How to prepare house before hip op

If you can, clear your path into your home so you can get from the car that brings you home to your chair without difficulty. Mats and rugs can be easy to trip on.

Before your daughter leaves make sure you have enough milk and food again and check everything is still positioned where you want it. If you can, arrange to have a cleaner for a while after your daughter goes.

A grabber is really helpful.

Hello Bea65, another devotee of Hips and Knees 5 thread here, and I recognise so many names here who, since November last, have become really supportive friends. My THR was the first op I’ve had in my 85 years and it did come as a bit of a shock. Luckily my DH of the same age is still with me and we rattle around in a much loved Victorian house with odd stairs, corners and hazards galore. Please try not to over think things too much. You won’t be allowed out of hospital till you have passed the up and down stair test so put all thoughts of commodes right out of your mind. I was also given a seat to fit on the loo to make it higher, a grabber to pick things up, a long shoe horn, two sticks, a walking frame - it was like coming out with a super sized goody bag. I did go private but I know several friends who were lucky enough to go NHS had the same. Going back to the Hips and Knees thread, you don’t have to read it all, far from it, treat it like a coffee table book and dip in and out. Aveline is quite right, you will probably find everything you ever wanted to know on there, and honestly, joking apart, you will have a lot of time on your hands, possibly in the wee small hours because unless you’re superwoman, most of us found sleep a little tricky in the early weeks. Good luck anyway, you won’t regret it, and by the time summer is under way you’ll be well on the way to complete recovery.

Bea65 if you’re still here and have survived this torrent of info, my operation was on the Monday morning and I was discharged late on the following Wednesday morning. At 85, I was washing and dressing myself from day 1. I had staples not stitches so no showers or hair washes for three weeks - ugh, strip washes are a pain but managed them all myself. We have a separate shower so no problem from then on.

I had a THR nearly three years ago, and I’m heading for the other one . I found the hips and knees thread very helpful. You don’t need to read from the start but if you have a query - ask and it will be answered!
I also live alone and was anxious it was planned my sister would be there for 3 nights but I was kept in an extra two nights as I spiked a temperature and had intravenous antibiotics for 48 hours. So it was only one night in the end . I was fine the stairs were easy , the only thing I found difficult was getting my leg into bed! Get a leg lifter , picker up x2 , sock aid, a lidded thermos mug ,and a long shoe horn . I also had the dreaded white stockings and you can have a 6 week package for social care -you need to tell the hospital you live alone and it should be organised. They come and put the stockings on . After doing some research on the risks and benefits of them once you are mobile, after 4 weeks I gave the stockings up as they were so uncomfortable. I did have injections to give myself too ( not a problem) and continued those for 6 weeks . Someone mentioned don’t take the codeine, all the post op medication is morphine based ( that includes codeine) and paracetamol doesn’t really hit the spot for the early days . Taking something like Lactulose with senokot will alleviate constipation with a high fibre diet and lots of water . The worst thing was trying to sleep on my back and never got completely comfortable. All will be fine 🤗

Forgot , a small backpack was great for carrying things up and down stairs such as bedtime, glasses, book, water bottle . My DS also appeared with a lanyard with a plastic pocket. I was instructed to carry my mobile in it at all times!

Susie A cross body bag works too. I remember one of our cohort made herself some. . Nearly 3 years ago now.
I still use my long handled shoe Horn and have a coll3ction of them around the house with one in the car fir changing boots after walking.

Good luck wth the other hip Susie, I think my R knee might need looking at sometime soon.

As for stockings I asked the surgeon who said I didn’t need to wear them, so I didn’t.

I do not believe in spending money so the easiest way to get your operated leg in and out of bed is to use a scarf. A man;s scarf is stronger and easy to grip.

If you wear shoes with laces elastic laces are a Godsend.

My hip replacement was 25 years ago. Let me cheer you up by telling you how it was back then.
The absolutely worse thing was having my house adapted to look like a care home ( I was 55) My sofa was raised, a frame was put around the loo to raise it, I was given a device to ‘put your stockings on’, a Zimmerman frame arrived.
When I had recovered I could not get anyone to take these things away.
My daughter stayed one night. I managed ok except for walking my poor dog.

I am a forever fan of long handled shoe horns which aid shoes with the elastic laces.

I should stop talking about my penchant for long handled shoe horns.

Something I wish I'd realised before my leg op is that if you're on crutches you can't carry a tray. I could make a cup of tea but I had to drink it in the kitchen.

My advice would be to get the cross body bag a previous poster suggested and also a flask. That way you can fill the flask in the kitchen, put it in the bag along with your cup or mug and then take the lot to your comfy chair in the sitting room.

bea65 when I had my first hip replacement 14 months ago, I hadn’t realised how much my legs would swell post op. Not as much with the second hip replacement in November, but it makes getting shoes on quite difficult. I bought several pairs of elastic laces for my shoes to make life easier.
I wasn’t give anything morphine based this time because of the side effects (hallucinations) so I had to make do with ibuprofen and paracetamol! Hope your operation goes well.

To prepare your house before a hip operation, focus on removing tripping hazards like loose rugs, securing cords, installing grab bars in the bathroom, setting up clear pathways, placing frequently used items within easy reach, and ensuring adequate lighting, particularly with nightlights in key areas; consider moving your sleeping arrangements to the first floor if possible and stock up on easy-to-prepare meals beforehand.

Thank you all for the helpful feedback and reassurance…think am too stressed because of the delay now with my dental work on hold - need partial denture but as dentist said to wait until after THR recovery…
Am on countdown 6 days to go and am cleaning like a woman possessed..painted the skirting boards in bathroom on my stomach and had to roll about to get up…friend told me off for doing this as could have hurt and damaged my back …
Can’t wait for DD to come on Saturday and now I just want the surgery to be done and over with as not sleeping well ..
Have bought 3 grabbers 😊 soo useful!

Not helpful to the OP I know ( but might make her smile) I wrongly read the title of this thread as How to Prepare House before Hip Hop.......and I was intrigued!!

Gingerrice

Not helpful to the OP I know ( but might make her smile) I wrongly read the title of this thread as How to Prepare House before Hip Hop.......and I was intrigued!!

😂yes ..love a bit of rap too😁

Has anyone suggested a hostess trolley type thing to enable you to transport food from the kitchen to your chair?
This would be extremely helpful for times when you are on your own and still using two crutches, which as we all know, clatter to the floor with regularity!!

I do have a basic trolley but wouldn’t call it a ‘hostess’ one - I find it useful to empty the washing machine sitting down and plonk it on the trolley to sort out👌

I guess ‘hostess’ is a term not used now!

The idea is the same though - a means to get food and drink from one room to another with the added support of the trolley.

The early few weeks after a hip replacement are trying.
I remember being so grateful that I had been able to have the surgery as covid regulations still applied so it could have been cancelled at any time, and I tried to concentrate on that while dealing with the inevitable after - surgery discomfort.

Then of course there is the much discussed sleeping problems when we are compelled to sleep on our backs, but I think I was given the ok to sleep on my side at about the five week mark.
Bliss!

I have had both hips replaced. One trick is when doing things like loading and unloading dishwasher put operated leg straight out behind you keeping it inline with hip, you can’t bend forwards but stretching leg out behind alleviates that problem. My husband walks into kitchen and it is a no go area for him so I had to adapt which is possible. Try to walk around as much as possible, be mobile. We women are inventive so use your initiative, the more active you are the better even with stairs.

bea hope the operation goes well!