Winter Hip Surgery Gals: preparation & recovery

[sarasbadhip]

thanks i go for my preop the 4th of jan so i will ask if there is anything i need to have. besides my crutches i will get after surgery i have a tear and possible snapping hip syndrome, so time will tell told me wont know the whole extent of damage til he gets in there it is Dr Lassiter i am in central ny . he has a good track record he was in north carolina and duke university sports medicine so i put my full confidence in him. just was curious like shower chair i am a slow healer so i am gonna be very very careful that i dont over do it my girls are 14 and 9 so they will help when they arent in school my husband will be home over the weekend while i recover then he will have to go back to work i was reading another blog on webpage the people on there seem to have alot of pain and trouble getting around and need all kinds of help so just being cautious i guess. thanks for the support i will keep all informed

[hotchickie]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope that 2012 brings healthier hips for all of us

Thanks for the well wishes! Everything is all set for me to have this done now. The only thing is that I am battling a bit of a sinus infection/head cold. I have four full days to get rid of it and am feeling better each day now. It is just not what I needed at the moment.

Sara, welcome! I would recommend a shower chair. I used it for my last surgery and wished I had used it for my previous ones. It really helps the showering process become less horrible post-op. I got huge ice packs for my hip, heating pad for my back. I think that I have a post on my blog that might outline what I thought was needed after a hip scope too. What are you having done? Impingement removal? Labral repair (vs debridement)? Good luck with your pre-op!

I will def update on here when I am able.

[sarasbadhip]

labral tear i am getting anchors with that and impingement removal i am trying to make life as simple as possible so if i get a shower chair cause ive been told already no weight bearing for up to 6 weeks trying not to be a burden on my family ... i will be home most of the day by my self so have to make it with easiest route for things thanks for the tip and will keep everyone posted

[sarasbadhip]

just hope the weather holds up for all of us expecting and or having surgery soon .... i have had most of my surgeries during the winter so i guess its better now then in the warmer weather.. just hard getting around on crutches ... will deal take care and i hope everyone who has had their surgery are healing well and good luck to those with up coming surgeries

[SirenMoonBee]

Hey Guys, Nice to hear Janet is doing well, and Hotchickie i hope you feel better for yours and I'll be thinking of you too. Again contact me on FB or here and let us know how you get on.

Sarasbadhip welcome to the group, I defo would recommend a shower chair or bath board, and a perch/chair that you can use in the kitchen while preparing food or making a drink as this is difficult on crutches. You will need to find a way to make food and drinks and carry them with crutches as you'll be alone a lot of the time. (make it as minimum as you can as you shouldn't be alone for long) Do the minimum of trips to toilet and such as you wouldn't want to fall and be left on the floor for hours. (I've fell with my first triple pelvic and had to get kids to rescue me) For food and drink i prepared things in flasks and sandwich boxes and carried everything in a rucksack so my hands would be free for the crutches. Don't bend beyond 90 degrees for a few weeks as you can get the snapping hip feeling and it's painful while you have staples or stitches in. While recovering i would take up a hobby of reading or crafting as recovering is super frustrating if your a normally active person, which can make you want to rush things when bored and itching to go out, again i fell for this and suffered for it. But once the first 6 weeks are out of the way you'll be focused on physio and rehabbing so things get easier.

I really hope this post doesn't sound depressing or hard, as I have no experience with labral tears and debridements, only with my own surgeries which is my Femur Ost lengthening of 2 inches and my Triple Pelvic Ost which was the hardest thing i've ever done, But i did suffer a DVT too. And now I'm on week 4 post op of having my Femur Rotated in the right Hip and I'm doing so well, I'm still only part weight bearing and although i don't want to be a burden on the family, i am. I still couldn't carry a drink or anything with crutches, and i have a bath board so i have some independence with bathing. But i tire super fast so i can't do housework like before, wash unlimited amounts of washing (the bending and carrying have to go to the kids to help with) I can cook but can't dish it out. But hopefully i can go down to One crutch at my 6 week post op check up. Fingers crossed i can anyways, after i see the x-ray.

I feel so much stronger and i'm even tempted to try, but chicken out at the last min lol I do my physio everyday and i do it on both sides as they are both shockingly weak really. I'm determined this is the year i have no limp and no pain, i will be fit and active in the summer. I'm sure since my slip the leg has healed faster and stronger for it weirdly. Not that i'd like to feel that pain ever again.

Happy New Year everyone, thinking of you all xxx

[sarasbadhip]

thanks for all the advice i am off to preop wednesday i will definitly ask a few questions while there

[SirenMoonBee]

Brilliant, i always ask but never get to fully hear the answers, so i'm so nervous i forget to ask. So take a notebook that has them wrote down. Ask about the rehab plan they have for you, if any equipment at home is needed and where to get it from. If any TED stockings are needed or Blood thinners are needed, if so how long for (injections in the tummy) This sound awful but a lot better than having a dvt in the entire leg (if you survive a dvt, as they kill you) from ankle to thigh like i have from the hospital NOT giving me stockings or blood thinners the first surgery 2 years ago.

Good luck with your pre op and keep us all informed hun, Hope it goes well for you and the countdown begins for you xx

[Janet]

Hi girls,

I got back home on Sunday - great to be home for New Year's Day!

The surgery went well. I decided to have a spinal and sedation, rather than a GA. My veins were rubbish as usual, and I have several holes in various places! When I was having the spinal, it hurt at one point and felt like pressure around my SIJ. I don't normally feel a thing, but the anaesthetist thought he might have hit an nerve. Anyway, next minute, I was numb so I didn't really care!

At one point, I remember being awake and lying on my side (which is the position for surgery). I later found out that partway through the surgery, the anaesthetist thought the spinal wasn't working properly, so he did a light GA so I wasn't in pain, and did another spinal. The beauty of this was that my spinal block lasted until about 10pm that night. I'd been written up for oramorph and a PCA if needed, but all I needed was paras and codeine that night.

I had real trouble with the drip, as it was in a tiny vein, and there were no other veins to try. They wanted to run 2 bags of saline overnight, but unless I kept my hand in the exact same position, the drip stopped working. They tried to give me back my blood (about 250ml), but as blood is more viscous than saline, it just wouldn't go through the drip, so we gave up on that in the end.

I had the usual low BP, so it took a little while to get walking, but once I did, it felt amazing. It felt so strange at first to be able to FWB, although I was putting a lot of weight on the crutches anyway. The only soreness is from the muscles, especially the abductors and gluteus medius (where muscles were cut and re-attached). NO GROIN PAIN!!!!!! Mr N did warn me that I might get a bit of groin pain from the surgery, and not to worry about it, but I've only had the tiniest bit.

I've been taking diazapam at night for muscle spasms, as the physio found out that the TFL and ITB are working overtime and going into spasm. I've got some exercises to do to strengthen the quads and glutes but without the other muscles joining in. Ice packs are great for the spasms too.

I've got to use both crutches for 6 weeks, but after 4 weeks, I can wean off them in the house. Mr N has evened out my leg length, and I can already see the difference, which is great. The surgery report said that my bone was of good quality for my age, just that the cartilage was gone. I was interested to read that my femur had excessive anteversion of 45 degrees - Mr N said that the PAO was in a perfect position, so I'm wondering if the OA was partly caused by the fem anteversion. I suspect the same thing is happening in my right hip, which Mr N said we'll discuss at my 6 week check.

This is a breeze compared to open FAI and PAO surgery. The restrictions will be hard to follow in a couple of weeks, as the hip isn't very painful already, but I'm going to be a very good girl and follow then strictly, as I want the best possible outcome from this THR.

Happy New Year everyone, and HC, I hope your surgery goes very smoothly.

Janet x

[oscarsmum]

Janet,

Thats fabulous news. Its great to hear that the surgery has gone as planned, and you are home and sounding so well.

I hope you are able to take it easy and enjoy being pampered over the next few days, and the pain stays at a manageable limit. I can imagine the restrictions will be hard to stick to when everything settles down and starts to feel better, but you know how important they are so I am sure you wont be taking any unnecessary risks.

Happy New year to you too, hope 2012 brings an end to your hip problems for a very long time.
Hugs
Kate xx

[Spam1]

Sounds like everyone's surgeries are going fab this time! Debbie, got my fingers crossed for your bone healing really well at your next appt and that you can weight bear. Sara - good luck for your surgery, its a slow and frustrating process but it will be worth it in the end. Janet - hopefully see you soon for some tea and gossiping!

Thinking of you HC at the mo - best of luck for tomorrow and enjoy seeing the mountains during recovery. Fingers crossed this is the final fix for you.

I am now 5 weeks postop and doing really well (not sure where the time has gone - all my plans for doing lots of revision for exams seems to have umm not at all happened, oops!). I walked two miles at the beach (path not sand) on monday which was fab, left hip was really good, just my abductors a bit sore, right hip is grumbling but hoping that settles.

My only concern is that I can't externally rotate my hip at all... no idea why... my flexors try to engage and bend my knee but nothing else. Passively it can be ER'd fine, but I can't get it move actively. Hopefully it sorts itself out, but I dont think its weak muscles as nothing seems to be firing in my bum. I was told to keep my leg ER when sitting with it straight to let the external rotators heal well where they are reattached without tension to reduce dislocation risk, but I can only do that by flexing my knee and flopping it outwards. Maybe this is normal...? Rayray and Dee - did you have this too? Can I do anything to help? Anyhoo I have my postop check in 2 weeks so will mention it.

2012 is going to be a good hip year!
Sam xx