Recovery Between Surgeries

[Guest guest]

I posted earlier that Dr Greidanus will be giving me a new Durom hip

on March 9th. He will give me a new left hip in September.

My question to everyone is how do people get on inbetween surgeries?

My Dr. says at least 3 months for right hip to heal, maybe longer

because of severity of left hip. I am on disability from work and

right now use 2 crutches to get around. After the 3 months, would I

be well enough to return to work for a couple of months, or would I

be better off continuing the healing process & returning to work

after the 2nd hip is healed.

I consider my health to be my #1 priority & don't want to find that

going back to work inbetween surgeries could be uncomfortable for my

still-to-be operated on leg. But, I also want to ensure my employer

knows I am keen to return & they don't forget about me!

Pat

[Guest guest]

My question to everyone is how do people get on inbetween surgeries?My Dr. says

at least 3 months for right hip to heal, maybe longer because of severity of

left hip.

Pat,

A lot of it depends on what you do and how strong you are. I work in an office,

and hadn't been at my job for very long, so had only vacation time and a few

days of sick leave built up. I had my first hip done and was back to work after

two weeks. Two weeks later, I had the second hip done. Because of low blood

count and its accompanying weakness, I spent a week in the hospital. I was home

for another two weeks, then back to work half time for a week (I couldn't sit

comfortably for the entire day). One week at half time, then back full time. I

think I also missed two choir rehearsals and one or two bell rehearsals. I was

on crutches for seven months, and a cane for a few months after that (went on a

Caribbean cruise on crutches-hiking, snorkeling, etc.), but was far more active

than I had been pre-op.

If I had to do it over again, it would have been nice to take a bit more time

between the two hips (but we had reasons for doing it the way we did), and would

have stayed off work for perhaps another week, maybe two.

Cindy

C+ 5/25/01 and 6/28/01

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