I was in hospital for hip surgery.

[mombird3]

Hip surgery went well. Home today.

[MV/Liberace!]

glad it went well.  relax and get better.

[The General]

Heal up well, George recommends Turmeric for everything.  Maybe you could sprinkle it on yourself. 


No, seriously, get well soon.

[Tinfoil Hat]

I'm happy to hear you got through it ok and are back on the mend, mombird.

If you have trouble sleeping, try tuning in to George. It does wonders for insomnia!

[Mind Flayer Monk]

Get well soon, mombird. Wishing you a speedy and smooth recovery.

[Sardondi]

Total hip replacement? If so, I hope it was "keyhole" if at all possible. That's not nearly the kind of meat-cleaver butchery it was just 10 years ago. Rehab indeed is the best thing you can do.

[West of the Rockies]

Best wishes, Mombird... Don't get down when you have a challenging day; things will get better! 

[HorrorRetro]

Hope you feel better soon. 

[mombird3]

Thank you all. I was glad to be home. It was a partial fracture of the left hip. I am doing  therapy and a walker. It is hurting now that the meds the hospital gave me are gone. I filled a prescription for a strong pain killer but was warned about its effects. I get stitches out in about a week. Surgeon wants to do it. And he wants me to walk everyday. With pain like this who wants to walk? But It is worse if I do not.

[Sardondi]

Thank you all. I was glad to be home. It was a partial fracture of the left hip. I am doing  therapy and a walker. It is hurting now that the meds the hospital gave me are gone. I filled a prescription for a strong pain killer but was warned about its effects. I get stitches out in about a week. Surgeon wants to do it. And he wants me to walk everyday. With pain like this who wants to walk? But It is worse if I do not.

Use the pain meds, but do all the walking and therapy you can stand. Don't wait for the pain to get unbearable before you take pain meds - you'll never be able to "catch up" and get ahead of the pain. Take it on schedule, but maybe after 3-4 days start stretching the time between pills until you slowly use up the prescription. Do not feel at all guilty about using pain meds to control pain: it's what they're for. If you have refills, it's perfectly fine to use them. But the longer you take controlled pain meds, the more likely you might need to slowly taper off their use. I would say if you use longer than 10 days-2 weeks, you'll need to kind of taper off using them. You shouldn't drive while on pain meds, but with hip surgery your doc probably has forbidden that anyway.

Good luck, and the most important thing is to use that leg.

[mombird3]

It was my first night of uninterrupted sleep Saturday night. I had the best rest I had in 5 days. And the Medication really made me able to stay in the proper position. Today, I was much less stiff from the pain. And I am not having as much trouble moving around. It is good. I try to do the walking and the therapy treatment.
When the doctor said I might be going home on Friday, I worked with the physical therapist. Friday morning there was still no word or sign for the doctor's release paperwork. Three nurses were on the lookout for him. I did a session of therapy with the physical therapist. And this time she made me use the waker around the entire floor. We went past the nurses station and they were saying that it looked as if I really wanted to go home. And I felt like I was tired but determined. We gave up on the "going home" by lunch time. My husband brought back sandwiches and soda. And we both took a snooze. The nurse gave me my pain shot. At 3:30 PM the doctor walked in and asked "Do you want to go home?" And I said "yes". He said that he has the papers. And the nurses were saying "hooray".     
I will walk on that leg.   But one thing, I now realize that there are some really good people out there. I always knew it, just had to be reminded. I even spoke to the Chaplain of the hospital. No I did not have an "out of body" in the operating room. 
Thank you for you suggestions. They helped. I must move.

[mombird3]

After the monster hospital bill I was sick. But that is another story. I am slowly getting back to normal.  Taking out the Staples from the surgery was not too bad. I covered my eyes and about half way in it began to not be too painful. That was something I did not look forward too.
I am negotiating the bill with the hospital. Boy do they overcharge for everything. I have no health insurance and Medicare is less than 8 months away. Believe me, I was ready to leave this world after I saw that bill.
The walking is better. I have a cane now. The walker was heavy and my back was hurting me. I tried a cane and it was better. We went to the mall to walk about 5 days ago and I was in pain and had swelling the next day. I overdid it. We cut back on the walking. I am able to get up out of the chair better. And sleeping is a problem and I get sore after a long period. I am off pain medicine except Aspirin. But this is getting better and I did not think it would, time heals.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

I am glad to hear you are getting better.

[MV/Liberace!]

those hospital bills are far more injurious than whatever put you in there to begin with.

[Sardondi]

After the monster hospital bill I was sick. But that is another story. I am slowly getting back to normal.  Taking out the Staples from the surgery was not too bad. I covered my eyes and about half way in it began to not be too painful. That was something I did not look forward too.
I am negotiating the bill with the hospital. Boy do they overcharge for everything. I have no health insurance and Medicare is less than 8 months away. Believe me, I was ready to leave this world after I saw that bill.
The walking is better. I have a cane now. The walker was heavy and my back was hurting me. I tried a cane and it was better. We went to the mall to walk about 5 days ago and I was in pain and had swelling the next day. I overdid it. We cut back on the walking. I am able to get up out of the chair better. And sleeping is a problem and I get sore after a long period. I am off pain medicine except Aspirin. But this is getting better and I did not think it would, time heals.

That sounds like you have made medically excellent progress. And these days with doctors being so much less involved in care (even to the point of some not even wanting to be pinned down on what they're recommending you do about surgery, etc., trying to make it all the patient's "informed decision" with which the doc had little to do), and the patient now so greatly responsible for her own treatment and rehab, your good results and progress are something to be proud of. But no insurance, wow! Good luck.

[Treading Water]

Good luck, mombird3.  Hope you can keep an "up" attitude to help your healing in spite of the bill.
Take it easy and slowly.  Here's to future jumping jacks...

[valdez]

     Best wishes, and speedy recovery.

[mombird3]

Thanks to you all for the good wishes. The pain is far less than it had been. I am very careful getting up and out of a chair or a bed. But some of the movement is better. I walked a lot before this. It might be why it is not too bad now. But I get tired and have to take a rest every so often. This is new for me. I like to go and do things. Well, a year from now maybe. I wanted to take a short vacation to Charleston SC. Maybe in the fall.

[Sardondi]

Thanks to you all for the good wishes. The pain is far less than it had been. I am very careful getting up and out of a chair or a bed. But some of the movement is better. I walked a lot before this. It might be why it is not too bad now. But I get tired and have to take a rest every so often. This is new for me. I like to go and do things. Well, a year from now maybe. I wanted to take a short vacation to Charleston SC. Maybe in the fall.

Sounds like you couldn't have asked for a better outcome, pain- and recovery-wise. You've had such a quick recovery from the cutting part it makes me wonder if you had minimally invasive "keyhole" surgery.

Myself, I had a trauma-related total hip done 12-13 years ago when I was in my early 40's. As a college freshman football player I had dislocated my hip. Yikes! The rehab for that was pretty primitive in those days, plus I wasn't on scholarship, so my university didn't feel much responsibility over whether I would walk without pain when I reached my 30's and 40's. They pretty much ignored me, which made an early hip replacement a foregone conclusion. Don't know if it's my size (6'4" 265)* or just that my surgeon wanted plenty of room to operate, but I was left with a frightening 24-inch long "question mark" surgical scar, which starts in the upper middle of my right buttock and goes out and down my leg to the middle of the outside of my right thigh. Now that is a scar. It took so many staples to hold me together that I set off metal detectors in buildings across the street. It took a month or more to get my staples out of the canyon he hacked into me. The last thing I remember before the gas put me out for that surgery was looking over at the instrument table which they had left uncovered, and starting to panic when I noticed a damn Craftsman power saw. Just before I went under I said, "Wait a minute!..." No such luck.

You sound like you have a much more presentable incision, and a much more tolerable recovery experience overall.


* My orthopod joked with me after the surgery that the head of my femur which he chopped off was so big that he sent it to the local mission where it was the soup bone for an entire week.

[mombird3]

Thank you for the encouragement.
Sardondi, your story was a real eye opener for me.  As a matter of fact I called the doctor today. I had swelling last night into the morning. But I got up from bed to use the bathroom and pain seems to be less and Aspirin seems to help me.
I have about a 3 inch taped up incision and the staples were about ten to twelve of them.It hurt at first but it was not bad to the last five staples the nurse removed. Today the doctor was very happy that I am walking. And he said the swelling and pain should last me for about 6 months. I may have had some damage to that hip area as I had some pain in the joint area about a year ago and it lasted 2 or 3 days.
I am a walker being from New York City.I used to do anything to avoid another bus or train fare. South Carolina is hot but we have a few stores and fast food places here that we walk to. We have no car. I really do not mind walking in good weather. We have a hill up the road here of about a good block and a half of steep hill and walking was quite tiring when we moved in here 6 years ago.It was not any problem at all for us both before this. My husband had his prostate surgery at age 72 four years ago and the cardiac stress test was fine. The doctor was impressed.
The physical therapist was laughing with me in the hospital because I was walking fast with the walker and doing quite well. They joked the last 2 days that "you really want to go home." She told me to slow down at one point. I told her no insult to the nurses but yes I wanted to go home. They made me do a go around the floor with the walker and as I got to the nurses station the head nurse cheered me. I felt like a racer.
I think the walking and my general health made it better for me.My Menieres is an auto immune disorder and the balance and hearing fluctuate. It is worsening. The ringing gets me.My balance was off that night I fell down and I knew it. I have respect for heights and avoiding anything when I am off.  But right now it seems to be fine. Surgery did not set anything off. I felt good that the doctor was very pleased with my progress today. I feel much better. And soon I might be able to walk without the cane.
It feels good to know the worst is over. NO MORE HOSPITALS for me!

[11angeleyes11]

Great to read you are making a speedy recovery! Blessings are with you.

[mombird3]

Thank you for the good wishes. I am getting better and can walk with the cane much better than I did at first. I had swelling and some pain for a day and called the doctor. He was impressed with my walking and my being off the medication. I am on one Aspirin a day to thin the blood. I am waiting for the go ahead to use a bath and not have to shower and not bend down. Dropping the soap is a drag. Getting myself through this has been a real lesson on how we take things for granted. I listened to George Knapp last week and did not fall asleep as I have done when I first got home. I look forward to six months from now when I will be able to walk without a cane.