Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Update..

What has been happening since I last posted?

I got discharged from the hospital on Wednesday 16th Feb. The laxatives had finally kicked in, the physio was pleased with my crutch-use, and I was getting very bored and restless. Mick left at around midday to make the 3 hour drive back home as he needed to start back at work the next day. Shortly after he left Dr Solomon came by my room to see me and asked me if I wanted to go home, which I did. He showed me some exercises I should do and when I should see him next and organised my discharge with the nurse. 2 hours later we were on our way! The trip home was not the most comfortable but it was ok. Dad drove, mum was in the back and I was in the front seat reclined with pillows everywhere. At first bumps and movement felt uncomfortable and I needed to use a small pillow in between my hip and the seat belt but I soon fell asleep and when I woke up we were almost home!

I have been crutching around the house since then but mostly parked on the couch or in bed. We have had a few outings to the mall where we hired a wheel chair so I got to be pushed around... I notice a lot of people look at my legs to see what is wrong with me as I assume it looks odd having a young person in thongs being pushed around in a wheel chair when there is nothing visably wrong with me!

I am surprised at how much I can do and how well I feel. The progress has been fast and I expected to be much worse than I am. It does get sore and stiff when I sit for too long or walk to much on the crutches and at 12 days post-op I have only just started to have a good nights sleep all the way through. It takes a while to get comfortable and used to not being able to move and roll over. Surprisingly, I can now lie and sleep on my right un-operated side without much problem, if I use pillows in between my legs and body.

We have a toilet/shower commode at home which I used as both a toilet seat raiser and to sit on in the shower. I can also use a toilet without the raiser but did find it more comfortable to get back up especially earlier when I just came home from hospital. I have sort of stopped using it now as it is stationed in the shower and I have mastered getting up by putting all my weight in my other leg.

I'm surprised at how self sufficient I am in that I am able to dress myself and shower myself, even though it takes a bit longer. That said, I am really glad for mum who is around to feed me yummy home-made mum food and get me a drink, or towel, or book whenever I need as I haven't mastered carrying things while using two crutches (except for when I figured I could transport things using a plastic bag which is easy to hold onto as well as the crutches).

I am not sure I have been good to my hip however. I was told strictly no more than 2-5% weight bearing or 'toe-touch' weight bearing and I am not sure what I have been doing but I recall putting weight on it several times and even when using the crutches I have a feeling I have been putting more like 10% on it. But it doesn't feel bad and every day feels like an improvement where pain-management and range of motion  is concerned.

Dr Solomon told me to excercise it by lifting the leg. I am having trouble doing this at all without a lot of pain. When sitting, I can't lift my op leg foot off the ground more than a few inches and it hurts. But it's still early days so hopefully this will get better over time.

I was sent home with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and Panadeine Forte and I also picked up some stool softeners. I was taking the panadeine forte religiously for the first few days but now I am starting to lay off them and use just some panadeine or panadol depending on the pain which seems to be getting less and less over time, which is great news. I think Dr Solomon is some sort of genius and did an awesome job on my hip which is why recovery has so far been smooth sailing.

That said, I don't think I will be rushing into getting the other hip done any time soon. I did mention that I wanted both done in one year but now that I've experienced it, I changed my mind. I don't think I can do two major ops like this in one year and why should I if I can help it? I did want to get it all out of the way but if I can wait a year or two before the other hip I think that's the go. It would be better for work that way as well as financially but also mentally and physically I need a rest before my next op..


I am due to see Dr Solomon for the follow-up appointment 6 weeks post op on Mon 28 March where he may give me the all-clear to weight bear.

Will keep you updated on my progress as it happens!

1 comment:

  1. It looks like it is getting better for you too!
    What are you doing to pass the time?
    It was interesting to read this because all surgeons seem to have their own post op instructions. I don't get to do any physio until my hip heals and I can't do anything more than toe touching until he sees me 8 weeks post op and with xrays to see how it's healing. But he said if I get around on crutches I can do anything. The energy is finally coming back the past couple of days so I can actually crutch a bit more but I am definitely liking the rest :)

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