Welcome back to The Hip Replacement Podcast. I’m Chris Bystriansky, your host. I’m also a two-time hip replacement patient, one more than 12 years ago and the other one more than 10 years ago. And I’m here to share my experiences with you.
I want to first of all say that I really appreciate when listeners send in questions and comments. I try to get to all of the emails that I get, all the comments that I get, and I try to respond to them as quickly as possible. So, if you send something in, number one, thank you. And you should be expecting a response from me. All right? So thank you very much.
I recently received a question from listener Cynthia. And Cynthia, this episode is for you. Thank you very much, Cynthia, for the courage and the initiative to send in a message and ask this very important question, which I’m sure a lot of people are wondering themselves.
And the question from Cynthia deals with how to prepare for a hip replacement surgery. So there’s a lot that is a very big question and that is something that I could talk a long time about because there’s so much that goes into preparing for the hip replacement surgery.
Now, it’s possible that you have a long time to go before the hip replacement surgery, but I’m going to just boil it down to three main areas. And those three areas are your physical body, your mental state, how your mental game is going, and three, your home.
So, how to prepare for a hip replacement surgery? How to prepare your physical body, your mental, your mind, and your home.
Okay, three big areas. And each one of these could easily be an all day webinar or seminar or what have you, a book, but I can’t obviously do that on a podcast episode because we would all not be able to finish it.
So, I’m going to try to boil it down to essential things. And maybe there’s something that you’ve come across or you’re wondering about that I don’t touch on. Send me a message on that and we can address that in a later episode.
So, think about how much time you may have before your hip replacement surgery. And these things that I’m going to talk about not only apply if you’re waiting for your surgery, but many of them will also apply if you’re several months or even years after surgery.
When I first found out that I needed a hip replacement surgery, it was years before I actually went under the knife, so to speak. And maybe you have a long time as well. Maybe your surgery is two, three, or four months or even longer.
Maybe you find out about your situation that you’re going to need a hip replacement at some point and you simply put it off. Maybe you’re waiting for insurance or the health care program in your country to put you on a schedule and to approve you and put you on a schedule.
Or maybe you simply have access to all the doctors and surgeons you could possibly want or need and the one that you particularly want to go to, they’re just several months, they’re booking several months out. So, you have some time.
Now, this could be a very stressful time, and I get that. I was stressed about it for years. It was over a year from the time that I was told I was going to need a hip replacement surgery until the time I decided to move forward. And it was almost two years before I actually went under the knife.
But it was a long time of waiting for me once my mind was made up or once I was— I shouldn’t say that my mind was made up. What the more realistic view of that was I was backed into a corner and I had no other options because I tried a lot of different things.
So once I was backed into a corner and I didn’t know what else to do because I tried so many other things and I decided that I was going to move forward with a hip replacement surgery, it was a long time and I simply gave up trying to delay.
Okay. So, that’s what I mean when I say I was backed into a corner and I had to do something because I was living in severe pain and I just wanted to get rid of the pain. Surgery was the last resort I had.
So, I finally decided I scheduled it and I still had a long time to wait. I had months at that point. But it’s a very trying time.
But think about it like this that we are living in a day and age when we have the solution to a major health issue like this at our disposal. So yes, it’s a very stressful time. It could be a very painful time. But at least the positive, the silver lining if you will, is that we live in a time where medicine, there’s a medical solution to the issue.
Is the medical solution perfect? No. Is the medical solution fun? No. Is the medical solution pain-free? No. Is it the best solution that we have? Probably.
If you think back 100 years or 50 years ago, that was not the time to need a hip replacement surgery. It’s much better today. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like 50 or 100 years from now. Maybe.
Maybe this practice will be considered very outdated and barbaric and there will be a much easier, pain-free, quicker, better solution in the future. Maybe we’ll take a pill, maybe we’ll get a shot, maybe we’ll have a drink and it will heal the cartilage, it will heal the bone, it will heal the circulation. Who knows?
But I know that I would much rather be facing a hip replacement surgery today than 50 years ago or 100 years ago. So it’s the best we have. So if we’re getting down, which is quite reasonable, if we’re getting stressed out, if we’re getting upset, if we’re getting scared, just know that today is the best time in our lives to have a hip replacement surgery.
That’s one way to look at it. All right. So, think about the positives.
Now, how do we prepare for a hip replacement surgery when we have all this waiting time on our hands? Again, we’ll do the physical body, the mental part, and then your physical home.
Okay? So first your physical body.
So I would recommend that you do everything you possibly can to prepare your body for the hip replacement surgery. So get healthier.
Any leg or hip exercises that you may learn from your surgeon or the doctor or the hospital and ask them if there’s any routine that they have available from the surgeon or the hospital.
The better physical shape you are at the time of surgery, the better your results, the better the outcome should theoretically be.
Okay? So, think about maybe one or two things that you could be doing prior to hip replacement surgery that will help you. You have a lot more control over this situation than it initially feels like.
When you’re in the middle of it, it’s very hard to understand that we can participate. We can be active. We can help ourselves. But we have a lot more control over our physical body than we feel like we do because this pain is so painful. This pain is at the forefront of our minds. But we do have some control.
So look for ways to get as healthy as you possibly can. Any leg strengthening exercises or stretches, get that routine from the hospital or the surgeon and do them.
Also think about what your weight and maybe the things you’re putting in your mouth. Okay, I’m very guilty of this. Sometimes I put stuff in my mouth, bad food, bad drinks that aren’t helping me. And that was certainly true around the time when I was faced with a hip replacement surgery.
So if you can just do one or two things and try to get a little bit healthier before the hip replacement surgery, it will be very helpful to you.
So exercise where you can. I understand that your leg and your hip and maybe your back are in a little bit of pain, but there’s still things that you can do, still some exercises, still some stretches.
And this is a simple internet search if you don’t have any other resources. If you cannot get with your surgeon, if you cannot get with the hospital or surgery center or physical therapist to give you certain exercises that you can do, a last resort would be to turn to the internet and do a search for basic exercises that you can do.
Maybe you can do some upper body work or some lower body work or get in a pool or ride a bike or anything, anything, anything to help you be more active and not put you in more pain.
Okay? And also just watching what you’re putting in your mouth, maybe if you can cut out one thing. Maybe if you have 10 sweet things in a day, maybe cutting out one, maybe reducing that alcohol. Anything that you can do will be helpful.
All right? Don’t feel like you have to do a lot. If you can do a lot, great. But something is better than nothing.
Not only is that going to help your physical body, but it’s going to give you a sense of control and progress at a time when you feel like you have no control. You’re just at the mercy of this pain in your hip.
Gaining some slight sense of control and progress can make a big difference and keep your spirits up. So simply do what you can to get your body ready for the surgery. And not only the surgery, but the recovery as well.
The surgery is only going to be an hourish, but the recovery is going to be a long time. The initial recovery I consider to be 30 to 90 days, somewhere in that range, and then you have a lifetime of recovering.
But anything that you can do will help you. Anything physical that you can do to strengthen the muscles around your legs and your back and your core would be very helpful and give you a sense of control.
And if you don’t know what tools you can use or what are some of the things that you could be doing at home prior to surgery and possibly even shortly after surgery, check out episode seven where I talk about the tools that I use in my recovery.
So that’s the physical part. What can you physically be doing while you’re waiting for the surgery?
Number two, your mental state.
And this is where I don’t think there’s a lot of discussion on this. I don’t think there’s a lot of support for this area of the whole hip replacement scenario.
The surgeons are great at the physical part and the physical therapists are great at the physical part, but I think there is a big issue with the mental state that a lot of people go through and certainly I was going through.
Let me give you an example. I mean, I was absolutely terrified. I was very fearful of the surgery.
So leading up to it, I mean, I was kind of a— I wouldn’t say I was an emotional wreck because I wasn’t like crying or anything like that, but I could understand how people would get like that. I was definitely terrified of the surgery.
I felt like I didn’t want to have the surgery. And the longer you go, the longer the more time that you have, the more these mental issues can really be rising to the surface and you’re going to have to deal with those.
So very afraid of the surgery and I was torn between I wanted the surgery to get here faster to get it over with but then I also didn’t want to have the surgery if you can wrap your head around that.
So get here faster so I can get it over with but I don’t want to do it anyway. And maybe you’re going through that mental piece too.
There was also some doubt in my mind about not knowing if I was making the right decision. Number one, was having the surgery the right thing to do in the first place? But then also, did I select the right surgeon?
And this is where I spent a lot of time. This is what took me so long from the time of hearing from a doctor that I had osteoarthritis in my hips and I would likely need a hip replacement at some point soon and then actually going under the knife.
This is what took me so long because I had so much doubt in my mind that I looked for all these different possible treatments and I feel like I exhausted them. Maybe there were more, but I did four, five, six other things.
And there’s another episode I talk about all the different alternatives I tried before having surgery.
But I was very doubtful. And the doubt is almost crippling not knowing if you’re doing the right thing.
But what helped me? What helped me was number one, I didn’t know. I didn’t have any other options. I felt like I was backed into a corner and I was in so much pain. I just needed to do something.
And after exhausting all these other options, surgery I felt was my last resort. So that pushed me. So that helped me make that decision.
Okay. But then the surgeon, I went to three different surgeons before I decided on one. And the reason I decided on that one was because he made me feel the most comfortable or confident that I could regain my active lifestyle.
For some reason, his communication was that yes, I would be able to regain all the things I wanted to do in my life and that was reassuring to me.
And I also learned about the different techniques. I had no idea that there were different materials used that there were different entry points into the hip.
And the one I ended up going with practiced the anterior approach. I would not have known about the other ways if I didn’t go see more than one surgeon.
And knowing having that information I guess gave me a sense of control which calmed my mind down a little bit because then I felt like I was more of an active participant in what was going to happen to me.
So maybe get a second opinion. If you’re faced with the hip replacement surgery and you’re not getting the warm and fuzzy from whatever surgeon you spoke with, maybe you can go see a different one and maybe they’ll explain to you a different process.
So coming to terms with the surgery, it was a terrifying time for me. I was relatively young. I was in my 30s when I had my first surgery. And I didn’t want this to impact my life.
But being backed into that corner and being able to try all these alternative options really helped me come to terms with the surgery.
So, it was helpful. I got pushed. I got pushed. Basically, that’s what happened. It’s like you’re on a diving board. You’re on a high dive and you don’t want to jump in and then someone behind you pushes you.
Well, what pushed me was the pain and exhausting my other alternatives. I got pushed into it.
But certainly there’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of anxiety. There’s a lot of doubt. And any actions that you can take, including knowing that these things are going to happen, doing a little research before the surgery, about techniques, about materials, looking up the surgeons or talking with the surgeons, what do they practice? Those will all be helpful and give you a sense of control.
And also knowing what to expect after the surgery is a lot is very helpful. I have to say that contrary to what I read a lot on social media, it’s not all roses.
And although the pain is gone, the main pain that we’re trying to get rid of is gone, it gets a lot worse. Not the pain, just the inconvenience.
The whole concept of trying to get better from the day of surgery until, let’s say, a year later, it gets worse before it gets better.
And let me explain what I mean by that. If someone thinks that they’re going to go have surgery and then a week later they’re going to be up walking around and everything is going to be great or good and they’re not going to be in pain anymore, that’s not necessarily true because it gets worse before it gets better.
There’s this new piece of equipment in your body. The body has to adjust to it. The bones have to adjust to it. The muscles have to adjust to it. The nerves have to adjust to it. It may cause complications elsewhere. And it feels very awkward at first.
So, it’s going to take a lot of patience to go from the day of surgery to the point where you’re able to go about your daily life and not think about it.
So, that’s what I mean when I say it’s going to get worse before it gets better. And it’s almost a tradeoff between old severe ache and pain that may be gone, but then you replace that with smaller aches and pains in different parts of your body that you didn’t recognize before because you were in so much pain from the hip.
So either you didn’t recognize those smaller aches and pains before or the body is compensating for that new hip because it’s different. It’s compensating and putting more strain on other parts of your body which causes new aches and pains.
So, you’re replacing that one major ache and pain that you feel for possibly many others or several others, smaller aches and pains.
And here’s a plug for physical therapy. The physical therapy is there to help with those potential new aches and pains, either clean up your body from previous damage that was done or prevent it from developing new aches and pains by compensating incorrectly.
So, that’s my plug for physical therapy. I’m not a physical therapist, but I’ve gone through it enough. I’m not promoting any physical therapy person right here, but I’m a big proponent of physical therapy to help alleviate new aches and pains. You’re simply going to need to address those.
So, expect that if you’re going into the surgery, expect that it’s not all going to be roses. Expect that all those delightful messages and posts on social media, that’s not telling the whole picture.
So, just be ready for that. That there’s going to be some work and some aches and pains.
Now, you’ve probably talked with a doctor or maybe seen some social media posts about people doing all these extravagant things. Two weeks after surgery, they’re flying around the world. They’re traveling Italy. They’re walking five miles. They’re doing X, Y, and Z. They’re on their horseback. They’re riding horseback. They’re jet skiing, water skiing, everything.
The question you’re going to have to ask yourself is not can you do all these things but should you do all these things and that is simply a question that nobody else can answer for you.
So there’s two sides to this coin. On one side, you can be as safe as you want, as conservative as you want to prolong the life of that hip, maybe not doing anything risky, or you can go and live your life the way you want to live it. And that is not a question that someone else can answer for you.
So, if you’re asking yourself or you’re going to ask social media, hey, can I go skydiving? Can I go skiing? Can I go horseback riding? Can I ride a motorcycle?
Well, the answer is probably the same as if you did not have the hip replacement surgery. All those things are risky.
What is your risk tolerance?
So, be ready for that. And you’re going to see a lot of— if you’re on social media, you’re going to see a lot of people doing things and you don’t know if you can or should do those things. That is entirely up to you. That’s the decision that you’re going to have to make.
You know, consider riding a motorcycle or skydiving. Risky. Does it really matter if you’ve had a hip replacement or not?
So, those are simple decisions and the way you approach your life, that’s up for you to decide. Can you get back to something? Did you enjoy it before? Are there alternatives? Is this the way you enjoy life? Well, up to you.
No one can tell you right or wrong. Talk with your doctor. See what he or she thinks and go from there. You have to make your own decision.
What about the pain level? And I briefly touched on the pain level before. So, you have this big pain level before surgery and you’re going to replace it with several smaller pain, aches and pains later on.
So, that’s going to happen. It’s not going to be the case where you go through surgery and then you feel no pain, everything’s great, you don’t have to worry about it anymore in your life. Not the case.
Once those drugs wear off, and everyone reacts a little differently to pain medication, once those drugs wear off, you’re going to feel something.
And even when that pain from the hip replacement goes away, I mentioned that other aches and pains may creep up. So, be ready for those.
And if hopefully you can return to some exercises and physical therapy stretches to alleviate those as you go through life following a hip replacement surgery, your body’s going to change. Your muscles are going to change just as we age.
And being able to revert back to those exercises is going to be very helpful to you. So as you prepare, think about the exercises that not only can you do before surgery, shortly after surgery, but years down the road as well.
Another big area of concern that I had and I know a lot of folks have is it’s a shock to have the surgery, to need the surgery, and to actually have the surgery.
It’s kind of a shock to your confidence, your value as a human being, your interpretation of your value as a person. Maybe your independence, maybe you don’t feel as capable. That’s going to happen.
But I will say that having a hip replacement surgery does not by itself limit your ability to do other things in life. It may actually even help.
So, if you’re facing a hip replacement surgery or you’ve recently had one and you’re not feeling as confident as you were before or as confident as you’d like, know that that is a decision you’re making and you’re letting this concept of the hip replacement get inside your head too much.
That you can be as confident as the next person or as someone who’s very confident.
There are books, there are groups, there’s this podcast that deal with confidence, not only from a hip replacement, but for anything.
So, if you’re feeling not as confident as you’d like, that is something that can be addressed. And know that low confidence is not limited to people who have hip replacement surgeries.
A lot of people who have no physical issues whatsoever also have confidence issues and there are ways to overcome that.
So don’t let this surgery, this hip replacement impact your confidence level. You can still do and be as great in your life as you want to be.
Okay, let me say that again. You can be as great and as confident in your life as you want to be.
Know that the physical therapy and that the recovery is going to take some time.
So mentally, if you’re thinking that you’re going to be back up on your feet, you’re going to go on this trip, you’re going to do X, Y, or Z, slow down. Recovery is going to take some time.
And there’s nothing wrong with you if you’re not keeping up with, you know, Joe Fast person who’s posting stuff on social media. They may be having a great recovery too, but you’re not their pace, and someone else is not your pace.
Okay, one thing is probably going to be true. You will not have the fastest and best recovery ever in the history of hip replacement surgeries. And you will probably not have the worst and slowest hip replacement recovery.
Okay? So, if you don’t have the best and you don’t have the worst, you’re going to be somewhere in there. Just have that in your mind. You don’t have to chase somebody else.
Now, if there’s any concern about boy, my doctor, I’m concerned about my doctor. I don’t know if I’m going with the right one. My friends are giving me contrary advice than the doctor did. Social media is giving me contrary advice than the doctor did. I don’t know what to do. I’m getting confused. I’m getting overwhelmed. I don’t know if this is the right decision for me.
Well, that is troubling. But at some point, you’re going to have to make a decision.
So, talk with at least one doctor, talk to multiple if you can, and then make the decision that fits best with your life.
Maybe your friends are giving you good information, maybe they’re not. How good of friends are they? What experience do they have with this?
I would give the pecking order I would give regarding advice would be, and there’s a lot of other areas to get advice, but just generally, I would go with the surgeon’s advice. If you don’t like that advice, get a different surgeon. But you should be following advice from one surgeon.
Your friends with experience in this area or someone you trust in this area. And then the bottom, who I’ve gave almost no credibility to, social media.
There’s a lot of stuff that’s posted that is total garbage. Some of it might be good, but social media is kind of a mixed bag. You don’t know what kind of advice you’re getting.
And the problem with social media is that you’re not getting the full picture. You’re not having a full conversation. You’re not hashing out all the issues.
So, if you’re torn between the advice from a surgeon, friends, and social media, who do you trust? Who has experience? And then make a decision and go with it because there’s things that can be done later on to help you recover, to help you get better, to help you live your best life.
So, you have to make a decision, find a surgeon you trust and move forward.
Okay. Now, let’s just touch on this social media thing again. Social media. And this not only applies to hip replacement surgery, but it applies to everything.
It’s a double-edged sword, meaning it has good contents and bad contents. And those contents can either help you or hurt you.
So, is it helping you make a quality decision? Is it giving good advice? Is it really preparing you for what is about to happen? Is it preparing you for what already happened? Is it helping you recover?
Or is it giving you bad advice? Is it putting doubt in your mind? Is it giving you too much information? Is it overwhelming you?
Well, turn it off. Simply turn it off.
I don’t spend that much time on social media and I discourage my kids. I prohibit my kids from using social media because they’re too young and they don’t understand that there’s a lot of garbage out there.
So, think about what’s going into your head, what’s going into your mind, and what’s the root of any negative thoughts that you might have, any concerns you might have, is it coming from that social media? Is it coming from the news? Let’s get rid of that stuff.
Okay, this all deals with the preparation of the mind or the recovery of the mind for something that’s very significant in your life.
Know that the situation that you’re going through, whether you’re a month or a year before hip replacement surgery or you’re a month or year after hip replacement surgery, this is temporary. This is a temporary place in your life.
The good news is that the body will try to heal itself. But you have to let it you have to nourish the body with food, exercise, stretches, and do the things that promote that. It’ll speed things up for you. So know that this is temporary.
One piece of advice I got from a Navy Seal when I was at an endurance event was never make a decision when things are not going your way.
Know that the sun will rise. Know that things will get better, that your mind cycles up and down through good thoughts and bad thoughts. And don’t make a decision when your mind is in a bad place because your mind will come out of that.
So, hold off on making any rash decisions on doing things that may not be helpful to you because you decide to do them when you’re not in a good state of mind.
Realize that you have a lot of control over the outcome here, over the long-term outcome and your pain level because you have the ability to do exercises, to do stretches, to make every effort you can to lose weight and spending time with positive, happy, and active people.
The people that surround yourself with will greatly influence your thoughts, your actions and your outcomes. So if you in your life are not getting the outcomes that you want, hip replacement or not, surround yourself with people who have those outcomes that you want.
If you want to be more active, spend time with more active people. If you want to be more confident, spend more time with more confident people. If you want to be more active, spend time with more active people.
That’s easy to say and it takes some time, but you can certainly find one or two people to add into your life who will help you get there.
And maybe there’s a time where maybe the people who are pulling you back or holding you back, who are putting negative thoughts in your head, who are not allowing you to be as active as you want, maybe less time with them would be helpful.
So on the plus side, find people who are the way you want to develop and maybe remove or spend less time with people who are pulling you down.
You have to be an active participant in your recovery. So mentally prepare yourself so that you’re geared towards knowing that you’re going to be active, that you’re going to participate in exercises or stretches or walk or whatever your surgeon recommends, whatever the physical therapist recommends.
Do what they say to the best of your ability and if you have questions ask them.
But certainly being an active participant will help you in your initial recovery and in your longer term recovery. And you have a lot of control.
So find joy in the little things. I know it’s a dark time. It could be a dark time leading up to that surgery, going through the actual surgery, the initial recovery.
Maybe you’re at home, there’s not a lot of people around, and your mind can get carried away with things, but find joy in the little things.
And maybe it’s time to reassess what’s important to you. This is definitely a second chance in life to clarify what you really desire.
One of the earliest joys that I found after my hip replacement surgery was taking a shower. I didn’t really care for showers before. I didn’t really appreciate showers before, but being able to take a shower after hip replacement surgery, I did it three days after and I tried to cover up the bandage as best I could with plastic wrap and tape, but I found such joy in something so small as a shower.
And I still find joy in the showers. I took those for granted before. But going through the surgery helped me see that there are little things in our lives everywhere around us that seem insignificant before the surgery, but after are very important to us.
So look for little ways to find joy. Look for little pieces, little golden nuggets that improve your spirits, that make your day, and those will help you not only through the surgery, but soon after surgery and for the rest of your life.
Number three, now your home.
The third area to prepare as you’re going through the hip replacement process either before or after and part of the home I consider the people around you.
What are the people around you doing to support you? Do you have family members at home? Do you have a spouse or a significant other? Do you have friends or neighbors that could help you?
Now is definitely not the time to be strong and independent. If you have to be, sure. But if you have anybody who can help you, reach out.
Let them know what you’re going through because it will help you recover. It will help keep you safe and you may develop a stronger relationship with that person.
Plus, it gives them an opportunity to help. One of the things about humans is that we love to help. And if someone asks for help, it’s actually very flattering. It’s actually very empowering to the person that you’ve asked for help because it gives them the thought or the concept that they have the power, they have the significance to help you.
So don’t be afraid to ask for help. Number one, this is a time in your life where it’s really good to get help. And number two, it gives somebody else the opportunity to feel really good about doing something for somebody else.
So, put people around in your life or give people the opportunity to help you.
My wife was critical in my preparation and my recovery. I mean, she was lifting up my leg, getting my meds, getting food, doing everything. And I would not have had the success and the recovery without her.
Also, we have to prepare our home, meaning make sure that the trip hazards are gone. Maybe rugs, stools, anything, stairs, make sure there’s nothing on the stairs that could trip you up.
Are there tight spaces or narrow hallways? Maybe it’s time to clear those out before the surgery.
Where are your chairs? Do you have places to sit down throughout your house?
What tools are you going to need? Maybe you need a raised toilet seat. How are you going to take a shower? Do you have things to hold on to as you move around your house following or before and following the hip replacement surgery?
So feel free to get whatever you might need. If you don’t need it, you don’t need it. But it’s better to have something and not need it than need it and not have it.
Another big concern is where are you going to sleep? I slept in a recliner for the first few weeks after surgery because it was easier to get up and down than out of the bed.
So consider that and practice that before your surgery if possible. And maybe where you sleep is somewhere you’re not used to sleeping, but it may be easier for you to sleep there.
What about walking assistants around your house? Are you going to have a walker or crutches or cane? Maybe practice with those prior to surgery if you have the opportunity.
The first time you use those things should not be after surgery because you’re not going to feel stable to begin with and then learning how to use those walking assistance devices is probably not the best time.
Of course, if you have to, if it’s too late, you have to use them. But if you can prior to surgery, it’s a great way to prepare and give yourself some more confidence as you go into the surgery.
All right. What about boredom around your home? What are you going to do? This takes so much patience. It takes so much patience to sit there and not get up and go do things, not get up and want to leave the house and take additional risks.
So, what are you going to do to pass the time? Maybe this is a great opportunity to catch up on some books, to watch some movies or TV.
You have any projects around the house that you can sit and do? Maybe it’s a great time to catch up on some of your favorite podcasts.
But whatever you’re going to do, have it prepared and make it part of your routine so that it passes the boredom.
The first two weeks after my surgery, I only left the house one time, and that was to go to my one week follow-up.
So, I’m not very good at sitting still. So, that was very difficult for me. I’m not very good at watching TV because I just can’t sit still and absorb something like that. So, it was a very difficult time for me.
So I had to come up with creative ways to pass some of the time.
Have this discussion with your surgeon about what kind of restrictions do you have and not only finding out before the surgery but also in follow-up visits maybe your restrictions change.
So be very clear on those discussions with your surgeon. Hey, what can I do? And more importantly, what should I not do?
Maybe it’s bending over a certain amount. Maybe it’s crossing your legs. Whatever it is, know what the guidance is from the surgeon. And probably have these things written down.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to get written instructions from your surgeon or one of their assistants.
All right, pain medications. This is so critical for post-surgery. Don’t leave the hospital or the surgery center without your pain meds. And don’t leave there without a number to call for help if you need different pain meds.
So, in the middle of the night, if your pain meds aren’t working and whatever you had in the hospital has finally worn off and you’ve taken your pain meds on time at home and they’re not working for you, you could probably be in a lot of pain. That’s what happened to me.
My first night at home, I took the prescription pain meds on time, but in the middle of the night, I couldn’t sleep because I was in so much pain, my wife called the doctor’s phone number and the answering service got a hold of the doctor and they called in a new prescription for me immediately and my wife ran out in the middle of the night to go to the pharmacist.
Thank goodness there was a pharmacy nearby that was still open. Got me the pain med, a different pain med that I was able to take and that was helpful.
So, have your pain meds with you, but also have a phone number to call in case they’re not working.
In case the pain meds are not working.
And what about the bandage? You’re going to leave the hospital or surgery center with a bandage. How do you care for this bandage?
This is certainly a discussion that the surgeon or an assistant doctor should have with you. So, make sure you get clear written instructions on what to do with the bandage.
Take it off, leave it on, can it get wet? When does it get changed? Who changes it?
So, have all this written down because it’s going to be very difficult to remember all of this stuff once you leave the hospital or surgery center.
What about food in your house? You don’t want to be up trying to fix yourself food. So, if somebody cannot help you after surgery and prepare that stuff for you, maybe prepare some of that stuff beforehand.
Maybe make it easy to eat. And maybe it’s going to be boring, but if it gives you the nutrition that you need, maybe boring for the first few weeks or first few months is perfect.
One of the other things that we had around my house and which was recommended by the doctor was compression stockings. So, I wore those for a few weeks.
One on— I actually wore them on both legs. I think for each of my surgeries I had them on both legs. I don’t know why I wore them on both legs. Maybe I just wanted to be even.
But they were just long compression stockings that went all the way up pretty close to my hip. So from the foot all the way up to the hip.
And the purpose of those is to help prevent blood clots and to help with circulation and to keep swelling to a minimum.
So if your doctor prescribes them, wear them. They’re not comfortable. They’re not sexy. They’re not pretty. But if they help and that’s what the doctor recommends, I suggest you listen to your doctor.
So we covered a lot of things here. I know this is a pretty long episode, longer than most.
So we covered preparing for the hip replacement surgery, your physical body, your mental state, and your home.
These can apply whether you’re before surgery or after surgery. So know that you have a lot of control over the outcome here and that it is not total chaos going on in your life.
That you can certainly come out of this in a much better physical state, a much better mental state, and really still accomplish whatever you want to do in your life.
You may even be better positioned because of your hip replacement surgery to do the things in your life that you wanted to do.
So, preparation takes some time, recovery takes some time, but you can do it.
There’s a whole community of hip replacement patients. Last time I checked, it was between 450,000 and 500,000 hip replacements per year in the US alone.
All right? And I know there’s a big population of patients in Europe, in Australia, New Zealand, and many, many other countries.
So, you are not alone. You’re not going through this alone.
Know that there’s a lot of people who are where you are, where you started from, and where you want to be.
Thanks for tuning in to The Hip Replacement Podcast. I hope this was helpful to you in your preparation and recovery from a very significant point in your life.
This is temporary and you will be back up on your feet doing the things you want to do with your life in a stronger body and a stronger mind.
So, thanks again for tuning in. Remember, send me a comment, send me an episode suggestion, and I will get to them as soon as I possibly can.
Thanks again for tuning in to The Hip Replacement Podcast and until next time, I wish you the best recovery possible.
