Two weeks post-op and discharged!

Thanks. I am still pinching myself a little as I was anticipating the op to go ok - the odds are athat they will. But not really this well! Amazing. And if anyone is in West Yorkshire, get yourself to James Hahnel - he's a brilliant surgeon.

Thanks Nancy - me too. But if I do hopefully it will only be the other hip! It's got severe OA, but so far never been an issue. But that's lucky - not likley to be forever. And as soon as it begins to be a trouble, it's gone. I wouldn't leave it like I did the first one!

You can massage the muscles ?further away from the scar area, right down the front and side of the leg to the knee. They will be tighter. As will be the one right down your backside! But do stay away from the scar area itself until it is healed.

?I'm afraid it isn't a secret or even magic - just some of us have a faster outcome than others. "Stuff" might help, but in the end it's all down to your own personal journey. One thing for me is that I have a high pain threshold - so the lack of pain may not be entirely due to the meds, and may partly just be the fact that I don't feel pain as acutely as someone else might.

?It sounds like you are really having a rubbish time right now, but just hang on in there and push the boundary just a little every day and you'll get there. If there is a secret, I think it has to be that no matter where you start out on the journey, you just have to do a little bit more each day. If it is just one more step - celebrate it.

?Not sure why you can't take anti-inflammatories, but have you looked at natural ones? Could those help. Turmeric contains a very powerful anti-inflammatory, for example. You could try, for a time, an "insane" diet - eat loads of blueberries, pineapple, celery, beets, broccolli, salmon and curries - every one of these have anti-inflammatory qualities. And there are supplements that contain more concentrated doses of the active ingrediants - look for curcumin. But never take a supplment without telling your GP first - these are just as much medicines as the drugs created in a test tube, and there can be unexpected interactions. St John Wort, for example, is notorious for interacting with other drugs.

Good luck!

Hi Beth,

Thanks for the advice. Would you believe it after a visit from a friend today (who happens to be a district nurse) I've had a decent shower (with a double dressing just to be sure), washed my hair, got properly dressed and most importantly had a good girly catch up and I feel a million times better. My friend changed my dressing after my shower and I looked at my wound. It's really clean, most of the bruising is gone and the swelling is settling down. It's amazing how seeing a nice clean wound makes you feel so much better. It made me realise that it's nowhere near as bad as it feels. I have reduced my meds today too!

I can't take anti inflammatories due to a prior stomach ulcer, I will look into food alternatives as I had forgotten about cumin.

I still haven't made it out of the house, but I'm out tomorrow for blood tests & going to try going for a coffee while out (with a door to door chauffeur of course, as it is my first time out).

I'm so pleased I found this forum. I've been reading posts in here for months, but never thought I had anything to contribute and always to scared to ask.

Today has been a massive turning point.

Thank you everyone on here, I know your encouragement and kind words has definitely helped me.

I will try the massaging, but think I do this a bit when it aches, possibly why my swelling has gone down quite quickly.

I'm interested in your recipe for the massage oil.

Thanks again, you have really really helped me

Yasmine x

It is indeed a great feeling. I know that people said it would "cure" the pain, but I had set myself the outcome of reducing it so that I could be pleasantly surprised if I got better than that! I'm amazed at how well it is tunring out.