Terrible experience so far hip op recovery - will it get better?

Friend in her fifties had a hip replacement unfortunately had an infection which meant readmission. I'm wondering if your mum has an infection

My Mum had a planned hip replacement (not for a fall/accident), and was discharged from our local NHS hospital the following day. It was ridiculous, she was in extreme pain, could barely move, and hadn't had any "training" in using the crutches they thrust in her hands as discharged her. No after care was put in place - we phoned her GP and they'd not had their copy of the discharge letter, so wouldn't prescribe painkillers, etc.

She was back in hospital the next day as she'd had a "hyper" or "hypo" (can't remember which) as her diabetes was way out of control (apparently an operation and drugs they give etc can destabilise your blood sugar levels so diabetes are at higher risk - no one said that and the ward nurses didn't seem to know how to deal with diabetes. It took them a few days in hospital to stabilise the diabetes, during which time, they actually gave her physio sessions and did a proper discharge/care plan.

Thing was the op was on a Friday, so presumably they were rushing out as many patients as possible to avoid them being in over the weekend!

My reasonably fit and active 84 year old dad had a hip surgery after falling off a ladder. From memory he had a partial replacement about 24 hours after falling and was kept in hospital for a while. Sorry can't remember exact times but I'm sure it was at least a week they kept him in.

He was on morphine and other painkillers that made him feel very sick and he couldn't eat at all. After about a week we asked doctor to stop morphine as he was losing loads of weight.

Sent home with carers and physio but despite this went from being fit and mobile to using a frame and really struggling with everything. Getting into bed or out a chair or turning over became really difficult.

Usually my dad was busy all the time and used to help out his neighbours with their gardens etc

When he came out of hospital he he seemed to be making a slow recovery but died 4 weeks later. (sorry probably not what you want to hear)

He had help from me, physio and carers. Unfortunately he also had my mother screaming at him and abusing him so much that he got removed from the toxic environment by a gp who witnessed it and put into a local hospital. Hard to say if he would have recovered with a loving supportive partner to help rather than an abusive one who I'm sure contributed to his decline. (He also fell off the ladder because she was meant to be holding it but went and sat down but that's another story).

For me it was a horrible 4 weeks trying to look after him and watching him getting frailer and thinner. He had several more falls in that time (again caused by trying to do too much due to his toxic environment/partner). He was in and out of hospital over those 4 weeks as he couldn't eat all at. He never regained his appetite despite my best care and died skin and bones.

I hope your mother has a better experience. Like i said I truly believe with a peaceful home life and support from my mum he may have recovered so my experience may not be typical.

So sorry for your mum. It's heartbreaking when (nice) parents that you love are ill.

My ILs have had a selection of emergency and elective hip replacements between them, and I don't think they had crutches at all. They used walking frames and sticks. I don't believe they'd have felt secure on crutches. They were very conscientious about their exercises, and made good physical recoveries each time.
A lot of post-discharge care is involved, especially with elderly people. It boggles my mind to think of patients being sent home the next day without proper arrangements in place for them.

@teaandcake123 i think you may be confusing two different groups of patients here: Patients with hip fractures and those patients having elective hip replacements. They are incredibly different.

a hip fracture carries significant risk of mortality and often there is a decline in mobility (if patient frail to start with). So if a patient was independently mobile before then may require a stick, if used two sticks may need frame etc.

elective hip replacements are an entirely different ball game and shouldn’t really be discussed in conjunction with hip fractures. There is a lot of work going on around length of stay with one to days “standard” with an entirely reasonable aim for some patients to go home on the day of surgery. It is a very successful operation with mobility improving for almost all patients (and certainly pain improvement). Intermediate care is incredibly unusual in these patients unless there are indications known about pre-op. We used to “rest” people post op and delayed the push for return home and to activities and patients did worse. Higher risk of complications, higher risk of poor outcome.

@Dougt Im sorry your mom is struggling post op. If she’s gone to the hospital she is likely to be reassessed by physio and be provided with frame as needs be. She’s also likely to be checked over by an orthopaedic team to make sure they have no concerns. They may decide to keep her but equally if she passes safety checks they may let her go home. There’s pros and cons to each one and particularly as to which specialty admits her. I must admit I find private hospitals (even if on the NHS) quite enthusiastic in discharging patients as they normally have very fit and well (and younger) patients and seem very reluctant to keep patients beyond post op day one.

I agree with others that the pain relief seems poor. My step dad had a large bag of meds and I had to create a spreadsheet so mum and he could keep up with the doses and times.
another thing that helped further down the line was an waist pinny with a large pocket in the front that stored glasses, mobile phone, newspaper etc. definitely helped with carrying stuff when using crutches.

I've just had my second hip replacement (I'm in my 40s). Mine was private so I left at the end of day four (some of the more elderly patients were still there).

I was sent home with dihydrocodeine (which I'm still taking nine weeks later as and when needed) plus a month's work of blood thinners. Also compression socks for a month.

It's a surprisingly painful op. I couldn't walk unaided without crutches until four weeks and still needed one crutch until a couple of weeks ago.

Other things I found very useful were the raised loo seats and the litter picker grippers you get on Amazon which were a life saver.

Apparently half of hip patients never get back on their feet?
Very different data depending on hip replacement as a planned procedure compared to emergency surgery after a fall.

Has she been offered physio, and equipment at home? Definitely sort out the pain relief

My mum had a hip replacement a couple of years ago and got sent home fairly quickly. The NHS said she was ok to go home and manage on her own, which was bollocks because she could barely walk even with crutches, and she needed help with dressing and getting in the shower. She certainly couldn’t stand at the hob or bend down to lift anything out of the oven, or carry a plate or cup. So basically they were talking a load of shit and just wanted rid of her, because she absolutely couldn’t cope on her own.

She needed a carer 4x a day for the first month, which meant I had to use my holidays from work (impossible to get a paid carer at such short notice, especially when they were only needed for four weeks). I had to wash and dress her and bring her stuff. I cooked for her for two months, until she was able to cook and use only one stick so she had a hand free to carry her plate.

A year on she is able to walk half a mile with a stick and she goes out shopping and cooks for herself. Which is only possible because she worked so hard at physiotherapy. Apparently half of hip patients never get back on their feet?

I am a physio working with older people. The discharge from the private hospital sounds appalling and unsafe. It’s common for older people to need to use a walking frame for a while post-op and to need help in and out of bed and to need a period of rehab before they are able to manage independently at home. Ask the new hospital if they offer “rehab beds” or “intermediate care beds”, often these are nhs funded in a non-hospital setting where physios and OTs will work with the patient to rehab them until get to return home.

My step dad had his hip replaced in January, aged 92. He was released less than 24 hours later with just two sticks. He was able to climb the stairs and use his normal bed but needed a higher chair to sit in and a riser on the loo, both of which we had to collect from the hospital stores. He was fastidious about doing all the exercises and has made a good recovery. It was scary going behind him up the stairs initially and watching him walk but we coped. I’d make sure your mum was seen by physio before leaving hospital as they are vital in supporting recovery. Hope it goes well for you all.

I think you need to talk to the physiotherapist on her ward ASAP.

How was her mobility before the op?

A hip replacement is major surgery. But the less time she is in hospital the better. Talk to the physio and either ask for her to be back to baseline mobility before coming home, or if that's not going to happen, ask for her to be assessed for equipment by the occupational therapist.