Total Hip Replacement | Arthritis Information

I'm having a total hip replacement on my right hip in two weeks due to avascular necrosis of the hip bone, caused by RA, Lupus, OA, or all of the above. I am 62 and not in good shape, have been mostly housebound since an achilles rupture, repair and MRSA in February 2007. The left hip seems to be okay (so far anyway!). I also have bad knees (both need replacement) and a herniated disk in my lower back.

Since I live alone and have no one to help, I'll have to stay in a skilled nursing facility/convalescent hospital for a while after surgery. I would appreciate hearing other people's experiences, length of recuperation, extent of recovery, any hints or suggestions, etc. etc. etc. Thanks!

Cat E. Clysm2008-09-29 17:55:58Cat:

Sorry to hear about all of this. Just wanted you to know--even if you did not live alone--recovery for this is now in a skilled nursing facility for a couple of weeks at least. I think you will appreciate all the help. Good luck.

Hi Cat,

Sorry to hear you have to undergo hip replacement surgery, but it should be okay.

I had both my hips replaced in 2006 (I'm in my mid-50s) I've had RA for 31 years and had both knees replaced 8 years ago. Cuz both my hips were bad, grinding, bone on bone, I had my 2nd hip replacement 8 weeks after my first.

The surgery wasn't bad. I had a spinal block (I think thats what its called) so when I woke from surgery I wasn't real groggy and it lasted for about a day or so, so I was comfortable. I walked a bit the second day and was 100% weight bearing right away. They start you with a physical therapist fairly soon. A lot of the hip pain I had experienced was gone right after surgery. I think I was in the hospital for 3 days. I was nervous for the first surgery, but was quite relaxed for the 2nd knowing what to expect.

One problem I had while in the hospital, was that they gave me meds early in the morning on an empty stomach, and since I've been on RA meds for years, my stomach couldn't handle that and I got real nauseous, and had to have antinausea meds IV. Soooo, I learned to ask for some food with my meds, like a yogurt.

My experience in the nursing home/rehab facility started out bad, but got better. I got checked in on a Sunday and they couldn't find my file, so didn't know what meds I was suppose to be on. My roomie was very disruptive at night, so I didn't get much sleep the first 3 nights. After I had a quiet breakdown, crying from exhaustion and frustration, they quickly moved her to another room. I then had the room to myself for weeks.

When I returned from my 2nd hip replacement surgery, I paid extra for a private room. I also brought in a tiny frig, cuz the food wasn't very good -- I lost weight while there. I kept yogurts, salads, snacks.

The physical therapists, occupational therapists, and assistants were all great. You'll be doing PT a couple of times a day, and walking, which is good, cuz walking strengthens bones -- be sure to get enough calcium, from milk, yogurt or whatever

It was amazing to be free of the pain I had, I couldn't sleep in a bed or get into a car before my surgeries, and now, 2 years later, I don't even think about my hips, though there are some things you aren't suppose to do, like bending pass a certain point -- the PT will let you know.

Did you take one of those classes with the hospital about joint replacement? Sometimes they have literature describing what to expect. If you have any questions though, I'd be happy to try and answer them, though surprisingly, once these surgeries are behind you, you tend not to remember the whole experience.

You're gonna be a real happy camper after your hip replacement! I hope it all goes well, you mend quickly and get back home soon.

When do you go in?

Hugs, Joy

Can any of you tell me how your hip problems started. I'm having a ton of problems with my left hip right now. I am now walking with a limp. I get a sharp pain in my groin now and then but it is mostly pain, stiffness in my lateral hip area. Sometimes the pain shoots down my leg. I know I need to get it checked out but I am hoping it resolves.I'm not gonna be much help, I was clueless about my hip until I heard grinding and creaking, which I thought was my knee. I was having a lot of problems with my ankle and feet so wasn't getting around much, so that may have been why I wasn't noticing what was going on with my hips.

An old fashioned inexpensive xray may help see whats up with your hips, though I've read where some people have had MRIs, seems costly, I've never had an mri for my RA. Also, I think when your RA doc examines you and moves your leg and hip joint around, he/she might be able to tell something.

Keep in mind, I had had RA for about 29 years before my hips went.

Get it checked out Lor, maybe its something that can be treated without anything major.

Good luck, take care. Joy

Joy, that is exactly what I wanted to hear, that kind of info and details really set my mind at rest to a great degree. My hip pain is exactly as you describe, unable to get in the car (I do it, but literally cry with agony) and I haven't slept in a bed for YEARS (though part of that is my lower back problems/pain). While I hope to wake up with less pain, the doctor confirmed that my back and knee problems will not (of course) be alleviated, but I'm hopeful that "losing" one-third or one-half of my pain will be worth the ordeal of surgery.

Fortunately my surgeon authorized four p/t visits BEFORE surgery so I've had time to do some exercises that are strengthening my legs. I dread the convalescent hospital, where I spent a week in February; I couldn't eat at all but a friend brought me food. She is no longer available, so I'm taking some cheese & cracker packets. I don't think the private room is an option, as I won't even know which of several places I will be sent (dependant on room availability) but I hope to visit the most likely one, if possible, and I will definitely ask! Like you, I could not sleep or eat or get any rest at all in that place, and signed myself out early, before I killed myself or somebody else.

Lorster, my hip pain started exactly as you mention (sorry to say), it has been a couple years in the making. A simple x-ray did indeed diagnose the problem clearly. I have put off the surgery for several months, as the Rituximab treatment I had in June made surgery inadvisable until October (immunity/potential infection issues).

Cat,

I'm so glad I was able to alleviate some of your anxiety, though we all are nervous going into a hospital or rehab facility. I need to get off the computer now, but I'll post again or private message ya, there's a couple of other things I want to mention. Till then, hang in there, in a few months, your hip will be a whole lot better. (about your sleeping arrangement, I hope you have one of those reclining lift chairs, thats what I slept in, practically lived in for months before my surgeries)

Take care.

Joy

p.s. I think there's another person here that has hip replacement surgery, so she''ll probably provide some good advice and info.

This is all very interesting for me because I'm going to be up for a hip replacement soon. I've had RA for almost 10 years and had both knees replaced 6 and 7 years ago. My hip has gotten really bad really fast ( like my knees did). My x-ray shows that I have lost about 2/3 of the joint space from OA and just over the last few weeks I have started having a lot of pain in my hip and groin. Sitting and standing and getting in and out of the car are very painful, I actually have to grab my pant leg to pull my leg into the car, and need a cane after about 10 minutes on my feet. All of this pain has happened in the last 8 weeks. I'm having an MRI in a couple of weeks because my rheumy wants to see if there is an inflammatory component to the OA. I can see a hip replacement coming up very quickly. It has been interesting reading everyone's thoughts and experiences.[QUOTE=lorster]Can any of you tell me how your hip problems started. I'm having a ton of problems with my left hip right now. I am now walking with a limp. I get a sharp pain in my groin now and then but it is mostly pain, stiffness in my lateral hip area. Sometimes the pain shoots down my leg. I know I need to get it checked out but I am hoping it resolves.[/QUOTE]

Lorster have you tried a chiropractor. I was having problems with my hip and he helped me greatly. Also, I find sleeping with a pillow under my legs helps so much to take the pressure off the hips.

I might be one of the youngest here with both hips replaced. I had both done when I was 29 years old. (sept 2005 and jan 2006) BEST thing I've ever done. I had the "factory" ones replaced with ceramic on ceramic hip joints.

Had surgery on a wednesday morning each time, was woke up the next morning and had the cath pulled out was given my breakfast and then a therapist came in with a walker and told me to get my butt out of bed we're going for a walk. I was 100% weight bearing from the get go, walking the entire ward the next day, climbing stairs by day 3 and went home after four days in the hospital.

Because I was so young I was given the option of staying in the hospitals rehab unit for three weeks or coming home and having a home health nurse come to me for three weeks. I took the home health option both times. I won't tell you it's an east recovery because it certainly is a long and sometimes painful road. The bruising I had afterwards was unbelieveable and the muscle pain in the left one was nuts!

Not to alarm you either but you will probably have to take a blood thinner for about three weeks after surgery followed by aspirin for another three weeks to keep from developing a DVT.

By the way lorster, my hip pain started when I was very young, sometime around 13 or 14 years old, and was due obviously to my JRA...or JIA..or whatever the medical community is calling it these days. Since 18 I've just said I have RA since I went from being a juvenile to an adult at that time anyway. (sort of) At the time of replacement both femoral heads were nearly worn flat and were sooooo painful to be on I could barely walk. Since having both replaced though just try and stop me from moving about when everything else doesn't hurt.

One last thing...just because you have your hips replaced don't think they won't still get stiff when having a flare. I found out the hard way that the connective tissue in the joints still gets inflamed and stiff. But it's not nearly as bad as before.

Bob H

I hear you about the stiffness and pain AFTER surgery. I thought my knees would be great (and they are) but I do still get the stiffness and pain around the knees in a flare or when I'm on my feet for too long. Mind you it is about 95% less than the pain I had BEFORE the knee replacements. I'm hoping that I get the same amount of pain relief with the hip when I get around to having it done.My brother had both hips replaced 3 years ago about age 47. This was not RA but OA due to deformed joints from a genetic disease called Fairbanks. The 1st one in Feb was tough and took 8 weeks before weight bearing - his femur broke during surgery. The 2nd done in Oct was much quicker. He is so glad he had it done. Five months after the 1st one he was already looking forward to the 2nd one. He says he has no hip pain...he just complains his feet hurt from all the running around he does.

Good Luck and a Quick Recovery!

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, Bob. I think being 62 and in bad shape is going to mean a longer and more difficult recovery for me. Both my knees are bad, too, and my leg muscles are atrophied from a long drawn out recuperation from achilles tendon surgery in February and no exercise since then.

I was hoping to spend only a week in rehab but now I'm worried it will be a lot longer, especially since I have nobody at home to help. (Which worries me also because I have short-term helpers to feed my cats, but long term?? I don't know. And one is on a special cooked diet.)

I'm already on blood thinners for antiphospholipid syndrome. I must go off them 10 days before surgery and instead use self-injectable quick-acting blood thinner. That concerns me too but you do what you have to do, so I will manage it.

Thanks to everyone for all the input and encouragement. I am so hopeful to be rid of some of this pain. It's really become unbearable.

It's been so long since I had my hips replaced, it's hard to remember some of the tricks I used to keep from going over the 90 degrees I was allowed to bend my leg. Tricks such as putting on socks, getting into and out of cars or picking up things I had dropped on the floor. You will learn how to improvise in ways that will get you by. Back in '93, I didn't have the option of a rehab center and after 5 days in the hospital, I went home and was basically by myself. But I made do and quickly figured out how to be independent until the healing was done and I was finally pain-free.

Rehabing the new hips did take longer due to the fact that I had bad knees also. The docs should make you aware of this. Even though you have new and workable parts that at the onset will be painful, once the pain starts subsiding, you'll still be compensating for whatever else hurts. This slows down the rehab process and a good PT will guide you through the process.

Good luck with the surgery and I know you'll do well. It's a lot of work but the end result is no more pain. That's a wonderful feeling especially if you've forgotten what that was like. You will have limitations but it's a wonderful trade-off to be pain-free!

There are a lot of nice litte devices that you can pick up to help with everyday life after hip replacement. I got this nifty little device to help me put my socks on and the little "grabber" for picking things up off the floor. The sock thing is still very useful when in a flare so I can put my socks on with stiff knees and such. The 90 degree rule, I almost forgot about that one and the no crossing the legs thing too. Check drug stores in your area for these prior to surgery and take them with you to the hospital. Also, I found that when trying to swing the operated leg into and out of bed, that turning a cane upside down and hooking my foot then using the cane as a sort of brace to lower the leg down was pretty helpful. It looked weird but dang if it didn't work until the muscles were stronger and less sensitive. (they do have to cut through and detach a number of muscles to access the joint after all)

I actually had the opportunity to watch a hip replacement before having mine done. It's a fascinating thing to watch if you have a strong stomach for that kind of thing. I like to know exactly what I'm getting into before I do it.

My mom's uncle had hip replacement at the age of 83 and went through it fine. His recovery was almost as fast as mine was so I'm sure you will be fine with your surgery.

Another word of advice...take the spinal if offered. Soooo much better than a general and you don't get sick from it you're just nice and numb for a while.

Bob H.

Just a quick note cuz I should be doing something else. Agree w/Bob, as far as anesthesia, the spinal is soooo much better than general. I had general for my knees in 2000 and was amazed at the difference in waking up after hip surgery w/the spinal - clear headed, and it made a diff as far as pain meds too, less w/the spinal cuz lasts for 24 hrs or more.

Ditto Bob, there a lot of aids out there, many easily available online. In the skilled nursing facility you may also be able to see an occupational therapist who can advise and help you how to do those daily living tasks. Bob mentioned using a cane to lift your leg, there is also an aid, a strap with a loop at the end, if I can find one online, I'll link it.

Okay, I better go. I was in a skilled nursing facility for many, many weeks, so I have a lot of tips I can share. Hopefully you'll be outa there in a week or two, I had to be in there longer cuz I had both hips done and needed extra help cuz of the RA in my arms and hands.

Well, bye for now. Hugs, Joy

Hey now that we've mentioned the spinal does anyone remember hearing any of the actual surgery going on? I remember hearing the tapping of the surgeon setting the prosthesis in place in the bone. Loud metal on metal tapping. Don't let this scare you cat, you WILL NOT feel it even if you hear it a bit. They just didn't give me enough sedative and I woke up once or twice. (I'm a pretty big fellow and they were conservative with sedative the first time around) The second one I was out like a light though.

Bob H.

Noooo, I didn't hear anything, thank goodness. I remember waking up in the recovery room, hearing a conversation and thinking who in the heck is making all that noise -- twas the nurses yakking. My surgery was early in the morning, and by the afternoon, when they put me in my room, I felt sorta normal. With my knee surgery, I was groggy till the next day and I had one of those self administering pain med setup (morphine?), with my hips I was only on pain pills.

Bob, when you were in the hospital, in the beginning, did they keep turning you every couple of hours? Got to know my nurse and nurse asst real well, cuz I saw them so often!

Thanks again for all the tips, anything & everything I learn gives me more confidence and less fear. Unfortunately, my surgeon will use general anesthesia, my impression is that he's not sure of potential complications that might make the surgery longer...? Something like that.

I saw a knee replacement surgery on tv once, it was fascinating. I think I'd rather wait to see a hip done until after my own! I sure hope I don't hear a thing. I hate being awake when they wheel you into the room, I keep thinking the anesthesia is not going to work. Plus the OR looks more like a big storage closet than a bare clean room like on TV!

I do have the sock-puller and several grabber/reachers already. I plan to take one of my reachers with me to the hospital. The cane foot-hooking sounds plausible! I believe rehab people will come to me right away. I don't look forward to being rousted out of bed the very next day though!

One of my biggest worries is infection which can complicate the whole thing. I had a nasty MRSA after my achilles tendon surgery from December 07 to February 08. Apparently once you've had one, you're more susceptible. And RA/Lupus and our meds for them also make us more vulnerable because of the immune system mess-up. Fingers crossed!

Actually, I CAN'T cross my fingers anymore, damn arthritis, LOL.

Hmm, well maybe the reason I had general anesthesia for double knee replacement was cuz it was a four hr surgery, where my hip was i think about two, hence the spinal.

The hospital I was in was really big on cleaning their hands, they had a dispenser of that foam like soap by the door and provided you with a packet of those hand wipes to keep on your bedtable, I bought some of those to keep on my bedtable at the skilled nursing place (snf). AT the snf the nursing assts wore gloves when working w/a patient and changed them before going onto the next. Some coveted boxes of gloves and would hoard them, hiding them in my room.

A suggestion for food for the snf -- I think it may be Campbell soup that has an individual serving of soup that comes in this container that you can put right in the microwave. The nursing assts would heat it up for me in their microwave at the nursing staton. The food was pretty bad so I was motivated to think of alternatives to their food. Let me know when I should stop providing you with tips of how to survive in a snf.

Take care.

Joie, no they didn't turn me at all when I was there. They did however keep those annoying boots on my feet to pump them so I didn't get clots. I'd start to fall asleep and pffft, the boots would pump up and wake me up! Darn things! My surgeon had a Bose iPod doc in the corner of the OR and brought in his iPod so I remember hearing him and some of the nurses singing some Chicago while I was drifting off. When I woke up he was there and told me ok your tonsils are out you can go. I told him you're not funny and I know where you live. ( I know him pretty well...he's a great surgeon and a great guy)

At my last checkup he told me come back in one year or 10,000 miles whichever comes first. I wish more docs were like this guy.

Bob H.

Hi Bob,

I was fortunate too, in having not only a good ortho surgeon, but a really nice and pleasant guy. Yeah, I had those annoying inflating and deflating things on my lower legs -- it was noisy. Did you also have the triangular foam thing between your lower legs to keep your legs from crossing?

The first night they were very diligent about turning me from one side to another, it was nice not having to be on one's back all the time, but it would take the RN and the cna to reposition me, being careful with my hip, and stuffing pillows around me to keep me in place. It was strange at first to feel so helpless, but the nurse and her assistant were such jokesters, I soon felt at ease.

Cat,

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