👯‍♀️ Hips and Knees part 7

I had the phonecall this morning! Hip replacement operation on January 30th. No physio/occupational health sessions before then, so I am feeling a bit unprepared. Hey ho! The physios were very good when my knee was done, so I hope to catch up with them.

Had to shower with a special gel every day for a few days before and on the day of the op MayBee, but I drew the line at changing bed linen and pyjamas every day- and no-one asked!

Did everyone have to shower with hibiscrub for a week before the op and change bed linen and pyjamas each day, too. My skin is really sensitive and I hate the thought of using hibiscrub fir a prolonged period of time.

It may be marginally easier for you to get in and out of a car if you place a plastic bag on the seat, which will help you slide in. Try before surgery so that any minor issues are resolved.

Both of my knees were replaced years ago, but I still have to lift my legs in and out but I have it down to a fine art.

Thankyou MaizieDand GemmaMack, I had a bad day yesterday , I'm more cheerful now . Onwards and Upwards 👩‍🦯

I very much hope you get a date for your op soon, sparkle. Surely having a pre-op must mean that the actual op follows on soon 🤞

I really do feel for you, sparkle. The only thing I could do that was pain free was, surprisingly because it was my left hip, drive. Clutch was no problem.. getting in and out of the car was painful, though.

I hope you get a date very soon.

Well I've got my face to face pre op assessment in a couple of weeks , I cant walk without my stick so I'll try and redeem myself . The trouble is I won't be defeated by this and I push through the pain in order to get on as best I can . My husband is currently doing all the daily tasks I used to do . I'm not to sure how a telephone appt can give a clear idea of how bad you are . I guess it's to classify where you go on the list in terms of clinical need but I've had my appointment with the consultant and discussed my difficulties and the x Ray which clearly shows the joint is now bone on bone . Maybe I'm overthinking all of this and worrying unnecessarily. I'm just fed up now with the pain 😩

I’m sure you won’t be put at the end of the list. The criteria is that you can’t physically cope with ordinary daily life, your quality of life is seriously impaired. Any one can do things in an emergency that they couldn’t normally do because adrenaline kicks in. But normal life isn’t lived on a constant adrenaline ‘high’. Assessors must know that.

Mind you, perhaps we should have advised you to accentuate the negative at your assessment

So today I've had a phone assessment done , at the end I was asked questions relating to how active I am .
In an emergency would you be able to run ?
I'm thinking , well , I can barely walk any distance because of the pain but if someone was after me with a gun I'd probably run like a bat out of hell .
Can you push a lawn mowers, move furniture etc ?
No , no , I can't even put my own socks on at the moment but if someone gave me a million pounds I'd try my best .
Why ask these questions, am I going to the end of the list now because I said I could probably run in an emergency 🙃. I'm struggling to walk even a few metres at the moment 😪

charleygirl the music was about as far from soft classical as you can get! Hard rock as I remember, it had to be loud to be heard above the drilling and hammering!

Operating theatres are colder these days due to the air conditioning. They’re also noisy. I was advised to bring a warm dressing gown for the walk down to theatre and a heated blanket was used in recovery. I had my op under a spinal block and sedation and only heard a couple of bangs which didn’t bother me at all. The recovery nurse had to be quite firm with me as I was having a lovely dream and didn’t want to wake up.

I was covered with a warming blanket during surgery which was very cosy!

Orthopaedics is especially noisy, with the sounds of drilling, hammering, and banging. Depending also on the surgeon's choice and the volume of music, it is not all soft classical.

Redcar, it’s interesting to hear what you’re saying about the operating theatre being cold and noisy. That’s not what I thought it would be like. I had a picture in my mind of the surgeons working away in total silence, which obviously isn’t the case

That’s good to know Nannytopsy.

I remember the operating theatre was cold, noisy and the music was very loud and not my choice! In recovery I was shaking with cold so they had to warm me up quickly.
It was the first operation I’d ever had - at 76!

I had a TKR 12 months ago with a spinal block and light sedation. I had conversations with the theatre nurse and the anaesthetist who kept me updated but I felt nothing. I obviously wasn’t fully awake as I didn’t hear noises.

You are better off sleeping; otherwise, it sounds as though you are in a builder's yard, and I am sure you don't want that, do you? Banging and hammering of metal is not a pleasant sound, and you may not like the music being played!

GemmaMack, I was terrified of being under as well - really. Didn't let anyone know how petrified I really was & was convinced I wasn't going to wake up. In reality I just felt these icy cold gentle stroking movements on my back, remarked that my feet were tingly, "good", I heard, "that means everything's working." And with that I woke up in recovery about an hour and a half or so later, none the wiser, except that I couldn't move my legs which was an odd feeling. By teatime-ish feeling had returned & time for some painkillers. So I for one totally understand how you're feeling - but now I know how unnecessary it was, please, please believe me!!

Sadly I’m not brave . Just more frightened of being asleep than awake . It’s reassuring to know that your friend wasn’t traumatised though

Gosh GemmaMack , you're very brave . I don't think she was traumatised , I think it's a vague memory due to the sedation . Possibly she started to come too at the end and she heard the team finishing off . I think she's rather proud of it but I do wish she hadn't told me ha ha ha 😉

Thanks got the welcome everyone. I will definitely try to sleep on my back surrounded by pillows in advance of the op to see how that works.
Ironically the hospital have now (literally this morning) put the date of my op back a couple of weeks so it’s now in early March. It’s a bit annoying as I had geared up to the earlier date but there is a good reason.
I’m having the operation under spinal plus sedation too sparkle and was sort of hoping to be awake but relaxed (I’m a bit scared of being put to sleep) but now I’m beginning to wonder if that’s the right decision. Was your friend very traumatised by hearing what was going on? I’m assuming that she did actually feel anything

Luckygirl3

Please don't be put off the surgery by my experience - I do not live up to my Gransnet name!
I am surrounded by people for whom the surgery has been a total blessing - jealous, moi?!

I didn't like to say that you've been most unlucky

I hope the MRI shows up a fixable problem.

My DH has progressively found walking more and more painful over the past couple of years. Physio, painkillers and compression stockings had very little effect. He finally pushed for an MRI and it turns out that he has bulging discs trapping a nerve, And it is apparently fixable with an op. We're just waiting for a date now.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

sparkle I had a spinal block and sedation for both my hip replacement operations. At some stage during the first one I could hear noises, and made a comment to the anaesthetist and he immediately gave me further sedation. Couldn’t feel anything. I woke up as the op finished and was fully awake within a few minutes. The second time I woke up as the operation ended. The anaesthetist will adjust the level of sedation according to your wishes. Hope it all goes well!