Day 8 10/29/09 Thursday if you missed parts 1-3, go here
It was so good for Mary to come home after 7 days of hospital life, the hardest part was getting her into the Ford Escape, with it's not so large front passenger door, after a bit of fussing, pushing and shoving, pillow or no pillow, we got her in and comfortable. Only 25 minutes home, mostly by freeway.
Getting comfortable around the house also proved to be another challenge as we were trying to apply the guidelines for sitting, that the therapists told us in the hospital, let's see, do not exceed 90 degree angle when sitting in a chair, but how about a recliner, and don't let your knees be higher than your hips when sitting. Laying down in bed has not worked out at all, she has spent the night in the recliner with the TV on and that seems to work OK.
Thankfully the in home Physical Therapist came the day after she got home and showed us real world do's and don'ts, in our house, he answered a lot of questions, we were pretty much doing the right things.
11/5/09 2nd week
Two weeks done since surgery and 8 days being home. Therapy is going well with the therapist coming 3 times a week, he is very helpful and good at what he does. Mary is moving about the house quite well with the walker and even a little without it, although the therapist said not to get rid of the walker to soon as this will set you back about a week if you try to do to much to early. Surgery site continues to look good and the seepage has finally stopped. Sleeping is also getting better and she is able to get in and out of bed by herself.
Last Monday we had 1st post op. with her Ortho. he took X Rays right there and we got to see what the thing looks like. He said everything looks great and even called the house a few days later to see how her incision was doing. The Internist from the hospital also called to follow up, which was a surprise to us, we must be special.....to be continued.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
My Wife's Hip Replacement Surgery Part 3
10/22/2009 Day2 Thursday
First night for Mary went well as could be, lost the IV in the left hand due to bad veins, we hope the one on the right hand holds up. Sleep was hit & miss but actually she looked pretty good this morning when I got there with black coffee from home.
Physical Therapist came in and got her working on movement and got her standing up. Later in the day while I was away she walked with a walker 5 or 6 steps to the room door. She so dearly wants to get out of that bed as it gets tough laying just on her back. Some of our discussion now turns to what vehicle to go home in as there will be things to watch for as she gets in and out of the car, of course that is still 3 or4 days away. We are learning the limitations and what to do and what not to do while in recovery and rehabilitation.
10/23/09 Day 3 Friday
Low grade fever running about 100.1 or so, climbed last night to 101.2 but had backed down by morning. Lab took blood culture but that takes about 4 days, looks like the Internist will keep her in over the week-end or until this low grade temp goes away.
Progress made with walking, (had to get to the potty), the Therapists have been really good and Mary will do anything to get out of bed because the butt is starting to be awful sore. It is a lot of effort to move her from a laying down position, to sitting, then standing, but we get it done and it is good for her to be moving around as much as she can handle.
First night for Mary went well as could be, lost the IV in the left hand due to bad veins, we hope the one on the right hand holds up. Sleep was hit & miss but actually she looked pretty good this morning when I got there with black coffee from home.
Physical Therapist came in and got her working on movement and got her standing up. Later in the day while I was away she walked with a walker 5 or 6 steps to the room door. She so dearly wants to get out of that bed as it gets tough laying just on her back. Some of our discussion now turns to what vehicle to go home in as there will be things to watch for as she gets in and out of the car, of course that is still 3 or4 days away. We are learning the limitations and what to do and what not to do while in recovery and rehabilitation.
10/23/09 Day 3 Friday
Low grade fever running about 100.1 or so, climbed last night to 101.2 but had backed down by morning. Lab took blood culture but that takes about 4 days, looks like the Internist will keep her in over the week-end or until this low grade temp goes away.
Progress made with walking, (had to get to the potty), the Therapists have been really good and Mary will do anything to get out of bed because the butt is starting to be awful sore. It is a lot of effort to move her from a laying down position, to sitting, then standing, but we get it done and it is good for her to be moving around as much as she can handle.
My Wife's Total Hip Replacement Surgery part 2
10/21/09 DAY 1 Wednesday
First of all, everything went great, the Dr. said the hip replacement went "perfect" Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, it is so much appreciated.
Arrived at hospital on time, at 8:30 AM (they can't start without her) and checked in and of course waited to be taken to 3rd floor surgery unit.
The wait wasn't long and we we're soon in going through all the prep. questions, your name is? date of birth, what are you having done? which hip? what did you eat or drink in the last 8 hours, etc. etc. The only thing that took extra time was getting the IV's in and started, which was no surprise to us, as many times Mary has been poked for blood work we knew it would be a challenge. A 2nd nurse came to try and managed to get it in and we were ready to go.
First of all, everything went great, the Dr. said the hip replacement went "perfect" Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, it is so much appreciated.
Arrived at hospital on time, at 8:30 AM (they can't start without her) and checked in and of course waited to be taken to 3rd floor surgery unit.
The wait wasn't long and we we're soon in going through all the prep. questions, your name is? date of birth, what are you having done? which hip? what did you eat or drink in the last 8 hours, etc. etc. The only thing that took extra time was getting the IV's in and started, which was no surprise to us, as many times Mary has been poked for blood work we knew it would be a challenge. A 2nd nurse came to try and managed to get it in and we were ready to go.
My Wife's Total Hip Replacement Surgery Part 1
10/20/2009
The condition of my wife Mary's hip (age 54) has been deteriorating for quite some time now. She has known for a couple of years that she was going to have a hip replacement done at some point, but after a house move in July 09, that was when it really got worse and hard to function on a daily basis.As I am fairly new at this blog stuff, I will work at timely updates as she progresses along in post op. so bear with me if I seem a little scatterbrained.
All this is complicated with the fact that she has Lymphoma, which is a cancer of the blood. Thankfully, she has not had to have chemotherapy for 2 years and her "numbers" are pretty well in check, although her oncologist keeps a close regular watch on her blood tests, she still has some things such as vascular inflammation that flares up occasionally. Along with this, she already has had 2 knee replacements. The family jokes about who is going to get what hardware after she's gone. Well, here comes some more.
After visiting her orthopedist a couple times and trying some injection treatments in the hip we realize that that treatment only buys a little more time and offers some temporary relief. Scheduled surgery is 10/21/09. The 2 weeks before, we get the usual blood work, chest X-ray, EKG, and pre-op stuff all in order.
We met with her oncologist a few times before surgery with the understanding that he has the final say so for the go ahead. We also asked him to consult with her ortho. to go over some things. He says this is as good a time frame as any and understands that this needs to be done and we have a good window.
The condition of my wife Mary's hip (age 54) has been deteriorating for quite some time now. She has known for a couple of years that she was going to have a hip replacement done at some point, but after a house move in July 09, that was when it really got worse and hard to function on a daily basis.As I am fairly new at this blog stuff, I will work at timely updates as she progresses along in post op. so bear with me if I seem a little scatterbrained.
All this is complicated with the fact that she has Lymphoma, which is a cancer of the blood. Thankfully, she has not had to have chemotherapy for 2 years and her "numbers" are pretty well in check, although her oncologist keeps a close regular watch on her blood tests, she still has some things such as vascular inflammation that flares up occasionally. Along with this, she already has had 2 knee replacements. The family jokes about who is going to get what hardware after she's gone. Well, here comes some more.
After visiting her orthopedist a couple times and trying some injection treatments in the hip we realize that that treatment only buys a little more time and offers some temporary relief. Scheduled surgery is 10/21/09. The 2 weeks before, we get the usual blood work, chest X-ray, EKG, and pre-op stuff all in order.
We met with her oncologist a few times before surgery with the understanding that he has the final say so for the go ahead. We also asked him to consult with her ortho. to go over some things. He says this is as good a time frame as any and understands that this needs to be done and we have a good window.
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