Preparing for a Hip Replacement

[GreedyCymraes]

Any pearls of wisdom? What should I be prepping for/practising? What am i going to be relying on people for (will need to rally friends and family) Looks like it might be happening in May. Thanks all

No tips but wishing you luck.
Just curious how long you had to wait when you decided to have it?

Sitting - where will you sit after the op? Can you sit nice and squarely and rise ok?
What sort of shower / bath situation do you have - a walk in shower?
A perching stool for the kitchen is useful.
A little napsack to take a drink / sandwich from one place to the other whilst on 2 crutches.
Easy, nutritious meals in the freezer.

Physio, physio, physio. Do it all, religiously! Don't worry if you do nothing else except sleep, eat, exercise, nap, eat, exercise for several weeks. Take painkillers to make sure you can do the physio, you don't want to avoid moving because of pain.

All the best, it's a brilliant op for pain relief!

Occupational health should check your house. You need a high chair with arms so you can stand up. Also, raised loo seats and bars round the loos. They gave me a perching stool for the kitchen and checked my walk in shower.
Buy a ‘grabber’ as you can’t bend down to pick anything up for 6 weeks. Had to wear elastic stockings for 6 weeks so you need someone who can change them for you (or wear in shower to wash them).
I used to take everything I needed downstairs in a small rucksack and then take it up at night. Make sure you do your exercises as given by the physio. We had to buy crutches and a walking stick.
Best of all I had to sleep on my back (I can’t).
I was washed, dressed and walking on crutches the day after the op. I learnt to do stairs the next day and was home on the third. I had absolutely no pain after the op. Best wishes.

I had hip surgery but beforehand moved the furniture round in the kitchen so I could hang onto tables etc so maybe worth looking at where your furniture is so you don't trip up with crutches if it is closely spaced.

Also, phone bag around neck at all times so you can call someone if you have a problem as you can't carry anything - even your phone! You also need to plan ahead and have phone and other chargers accessible to your bed and chair.

Simple wipes in the early days as well as ice packs for pain relief.

The pre-op prep you can do is lots of swimming or walking in the pool to get you as fit as possible. You could also see if you can manage on crutches and if not buy crutch gloves to help your hands.

Finally, either bulk buy Cook freezer food for the microwave or batch cook.

Good luck!

I've waited 18 months, i think I might be filling a cancellation/deferal as it's all come about quite quickly

If you can afford a private physio, get a pre op appointment now. You can learn all the appropriate exercises and practice them while you're still mobile so you don't have to cope with new stuff after the op

V shaped pillow is good for sleeping on your back. If you really really can't sleep on your back then the physio can show you how to use it to support your top leg when sleeping on your side - I wouldn't be trying to do this immediately though.

Get a shewee or similar and practice using it. You won't want to be getting up and down every time you need the loo, especially if your raised toilet seat doesn't have arms. If you often get up in the night for a pee, consider getting something you can use perched on the edge of the bed. I found a wide necked fabric softener bottle worked fine.

Get risers under key pieces of furniture so you can sit down easily. If you have any of the old fashioned plastic garden furniture with arms that works very well. It also works in the shower so you don't have to balance precariously. Get a long handled shower brush so you can reach everything without bending or twisting.

Get a rucksack, capacious cross body bag or fisherman's vest with loads of pockets so you can carry a folding grabber, phone and other essentials.

You will need both hands to get up and down stairs so consider how you're going to get other things up and down. I tied an IKEA bag to a rope and hung it from the top banister.

The one thing I couldn't solve was socks. I ended up living in fleecy clogs for a few weeks.

Good luck, the relief is instant. You get 6 weeks of awkwardness afterwards but that's it, all fixed.

Toilet seat or frame

Is it an anterior or posterior hip replacement? The restrictions are different for the different approaches but basically any prehab you can do now is good. Do you have any clutter on the floor etc? Get that out the way. Some nice books, puzzles or TV series to keep you occupied as you recover. You might be pleasantly surprised how quickly you feel good as compared to pre-op your hip joint will be less painful (once the post surgery swelling goes down). A loose dress you can pull on rather than trousers. Some little tasks that get you up as you want to ensure you're not sitting or lying for too long but you also don't want to stand or walk too long. If you're having an anterior maybe read up on meralgia paraesthetica, a common complication but it's essentially altered sensation in the outer thigh that should get better over time as the nerve gets over getting squished to get the prosthesis in. I hope all goes well and while it's a big op it will give you a new lease on life

Thank you all so much. I've had my prep opp and subject to bloods being ok have been cleared - thought they have to give me two weeks notice to come off all my supplements! lol.

And now I have a fantastic shopping list too. Thank you so so much. I am so grateful for you all :)

Hi all. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who gave suggestions. I’m 4 weeks post op and some of them really really helped me.

I have a couple of my own to add…
a strap to go on your grabber so you can “wear” it as you wander around. I used a handbag strap!

slip on sketchers. You need good shoes for the walking and of course lace ups on your own are impossible. It’s nice as gives a little bit of independence

a sock aid. This has been invaluable, especially as I’ve found it hard to regulate my temperature post opp so my socks are constantly on and off!

a walking stick for when you come off your crutches. Make sure you check the size. I had my mums and it’s too short!

A side sleeping leg pillow. Especially helped for getting in and out of bed the first few days.

baggy hippy trousers. Easy to get on and off and didn’t rub against my wound.

im sure there are a few other things but these were the main additional items.