Great news Anna!  Hope you keep feeling great, do your exercises and be happy.

Hey I guess I checked in to the site just the right time. Congrats Anna!

Anna - I am glad to hear the surgery went well.  You will be back on your bike in no time!

Anna

Great to hear things are going well and are heading home.  No Place Like Home!

Take it easy and stay in touch.

Good Luck.

Pat

Anna - What a relief I bet to no more pain from the OA, and glad to hear your going home. Like Pat stated, no place like home. Can't wait to start hearing your recovery progress, which already started by being of the med's.

Congrats!

Bob

Thanks again everyone  ;D

My surgeon said pretty much the same as you did Chuck regarding the leg length. He said it may feel a little longer but it will even itself out over a bit of time when the muscles etc sort themselves out. I'm not too worried.

Yesterday was a very long day. I left the hospital around 3pm and had an hour drive to my sisters, only to sit in an uncomfortable chair for 2 hours. By the time I went to leave, my leg was just like lead. I think it had given up for the day and was completely worn out. I tried to get into my partners car and I just couldn't get my operated leg in. I sat there uncontrollably laughing for a while before eventually we managed to squash it in and we were off. I then pretty much slept most of the way home. I was exhausted. I slept for 7 hours straight at home, which is the longest sleep so far and I am now just snuggled in my lovely bed. Feeling pretty happy at the min but I have a feeling, knowing me I will be getting bored very soon!!! Gonna get up and do some physio in a bit  ;D

One question, how long was it before you could all sleep on your operated leg. Its gonna drive me crazy having to sleep on my back all the time!

Anna

...... its also been going through my mind over the past few days of the bilat hippies that got them done at the same time.... how is that possible?!!! Seriously, you guys must be super human or very strong. I think my journey so far has been good but I'm still dragging around a leg that feels like its made of lead. I genuinely do not know how you managed it but you are all great!! I'm not sure how I would have managed yesterday either without the help of my partner, family and friends and all the help from you guys. I guess I'm a lucky girl  ;D

You are a lucky girl Anna, but even lucky girls get the blues. Be ready for that as normal.

Make sure you ice, giving it enough time to rest in between. Ten minutes at a whack should be good.

As far as sleeping on my side at all , and on the operated side - it may have taken me longer than others, but I'd say four or five weeks before the unoperated side, a couple of weeks longer for the operated.

I got used to sleeping on my back, used a pillow under one or both knees to give my back a little rest.

Sounds good - I had about the same distance to travel, with my parents driving at ten miles below the speed limit, left blinker flashing the whole way, god love'em.

I could sleep on either side immediately--though it took a number of weeks before I was comfortable sleeping on the operated side--as long as a pillow is placed between the knees so as to avoid internal rotation.  In caution of the inadvertent loss of the pillow while sleeping, upon advice of my PT I bought one of those very long pillows (I don't recall what their proper name is) at Walmart for <$10 that I placed behind me so I wouldn't roll over and lose the pillow-between-the-knees configuration.  Cumbersome, but it does allow you to sleep on either side.

Good idea Elsie. I think I will buy one for future trying but at the minute I just cant seem to get on my side  :-[

Hern, I started icing today (the hospital didn't offer ice!) how many times a day do you think I should do it?

Anna

Anna, I aggressively iced myself, quite a few times. The peril here is getting frostbite, which is no joke and should be avoided at all costs.

It's why I would only do it for ten to fifteen minutes, then rest for about twenty, then repeat unless I was doing something.

I actually had the best tool for doing this. It's a homemade icepack that my home nurse suggested and I found excellent:

• Take a hand towel, wet it and wring it so it is wet, but not dripping.
• Get an appropriate sized zip lock bag.
• Fold the towel so it fits correctly within the bag flat.
• Zip and store flat in the freezer.
• Apply when fully frozen.
• When thawed, put back in the freezer, takes about fifteen minutes to freeze.
• Re do as needed, you don't need to add more liquid.

This has a few great advantages for hippies:

• No maintenance - don't need to add water, this is a closed system.
• Keeps forever. I'm still using it after three years.
• Since it's flat, it can fit comfortably under the thigh or bottom, good for hippies.
• It can be used in a car seat while driving (field tested by Hern).
• It thaws in the exact proper time to avoid frostbite - about ten minutes or less.
• Inexpensive, so you can have multiples.

I found this great. I used it at least ten to ?? times per day early on, on different parts of my leg. Once it melted, I put it back in the freezer and waited twenty minutes or so until it froze again. Gave me a nice system to ice while allowing my skin to warm up again.

Another Ice innovation is to take a styrofoam cup, fill it (not to the top) with water, invert once frozen, tear off the bottom of the cup enough to expose the ice, cover with plastic or cloth to avoid ice to skin contact, then apply lightly and for a short amount of time.  The styrofoam protects your fingers while you apply.

This is for point areas that may need it, but use cautiously, again - avoid frostbite. When done, just put it in the freezer for next time.

Hern - the fountain of knowledge as always!!!! Thanks, I will give it a try :)

Hi Anna-

Congratulations on your new hip! Sounds like a bit of a rough start, but I am wishing you smooth sailing now moving forward!  I am a Newbie on the site and my THR anterior approach, is scheduled for Aug 26th. I sure hope I don't end up with the icky syndrome.   ::)  I look forward to following your speedy recovery!

Take care.
Reno

Thanks Reno,

You probably already have the icky syndrome but you wont after the 26th August!! Good luck for your op  ;D

I echo your comments on bilat's and how they can go thru it having both done at the same time. Here I am 8 weeks post op, still have a limp, and this darn shin pain at night. I missed 5 days of PT, so I am caulking some of the slow recovery to that.

Regarding sleeping on both sides of the hip, I think for me it was around 3 weeks but wouldn't last more tan a couple of hours, and still use the pillow between the legs. My incision is still sore, and a bot hard in spots under the skin. I am curious to hear how Lauren is doing, being she was one day before me.

Oh no bestbob!! Get that PT done! Hopefully you will be back on track after a good session. I'm one week out today and I managed to sleep on my side last night for about 2 hours (with a pillow between my legs) I was chuffed to bits!! Its the little things  ;D

Hi Anna, It sounds like you are doing just fine and your attitude is fantastic. I think (and I believe others would agree) that the first two weeks are the hardest. I was 8 weeks on monday.  I had some pretty severe skin and medication allergies and I was pretty miserable. I decided I could either laugh, or cry, or sleep...and I did a lot of all three. I got off the narcotics within about a week to 10 days...they were just making my head all foggy and I did not like that at all. I napped a lot. I iced a lot. Did I say I napped a lot? For two glorious weeks it was all about me,myself and I.
I still have the cane with me because I limp when I get tired but I lose it a lot and walk around a lot looking for it. My range of motion was better almost immediately post-op and continues to improve...even though my hip restrictions won't be lifted until week 12. Couple more weeks of PT. Walk every day and am able to walk my big dog alone...it is as though he understands that things are different and he has to be careful with me. :) I do exercises at home with a balance ball, thera bands and a treadmill if the weather is icky. There ya go.... that word again. Slow and steady. I started like a jack rabbit but when the nurse (and then my PT) said they were "afraid for me"....I re-evaluated my foolish ambition and slowed my butt down. Still...I am going to come out of this in great shape! Funny thing...with all the hip and leg exercises...I'm down a size in my slacks. Can't beat that as a positive outcome!
I believe sometimes that my legs are uneven (not by much) but have been assurred that this is extremely common post hip surgery and the feeling will go away with time.
I can sleep on either side and have always been a side sleeper however...now seem to prefer sleeping on my back! And that was the hardest thing to get used to! Funny.
Take care. I have enjoyed reading this thread and wish you a wonderful recovery!

Hi Lauren, thanks. Sounds like you are doing good too!  ;D

At the minute I'm struggling to know how much is too much. I keep getting told to rest. I think people know me far too well and know I will probably over do it. I've been very good though. 8 days post op now and I've rested (and slept) loads and done the exact amount of physio I was told to do ... not too much, not too little. I left the house for the first time yesterday. My partner took me for fish and chips and we sat and ate them next to a lake near my house in the car. It was nice to get out! I then went grocery shopping with my mum this morning. I didn't do anything but follow her round, but again, it was nice to be out. I'm now just dying to get back on my bike but I guess that's a no!!!

Why are your restrictions not being lifted till 12 weeks if you don't mind me asking? Is that just your surgeons way of doing things? I cant wait for them to go. Sounds like your dog is looking after you ... and wow to losing a dress size!! All I seem to be doing is eating and know full well that I will need to go on a serious diet in a few weeks time.

I hope your recovery continues well

Anna

Well here it is guys, my ass ... lol, my well earned war wound 8 days on. I'm pretty chuffed with it to be honest. I think it looks fairly neat  ;D

 :o

Hooray for Anna!

So glad you finally got through this surgery to get relief. My only advice is don't overdo!

Keep up the good work. Everyone is different, but I found that I slept best in an antigravity lounge chair for about 4-6 weeks. I am a side sleeper too and it was about 6 weeks before I could return to a full nights sleep on my side.


Dee