Hip replacement pre/post operation pls

So how is everyone, Susie? We both have our 6 week checks this week. Mine is Thursday, so will report back. Hope you are progressing ok and feeling better.
Have to say I am very happy with mine, but still need to be able to dress/ undress myself without feeling things ie hip, might suddenly go ‘pop’.

Ha, page 30. That’s brilliant. Have a good day all.

Good morning fellow hipsters.
Just wanted to swing by, not been on for a while and didn't want you to think I'd forgotten you all. I've been having a busy week cat wise and haven't thought about my hip for .... oh, ages!
(Except to note how much better the scar looks after I've fake tanned my legs - reduces the colour contrast a bit)
I'm currently looking after my own elderly cat, a stray that has appeared in the last few days & seems to want to hang around and helping my daughter hand rear a tiny newborn kitten rescued from the jaws of a farm dog and mother nowhere to be seen. She's had him a week and his eyes aren't yet open. So we've had 2 to 3 hourly feeds night & day and toileting duties (don't ask)
Hope those 6 week check ups go well this week.
I'm back at the hospital in August for check X-ray and 6 month consultant review and I guess I'll be discharged then. Will be keeping an eye out for those of you coming up to surgery and needing a hand hold.

Morning all , I had my 6 week check yesterday - all is fine apparently although I still have a “funny walk”! . Consultant says my legs are definitely equal but he didn’t measure anything just held my hands and got me to stand on one leg! . I have been discharged and no mention of a 6 month follow up . He said that my other hip is bad too , but I have no pain at the moment and really couldn’t go through this again for a long while , despite the results . My scar is quite angry and pronounced but not really bothered , I will be back to my gentle water exercises and swimming next week thank goodness as every other joint seems to be stiff now ! I have booked a private physio session tomorrow just to see why I’m walking with such a pronounced limp .My son thinks it maybe my arthritic back that is causing the problem . But no pain ??. I’m walking without a stick indoors but still use one outside as I’m terrified of falling, our roads and pavements are so uneven I had already fallen twice before surgery . My balance is not great anyway and this limp doesn’t really help.

Susie ask the physio to measure your legs. There is a proper way to do it and it involves a tape measure from hip to ankle and belly button to ankle.
I have a slight difference and can feel it as I walk, so know how odd it feels. I still use a stick outside too.
Will report back after my appointment Thursday.
GrannyLaine I havnt heard about a 6 month check but it makes sense so hope I get one but doubt that I will.
Glad all is going so well.

Susie I do not want to worry you but at 5 weeks your wound should be perfectly healed with no red areas. Please mention that next week when you have your check-up and get in touch before if you notice the redness is increasing.

You have all done so well.

My scar isn’t flat or straight either. I put Vaseline on it when I remember.
I don’t mind as long as it’s ok.

I think I need to shave my legs but can’t lean forward or do it in the shower . Any ideas hipsters?

silverlining it will improve with time. It is the redness which is worrying me. I will remove my professional hat but I can easily find it again if anybody wants help.

Thank you Charleygirl.

My apologies- I got that muddled up. The reply to the lumpy wound was for silverlining whereas the redness of the wound was for Susie

Charleygirl5 its perhaps worth just clarifying that the line of the scar WILL be red for a while - mine is well-healed, just a line of deep pinky red which with time will turn silvery. I'll be 12 weeks post op on Thursday. Your concern is for the redness and inflammation around the wound that appears with infection, which SusieB50 has had previously.
I wouldn't want anyone worrying unnecessarily.

silverlining48

I think I need to shave my legs but can’t lean forward or do it in the shower . Any ideas hipsters?

Tape a disposable razor a 12" ruler - works like a charm!

I've just popped in to see how the 6 seekers are doing. It was not my intention to derail the thread and I apologise if it came across that way. I had only been on one thread before joining this one and it was interspersed with funny comments and I wrongly presumed that was how threads went..I know differently now. I did feel I joined in too late as my op was imminent and I did feel that at times some of you were critical of some of what I was doing or saying but that could have just been my interpretation. I am very glad that everyone is improving...at different speeds but that is to be expected given that we were all at different points health wise before our ops. I have been using bio oil every day and massaging any lumpy areas of my scar which is now a thin white line.. just needs a tan now (I wish). I still have some pain but that's mostly where my back is pinned to my pelvis and I expected that was going to be an issue ... I'm hoping a short-lived one. Re shaving your legs...have you one of those little steps /booster step for little ones. It just lifts your leg enough to be be able to reach the areas that need shaving without straining your hip too much. I'm trying to overcome the leg difference daily. I can now put both feet together and straighten both legs and hold it for the count of 10 and repeat it as many times as I can before it hurts. I try and do it in the shower... Not sure if it actually helps but the warm water does ease any discomfort. I'm back gardening now... which is lovely...I have one of those stools that convert to a kneeler that help immensely. As much as I want to walk more.. Until this pain between my rib/breathlessness is sorted.. it's little and often. I was referred for a scan last Friday and had it this morning.... apparently to check my aorta (glad I didn't know that before I went in). That's turned out ok so now it's going to be another scan to check for Hiatus Hernia or Ulcer. Thank goodness for the NHS. I hope everyone carries on improving and those of you waiting for dates get them very soon.

Silverlining I’ve been following this thread with interest ever since I cracked my pelvis back in February. It was a great help to me both at the time and as I got better as I was initially given no information or advice at all apart from not to put a foot on the floor for at least a week, advice which the family doctor reiterated as soon as he was informed along with a month’s course of specific painkillers. I could have carried on with the painkillers but they of course had other side effects including making my hair start falling out.

However I’m presumably fully recovered now, I have no instructions to see the doctor or hospital again but as I have problems with my spine I see a physio regularly privately.

I caught up with the thread today when I saw it featured partly because as DH has has knee replacements it is definitely possible he might need to have his hip/s done in the future but the main reason I looked in is that it felt like catching up with old friends and I’m glad that most of you have recovered well. Incidentally I frequently take a stick in the car with me as walking on Portuguese cobbles is certainly not very good for my balance which is not that good anyway.

I’m getting new orthotics in June and when I first saw the podiatrist she was most indignant that I hadn’t told her that my legs were different lengths. I hadn’t told her because I didn’t know, the X-rays proved she was right but the difference is absolutely tiny and from what I could understand seemed to show that while one femur was shorter than the other the opposite leg had the difference below the knee. I’m hoping I will understand more when I see her in a couple of weeks. She is French but speaks both English and Portuguese fluently thankfully.

Good luck to those of you still waiting for your operations.

Lovely to hear back from you Dustyangel, interesting to hear about the orthotics and leg length. Might be worth mentioning to the physio Silverlining & SusieB50?

Thanks for the concern regarding the redness of my scar -I did have an infection which cleared eventually after two rounds of different antibiotics so I think that is probably the cause. At my 6 week check yesterday the consultant examined it and said all was OK now . Physio appt tomorrow and I will try and get him/ her to check my leg lengths. It could just be that my muscle and tendon tone is still weak, although I am walking more and trying to do the exercises when I remember ! This life is not for the faint hearted ….

Hello I haven’t been keeping up with the thread again.
I do hope that everyone is doing okay.
It’s my pre op on Friday.
Can you help me make a list please of what I need to ask?
(I started a separate thread - but I don’t think that it’s going to catch on)
Thank you.
I’ll also read the start of the thread to see if there’s anything there
Sending you all my best wishes x

I am sure there’s lots of info on this thread but you could ask about
type of operation, posterior or anterior
length of time in hospital,
type of anaesthesia,
after care,
your particular surgeons post op precautions, ie not bending less than 90 % , sleeping on back, stockings or injections, or both,
whether there is a hip school, ( don’t think so)
what equipment you need ( or they give you).
How much physio you might get

Some surgeons are quite strict about precautions and others aren’t.

You mentioned a while back your operation is private so unlikely you will get much in the way of equipment/ aids.
I got two sticks and a raised toilet seat. I think the rest you have to find yourself. I love my long handled shoe horn 99 p Ikea and the litter picker. Also the frame which goes round a toilet to allow you to sit down/push up easier.

Have another look at the 30 pages of info on this thread and you should have most questions answered.

I see the consultant tomorrow for 6 week check. I will mention my longer ( operated) leg which I do notice as I wobble along. Will also check there is no oedema or necrosis hiding anywhere and when I can bend to put on my socks.

Wishing you well, hope you get a confirmed date, and keep in touch so with all our knowledge and experience we can help you and anyone else on this journey.

I am so pleased this is seems to be the longest thread on the active list, thanks to all who have contributed their expertise.

Would also like to thank GrannyLaine and naughtyneine for advice re shaving legs, love the stick the razor onto a ruler idea and can use a little stool too.

Nice to hear from you dusty angel. Glad to hear you have recovered from your accident and can understand why you might use a stick as cobbles really can be awkward, but envy you being in sunny Portugal.

Silverlining I had my surgery privately and all my equipment was costed into the price of the package provided by the hospital. The only thing I had to return was crutches and sticks. I have in fact sold my raised toilet seat on eBay ??

SusieB50 how was your physio appointment?

Definitely get some elastic laces if you prefer trainers for support like me . I found a triangular pillow helped propping me up to sleep for the first week or so . A small back pack to carry things from room to room , I filled a thermos of coffee put that in the bag with a mug so I could have a cuppa in the arm chair .Also I found that because it took me so long to get up out of bed/ a chair that my bladder didn’t quite make it to the loo sometimes and resorted to a mini pad for a couple of weeks ! You will need help to get your leg into bed at first , as I’m on my own, I used a belt around my ankle to pull it in. Actually if you are on your own see if you can get someone to stay for a few days .
I have just returned from an excellent physio(private)session . Very experienced and informative . He did a full examination and Yes my legs are 1cm different in length but apparently it can take 6-12 months for the cement to get embedded in, and the body to accept the “foreign body”. So he said leave things as they are for now .silverlining he thinks it’s too early for those resistance bands and suggested I continue with gentle exercises and walking with a stick outside for at least another 4 months, as it’s a warning to others as well as a support. Maybe he’s a bit cautious but I’ll take his advice I think . It was raining today and I did feel very vulnerable out. Interestingly unlike the consultant, he says that as I have a small scab still at the end of my scar not to go swimming until completely clear. So I’ll go with that as I really don’t want to risk anything else. I now have conjunctivitis, goodness only knows what is happening ! I’m never ill , never had so many medications for years !

Susie I am glad the physio appointment was so positve and will take on board the advice on the resistance band. I asked for the 'easiest ' colour but was given a red one, which I tried once, before thinking it seemed too hard, so the physio advice confirms what I thought. I will carry on doing what I have been doing, mainly walking.
Sorry about the swimming but it wint take long until the last bit of the scar heals properly and hope the eye trouble improves. You have gone through the wars.
I spent nearly an jour queuing outside a hospital for a blood test today, didn't have my stick and really wished I had.