surgery

[osubucks]

Hello,
This is my first post to the site although I've been lurking for awhile.Have my surgery scheduled for
Thursday morning and I'm quite nervous as I've never been under the knife before.This site has provided
alot of information and am hoping everything goes well for me.I'm a 47 year old male and have the the right
hip of a 70 year old according to my doc.I have a 5 year old daughter so am looking forward to being active again
in the near future.My surgery is scheduled for 7 a.m., just wondering what the first couple days are like?
thanks

[curt]

    I always thought I was pretty tough and I've had a couple of knee clean-ups, but I was nervous too.  Had a great doc, and although it was out of my hands, he was extremely capable and I knew it...that helped a ton.  Things moved along once I got prep'd by two really nice nurses, and then all I remember was the anesthesiologist saying "lean as far forward as possible so...." zzzzzzzzzz.  Woke up and to be honest, my first thought was I didn't feel that horrible ache in my joint.  The second thought was, oh jeez so thats what a catheter feels like.
    They kicked me out in one day, and I actually thought that was fine.  Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Curt

[Tin Soldier]

There are lots of stories in Hip Stories about the first few days.  I think the key is to try your best to not worry about it.  I was nervous both times, but once you get into the pre-op area and they give you some narcotics and other stuff, you tend to get a lot less concerned.  I had very little pain in the first few days or ever really.  That's quite common. 

Stay hydrated before your 8 or so hour per-op restricted diet, plan to have some digestive shutdown from the narcotics, get the catheter as soon as they will let you, and again don't worry about it.  I know that's hard not to do, but really, it will all be fine.   

[hernanu]

I'll go with Tin on this one. I can tell you that things went well for me both times. I went under without problem and woke up one second later and I was done. I was actually shocked, since it seemed immediate. Then I felt the lack of pain in the hip and was just severely pleased.

I had some pain, I ranked it about 0-1 on a scale of 10 (10 is the worst), both times. I was on morphine for a day or so, then off it and on tylenol for the duration. The first two days I was busy as all getup, since the PT and Occupational Therapist were on me consistently. I wanted it, since I was so psyched about moving without that hip blasting me.

The leg is like a log initially, and I had some incision tenderness, but really - did not compare to OA pain in the least. It gets uncomfortable when you sit for long times, but I moved around as much as possible. I was also trying my best to avoid the catheter (my own hangup, not any problem with it), so drank as much as possible and was urinating early.

That's really about it. It's not worth worrying about, each of us is different and has a different recovery, but you're in good hands and if your recovery is like mine and many other hippys, you'll be a fully mobile hippy machine in no time.

[osubucks]

Thanks for the support, I'm sure I'll be fine just a little anxious.How long do they usually keep in the catheter?

[curt]

     Since mine came standard with Dr. Gross and his spinal (they put it in after you bonk out), it stays in no more than 24 hrs if things are ok.  Mine went in at 11:15 a.m. and was out about 07:00 a.m. the next day.  Then they took of those SCD compression socks and got me up and moving. Checked out of the hospital at 4:30 that afternoon.  I think they were tired of me smiling.  Curt

[rbt2011]

OSUBUCKs,
Congrats and best of luck to you on Thursday.  I am sure you will do great.  I am 10 years younger than you and getting it done myself in a few weeks.  While I haven't had my surgery yet and can't tell you about the pain/recovery, I can tell you this. 

The surgery probably won't be as painful as the Buckeyes loss to Purdue last Saturday.  THAT WAS PAINFUL.

[osubucks]

The loss to Purdue was a killer but hopefully we'll get a W against Penn St.

[hipnhop]

The first few days suck!!! I wasn't mentally prepared for it. I never had surgery so I didn't know what to expect.  It was hard getting good sleep because I used that thingamajig between my legs, plus in like to sleep on my stomach. Had to get used to sleeping like a vampire.

 The good news is that it gets better each day.  Once you learn all the tricks and you have all the gizmoss you need - then it is a piece of cake. For me it was all about getting two toilet seats. One for my bedroom bathroom and the other for the downstairs toilet. I was in heaven although my kids hated using it.  The next best thing was when my PT showed my how to use my crutch to lift my leg on the bed.  At three weeks I was on easy street and rapidly progressed.

[hernanu]

The first few days suck!!! I wasn't mentally prepared for it. I never had surgery so I didn't know what to expect.  It was hard getting good sleep because I used that thingamajig between my legs, plus in like to sleep on my stomach. Had to get used to sleeping like a vampire.

 The good news is that it gets better each day.  Once you learn all the tricks and you have all the gizmoss you need - then it is a piece of cake. For me it was all about getting two toilet seats. One for my bedroom bathroom and the other for the downstairs toilet. I was in heaven although my kids hated using it.  The next best thing was when my PT showed my how to use my crutch to lift my leg on the bed.  At three weeks I was on easy street and rapidly progressed.

Like a vampire?!?!?! ...    all right, you need to cut that out, slammed my knee on my desk at that one. Hilarious.