D-day quickly approaching

[whyme]

Hi Scott,
As Granton, I had some fever (around 38C, or 100.5F) not immediately after surgery, but about 4 days after, and it lasted for 3 days or so as well. It wouldn't last all day, just towards the evening I would feel feverish and then it would be ok in the morning again.

The first day I used the thermometer just to confirm, but I knew. The visiting nurse told me it was quite normal.

I guess if the temperature persists through the day and tends to be high, it's no harm to check with the medical staff.

[bosoxgordon]

Well the fever broke this morning. My temp is normal now. I'm still feeling pretty weak and queasy. Haven't been able to eat much today. Been laying down most of the day. I haven't taken any pain meds today. I thought the pain meds might have been contributing to me not feeling well. My pain levels are actually pretty low right now. I just feel like I've been through the ringer. My appetite is almost non-existent. Anyway, that's where I am right now. I'm able to move my leg more now but am just feeling a little sick.   

[Juno]

Scott....I am. RN (28 year of ICU experience). A fever post op is not unusual, especially later afternoon time frame. As long as it doesn't last and you have no other symptoms you are likely ok. If it is stilly aging around after a few days or is greater than 102, then I would consult Dr. Gross or your primary health care provider.

Chills and night sweats are common after surgery as your body responds to the anesthesia and narcotics.

Sounds like you're doing well. Lay low and rest.

[whyme]

I wasn't very hungry for a few weeks after surgery, i.e. I ate without appetite most of the time. The NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) I think had an effect, as they upset the stomach a bit. But I had to take them (mandatory) for 3 weeks, they help avoiding heterotopic ossification around the prosthesis.

It's good you've less pain now.

[bosoxgordon]

I have to say I'm surprised at how difficult these first few days have been. My fever is back tonight. It's low grade but comes back every night. I can deal with the pain but having a fever just makes me feel horrible. I am a little more mobile, I'm actually able to get in and out of bed on my own even though I have to go very slowly. I guess I'm surprised at how much this surgery has sent my whole body into shock. I feel as though the way I feel has gone downhill the last couple days. I haven't taken any of the strong pain meds today on the off chance I was having a reaction to them. Another problem I'd like to solve is the lack of bowel movements this causes. Anyway, that may be too much info but it's a real part of the recovery that can really effect how one feels.

[Miguelito]

Scott,

I am really sorry to hear that about the fever and the other problems. I did not have either and it was tough enough. I did have the night sweats. Never took my temp but I don't think I had one, certainly not like you are having.

This is the tough part. It is all up hill from here, it really is. I still haven't had the fortitude to watch an HR on video, and as I have one more in my future, I don't think I will. But even in the hands of the best surgeon your femur gets dislocated, the largest muscle in your body gets sliced apart. You just went thru major surgery and best case scenario there is a lot of trauma that will take months to heal, and perhaps a year to be 100%.

I hope the fever and other issues resolve themselves ASAP. Just pass the time anyway you can for the next few days. For me it was mindless television, but not flipping channels. Just hour after hour of some series you like on DVD, Netflix. Maybe A&E or Biography, they're always running a marathon. That's all I got to offer.

I remember after my surgery I became a night owl. I would be up in the middle of the night, watching TV, checking this forum. Once I got to respond to someone who was posting from Australia because I was clearly the only person in the US up at that time.

Anyway, good luck tonight!

Mike

[bosoxgordon]

Last night was another long night but I do seem to be feeling better this morning. I've been trying to move around more and get the blood flowing. I was still not feeling great early this morning but as the day goes on I seem to be feeling better. I think it's easy to underestimate how much of a shock this or any other surgery is to your system. Between all the physical trauma and the laundry list of medications it's no wonder I wasn't feeling well. Anyway, today seems like it might be a good day so I'm hopeful I can get outside and stretch my legs a little. Even if it is only for a few hundred feet it will be good to get some fresh air. I was really feeling bad the last couple days but hopefully this is the beginning of an upward trend.

[obxpelican]

For sure, you need to get moving as soon as your body allows, you will progress very quickly once you get out and get walking and you will probably not need any PT.


Chuck

[whyme]

Hi Scott,
As mentioned, I had some intermittent fever for 3-4 days (from day 4 or so), sleep was bad for a while, and had to take some laxative after 5 days. This won't change your circumstances, but at least you know we understand your situation. It will get better!

[bosoxgordon]

Thanks for the support everyone. This is obviously a difficult and scary time early in the recovery. My pain levels have been pretty good today. I've been able to "crutch" around the house pretty easily. If it wasn't raining cats and dogs outside most of the day, I would have gone outside. I'm finding that the worst symptom I'm dealing with right now is some light headedness and vertigo. This also means whenever I try to eat something I feel like I'm going to vomit. I haven't taken any pain killers since early this morning in hopes that it would put the vertigo and queasiness at ease. So far no relief. I'm planning on calling the doctors office in the morning but thought I'd ask if any of you have had experience with this. I can deal with a little pain but that vertigo/queasy feeling really makes me feel bad. With all the medications I'm taking I'm sure something is having a bad side effect on me. Anyway, the leg/hip is feeling good for only being 4 days out of surgery. I just wish I could shake this dizziness.

[Juno]

Scott, I had dizziness and vertigo for about one week. You can likely attribute it to several things: In a nut shell it has to do with changing of positions. You're in a recliner or in bed quite a bit and changing to a standing position causes orthostatic hypotension....this means your blood pressure doesn't equilibrate quickly enough with a position change. This is generally due to dehydration, blood loss from surgery, and medications. Lower blood pressure causes dizziness, vertigo and nausea. Your blood pressure will equilibrate, just not as fast as normal.

I also recall that my appetite was minimal for a few weeks. I just tried to eat healthy foods and stay hydrated. Gatorade helps! For about 2 weeks I drank 1/2 Gatorade and 1/2 water mixed.

What may help:
Stay well hydrated (I drank water like crazy 2-3 weeks post op). When getting ready to change positions (laying to sitting or sitting to standing), do it gradually and slowly. Sit in the edge of the bed for 2-3 minutes before standing. I think you will find that once you are totally off narcotics it will help a lot. Typically patients do lose blood during joint surgery --- check your post op report for "estimated blood loss" -- even 100cc loss can cause you to feel dizzy. Your hemoglobin will re-equilibrate naturally but it takes a few weeks. My hemoglobin was 13.5 pre-surgery and 11.0 post op. Lee had me taking iron supplements for a month post op.

I hope that helps. It does sound like you are doing well! You will feel so much better by day 10.
Juno

[bosoxgordon]

Juno,

Thanks for the great response. That makes sense based on what I'm feeling. In fact, before I read your response I suspected my BP was low and got out our BP monitor. Normally my BP is around 130/80. Right now my BP is 110/60. I thought something was going on with my BP. I'm normally not a cold natured person but all night I've been freezing. I've been bundled up on my lazy boy chair and can't stop feeling like I'm freezing. Usually it's my wife complaining that it's too cold.  :) it does make me feel better that this is a normal thing for post surgery.

I never did get a post-op report from Lee or Dr. Gross. Maybe that's something I need to call about. It might be something they have overlooked with the outpatient option. I know when I asked Dr. Gross the next day about what size & angle implant he ended up using he realized he forgot to include that in my paperwork. I did get the Biomet Uncemeted. I know that at least.  ;D

[hernanu]

Hey Scott, there's a lot to keep track of. One thing that helped me early on was to be on the horn with the doctor's office whenever something bothered me.

I was a pest and proud of it. Part of the recovery is to have a clear mind. Everyone here helped me, but I also needed the feedback from the surgeon's office. So I called whenever I needed to, and I decided to be vocal about it, since I didn't know what was important and what wasn't at the start.

That helped greatly to check on things that I felt but was uncertain of. I only was a pest for a few weeks, but I figured that was part of the peace of mind that I needed. Along with all the great support and advice that I got from some great hippies here.

[bosoxgordon]

Hello all,

I'm sorry I haven't posted recently. It's been crazy around here with me focusing on my recovery and Thanksgiving. I'm just shy of three weeks post op and feeling pretty good. I will say that the first week was very tough. I had to deal with a lot of symptoms I was not expecting. I will say that the help of the good folks out here was amazing! I feel like a got more support from this forum than I did from my doctors office at times. It always takes time to get phone calls returned from the doctors office but all of you out here are quick to respond and have a wealth of experience and knowledge with all of this. I say all of that to say a big THANK YOU!

After about the one week mark I seem to have turned a corner. I started healing quickly and very quickly went from crutches to a cane. I am almost three weeks out now and still use a cane but can go short distances without a cane. I have been doing my walking as Dr. Gross wanted. I actually walked 1.5 miles this past Saturday and felt pretty good. Most of my pain is now around the incision area and a little groin pain at times. The hip is obviously still weak and at times feels loose. I actually feel so good now that I have to be careful about the restrictions. Whereas pain and stiffness used to keep me from bending the hip past 90 degrees, now I can bend it past 90 if I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. I'm trying to be very deliberate with my movements and not exceed any limitations.

I have noticed the infamous "clunking" sensation some of you have referred to. It's only at certain times or when I move a certain way (usually in a standing position). Anyway, based on what I've read out here it doesn't seem to be something to worry about too much but I thought I'd mention it just to see what some of you have to say about that.

I'm gonna go now and get my walking in to help this hip get back to full strength. Thanks again for all the help out here. It's really kept me sane during this difficult time.

[hernanu]

Sounds like things are going well and as expected, Scott.

I'm glad you're walking, make sure you work on the gait, since you don't want to pick up bad habits. Otherwise, sounds good.

As no doubt you've seen in other topics, clunking is normal and a diminishing fact of life for some of us.

[Miguelito]

Hi Scott,

Yeah, that first week (and second week) are very tough, there's no getting around it. The arthritis pain being gone is the only consolation in the early going (in my experience).

Clunking: I had read about it and was wondering if these little sensations I was getting were clunking. Then I clunked and knew immediately that that was clunking. Mine just faded over time. I don't recall exactly when it was completely gone, but certainly by a year. I am at almost twenty months, and (besides the scar) the only way I can tell the difference between my implant and the original equipment (besides the lack of joint pain) is that the implanted leg tends to drift when I am cornering (while walking, I do not run) I guess when it is the outside leg. Clunking seems so profoundly mechanical when it hapens that it is hard to imagine it just going away. It did in my case and from what I have read, the vast majority of people.

I am sorry you had trouble getting through to the doctors office. The one time I felt the urgent need to (when I was concerned about some lower back/hip pain) he called me himself within a few hours and, though I missed him, left a very detailed message giving me his opinion. The pain went away shortly thereafter, forget what it was now.

I am glad to hear things are slowly improving. The hard part is behind you, no doubt. Congratulations. There may well be a setback or two in your next few weeks. At one point, maybe weeks 2 to 4, or 3 to 5, I forget, I felt like I was actually behind where I had been two weeks or so earlier, but I imagine it is not uncommon to have a recovery that is not perfectly linear.

Keep up the good work!

Mike

[bosoxgordon]

Well today was a tough day in that I've been fighting discouragement about feeling like a crippled old man at 41. I absolutely hate this cane and cannot wait to throw it in the rubbish. I've grown to hate going out anywhere because it feels as though people look at you differently when your walking with a cane. Anyway, in an effort to fight the blues I went to a nearby park, put my headphones on and just walked and walked trying to rehab this hip. I felt pretty good, just a few twinges here and there. I actually tried walking without the cane a little bit too. For the first time I feel like I'm strong enough to do that. I am still scared I'm going to hurt something and don't totally trust my new hip. I suppose that will come with time.

I've notice something that I think I've read about out here before but thought I'd mention to see if anyone out here had some feedback. I've noticed that as I'm walking I have the strange sensation that my operative leg is a little longer than my other leg. I'm just wondering if anyone has an explanation for this. I wonder if it's because I may have been walking out of balance for a few years favoring the arthritic hip and now I'm having to rebalance how I walk. Anyway, I'm sure it will start to feel normal as I walk more. It's just a strange thing I thought I'd mention.

[Juno]

Scott,
I recall feeling the same way. It does get discouraging, but it will get better. I recall that I was still using my cane at my 6 week check with Lee. She told me to walk out of the office without my cane and that I didn't need it anymore. I think I just needed the reassurance :). Sometime in the next few weeks you will feel stronger and will be walking sans cane. I'll bet by Christmas.

My theory of the leg feeling longer is this: swelling within the hip capsule makes the leg feel longer. That swelling can last for weeks (even once the outer, surface swelling is gone). That feeling does go away. Try to concentrate on walking straight, one foot in front of the other and no sway in your gait. It helps.

I hope I can remember all this positive stuff in  5 more days after I have my left hip surgery and am feeling sorry for myself :)

[lgbran]

Scott,
Monday marks 4 weeks for me since surgery. Was having a rough trot about a week ago. Feeling very flat. Had physio on Monday and since then turned the corner. Walking 3 lots of 400 metres but when I feel tired have a nap. Every day getting better and better. You will lots of support, information here and don't be afraid to vent. I've a week and a half til my crutches are ditched and have some trecking poles purchased on EBay as my next walking aid. Be kind and take it easy. Just had a couple of wet dismal days here so didn't walk much at all.
Keep on posting and all the best in your ongoing recovery







Kin

[Miguelito]

Scott,
I think the leg length thing is real. I think you ARE actually a bit taller on that side after surgery. I could be wrong, but the operated hip has gone from being slightly shorter than the other one (because of the loss of cartilage and perhaps even labrum and bone) to slightly longer than the other one because it has been restored to more or less its original position before being worn down. And now not only is it significantly (feeling wise, not actual length) longer than it was before, it is even a little longer than the other hip/leg because that one likely has arthritis too, just not as bad as the hip you just had replaced.
I felt taller post surgery. That faded over time because I think you just get used to it. Swelling could be involved as someone else mentioned, don't really know. I could also be dead wrong with my "theory".
I liked the sensation. What guy doesn't want to be taller?
Mike