Hip replacement

[Pippah45]

Hello lovely people - do you have any tips for surviving this op?! I am on 7.5mg Prednisolone - would this matter? I have a referral so far but not seen a specialist. I would prefer to cope at home (alone) much as I love my daughter 6 weeks at her place isn't ideal. Especially not for one of the dogs which would escape too easily!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi

Others have had replacements on higher doses, but you do need to discuss with surgeon & anesthetist beforehand, and also mention at pre op assessment.

Can your daughter or someone stay with you for first night home, hospital's not very happy for you to go home on your own.

Before you go in - just get yourself organised at home (patient leaflet will go over certain aspects) - but remember bending hip is a big no-no initially - so get all plates, utensils, cooking pans out of lower kitchen cupboards - and if you have cooker that stands on floor, think about oven!.. that's a bit tricky.

Stock up freezer with either ready meals or home cooked so you don't have to stand too long - and sometimes you just don't feel like cooking.

Likewise clothes in bedroom dressers, shoes etc.

Not as bad as knee operation to recover from, and at least you have sticks rather than crutches, so a bit easier.

Just plan ahead as much as you can...if you sort of make a note of what you do on a daily basis and think "I shan't be able to do that" you can get ahead of the game...and then hopefully when you get home you don’t suddenly realise you can’t do something, and there’s nobody to help.

Good luck.

[piglette]

A hip replacement is one of the most successful operations in the world. I agree about going home after the op. My sister came to help for just over a week. The NHS organised raised loo seats just after my pre op. Get you hair cut and your toenails cut before the op. Afterwards the most useful thing was a grabber to pick things up particularly as I am dreadful at dropping things. Also the hospital gave me a bit of material in a loop to help me lift my leg into bed which also I found very useful. I had a separate shower which was good. You will not be able to drive for around 6 weeks, your surgeon will let you know the time. I think mine said 6 weeks to everyone. I did have a fight on the first op about my steroid dose, it was 7mg, the surgeon wanted zero. He agreed in the end. For the second op he did not bother to fight and just left me on my current dose! Have you got a date?

[suzy1959]

I have had 2 hip replacements whilst on 11mgs pred. Anaesthetist will advise on how they intend to manage that during and after surgery. They all seem to do it differently! But there should not be a problem. Of course, they would rather you weren’t on it, but it does not rule out surgery, just makes it a little bit riskier- infection and healing usually being the issues.I had no infections and I healed normally.

The first few weeks can be awkward as you can’t stretch your new hip so have to have a raised loo seat and chair and possibly bed. They measure you and tell you what height they all need to be. I got advice at the pre-op as to what aids I needed to manage at home.

The pain was not too bad and improved very quickly( with pain killers of course)

[MrsNails]

Good Luck 🍀 with your Hip Replacement, you’ve had lots of great tips from those who’ve experienced it.

At the moment l have three friends whose husbands are all having New Knees!

[Pippah45]

Brilliant help everyone thank you so much. Unfortunately daughter is over 300 miles away but I am working on a volunteer! Able to pay someone for a couple of days if necessary. No I haven't got a date yet just trying to make my plans

[Hidden]

My daughter needed help ( mine , I was day shift, and oh) for a week after. When she came snooping in the kitchen ( she’s a fantastic chef) I knew she was getting better 😁. My best to you.

[Pippah45 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for that very useful. My daughter has a friend who is an OT and they are ganging up on me! I can't think why they expect me to be irresponsible! I have been known to take calculated risks but not with my health!