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Hip replacement help

suzksell
suzksell Posts: 48 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
On June 15th I will have my hip replaced. I am very excited to have the surgery done because I have been in constant agony for 10 years. I am only 41 years old, and lived a VERY active life prior to my injury. Since then, exercise has been increasingly more difficult as my hip has fused. I know that recovery is much easier these days than it was even a few years ago, and my doctor has graciously started me on physical therapy so that I will already know how to do the exercises after surgery.

Is there anyone else out there who had a hip replacement? I am just looking for people who can help support and motivate me during recovery. My husband is deployed to Iraq and will not be here for my surgery. I have two kids who will be of some assistance, and some great friends who are on a rotation schedule to be at my beck and call. What I don't have are people who are in the process of trying to lose weight who have been through this before. If there's anyone out there who can be "with" me during this time, I sure would appreciate it!

Replies

  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    My grandmother had to have both of her hips replaced several years ago (not at the same time). I know she went through a lot afterwards in recovery.

    Hang in there! :)
  • mjtbb
    mjtbb Posts: 77 Member
    Hi Suzanne:
    Hip replacements are major surgery and pretty hard on you the first couple of weeks. The rehab is not as bad.
    It will be the best thing you ever done, your pain will be gone the first day. I had both my hips replaced twice. My first time was in 1990 and 91 one a year. I had revisions(redos) in 2003-4. A lot of the recovery depends on the reason you needed them in the first place. I have RA and my first time I was 24. It was a nightmare because I lost so much blood I could'nt get my head up. I was in the hospital 2 weeks and had to have a transfusion. The hip part was a breeze compared to all the other issues. No pain, you are walking as soon as you can get up. The rehab was hardly painful compared to what you already went thru before surgery. My second one didn't even register. They used a blood recycler (or something to that effect) and I was up the next day, pain free, barely took any pills, I was home in no time. Again, the rehab was not too bad. I ended up with one leg shorter because my hip was in very bad shape by the time they did the surgery and my bones were brittle because of prednisone use. If you don't have any other health issues then the whole thing shouldn't be too bad. The better in shape your muscles are before the surgery the better it will go. My issues were that my hip muscles were in very bad shape since I was in extreme pain before they finally told me it was necessary to do the surgery. They don't always jump to that conclusion when you are only 24.
    This was 23 years ago so I know the technology is much better and hips last longer nowadays. Mine only lasted 13 years but my RA is pretty active and I am not in the best shape. Actually no shape at all, thats why I'm here. It finally sunk in that my "new" hips are not going to last very long if I stay at the weight I currently am. My right hip revision didn't go well and they had to cut bone to be able to replace it. The after surgery pain was up the roof and I hope that you never have to go thru that because I had a very hard time handling it after been so easy the earlier 3 times.I went into a depression and took me a while to get back into real life. Any other questions you may have, you can send me a message, I'll see if I remember. It has been a while now.

    I did my rehab at home. A PT came to my house. I had steps in my house so I made sure I had everything I needed in my bedroom. They might give you a walker first or crutches. I had a little fanny pack where I had my CD player, phone, etc so I didn't have to get up all the time. I could do the steps but I tried to limit those to only a few trips up and down a day. After you start going out to the PT you are almost on the mend and the PT is really more for strenghthening of the muscles. Since you are already doing them you should do great! Before my first time I couldn't walk 10 steps without tears in my eyes, going in and out of the car was misery. So knowing that you are still excercising lets me know you are going to be okay. I will be happy to "listen" if there are any issues.

    I'm a newbie here and not exactly an excercise person but I can at least support you if you want. I'm still trying to figure out how to get in shape since I can't sit or lay in the floor. My own fault as I didn't keep up with my excercises. I do have also my right shoulder replaced but it never worked right afterwards(my rotator cuff couldn't be fixed) and I can't raise it very high. I'm still getting some cardio in by dancing to my favorite music and playing wii. Something is better than nothing.

    Anyway, sorry for the long reply. Good Luck

    Melanie

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