Hip replacement- how much support is needed in first week?

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

My DP has been offered a cancellation slot for his hip replacement surgery, six months earlier than initially planned. This is great news!
however, he has the new date now on a Monday, and I am due to be going in a mini break in Europe with a friend on the Wednesday afternoon.
My DP says he’ll be fine by then but it seems really soon and I’m inclined to cancel the trip.
anyone have any experience of the level of support he will need?
we have a house, loos upstairs and down, no one else lives with us. Good neighbours.
thanks

My dad was scheduled for one and letter said he needed someone with him for a week. My FIL has had both done, at different times, and SIL stayed with him for a week after his surgery. But they were both in their eighties.

Neither had issues with stairs as both live in bungalows but OT to make sure you can go up and down them before discharge.

You have to be very careful not to twist oddly or quick after procedure. I would not leave someone on their own, even a younger person, after a hip replacement.

They will keep him in a few days after the op so he may not come home until the Thursdayish. How long is your trip?

thank you
he is early 50’s and otherwise very fit and well
he’s been told it’s same day discharge!

I’m due to be away for three nights

Sorry but you need to be there.

We visited SiL (early 40s) a few days after she was home from hospital after hip op, she still needed quite a bit of help from BiL, was on crutches around the house. She tired easily, he was doing all cooking and housework and generally looking after.

I had a full hip replacement in my late 30s. Otherwise fit and well and it was also a cancellation.
My DH had just taken a new job and I had to hire someone to come and help in the early days. First two weeks I needed a lot of help
Good luck to hîm

He needs someone there especially if he won't be staying in hospital, I had hip replacement early thirties and I needed alot of help for the first week.

I’m amazed they throw people out the same day. When my parents had them they waited until they were confident with flights of stairs.

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the advice. I’ll cancel my trip 😞sad but I do want to be there for him.

I had a hip replacement in July. I could not have managed for at least 3 weeks.

My mum had her hip replaced last year. Early 60s, reasonably fit and active.

She absolutely needed someone with her for the first week at least. Probably more like the first 2-3 weeks.

She could barely get herself out of her chair, to the loo, get washed, get dressed or do anything without help. Let alone cook, clean or do any kind of household task.

Goodness, I think I’m a bit unprepared!

My dad had a hip replacement about 15 years ago and the discharge proviso was that someone had to be with him for at least 2 weeks.

I went to go and stay with him and I was there for just under 3 weeks in total - he needed a lot of help.

that’s what happened to me when my mum had her hip replacement. I cancelled a short holiday to be around to help, only for the surgery to get cancelled last minute … Hope your DH’s goes ahead as planned

I had my hip replaced when I was 60.

I'd say it totally depends on which operation approach you have. I had a Superpath op on Saturday morning. They had me doing stairs on crutches on Sunday morning and discharged me home Sunday afternoon.

DH had a meeting in London on Wednesday with an overnight away. I got my friend to stay with me for that night.

I was fine otherwise and had no movement restrictions at all.

Thanks @thenightsky , what did your friend help you with when they stayed over?
my DP says he’ll be fine on his own 🙄

My mil had one. In her early 60s she did and still does a lot of walking and is fairly active in general. She needed somone to stay with her (her 80 something mum did it) so I think it wasn't lots of holding her up etc but she couldn't do much moving around.

I have seen you are going to cancel your trip and I think you have definitely made the right decision.

I just had one five months ago. I am/was as fit and healthy as you could be. I think it went something like this:

0 - 48 hours in and out of hospital
From at home: Day 2 - 4 - doing regular short walks. Need husband to make all the food/help me in and out of bed/be with me on mobility walks. Everything is slow and painful.
Day 5: Start to get methods for getting in and out of bed myself, walking to the end of the road. Need help with washing.
Day 6 - 14: Huge improvement in pain levels, mobility and ability to look after myself. On one crutch.
Day 21 and beyond: Will get better and you will be astonished what you can do and how it improves.

I think 16 weeks was when most of the time, I was pain free, limp free and had capacity for if things went wrong eg a tube station was closed and had to walk to the next one.

My mum just had a total hip replacement last week. Stayed 4 nights in hospital.

She needed full care the first week. Could not wash, dress, cook, move around without help. She is extremely tired and at times disorientated through lack of sleep. I have a nursing background and have coped but her sister and brother in law also went through it and the post opcare hit then both like a train.

My mum has the clexane injections for 28 days which shouldn't be given by the patient. There will also be a 2 week wound check and a 6 week consultant follow up

I had R hip replacement on a Tuesday. Went home on the Thursday. Daughter stayed for one night, then in the nicest possible way I sent her home on Friday. On Saturday I walked a couple of hundred yards to the local pub for a riotous group lunch and staggered home rather the worse for wear. I was back in work after four weeks. I live on my own, and I was fine, but I am very used to coping alone. If the OP’s husband is less self-sufficient, he may struggle.

He’ll need someone very much two days after surgery - if he’s out of hospital by then. I helped my sister - she needed someone for about 10 days just to be there, fetch and carry, cook, help her get out of bed and so on.

I just moved in and WFH while looking after her. It was a sort of butler-ing really! Bringing her breakfast in bed, helping her up and down the stairs etc. But she was in hospital for at least 5 days after the op.

Will you get a refund if you cancel now? If not I’d wait until the last minute to cancel. My mum had her op cancelled and rescheduled on the day it was due - the surgeon was sick. It would be a shame to cancel your trip and then his op gets moved too.
on the plus side my mum is 80 and has had no bother with hers at all. She’s back to running rings round all of us again and her recovery was amazingly straight forward. She barely had any pain, it was just the scar she could feel. I Hope your DH has the same experience, it really was life changing for my mum.

I’ll get a refund on the accommodation, I can change the flights for £120

I've had both sides replaced in the last two years (in my 40s). Mine was private so may be a bit different but I went home on day four.

My two tips would be the litter picker/grabber sticks (including for the hospital) as you can dress yourself. Also a raised loo seat.

Second time around I managed ok even though I was on crutches for six weeks. The one thing I needed help for was removing the compression socks for a shower as you're not allowed to bend down.

It's hardest in the first couple of weeks if you're too sore to be on just one crutch but some people go down to one crutch quite quickly at which point making tea etc is a lot easier.

I was allowed to drive (an automatic) for my left at 2 weeks and my right around 4. But you have to be able to move your leg sideways quickly if it's the right one. It's also a bit tricky getting in and out (akin to doing the Fosbury flop).