The big day is almost here............

as the day draws nearer, my thoughts are with you both. how long will you be in the hospital, Takila?

KD

It's gonna hurt sooo bad.
Just think of all the pain you'll be in once you are home, healing.
Good thing you got that toilet rizer thing!

You got to be kidding me? I am not going to help her go pee!
For the amount they charge to stay in the hospital you would think you would get top notch service.

Hey, I had a student who had double knee surgery. Total knee replacement.
I have an artificial knee. I would not, and have not done a thing to it since.
Mind you, I had mine done in '81, was told it would last ten years, and broke it two years after getting it. Everyday, I have to think through every step. One mistake and I am back in the wheel chair.
My student listened to me and had both knees done at the same time. She was an hurting puppy for quite a while.
I was amazed at her recovery. I spent 12 weeks in a full body cast, knee bent. I have never known such agonizing pain since I broke my neck the second time. I was completely without feeling where the surgery was, and have no feeling there since. She left the hospital, in three days, without a cast on either leg. Today, six months later she is moving around with ease.
She agreed with me, she would not have done her second knee later.
Her advice, and mine.
Constipation is going to be an issue. Big time. You are not going to be able to push for a while. Take that into consideration now, and prepare for it. I was not, and had a miserable time for the entire 12 weeks, and later into recovery. It took me a year to walk without a brace. It is like taking a dump with your mouth open.
It seems irrevelent, but it is a real issue. The atrapine starts the process. That is in the IV that puts you to sleep. It drys you right out. It sets off a chain reaction. One time easy, then the next impossible, slowly going back to normal. Meantime the surgery site is healing and the effort causes pressure where pressure was not an issue. My student said the same thing.
Talk to the surgeon, they know of this.
Meantime, your recovery should be very fast. My student was amazingly fast in walking. It put her down for a time, and then it all came together.
I think you gonna be ok, and Edog will prove himself inspite of his prods. He just letting off his concern. He has probably been there and this time he has to be in the other room while they fillet his wife. He ain't gonna be happy at that.
My first exwife slammed my knee in the car door. I was in a body cast and couldn't move. My leg was hanging out the door and she was a door slammer. Poof! The cast broke, the stitches opened and a ligament tore off the knee. I passed right out and woke up in the recovery room. She said it was my fault.
I bet Edog will even bring a blanket so you will fit better on the back. I think he is thoughtful like that. He might even have you use garbage bags over your hands so the wind will not freeze your fingers.
You gonna be ok.

Despite Earthdog's funny remarks it is obvious he loves you, Marni, very much and is going to take good care of you.

My prayers and good wishes are with you.

Lady B

Thanks, everyone! My doctor had me stop taking ibuprofen before the surgery (because it thins your blood). I didn't realize how well it worked. I've been hurting more the last couple of days. If this works as good as I've read about, it will be like having a new body!!!!! (well, almost)

I will be talking to you all this weekend (if Earthdog let's me get on the computer, that Ebay junkie!)

So, tomorrow's the big day! Good luck once again! May all go as well and smoth as possible!

Adrian

This is for the benefit of everyone NOT having this surgical procedure done today. ;D

Takila's surgery is being approached from behind her hip--a gluteal, or buttocks, incision. That means she CANNOT sit more than upright at 90 degrees--no leaning forward or bending over--until the surgical site has healed--weeks from now.

Depending on her pain tolerance she might need more or less post-operative morphine. It is the morphine that causes bowel irritability and can lead to severe constipation. During the actual surgical procedure and immediately after she will be on saline IV drip to keep her hydrated. The type of anesthesia she is given will depend on her body type, medical history, and her Anesthesiologist. There are numerous choices...some affect body hydration more than others.

She will be starting Physical Therapy within hours of being returned to her room from the Recovery area. One of the most important components will be to get her to trust that she can move without breaking open or undoing the surgical site/procedure. The sooner she can move a bit and be released from the hospital, the better for Takila. One of the best places to get really, really sick IS a hospital. There is even a name for it: Nosocomial infection!

Takila is likely to have post-op pain BUT it will be soft tissue pain--cut muscles are painful. Her hip joint itself will not be sending out pain indicators, so once the soft tissue settles down, she should experience a profound change in the pain she will be having and is likely to say something along the lines of: "It hurts, but it's not the same pain as before".

I discussed all of this with Takila, as did her Doctor and the therapists she will be seeing post-op. Once she gets home she is likely to have home therapy until she is strong enough to go for out-patient therapy. She literally should feel like a new woman because she will not be riddled with debilitating hip pain--which drags on both emotions and energy.


Just thought it might be of interest and perhaps even some help for those of you who are following Takila's "adventure" to have some info about what she is experiencing today and will experience over the next four weeks or so.

When I treated my very first hip-replacement patient (and he was one of the first 10 patients to undergo this surgey in the US) he was hospitalized for four days pre-op and six weeks post-op. He had to be in otherwise very good health because the extended bed rest (complete for the first two weeks post-op; gradually lessening over the next four) meant he was at particular risk for developing pneumonia and/or blood clots. He also had to be over 65 because life expectancy back then for Americans was averaging out to about 72 years. That meant that he should be dead from other causes before his artificial hip gave out.

The oldest elective hip replacement patient I treated before I retired from Physical Therapy in 2005 was 99. My husband--still working as an Occupational Therapist--recently had a patient who was 101. It was her fourth repair (2 right, 2 left) since undergoing her first 30 years ago. The field of Orthopedic Repair/Replacement really has come a long way, Baby!


Lady B (retired BUT once a Therapist, forever a Therapist ;D)