It’s slightly odd to be in hospital for something other than cancer. I am having a hip replacement today. It’s my second time through this, the first hip was done in 2021. The cancer and its aftermath don’t seem to be a concern to them at all. It has been an action packed morning. I had to check in at the hospital at 7am. This is a small private hospital, the same place where I had hip surgery in 2021, quite different from the large tertiary hospital where I have had all my cancer treatment. Quiet, private room, with the sort of accessible en-suite I will be grateful for post-procedure. Met the anaesthetist. Met the physiotherapist, and given walking aids and reminded how to use them. The surgeon has drawn a large arrow on my leg and I have signed my life away. I have downed a large pot of pills, including risking Oxycodone at a lower dose than last time. Day 2, 3rd tablet of Oxycodone resulted in hallucinations and vomiting last time round. Now the waiting starts. I am second on the list. I met my surgeon’s first case at checkin and he needs a complicated fracture repair as well as hip replacement, so I probably have another two or three hours wait before I go to theatre.. I have sent the lovely Mr C home, but he hung around long enough to not be able to go to parkrun this morning. What an excuse! There’s a parkrun within a couple of miles of the hospital.
Yes - discharged yesterday afternoon. Scrabbling slowly around the house with my crutches like a 1 legged spider
Hi Coddfish, my wife and I are at the orthopaedic hospital today and she's off with a nurse for pre op assessment. Hopefully not too long before she gets her hip replacement. The oncology surgeon will need to be contacted though before any date is given.
When do you think you will be up and about again?
Tvman
Hi tvman
Full recovery takes a few months but they mobilise you very early. I was out of bed using a frame as soon as the spinal anaesthetic wore off, and the next day they got me using elbow crutches and sent me home. Restrictions on how you move (to avoid dislocation) for the first 6 weeks, along with compression socks and blood thinning injections. I can get around the house but am very reliant on my husband for help. I had the other hip done in 2021 and I was reasonably mobile at 4 weeks, completely off walking aids at 8 weeks and pretty much back to full function at 4 months. Both of my replacements have been cementless (where the bone eventually grows around the implant to form a bond). Cemented hips are a bit quicker to recover from as they are fully stable from day 1, but you still have the same soft tissue healing to do.
Hi Coddfish glad to hear the op went well and you are now back home recovering. The private hospital sounds much more appealing than the norm. X
Hi chellesimo
Yes - a Spire hospital with 2 wards of 10 en-suite rooms, 2 operating theatres, scanning services, an oncology centre etc. I know people who have been there for chemo privately, and it’s supposed to be nice, whereas I had all my cancer treatment in our large tertiary hospital. The only downside was they were clearly trying to get everyone home before the end of the Sunday day shift. Gargantuan effort from physios to get everyone mobile, on call pharmacist in sorting out take home prescriptions. Told the chef was going off duty so I would have to have hot meal at lunch time and order sandwiches for the evening if I was staying. Felt a bit rushed.
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