When I discussed hip replacement with those who've been through it already, the main takeaway was that the first week is rough, but it gets better and better after that. Here we are at the 1 week post-op mark and holy shit. I'm in awe of how not rough this first week has been. The day of surgery was fine thanks to some residual anesthesia, the evening after was probably when my pain was at its highest, but still tolerable, and every day since has gotten better.
The pain at its worst could best be described as it feeling like someone dropped a bowling ball on my thigh. From a very high building. I took my meds, went to bed, and haven't felt that way since. I'd say the swelling in my thigh was at its worst the second day post-op. It didn't look too bad when I was sitting, but when I stood up, hello Quadzilla. Ice, elevation, and movement kept the swelling from creeping down below the knee, completely avoiding a cankle situation.
I took my first "shower" on Saturday, in which I sat on the shower chair facing the faucet and ran the tub faucet instead of the shower, washing everything with my handy dandy loofah on a stick.
Ryan used a pitcher to wash my hair and helped me shave my left leg. I felt like a new woman. My next shower was Monday, and we changed things up a bit. This time I sat on the shower chair facing away from the faucet with the actual shower running and was able to do everything myself. So so good. I just needed help getting in and out of the tub to be on the safe side. And can we talk about why all showers don't just have seats in them? Soooo nice.
By Sunday, I ditched the walker for crutches to get around downstairs and even took them outside for a short walk. Full disclosure, this was my own decision and not instructed by my care team, but having been on crutches numerous times in my life, I felt comfortable and completely stable and safe using them. I've kept the walker upstairs and use it to get ready for bed and in the middle of the night for trips to the bathroom when I wasn't feeling the most steady on my feet. PT was back at the house today and gave me the green light to drop down to a cane.
Sitting here with the cane hooked on the arm of the chair is bringing back fond memories of my firecracker of a grandmother. You'll know I'm really feeling good when I start hooking the cane on my arm like a purse instead of using it for its intended purpose like she did.
The PT also took the top dressing off my incision, revealing a beautifully healing line down the front of my thigh. There's still a layer of tape on top, which will come off at my post-op visit at the end of April. I'm no stranger to scars, so this will just be the newest of my collection.
As far as the rest of my daily activities go, I'm able to get myself dressed, with the only exception being putting a sock on my left foot. Since winter won't leave, socks have been a necessity. Until this morning when I was cleared to use the cane, people have had to carry everything for me. I tried not to take advantage or be too needy, consolidating my needs so they can bring me everything all at once. I'm sure my family will love that I can get my own damn water now.
My chief complaint at this point is still sleeping on my back. As in, I don't do it well. I manage to get a few hours in at first, but the rest of my body gets so still and sore lying in one position all night, making it really hard to fall back asleep for any substantial amount of time after that. I want nothing more than to roll over onto my stomach and sleep for hours. All in good time, and until then, I'll take advantage of being able to catnap during the day.
I'm really excited to see where I'll be a week from now. I imagine self-discipline will be put to the test to keep myself from overdoing things. What a great problem to have.
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