Tools to help

[kleinink]

Hi All,
I'm at day 10 and feeling fantastic.  However, I'm a freak of nature and know that my recovery has a lot to do with being fit, young, and a genetic anomaly.   What I can share is some "stuff" that helped me ready for a speedy recovery that might help some of you.
1. Ice/ Ice machine/elevation:  This is the single best thing I can recommend.  We had a Polar Care Kodiak at home because of multi-sport teens, so I packed it up and brought it with me and I have used it 4 times a day for these first 10 days with elevation.  Catching up on books and movies helps motivate me to ice and elevate.   I brought gallon zip locks and got ice after going through security for the 6 hour flight home and iced most of it, moving it around my hip, bum and quad.  That helped, too.  I am sure ice was what enabled to me start limiting the pain meds at day 4.  No need for you to be a martyr, but they give me migraines so I had to find an alternative.
2.  Cool Crutches.  Mine are Mobilegs:  Well designed, light, beautiful and the most comfortable crutches on earth.   Kevin Ware's horrible fracture and the resulting press made me notice his crutches which were a new design.  Knowing I had upcoming surgery,  I went to several design sites to see what was new in the world of mobility support.   Mobis are BOMB!  I ordered the extra skins to bling mine up Hawaiian style.   Ladies, if you are a crow like me,  there is nothing like a little bling to make the whole crutch experience more bearable.   Gentleman,  there are some cool man designs, too.  And they are COMFORTABLE.   I practiced for 2 weeks before surgery, after watching the fitting video to make sure they were properly adjusted for me.   Practice helped me strengthen my hands, as did the carpel tunnel stretches that REALLY helped.
3.  A Great Cane.   Style mitigates discomfort.  I found an Edwardian black onyx with sterling silver tabs and tips and stabilized with with a rubber cover.  It is so beautiful and fun to use.  I transition to it on day 9 because I kept forgetting my one crutch so I figured I was ready.  A few people at church today asked if it was a sword cane.  NOW THAT'S AN IDEA!!  I wish I would have thought of that sooner!  Might have made TSA interesting, though.
4. Bathroom structural help: The raised seats, well placed support structures and a plan helped me navigate the necessities.
5. Pre-surgery exercise:  My prep regime was 5 fold:  1.  isometrics, pilates style exercises to strength the area.  2.  Hot yoga for flexibility and circulation. 3. walking for fitness.  I did three 5 mile hikes with elevation gains a few days before surgery.  The down hill wasn't fun and I did use some Advil, but the uphill really helped me get strong.   I was bone on bone for 3 years so I guess I have a high tolerance for pain or a low one for inactivity, but I think staying fit helped me. 4.  Deep breathing for oxygenation, blood flow and calm.  There are several good sites on the web if you are new to this. 5.  Prayer:  mine, others, friends, etc... it helped in so many ways seen and unseen.   I prayed over Dr. G and the staff (tho they didn't know I was doing it) and it helped ease my mind as I went for the surgery by myself so it was good to remember G. was with me.

Hope that helps some of you.
e

[hernanu]

Nice post. Everything helps and glad your recovery is going so well.

Keep it up, you'll already be flagged by TSA, no need to give them more motivation. It's good to add style to a necessary piece, I like posh canes too.

Nice info on the Mobilegs, just like with shoes, anything that we can use to make the recovery and life afterwards better is a plus.

[kleinink]

Thanks.  This site has been really helpful to me so it's a pleasure to try to give a little back!

[Lauren Lee]

Thanks! I am only 6 days and counting to surgery but I have been walking my bum off and I did bling my cane. My doc doesn't use crutches but those sound really nice.
I will load some of those gallon bags with ice before I go in. Thanks!

[kleinink]

God Speed Lauren,
I'm sure this will be a life-changing month for you.   I look forward to hearing good things and to sharing in your recovery. 

[Juno]

Thanks for the information. I just ordered my crutches and cane -- never thought I'd be so excited about ordering crutches. I also did my pre-admission registration yesterday with Providence Hospital. Feel like I am on my way.

 

[hernanu]

Good luck you, Juno and Lauren Lee. You're down to the short strokes, pretty soon you'll be experienced hippys.

[kleinink]

Good luck Juno!
Did you get some skins for your Mobis?

Speaking of Hernanu's mention of shoes:  I found my Naot sandals easy to strap on with my crutch or grabber and great support.

Cheers all,
e

[bestbob]

kleinink, nice post on tools to help. my surgery is next Tue, June 18 so I am reading, reading, and oh, did I say reading all that I can to be as informed as possible. My room mate watched the surgery video on youtube and wanted me to watch it. No way was that going to happen. She even wanted to talk about the video, nope, didn't even want to hear about it.  Focused on the predictable outcome, PT, and all the tips everyone is giving to better ensure recovery goes as smooth as possible.

[kleinink]

Hope it went well, BestBob.  You should be feeling much better soon.  I am 3 weeks out and feel pretty normal.  Can sleep on both sides and through the night for the first time in 6 years.  My shoulder is killing me because I don't toss and turn all night, but if it's not one thing, it's another as Rosanna Rosanna Danna used to say.  I am thankful every day for the miracle of this hip replacement.  Incredible result so far.

[Hipster54]

I used a different brand of ice machine (Don Joy Ice Man), but I have to agree with you on the use of them, MINE was excellent. The guy that sold me mine, told me a little trick that a customer had told him.

For those who are unfamiliar with what these are, they're (or at least mine was) a little cooler that is filled to a point with ice, then with water. It has a little electric motor to circulate the ice water out through one hose & to a pad, then back to the "cooler" again through another hose.

Instead of putting ice cubes in the cooler, I used 6 bottled waters, that I opened, took a "swig" (drink) out of, put the lid back on & then froze them. For those "non-science" folks, when water freezes, it expands. If you don't pour or drink a little water out of the bottle, when it freezes it'll explode the plastic bottle or blow the lid of the ... bottle.

Anyway, 6 bottles fit perfectly in the little "cooler". Then, you fill the cooler with water, up to the line, put the lid on, plug it in & you're good to go. It works GREAT. The bottled ice lasts a LONG time. No mess, easy to swap out the bottles & if you freeze 12 bottles, you can rotate them & always have cold water. Oh yeah, there's also a little thermostat to control the temp.

I don't know about anyone else, but I also have been taking a supplement with MSM, Condroitin & Glucosamine. I 'think' it's helping my hip heal faster, but of course, I don't have anything to compare it to. I'm 59 & in "pretty" good shape. Within 3 weeks of surgery, I was off my walker & using my cane (not nearly as cool as your cane, but...) & walking 1.5 miles every day. Within 6 weeks I was doing that without my cane, but limping a bit.

Now I'm 2 months out & I just fly around without even touching the ground... Oh wait, that's when I'm dreaming. :-)

All joking aside.... Now I'm walking 2 miles at a time, with no limp at all (for the first time in over 3 years!!). I also ride 2 or 3 times a day on my recumbent bike, for 30 minutes at a time. I started with 2, 20 minute sessions & increased my way up.

Good luck to ALL who have the BHR. As with MANY folks, my only regret is that I didn't do this sooner.

[kleinink]

Thanks for the great tip, Hipster54.  I was icing as I read it and will try that tomorrow.
Keep on, keepin' on.

[Hipster54]

Glad to pass that tip along. How did it work for you? For me, it was a lifesaver. VERY simple, easy setup & clean up & the bottles last much longer than ice dumped into the machine. The guy that sold me the machine told me a customer of his told him & now he tells all of his customers.

Sharing.... It's just like Sesame Street & I'm Cookie Monster...