Aerial's post-op story

[Aerial]

I honestly don't know how people do it who travel for this surgery and then travel home a couple of days later.  I really struggled through yesterday and last night.  I simply can't get comfortable at all.  My hip, thigh and lower back is super swollen.  I cut back on the meds because because I was getting nauseous (to the point of throwing up) from them (I am 125 pounds). However, I don't feel like pain is controlled.  I might call Dr. gross's office today.  I can usually handle things well but I am struggling with pain.  The post op directions say swelling will increase over post op days 3 and 4 so maybe I am just on the difficult end of things. Just venting to people who have gone through it. 

[hernanu]

I feel for you Aerial, definitely call Dr. Gross. I called my surgeon quite a bit early on, felt absolutely fine about it. Maybe they can give you something for the nausea so this early pain can be treated.

The swelling does go down, how's the icing going?

[MGM]

I said the same thing in a previous post...couldn't imagine airline travel on top of the pre-op pain/immobility as well as the challenging early post-op period.

One thing that struck me when you posted after your surgery was the limited amount of time you spent in the hospital. Wasn't sure if that was for insurance reasons or the typical protocol of your surgeon, but a day or two longer would've allowed for a very effective anti-inflammatory such as Toradol to be given via IV. That worked wonders for me since it controlled the pain/swelling while bypassing the stomach. Like you, I also don't react well to the side effects of narcotic pain relievers so I insisted on alternatives, both in/out of the hospital.

I agree that a call to your surgeon's office is the next step. Was a visiting RN ordered for your first couple of post-op weeks? Perhaps you could be given a home IV to make sure you're getting adequate nutrition/hydration as well as a non-narcotic like the one mentioned above for swelling/pain to get you over the hump.   

[Woodstock Hippy]

Hang in there Aerial, things will start getting better soon.  You need to be taking your pain medication though.  If what the doc gave you isn't working, you need to call him and have him prescribe something else. 

When I swelled up in the hospital they had me keep icing every hour.  I swelled again at home and I did that same thing and it was gone after one day.  Hope it helps

[Boomer]

Woodstock is right. I lived in my Game Ready ice pants for the first five days and had limited swelling, bruising and pain. The Game Ready machine is gone but I still use bags of frozen peas or corn whenever sitting.

Hang in there Aerial. Pain improves every day. It's the first sign of progress. Yesterday was one week for me and I needed no pain medication. I medicate now only before going to physical therapy. I have a low tolerance for pain. A couple a days more and you will be feeling much better.

I had the same feelings you are having the day I came home from the hospital. I was so miserable that I wanted my wife to take me back to the hospital so I could get some rest and better pain management.

I hope things turn for you very soon.

Boomer

[curt]

     Aeria, lI had thoughts of staying in the hospital, but no one offered (saw Dr. Gross and Lee in morning, Pt in afternoon, gone soon after that).  At first I was glad to leave the land of catheters behind, but missed falling asleep (medicated) to the slow, sweet chirps of the BP monitor!
     In the end my home worked out fine, as I sat in my ice pants and slept on the couch.  Other than sleeping, I was anxious to get home.  Hang in there and ice it baby!!

Curt

[Dan L]

The suggestion to call the doc is a great one.  Uncontrolled pain will delay healing.  Perhaps a pain patch might work?

One night inpatient seems way too short to me also, and the toradol also helped me incredibly the first couple of days, it was the only thing that knocked down the intense pain in the joint area in the first 12-36 or so hours.  I stayed 2 nights and after night 1 at home, I felt I should have stayed 3 nights.

If you are not icing, do that and keep it on as much as you can; I replaced mine every 2 or so hours for first 10 - 14 days (while awake) and when I went to bed, I had a fresh set of 2-3 small or 2 large icepacks, and that helps alot with the swelling and pain.

The swelling and bruising are incredible to see and a bit scary, I had never seen anything like it, first hand.  The bruising for me continued to expand outward and downward (all the way to my ankle) for at least a week.

Keep your chin up, it will get better, but if you are miserable, make sure the medical team helps you get to a controlled status with pain.

[Pat Walter]

You should not be in pain and should not be nauseated.

Call Dr. Gross and ask for other pain meds that don't make you sick.  Also also ask for meds to stop the nausea.

If you need to, call you family doctor for nausea medicine.

Do not be miserable.  Healing does not occur well when you are in pain.

Call now and get help.

[Aerial]

Thanks all. I did call the office and got an anti-nausea prescription called in.  I have taken my first dose of that along with nuycenta (extended pain release) and nuycenta 4-6 hour pain relief.  I'm going to see if I can tolerate the pain meds with the anti-nausea medicine.  So far, it seems better.  I also have being laying down, toes above nose, and icing diligently today (i probably should have iced more yesterday).  I feel much better than this morning (the night was very long). If I still have trouble the office said they would move me to another prescription pain medication. I have had the nausea thing going on since the day after surgery.  I only live a short distance from the hospital and managed to throw up twice on the way home (as soon as the car started to move).

PS- I have still been faithful to the post-op exercises and did a short walk outside today. Even going though all the pain med troubles, my hip seems so much more stable and my foot points straight ahead (that's what makes it all worth it). My leg length was increased 4 millimeters which might seem small but leads to a more stable gait.

[curt]

    Sounds like some positive improvement Aerial.  Keep working it.  Curt

[Aerial]

Wow, time goes by quickly.  I'm post op day four already.  Last night was way better than the night before.  In fact I only had to get up once.  The anti nausea medicine has done the trick and allowed me to take the pain meds as prescribed.  With enough pain meds in me I can control the pain.  Lesson learned, stay ahead of the pain.  I'm at the point now that I am sick of lying down and sitting but at the same time my body isn't ready for much more.  My swelling might have peaked.  My rear end doesn't look any bigger today than yesterday.  I do however, have pain down the side of my thigh and calf all the way to my ankle.  Again, I am amazed at those of you who do two hips over the course of a week!  Maybe I'm just a whimp!  My goal for the day is a slightly longer walk and my husband and I might make a quick drive to Starbucks just to get out of the house (he needs to make good on a football bet we had!).  Thanks for all the support.  I'm thinking by this time next week, I'll be much better able to appreciate that the arthritic pain is gone!

[Aerial]

By the way, I was looking at my operative report and there is a section on hardware that states:

Biomet magnum 50/44 and recap HA 44.  I assume these are sizes of the device. Does anyone know how to interpret this? 

My incision is listed as 4 inches.  I was wondering as it is covered and I can't see it. 

[curt]

Same incision size that Dr. Gross did for me.  Amazing considering what went on in there!!  Sizes are reference to magnum cup (outside and inside diameter) and femoral component (outside diameter that fits in cup) both in millimeters.

Curt

[curt]

    I think typical (not sure how big you CAN go?) of a THR is about 28mm.

Curt

[Aerial]

Yeah....half mile walk today!  Very slow and using two crutches but I'll take it!  The "monkey fist" incision area is talking to me a bit.  I can tell I have more range in my hip and that it will take some conscious retraining of my gait to get out the "protective" limp I had going into surgery.  What a difference a day makes.

[Luanna]

Congratulations on the walk and on feeling better today! Hope the monkey fist goes away quickly....

Luanna

[Kiwi]

Hi Aerial
Glad your meds are sorted - too early to go off them! As you say, keep ahead of the pain. It really is a balancing act as meds early on allow you to exercise relatively pain free. The risk is then there to over do the exercise.
Build up slowly.... unlike me! I got carried away with long walks too early & paid for it.
All the best,
Simon

[Aerial]

I all the sudden feel like a problem child!  I did a walk yesterday (which felt really good, see earlier post)but then had a horrible muscle spasm come on about 15 minutes after finishing.  I literally could not sit or lay down comfortably.  I also could not put weight onto operated side. I finally got into a face down position on the bed and put some frozen vegatable bags onto my back side.  I called the doctor and spoke with the nurse.  She phoned in some medicine for muscle spasms.  Since I could not put weight on my leg she had me go in for an X-ray this morning to make sure that nothing had slipped or that I had something like a fracture.  The X-ray showed that the implant looked fine so I guess it really was a spasm which totally locked up my leg.  I was told that spasms aren't that unusual because so many people have a altered gait before surgery.  When you begin to walk, you often call into play muscles that haven't been used.  Needless to say, this was a scary experience.

[Kiwi]

Main thing is your X-ray is okay Aerial! The body has been through a lot so try and take easy especially early on. I too was worried about my damaging my new hip when I ran with no crutches during an earthquake on day 10. These hips are strong and it would take something like a rugby tackle or major fall to damage them. It's the muscles that are weak right now. Slowly build up, you'll be fine.

[Luanna]

Ouch! Spasms are no fun. At 11 weeks I was feeling so good.....that I over did..swimming, stationary bike, leg press, treadmill. Yikes....my back locked up and went into spasm and for 2 solid weeks I thought it would never let up. Finally, with some aleve and a muscle relaxer it did within a few days of starting the medication. I was sure that my hip was fractured or that the cup had slipped..... didn't. As you say - very scary.

I'm turning into a problem child as well. I call or email my doc's assistant at least once a week with a new question. She has been very patient with me so far. I'm at 14 weeks now and find that I am still early in my recovery. 

So - lesson learned - go slowly and when you feel really really really good kick back a bit and take note of how much you are doing. Now that I'm feeling good again I'm headed to the gym for a very LIGHT workout.

Luanna