Going Home After the Surgery - What to expect

I originally thought it would be no big deal coming home and doing things for myself after surgery.  I even told my husband not to get the tall toilet seat with handles, I wasn't going to need it.  Ha!  You have no hip flexibility.  You can't bend at the hips and even if you could they don't want you to for a while.  Try reaching down for something without bending at the hip, you are lucky if you can reach your knee.  If something falls on the floor then it's just going to have to stay there.  Actually there is a reacher/pincher tool that is extremely helpful.  That and the hook/shoehorn to help get socks, shoes and shorts on and off.  You will have to have someone there to help you, I don't know how else you could manage and I'm pretty self sufficient.  I was told I could not drive for a month either.  I am so darn independent it was hard to rely on someone else for everything, but you do what you have to do.

My doctor scheduled a physical therapist to come the week after I got home, I was ready to get going.  They do give you exercises to do in the hospital and to do when you get home, very basic but trust me, nothing is easy at this point.  They also schedule nurses to come change bandages.  When the nurses came they said something about giving me a shot or meds for some reason.  I said they need to make sure they had the right patient because I wasn't supposed to be taking anything.  They had the wrong records.  So make sure they are looking at the right paperwork.  Never be afraid to ask or insist, specially about medications.  Even in the hospital I had orders for pain meds but didn't take them because I really had no pain.  The nurses were very insistent, if it's written they want you to take it.  And yes, if you have pain, you need to take it.  I always ask what are they giving me and why.  I think the nurses only had to come out twice, after that it was easy for my husband to help clean the incisions. 

The incisions looked horrible (at least to me) in the beginning, big and purple.  My hips also swelled up to about four times their normal size, wow!  It was actually funny to try and put on sweatpants or shorts, nothing fit right.  My doctor also had me wear the compression tights for over a month.  Very tough to look fashionable in them.  Was extremely glad to see them go.  The incisions will get better, mine are probably 4-5" long and no one ever notices them and I'm in a bathing suit a lot.

Finally my physical therapist comes for our first appointment.  Yea!  To me that means I'm on the road back to recovery.  She went over all the basic exercises and did some extra ones with me too.  Most were way too easy and then a couple were way advanced for my recovery stage.  So I called my doctor and got a prescription for therapy with a physical therapist I'd worked with before who is one of the best.  I had to get someone to drive me there but it was worth it.

Your doctor you pick is extremely important.  Just as important is your physical therapist.  I can't stress that enough.  That's the other have of the equation to getting good results.  I went 3 days a week for 1-2 hours.  I love my physical therapist, although at the time it was love/hate.  It was not easy.  Some of the things were extremely boring and tedious while other things were extremely challenging.  You also need to listen to your therapist about what you can and cannot do.  They have their reasons.  You may feel like you could do more or harder but depending on your healing stage it might not be appropriate yet.  Tell your physical therapist what you want to do and they'll tell you if you should or not or even a variation that might be better for you.  I'll say it again, LISTEN TO YOUR THERAPIST!!!

I did physical therapy for almost 3 months.  You are up and walking and really mobile after 1 month but I had goals.  I wanted everything back and then some.  I wanted as much hip flexion as my doctor said I could have safely.  At first my progress was steady but after the first 2 or 3 weeks my hip flexion hadn't improved so my therapist had to come up with other ways to get it to move.  After my warm up and most of the workout I would lay on a table and he would strap one leg down.  Then he would do an active stretch with the other leg.  He would get behind my leg and I would push against him and he pushed my leg.  It was hard and so not fun but I was determined.  Every week we made progress and eventually got where my doctor said I could be.

Now my doctor tells me I have no limitations, I can do the splits if I want, just don't cross the legs.  I have noticed my hip flexion improving all the time.  I am very active and that has to help.

Be smart, get good doctors and physical therapists and then listen to what they say.  They know more than you do.

Life after surgery gets better and better

Today I was supposed to compete in a sprint triathlon.  I'm actually training for a half ironman in October and this would have been a training race.  Monday I ate something bad and got salmonella poisoning.  Talk about bad timing!  So I've been curled up in a ball praying to not throw up or praying to throw up, you are very conflicted when your stomach hurts that bad.  So not only no training this week but I had to miss my first race of the year, in my back yard no less, with all my friends.  :(  Oh well, such is life, not the end of the world.  Actually as I type this they should be finishing up, can't wait to hear how everyone did.  Monday I'll be back to training, although I probably won't be quite as strong as the week before but at least I'll get back to it.

Since my hip surgery last year I've gotten stronger and stronger.  My hips now support me and that's huge.  You may not realize how much your hips do for you in almost every movement.  I'm back running, while not super fast, faster than I was even 2 years before my surgery.  My biking is getting better too.  I look at my bike times from races before surgery and after and can see improvements, very satisfying.

At the moment my plan is to do an Olympic tri in Sept (part of my training) and then the half ironman in October.  Then for fun another Olympic tri in Key West the first week of December.  Ironically the Key West tri was my big goal for the year.  I wanted to complete an Olympic tri this year and how can you beat one in Key West?  I have a lot of people signed up to do it with me so how could it not be fun?  Then one of my friends kind of talked me into the half ironman in October.  What the heck, I have time this year to train (it is a commitment of time) and I have some really great people to train with this year as well.  So, I signed up and immediately had anxiety attacks.

What was thinking!?!  I know I can do the swim, 1.2 miles.  I swim with the local master's 3-4 days a week and swim in the ocean at least 1-2 times a week.  To me that's the easiest part, but it's also the shortest part of the race.  The bike is 56 miles and I was worried my neck couldn't handle it.  I have arthritis in my left shoulder and my neck will stiffen up on the bike ride and spasm.  But with some minor changes to my bike I'm confident that I can do 56 miles without a problem.  Much thanks to Matt and Julie from On Your Mark Performance Center in North Palm Beach, Florida.  The run is a whole other matter.

I have NEVER liked running, in fact disliked intensely is probably appropriate to how I feel about running.  I really only started running because I wanted to complete a triathlon years ago.  I've come to enjoy certain aspects of running.  I do love running at sunrise along the beach where I live.  It's beautiful to watch the sunrise and you never know what your are going to see, from baby turtles hatching, amazing shells and sharks in the surf.  When we travel I've found the most amazing trails to run all around the world.  It's much easier to run when traveling than find a place to swim.

But to run for running's sake I have to do mental gymnastics to get me through it and I have to run 13.2 miles after I swim and bike.  Yea, gonna love it!  I can do it, I know I can!  But then I may hang up my running shoes except for shorter races.  I would love it if I could compete in Aquadu's, just the swim and bike.  There are a few out there but not many.

Life is what you make of it, no matter what adversity's you may encounter.  I see people all the time on the news that have far worse problems than mine and have not only a great attitude but help others.  Why would you want to be more of a burden to people you love by having a bad attitude or being unpleasant to be around.  Some things you can't change, deal with it, figure out how to move on around it.  Whatever that may be.  Life can be good, it is good, enjoy it.

Double Hip Replacement Surgery - What to expect.

My surgery was scheduled for Monday on my right hip because it was slightly worse than my left.  Why that was a deciding factor on which hip they did first I have no idea.  Off I go to the hospital at the crack of dawn.  The surgery didn't take long and when I woke up I was not in pain.  Of course you know something major has been done to you but I didn't hurt like I thought I would.  I was afraid to move though, you just aren't sure what's ok to move and what isn't.  The next day they did get me up and moving a few steps.  Very weird, your leg feels like it's not part of you and I was very dizzy.

Wednesday they did surgery on my left hip, again when I woke up still no pain.  That's a huge plus of course, pain can be debilitating and hamper your recovery.  I never had to take any pain meds.  They wanted to give them to me though.  If I had been in any pain I would have taken them but there really wasn't any pain.  I couldn't really move but no pain. 

Since I had both hips done I had to rely on my arms to move me around, legs are now pretty much useless.  This is why they do not do double hips replacements on older people.  I consider myself fairly strong and it was a struggle to move even to the end of the bed.  You take it slowly, inch by inch.  They want you up and moving as soon as possible.

I had a problem, whenever I sat up, let alone stood up, I had a blinding headache and got so dizzy I would pass out.  My head killed me.  I could not even walk two steps because of this.  The headache and dizziness went away when I lay back down but returned the minute I sat up.  Very frustrating.  So I was not able to get up and walk Wednesday or Thursday.  If everything had gone well I could have gone home Friday.

By Thursday I still could not get up and walk and I started physically feeling really bad.  Finally one of the doctors figured out I had a punctured spinal column from the first surgery on Monday.   They did a spinal anesthesia for the surgery like they do when you give birth and it had punctured my spinal column so spinal fluid was leaking.  No fun!

The fix, in very layman terms, is to plug it.  So back I went down to the anasthesiologist and they fixed it.  What a difference, no headache!  Unfortunately my blood level was extremely low so I still got dizzy and gray around the edges when I stood up.  So I got a liter of blood. 

Very important, if your doctor does not suggest it, ask about donating your own blood ahead of time.  I guess it's not uncommon to need blood after this type of surgery.  Some procedures are bloodier than others, words from a doctor.

So finally, I was up and walking (with a walker) and even got out my hospital room door to the corridor.  That was such a huge achievement for me.  I'd been in that hospital room since Monday and it was so nice to see outside the room!  Other than the blood loss and spinal problem, the actual surgery went really well.  No pain!  And I could get up and walk, finally.  I was discharged Sunday, and I was so ready to get out of there, although it's scary to think about going home and managing yourself. 

I had anxiety about moving the wrong way and having the hip come out of the socket.  Everyone loves to tell you horror stories, even the nurses in the hospital while you are laying there trying not to worry about it.  Even getting in the car to go home is scary, what if?  Of course your doctor will give you a list of what you can and can't do.  Plus your hip range of motion is zero, you have no flexibility, you can't even reach your knees.  Amazing how limited you are when you can't bend over.

Next time I'll talk about recovery.  surgery was easy compared to rehab.