Elderly dad - hip replacement. What to expect?

[hipsterkid]

After a long wait, my dad has a date for a hip replacement in a few weeks. He is nearly 80, has Parkinson’s and a heart condition so is considered riskier than average. They want to have an ICU bed on hand ‘just in case’.

His hip is completely shot and he has very limited quality of life. He can’t walk at all now, is on daily morphine so, having been told the risks (15% chance of complications as opposed to 5%), he’s going for it. Of course it’s his decision so I’ve said all along, I’d support him whatever he decided.

Assuming all goes well, I’d like him to go into rehab for a week or two after he’s discharged. He’s married but his wife (who has the beginnings of Alzheimer’s) lives between his house and her daughter’s and it’s too much to ask her to fully care for him. He has carers three times a day and although I live about an hour away, I’ll go back and forth each day.

He really doesn’t want to go to rehab but would rather do physio at home. My concern is that if he had a lot of pain I’d not be able to help him at home if it was out of hours. We often go through the usual merry go round with his GP - OOH GP says ring 111 - 111 sends an ambulance - ambulance says he doesn’t need to go to hosp - needs to see GP! I figure in a rehab bed we can at least easily get him help to manage his pain (if in fact he needs help).

My dad is concerned the surgery will temporarily make his Parkinson’s symptoms worse and as he’s got depression (takes 45mg of Mirtazapine), he’s worried it might trigger a real low. Despite all of this, he really wants to go ahead as he feels he’s just existing and not living - I can understand that!

Has anyone been through something similar with an elderly parent and what might I expect? What can I do or buy in advance to make things easier? I was thinking he could talk to the GP and see if they can pre-emptily boost his anti depressants too.

My mum had hip replacement following a fall. She went to rehab. Iirc their criteria for sending home was being able to get to toilet some distance away and back without needing carer.
When she came home she then had 12? Weeks transition care at home, up to 4 visits daily.
A year plus later she is still on zimmer or stick plus person, but she has other issues too.

I think your 2 week rehab idea is a good one.
My DH had a hip replacement 3 weeks ago. Quite apart from pain management, he needed help washing and dressing, took time moving about and stairs are difficult at first. He is 64, and relatively fit. So I would be concerned leaving an 80 year old alone at all for any length of time.

I had a hip replacement at 63 and had no pain at all after the operation. I was home in three days.
Occupational health provided a few pieces of equipment - bars round the loos etc. They need to check his property to see if the shower/ loo are suitable.
The important rules are:
no bending or twisting
for 6 weeks you sleep on your back
he needs a chair of a certain height with arms for ease of getting up
you wear elastic stockings so he will need help changing them
physio is for at least 6 weeks and vital
you are on crutches at first and then switch to a walking stick

This is helpful, thank you. Prior to the deterioration of his hip he was getting around using a 3 wheeler (due to Parkinson’s) so the goal is to be able to get back to that. His pain is so extreme now that he can only manage a few steps and apart from me taking him out, is otherwise housebound.

Does anyone know how I organise rehab? Is it something I can do in advance? The unpleasant part for dad is the rehab unit is in a nursing home which is mostly home to dementia patients. He spent a week there once before and found it very lonely as there was no one to talk to. I’ve promised him that if he doesn’t have bad pain, I’ll break him ‘out of jail’ and transfer him to home physio. I think with the help of carers, physios, me popping back and forth and his wife being there part time, we should manage. It’s just the issue of pain management.