Well LAC, going in first thing Monday AM for my hip replacement. Doctor tells me he will have me walking out of the hospital about 6 hours post surgery. Sounds too good to be true, but he claims my proper eating habits and routine exercise regimen will pay dividends for me and I won't have to stay overnight in the hospital. Here's to hoping he's correct. I'm 50 and have yet to spend the night in a hospital as a patient. I'd like to keep the streak alive.
Any tips some of you other olds can share with me who have been through this would be appreciated. Do's and dont's and things you wish you had been aware of prior to surgery.
Not hip replacement, but I had a massive overhaul on my shoulder last October.
@TheNJNole actually gave me a ton of good pointers.
Here are some suggestions I have:
-Get a ton of fluids and light snacks around ahead of time and set them up close by. I set up a mini fridge next to my recliner stocked full of pedialite, ginger ale, and bottled water. I had a stash of crackers, beef Jerkey, nuts and dried fruit close by
-Dont get behind on your pain meds. Even if you think you can tough it out, staying on top of it for the first couple days seemed to make a huge difference for me. Even waking up to take them. Take the prescription and then in between doses take ibuprofen
-Get a fuckton of pillows. I was able to form out comfortable positions for myself with the pillows because I had so many.
-Get a little basket and keep it close by with tv remote, meds, anything else small you might need so you don’t have things spread around everywhere to find
-If it’s possible or suggested in any way by the Dr, ice the hip as much as possible. 20 minutes every hour. Between that and staying ahead on meds you can do yourself a huge favor in pain management
-Do your PT like your life depends on it.