Hi replacement risks

[BeachCrow]

Hi, my Dad has severe arthritis in his hip causing him lots of pain and difficulty walking. He's had a hospital appointment today and been told that it's too bad for steroid injections and the only option is a hip replacement. He's signed up for it.

My dad will be 88 in January and has advanced prostate cancer (there is a small spread to his bones) which is currently being held at bay with hormone treatment. The side effect of that is extreme tiredness and lack of energy. My mum's very concerned that he's not up to having major surgery. Unfortunately the surgeon was very keen on pressing the operation and didn't really discuss her concerns.

Has anyone got any experience of an elderly parent having the operation or any useful advice? I can understand my dad wanting to be out of pain but I'm really worried that he might not recover from the operation.

Sorry title was supposed to be hip replacement

It would be helpful for him to have an assessment by an anaesthetist to see what his heart etc is like and quantify his risk of surgery. Would also be helpful to discuss his life expectancy with the urology team. You could ask his surgeon to liaise with these teams to organise this.

Thanks, that's helpful. I think my mum sees seeing the anaethesist as definitely going ahead with the operation but if I can convince them both it's part of a fact finding exercise that could help.

Definitely get it done. My mum (71) has had one new hip and two new knees. She's always been an active person and hated being inactive because of her joints. The recovery wasn't much fun (they were done one at a time over a couple of years), but after a couple of months she was really happy and definitely doesn't have any regrets.

Agree he will need the anaethesists to assess him first which is usual, I have known people of this age have hips replacements, in hospital for about 3 days then physio to help them start walking. If it helps with the pain and he can become more mobile and feel independent then I can understand why he wants it done, there are always risks with any surgery which should be explained to him.

Dm has hers at 88 under epidural which lowered risks- is that an option? The operation went well and her hip pain diminished immediately.

His quality of life with the bad hip sounds pretty poor. You could be risking a lot more by hoping he can just carry on coping with getting worse.

DH has a relative who barely leaves house due to bad hip. This is terrible.

Aunt, 89, had hip replacement a couple of months ago. She had a fall so wasn’t a planned op. She has made a brilliant recovery. In hosp for 5 days.

GMIL had her hip replaced under epidural at 97 which made a massive difference to her quality of life.

DF had a hip replacement this year aged 84 & he's recovered very well. It took longer than he expected to recover, but he says it was worth it.

My mum had her hip done at 75 & it kicked off (or worsened undiagnosed) dementia by causing a vascular event that left her memory shot to pieces.

Thanks for all the replies, that sounds pretty encouraging. I'll find out if there is an option of having it done with an epidural.

Sorry to hear about your mum, Think.