I HAVE A NEW HIP !!!

10/15/08 Wednesday … I had an epidural so I was totally numbed from the waist down but was awake during most of the surgery .. just dozed here and there. (I got to wear one of those clumsy blue head caps) I heard them talking every so often and one time Dr. Dearborn said something about my bone being a 2 .. well, of course, in my semi-delirium, that wasn’t a good enough rating for me! But I was informed that 1 is best, 10 is worst, so a 2 sounded pretty darned good .. nice strong bones! (Thanks dad)
I heard the saw, then the doc asked if I wanted to see the femur head .. so I looked at the screen (which was right in front of my face( and it didn’t bother me in the slightest. The head was flat instead of a nice round ball … Then he went to work hammering in the post with the nice new shiny head on it.
Apparently I also made some comment to the PA about his ‘space-suit’ but upon further questioning, post-operatively, I was quickly assured that I hadn’t said anything to embarrass myself.
I watched the PA stitch me up .. The scar’s close to 3” long but no staples or stitches that have to be removed and can remove the covering after 2 weeks.
Recovery room was funny … the nurse kept coming over and telling me to move my toes .. well being totally numb I couldn’t feel my blasted toes .. but I gave it my all … stretching my fingers as far as they would go in an attempt to get my toes to move (does this make sense?). Finally he said ‘well done’ .. and I said ‘nothing happened’ .. he said, ‘yes it did, your toes moved.’ Naturally, I didn’t believe him so I raised my head to look for myself .. and sure enough, there they went .. couldn’t feel a thing, but they really moved!
After I was less numb and more coherent, off I went to my assigned room in the Center For Joint Replacement directly behind Washington Hospital .. appropriately enough, it used to be a psych center. I had room #10 (finally a 10, I thought) .. all rooms are private. The staff was great and very professional and caring. They got me out of bed (the hardest thing to do even days later) the afternoon of surgery and that was painful. Being ever-caring, they tried different pain meds. on me but they just made me very sick .. which screwed up my salt/ potassium/electrolyte levels … I felt pretty lousy until mid-day Thursday and even wondered what I’d got myself into …
I opted for Tylenol and pain rather than powerful pills, little pain and vomiting. We had a PT and OT class for several of us on Thursday .. some were not able to attend and a lunch buffet for patients and their families put on by the volunteers .. all of whom are joint replacement alum. Out of the 8 patients operated on, none went home the next day as hoped. Come Friday morning I was feeling quite a bit better and was discharged late morning.
There are some basic rules I have to follow for 6 weeks … it takes that long for the scar tissue to form and secure the operative site. Let’s hope I can remember them all …
The whole experience was very professional with a very caring staff .. can't recommend them highly enough. Two friends have had the same surgery recently and I believe I'm doing much better in my recovery and have less limitations and scarring.