would be easier to go for the first time when it's really quiet, like Sunday morning. Do some emergency stops to get some confidence. I was lucky that when I rang the ward the joint nurse was there and arranged to see me next day. I had no physio follow up but probably because they thought I knew what to do.

When I had to go for my blood test, the Gp moaned that the hospital should do it! I shall take my sharps box back on my check up.I really should progress to a stick, to save bother I shall buy one, with a nice pattern! P

Well i had thought about pals but dont feel like any more. I just want to be shot of all of this. We had a suitable stick of our own so started with it yesterday. Its a good hing that i knew i had to use the stick on the opposite side to my operated hip. Nobody told me... I have been out driving already and walked into a shop. Also ive been to the gym to reactivate my membership. I will go swimming on Monday. Driving felt fine. I havent had any blood tests since i left hospital....

It also doesnt seem like a lack of staff either its just that there arent any connections between any of them.The health centre failed repeatedly to get the district nurse out to me..the district nurse said they must have rung the wrong number and blamed the hospital for not getting it all organised. Nobody will take responsibility...the health centre cant tell you the number for the physios.. The surgeon doesnt tell the physios anything either. None of it is joined up at all. Nobody knows anything and no one will give you an explanation. I asked twice for the Practice Manager to tell me why i had to wait eight days for a district nurse to come and do my dressing.. They havent rung...i am normally very easy going and not assertive but have learnt that here in Cambridge you have to be very awkward to get much of anything sorted..

Anyway its now all behind me and i feel great today to be moving on without any more fuss

Sending you a big hug John, keep up the good work. Don't get mad.....get even!

Thanks Delina, i am moving on already and feel much better today.. Its just that i feel worried for any older person on their own...

Me too john. Thought about that a lot when I got home and how lucky I was to have family support.

I am four almost 5 weeks post op.I am an RN and even with my training was not prepared for the sleep deprivation,fatigue,lack of appetite and depression.The weather here has contributed to a lot of it (Ohio,USA) with 3 foot snow in a month and below 0 degrees with chill factos in deep minuses so more pain and more seclusion plus a propane shortage so that is being rationed and the whole house is cold so I am living in a bedroom with a space heater.2 weeks post op I was walking all over the house with walker making christmas gifts and prepared christmas food.My family had doted almost smothered me when I first came home as I continued to get stronger,8 inch incision healed nicely despite diabetes,weaning myself off my pain meds i started cooking nightly meals,light cleaning and small loads laundry. week 4 after shower was standing reaching leaning down not as much as had in past and turning a bit my hip displaced.I was down and in the most pain I had ever experiencd in my life. 911 called sheriff called plow truck to get the ambulance in and the responders included thank God a paramedic many years experience.They got me out 3 sticks later got Iv and gave me morphine. found out I was anemic and my potassium was dangerously low when at hospital.They knocked me out and put it back in the xrays showed the ball was on top the cap pressing on major nerve.Home the next day in a brace that wraps my thigh and waist and frankly angry and scared.Drs appt next week.Your postings and the replies have been godsend to me not that I would want anyone else to suffer these moods but makes me feel not so alone and even a tad bit more normal.I have begun to read other sites about hip replacement in the wee morning hours and they are encouraging and uplifting but sound like anyone in the world who did get discouraged or frustrated was just plain unusual or non existant.Blessings to you for your honesty and strength to be able to say Whoa,here am I supposed to feel this way? You sound like you have come so far and are progressing well I hope you continue. Will look forward to other posts.

Oh Sarah, i feel for you.. It isn't an easy journey and everyones journey is a different one too.. It is okay and probably normal to feel very up and down after all of this. You have had two anaesthetics now and i know what that is like.. It tires you a lot and now you have had a setback as well.. I couldn't weight bear until seven weeks after my surgery and the downs continued all of that time. I can now walk and and progressing every day but still wonder if i am doing the right thing...i didn't get to sleep adequately until a week ago.. I felt jet lagged for the previous eight weeks and i think lots of other folks have felt like this. It has got better for me eventually and i can now sleep all night on my back although i don't every night. I cant bring myself to sleep on my side yet....i am sure you will get support from others in here who were just wonderful in supporting me in my down times... We will be thinking about you. john

It sounds as if you have come such a long way and are going down the right path.keep up the good work! Thank you for your reply this site is amazing as i read what others had wisely said to you it uplifted me. I never thought of the emotional aspects of this recovery .I had prepared well as far as stocking up on food,rearranginging furniture,buying shower chairs,cane,walker,toe scrubbers,lap desk and such.Was all prepared for the physical but the emotional no.I do not know how it is there but the surgery stay,and at home have been shocked at the drugs I was given.When I dislocated the drugs again were enough to knock a horse down (thank God for that at the time) but I know those in system contributes to depression just because they work with your brain chemicals.I never gave those a thought.This site mentioned grief i was not thinking of that either as I was told 10 years ago this needed done but was kept being put off because was too young am 58 and over the years changed my life according to my pain level,gave up hobbies,changed nursing practice,so I am wrapping my mind about that too.Since you are progressing so well you must be adhereing correctly to your limits. I now have one hospital telling me stricter precautions than my hospital where the initial surgery was done so leaves me feeling a little muddled there.Pray each day will be better and thank you for your reply.

Hi sarah, sorry you've had such a hard time. I would go with the stricter precautions I think it would be worth it in the long term. But like yourself I am a nurse and had never been in hospital never mind had major surgery. It's been a big learning curve for me but I was totally unprepared for the traumatic recovery and mine was straight forward. I can only think nobody tells us how bad it is, in case it puts us off. I'm now almost 12 weeks post op and I'm good, but not rushing back to work as I don't feel 100% fit. At the start there were a few days I didn't get out of my pj's but take care, keep your chin up and it can only get better. Keep us posted on how you are doing. John's a prime example of endurance, he's had a hard time. Ps. I hate snow, poor you!