Re: occupational therapy/alone after a bilateral

[Guest guest]

> I'm scheduled for a bilateral

> on April 20. I'm single and live alone (except for my dog, who is

> going to be of no assistance whatsoever in this ;-) ). I haven't quite

> figured out how I'm going to manage the first 2-3 weeks post-op. I

> think I can count on friends to drop by once a day or so, but I'm

> mainly going to be on my own. Any suggestions?

>

Hi Steve,

Do you have any friends who have a spare bedroom and would let you

stay at their home for the first week out of the hospital? It would

make an enormous difference to have someone around most of the time. I

don't think it's at all wise for you to be on your own after such

major surgery.

Alternately, do you have any relatives or friends who could come

and stay at your place for the first couple of weeks? Or could you pay

a caring college student or a retired person a small stipend just to

stay at your place overnight and help out in the morning and evening?

At about 2.5 weeks post-op, just when I thought I was starting to

cope fairly well (and I only had one hip done), I woke up one night

around 3 A.M. with a major panic attack (maybe a late reaction to the

morphine, I don't know, I haven't ever had an attack quite like this

before) and was gasping for breath plus wracked with abdominal pain.

When I tried to get up to go to the bathroom, I passed out and dropped

sideways towards the floor like a lead weight. Luckily my loud gasping

had woken my partner, and he caught me just before I crashed down on

my new hip. This kind of thing could happen to you. Several other

hippies have reported major bad reactions after the anaesthetic and

other strong drugs. This is a serious operation. You probably cannot

imagine how weak and tired you will feel at first. Even if you have to

pay someone, it's an invaluable investment in your recovery.

Hope that the surgery goes well for you,

n

rBHR Oct.03 McMinn

[Guest guest]

Steve,

very useful tips can be found on " our " ('s) base website

www.activejoints.com subject " Life after Surgery " . The site contains

many other valuable subjects. From some of the questions that come

up repeatedly on this board it looks like not many people are

familiar with this excellent source of information.

About sleeping: even with a single resurface I found getting in/out

of bed a real chore and it must be many times worse with a bilateral.

Tips:

- sleep in a recliner first few weeks (electrically operated ones can

be rented).

- if sleeping in a (RAISED!) bed, you will still benefit from a

monkeybar/trapeze. I had a simple one constructed. See my message

22011 for details.

- I slept in the guest bed room for 2 months because I did not need

the extra burden of worrying about disturbing my partner (I realize

that may be not be your biggest problem .

- to avoid having to get up various times during the night due to the

ample intake of water even during the night (very low blood count)I

had 2 urinals nearby the first 2 wks (got them from the hospital).

Better safe than sorry.

Ed

Mont RC+ Nov 03

Mont

> > I'm scheduled for a bilateral

> > on April 20. I'm single and live alone (except for my dog, who is

> > going to be of no assistance whatsoever in this ;-) ). I haven't

quite

> > figured out how I'm going to manage the first 2-3 weeks post-op. I

> > think I can count on friends to drop by once a day or so, but I'm

> > mainly going to be on my own. Any suggestions?

> >

> Hi Steve,

> Do you have any friends who have a spare bedroom and would let

you

> stay at their home for the first week out of the hospital? It would

> make an enormous difference to have someone around most of the

time. I

> don't think it's at all wise for you to be on your own after such

> major surgery.

> Alternately, do you have any relatives or friends who could come

> and stay at your place for the first couple of weeks? Or could you

pay

> a caring college student or a retired person a small stipend just to

> stay at your place overnight and help out in the morning and

evening?

> At about 2.5 weeks post-op, just when I thought I was starting

to

> cope fairly well (and I only had one hip done), I woke up one night

> around 3 A.M. with a major panic attack (maybe a late reaction to

the

> morphine, I don't know, I haven't ever had an attack quite like this

> before) and was gasping for breath plus wracked with abdominal pain.

> When I tried to get up to go to the bathroom, I passed out and

dropped

> sideways towards the floor like a lead weight. Luckily my loud

gasping

> had woken my partner, and he caught me just before I crashed down on

> my new hip. This kind of thing could happen to you. Several other

> hippies have reported major bad reactions after the anaesthetic and

> other strong drugs. This is a serious operation. You probably cannot

> imagine how weak and tired you will feel at first. Even if you have

to

> pay someone, it's an invaluable investment in your recovery.

> Hope that the surgery goes well for you,

> n

> rBHR Oct.03 McMinn