Anyone have a new hip ???

[rcp612]

LOML was told she has to have a total hip replacement. This comes after 14 months of non-diagnosis from our family doctor but, immediately after a MRI ordered by the neurosurgeon that repaired her back. He showed us that over 30% of the ball on her femor is basically dead and deteriorating causing her all the unbearable pain she's having.
Now it will be done after 2 weeks of storing 2 units of her own blood, (the surgeon won't have it any other way), and 1 week more for her body to replenish her blood supply. We were told that she will be in the operating room 2 to 4 hours, 3 days in a hospital room, and, in physical rehab, in the hospital, for an additional 10 days. Again the surgeon won't have it any other way. I think he's covering all bases for his own liability. (CYA )
Anyway, has anybody here personally had this done?
We are hearing a lot of different stories about this procedure but none from someone who has actually been through it themselves. You know,,, a friend's BIL knows a guy that,,,,,,,,, or my 2nd cousin had a friend who knew this guy,,,,,,,,, you know what I'm talking about. She would possibly feel better about this with an actual accounting of the procedure from someone who has been there, done that.
And, I know she would really appreciate any added prayers for her. She IS scared,,,, and so am I.
Thank you in advance.

[sparkeyjames]

Both my brother in law and a current co-worker have had hip replacements. The co-worker had both done. They are doing just fine. Just make sure she does the full physical therapy to restore her hips mobility and she will be fine. Some people have pain afterwords and some don't. My brother in laws replaced hip still bothers him some but no where near the pain level he had when it was going bad. My co-worker had no pain, though he does have a high pain threshold, and has pretty good mobility seeing as how he has to be on his feet 6 to 7 hours a day. The man took NO pain medication after the operation nor during his physical therapy.

[DonHo]

I haven't had a hip replaced but I had a knee replaced. I've been told that the hip is the easiest, both on the patient and to replace. Followed by the knee and then the shoulder.
It's natural to be a little scared but these replacements are done everyday now and almost all turn out great. I will add a +1 to the physical therapy idea, it's important.
Good luck and I'll add her to my prayers,
DonHo

[Kristofor]

Still second-hand, but my grandfather had both knees and hips replaced. In his opinion the hips were much easier than the knees from both a pain and recovery time perspective. Of course his knees were done several years earlier, so perhaps part of it was improvements in technique?

There's a great video of a hip replacement that shows up on the Discovery Health and/or similar channels. That said, I'm not sure I'd recommend watching it before surgery as some of the ways they flop the disconnected leg around just aren't natural and give me the shivers...

[Alex Franke]

Not personally, but it seems like every time I turn around someone else I know is getting this done. One was even for a good friend who was in her early 30's (something about "bone death" -- I wonder if it's the same thing... it sounds awful!).

In all cases, it went very smoothly, recovery was complete and on-time, and they're all very glad they had it done. They were in the hospital for a few days, then there was a physical therapy regimen. The younger friend did it all (or at least most of it) at home and her parents helped her out for a couple weeks as she recovered. One older relative went to a facility for a couple weeks where they helped her recover -- I think they got her out of the hospital pretty quickly, though.

Most were worried going into it, but all are much happier people now that they have. One said something to the effect of, "I couldn't clearly see how the constant pain was affecting my life -- now I wish I had done it sooner."

Prayers are with her.

[WayneJ]

I had my left hip replaced about when I was 64, about 11 yrs ago. I kept outting it off . If I had known how easy it was I would have had it done years ago. It was also a reason for me to give up smoking. It got rid of all the back pain and rehab was easy, Except for the 4 inch scar on my left butt cheek you would never know I had it done. Going through the radar detector at the airport is another story.I recamend having it done Best of luck.
Wayne

[OpaDC]

...when I was 64, about 11 yrs ago. ...It was also a reason for me to give up smoking. ...

This gives me hope. Congratulations!