5 (five) Helpful Hints for Hip Replacement Recovery

 5 helpful Hints

I am now 10 days into my recovery from full hip replacement. I feel like I've gotten good results thus far, and while they are fresh in my mind, I wanted to jot down some of the things that seemed to work for me. But note, I am not a doctor and as a bonus, and it goes without saying, listen to your doctor and listen to your therapists. If what I suggest deviates from your healthcare professionals listen to the latter and not the former.

1.  Don't wear out your loved ones - At first, it seemed like I was completely immobilized, even when I used my good leg. But its important to keep moving, don't just sit motionless.  Its easy to become too dependent on your support crew. Get me this... get me that... At some point you just need to get up and get whatever you need. I'm so impatient that I got tired of waiting for my help and just started getting myself up and off the couch where I was posted up. Also, it starts to wear on your loved ones who try so hard to help. I needed to minimize that inconvenience and burden on others, but at first its completely necessary.

For me the first day I couldn't get up by myself and it wasn't safe to get up by myself. That would be the first 24 hours. It was best to have a spotter while I shuffled around on my walker. And it was helpful and necessary to shift positions at least every hour. But it wasn't long until I could just get up and get going on my own. 

2.  Figure it out - I haven't necessarily enjoyed being in one spot in my house for the last 10 days. However, I had nothing else to do but think about and practice how I did certain things. Certainly the "sit and pivot" was key getting in an out off the couch/bed.  Keep the bad leg straight and lift it with a belt, strap or something looped under the foot to pull up. Then lean back some and your backside becomes the pivot point.  Move slowly and deliberately so you don't get into a painful situations.

3.  Elevate and Ice.  As I have started walking more, and trying to do so with no cane, crutches or walker, I am noticing that the inflammation and swelling are my main draw back. So I continue to elevate my foot above the knee, and both above the hip. The swelling seems to impede my ability to bend my bad leg and when I do so it causes pain in my thigh - so I only bend until I start to feel pain which is not so far. But that gets better every day as I continue to Ice the thigh and the hip area both front and back. If I didn't ice and elevate frequently, I would still be immobilized.  

4,  Track your Meds - As stated in my post regarding my discharge from the hospital. The number of meds became ridiculous. Most of us before surgery were already taking quit a few meds but the timing and when to take the meds is important. Kind of a range of pain killers ranging from Oxycodone ("OXY") to less powerful low grade opioids like Tramadol, to anti-inflammatory meds (NSAIDS) like Meloxicam and Tylenol. Depending on the level of pain I was told to pick the medication as needed. I never needed Oxy. The others were taken in combination but I needed to track all of it to keep it straight.

5   Don't take meds on the fly. Make sure when you take your medications that you sit down l,ook at what you are taking, and make a mental note as to why you are taking that particular medication. If you are waking or moving or doing something else and get the "here take this," you will forget what you took and when you took it. At least I do, because there are so many meds that I take. Then I would opt for "I'm not taking that now" in fear of too much medication. 

Okay I have 6 things - late add... Don't get discouraged.  There needs to be a carrot. There needs to be a prize at the end of the rainbow. As I have written in my "About" page, I intentionally set an objective of getting to and completing the Camino De Santiago (a 400 mile hike through Spain). I love hiking and want see parts of Europe, but to do such things I had to have the hip replacement and recover (The First Step). I haven't been able to hike for that last 3 years. But I have my eye on the prize, which keeps me motivated each and everyday as its too easy to have a defeated attitude. It's hard. embrace that and don't let the own you. Have something to look forward to.

As John F Kennedy said "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard," He then described how such
challenges bring out the best in humanity.  So I too, chose the path less traveled and will not be defeated by things I know I can overcome.  Let's go.

Buen Camino