Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Am feeling a bit nervous with first appmt with consultant tomorrow. Recent chat with post op patient shows I will be a lot worse off before I am feeling benefits of the op. Currently not much pain if I don't do much, although have had to give up dancing recently. Will someone out there please tell me their post op experience was not too bad and I should definitely go and get it sorted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Hi Margaret, I've not been following all of this thread, but my personal experience is that I was IMMEDIATELY feeling MUCH better off after the operation. The hip pain disappeared straight away, I was walking without my previous limping gait and knowing that I would soon be able to take up all my former activities again, over-rode any minor discomfort following the operation. Of which there was truthfully very little. Every patients experience is different, but 4.5 years later, I'm still hopping, skipping and jumping and sincerely urge you not to be put off by the thought of post-op discomfort. Just think about your future life of pain-free dancing! Good luck!! (McMinn BHR's 11/99 + 12/00) > Am feeling a bit nervous with first appmt with consultant tomorrow. > Recent chat with post op patient shows I will be a lot worse off > before I am feeling benefits of the op. Currently not much pain if I > don't do much, although have had to give up dancing recently. Will > someone out there please tell me their post op experience was not too > bad and I should definitely go and get it sorted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Hi, Margaret. I had the total " freak out " nervous jitters before I had my surgery. I mean, once this thing is done, there's no going back -- right? I first investigated Total Hip Replacement -- saw a surgeon. And really had a melt down. When I found out (by way of this group) that resurfacing was not only possible, but was so successful for so many people -- I committed to that right away. There's no " going back " from this procedure, either. But WHO WANTS TO GO BACK??? I knew that my OA would only get worse. I was bone-on-bone and the pain got so bad that I couldn't do anything without heavy pain meds. And even they gave me limited relief. Meanwhile, crunch/crunch on the bones. I must say that the surgery and post-op experience were nothing to fear and certainly no reason to avoid the surgery. I, personally, had a reaction to the morphine drugs -- but the vast majority of folks don't have that. (And I had insomnia for about 3-4 weeks.Melatonin and Kava-Kava took care of that.) If I factor out that drug reaction, the post-op stuff was not a big deal. Physically, I was up walking the day after surgery. I went home on the 3rd day. I DID have this fear of doing something stupid to screw it up: move wrong and break the femoral neck, etc. A call to my surgeon's office reassured me that the surgery went extremely well, the joint was good, and all I had to do was rest for awhile to begin the healing process. I was encouraged to " go to the mall and walk around. " The pain was practically non-existent. Absolutely NO joint pain. The incision site only got achy when I " over did " walking. Tylenol took care of that. The biggest problem I had was figuring out how to put on my socks and shoes! Little-by-little, I got more at ease with having this implant. Little-by-little, I began to be able to do the simple things. Throwing out the raised toilet seat was a Red Letter Day! I was driving by the 2nd week, went back to work at 6 weeks, and I'm now 8 weeks post-op and walking up and down stairs without any aid except the handrail, raking leaves in my back yard, dancing a bit to Aretha lin, reminding myself to grab my cane on the way out the door. AND I HAVE NO JOINT PAIN AT ALL. The incised muscles are still healing, but that is totally " bearable. " I'm glad I had this procedure. It's given me back to myself in so many ways. Surgery is never " fun. " And that first week was kind of scary because I was so mindful of being limited (i.e., fragile). It's trauma to the body, no doubt. But recovery is fast. And the rewards are huge. Joyce (Dr Gross, LHR, 2/2/04) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 At 10:52 AM 3/30/2004 +0000, you wrote: >Am feeling a bit nervous with first appmt with consultant tomorrow. >Recent chat with post op patient shows I will be a lot worse off >before I am feeling benefits of the op. Will >someone out there please tell me their post op experience was not too >bad and I should definitely go and get it sorted! Ok, My experience with my first hip went thusly. Had the op on 5/25/01. Declined the offer of a morphine pump as my hip felt fine--my only complaint was some pain in my knee. Used Vicodin and Vistoril for a couple of weeks. Out of bed and walking with crutches the next day. Home three days later (low blood count kept me an extra day), back to work full time two weeks after the op. I was always leaving the crutches leaning against the wall about 2-3 weeks post op. Started swimming about three weeks post op, then four weeks post op, had the other one done.... Cindy C+ 5/25/01 and 6/28/01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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