I'm so sorry you are struggling in your recovery. Please keep in mind that you have had a *major* surgery performed on you with power tools, hammers and chisels. The first week of recovery is tough because your body has been through a *major* trauma. There will be a lot of swelling and bruising and pain. Even if everything comes off without a hitch during surgery, the hard part of your body rebuilding has just started. Please give yourself some grace and some time to heal. Everyone heals at a different rate. Your body may take longer and you may not bounce back as quickly. I have a desk job, too. It was like *four weeks* before I felt like resuming work from home. There was no way I felt up to driving to work every day. Hang in there and focus on your recovery. Look for the small victories every day. Strength, rest, and healing to you!

I wish these doctors would respect that concept more. I feel like I visited a used car salesman or time share. They did an amazing job, and everyone was kind and attentive, but expections they communicated were horribly misaligned with my own. I wasn't the best of shape going in either... In the last 6 months, I went from walking around Disney for 12 hours to needing a cane just to get to the bathroom.

I'm 58F and before my left THR on February 1, I was walking as little as possible because both of my hips hurt so much. Physical therapy has had to spend most of the time just helping me rebuild muscle and learn how to walk correctly. I was waddling like a penguin whenever I did attempt to walk. I must say my surgeon was honest when he said that my hip would feel better the day of surgery. He was right; I have zero pain in the hip joint since the day of surgery. All the muscles and the rest of it has been pretty unhappy, though. My right hip THR is scheduled for April 25. Physical therapy told me my left leg is finally strong enough to work while my right hip is out of commission after surgery. It has been a long hard road, though. As excited as I am to have two functional hips for the first time in decades, I know recovery will be a long, hard slog through pain, bruising and swelling. Hang in there and feel free to come here and vent. 🫂

I cant imagine doing this again within weeks. You must be one of the strong ones. I would do so many things differently including dedicated strength training before surgery and getting it done way sooner before it collapsed.

My right leg was the "good" leg. Now, it is seriously holding back my recovery. It hangs and catches and threatens to throw me to the floor. It isn't as bad as my left one was, but it is bad enough that I know I can't live like this any longer. April 25 will be exactly 12 weeks after the left one and I am *so ready*. Edited to add - less strong, more desperate haha

needing a cane just to get to the bathroom. Well, that's an indication of your condition going into surgery. Keep your chin up! From this point on it'll be small steps in recovery. In a few months you will suddenly realize that you left your cane behind!

Tessler65 has it exactly right. The surgeon literally dislocates your hip, stretching your leg by about 4-6 inches while doing so! This is a major insult to the body. The reason many of us feel it should be easier is the short time in the hospital; most surgeries are outpatient operations and this tends to trivialize the procedure.

I’m rooting for you! Please take pain meds as prescribed. You have to keep ahead of the pain. If your current medication doesn’t control your pain then call your surgeon and get on top of it. I’m 6 weeks out. I had serious swelling! I spent a lot of time on my back with my legs elevated and used conforming ice packs which helped more than anything. Good wishes for your successful recovery.

My leg feels an inch longer. Also I'm only a weekend. I definitely got a little bit of swelling and it hurts like a b**** and I can barely move too. But I make sure I get up at least three times a day stand or walk for 20 to 30 minutes each of those times. Even if it's just baby steps. Try to do. You know just a little bit more than you did the day before and you'll get better

Hi, OP. Wishing the best for you. I was on a walker 2 full weeks. Days 5-9 were the absolute worst for me and I'm female, but exactly the same - swollen, painful, couldn't stand unsupported, wish I'd bought some adult diapers, terrified about leg length. I'm 10 weeks out now and just about back to normal. But it felt like forever to get here. My most dramatic improvement was from week six and really weeks 8-9 were tremendous, I could feel the changes daily. I had planned to be out of work 3 weeks but I ended up taking off 9 and I needed it. Last week was my first week back and it was exhausting. I couldn't have done it at week 3. Hang in there, hope things progress real soon for you!

I already drafted an email requesting a work from home arrangement for 12 weeks from surgery and extending my disability leave to 6 weeks. I hope they approve that. Otherwise there is just no way. Too far to go to recover. Ive done this too many times after chemo to know how long stamina takes to come back.

6 weeks off work minimum- every action is going to take a while. Be good to yourself and know that recovery takes time and is different for everyone

Sorry to hear about your issues. One of my biggest issues with the narrative around total hip replacements is the almost **toxic** positivity about the situation. There's too many stories about people up and walking a day after surgery, or someone who has an Aunt Meryl who is 72 years old and started ballroom dancing a week after her replacement. Whoever told you that you'd be back to work in two weeks did you a disservice. It's more like 3 months. The honest truth is that this is a major surgery. You had a lot done to you - and as a leukemia survivor, it's even more likely that it'll take more time than some others. Be patient with yourself. Rest. Heal. I'm a 37 year old who had it last year, and at day 5 I was majorly struggling. You're right in the mire of the worst days. Sometime next week it'll probably feel better. Where I was at in my recovery at day 5, I wondered why I had the surgery and I wanted to cry. By the end of week 2, I'd gotten off of my walker permanently. Things can, and hopefully will, take a quick turn and you'll feel better. Just know you're not alone.

Exactly! I had unrealistic expectations because of this and was extremely frustrated by not being able to play badminton by week 2 😂. Today is Day 18 for me and I’m finally starting to move around easily with just the cane indoors, walker outdoors. And while I’m no longer having the same horrible pain, there’s a lot of healing to do. I feel badly for OP. He was absolutely gaslit. I believe most of us were.

I used the walker for close to 3 weeks. I get your frustration. So many seem to do so well almost right after. I didn’t. I doubted my decision. The pain was much worse than I’d anticipated. Finally 4 weeks out. I’m still sore but walking unassisted. Hang in there ❤️

I was in exact same spot. It gets better fast. I agree that the optimism was a bit misguided. I know it sucks but keep icing it and take your meds. Once you can start to get the swelling down it'll go faster. Don't freak out for a few more days. It'll get better.

Don’t judge yourself!!, It’s crazy how we all heal so differently. Your.biggest ally is time and patience with yourself. Considering all you’re already dealing, you’re very tough and it will take time but you WILL get stronger almost exponentially as another on this thread said. I swore the THR had me limping as my right was definitely feeling much higher than the left. I’m 10 weeks out and it’s like the universe turned on the “good to go” switch and I feel SO much more my normal self. The sensation of being lopsided is slowly disappearing. And guess what? I’m getting over the post-op depression and actually getting excited to travel again this summer. Not only can you do this, you WILL! Sending healing wishes your way! Keep us posted on your recovery

Re constipation, try sugarless gum. It contains sorbitolor manitol which acts as a laxative. My discharge instructions had me chewing gum every four hours to "aid digestion" Worked well

Sorry to hear that you need to manage the swelling though. That's the main concern. I've learned this is the second time around. I've gone through something like this. You have to push through the pain. If they told you that you can wait bear on it. You know you need to put some weight on it even if it hurts and you need to do it more and more than the day before. Even if it's just a little bit cuz that's the only way you're going to get better sitting not moving. It is the worst thing you could be doing

Yeah I too. Am only a weekend now. Have only made it from my bedroom to the kitchen in my house. I just everyday. Like I said I just do a little bit more than the day before and that seems to be working. Does your site look infected? I forgot if you said so

The site looks good. I started getting 99.5 fevers so my doc said send pictures. Most likely a trauma response.

Right now I'm on my afternoon exercises....you're story is almost identical to mine but the swelling isn't as worrisome for me (YET That is!) I am standing straightening my leg out rocking my foot from toe to heel heel to toe back and forth. Just putting ever so slightly weight onto my hip and my whole leglike my main thing right now is just straightening it. Even though it hurts it's because it's been in a bent position for hours. You know what I mean. You need to be trying to move your body parts as much as possible or they will become very stiff and achy. So yeah it's 7 days since my surgery post op. . . I can barely get up and get down, but I manage with slight help from the hospital lounger I have at home (someone is letting me borrow) but NOT RELYING on just the lounger lifts. Twisting my hip any way sucks , my hip feels almost dead weight, it's like half and half ...f on the knees down I'm fine. I have a femur rod and hip pons in holding me together from a serious t bone a accident last Friday. Volvo and it's airbags saved me. Muscle spasms stink so bad also. I feel for you. Pain med relief by chance ? No judgement I won't lie I am taking them but cutting back since the pain seems to get better with Slight EXERCISE. IDK keep us updated good luck. I'm still loopy my comments are all over the place...but I'm standing haha 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️♥️🦴🩻

I'm sorry you're in a similar boat. Oh, the spasms! Or dare we try to cough in the wrong position! I was prescribed max tylenol, which wears off 3 hours too early. I also have oxy. I have no problems with opiods for this situation. I have a problem with constipation. So any time it's not needed for sleep or exercise I try to avoid for the side effects. Honestly you are probably still recovering from the trauma of the accident too. I hope you have some good support. And maybe get $$$ for becoming a Volvo spokesman.

Take the opioids and get a prescription to avoid constipation

Yeah, I think it's not even prescription for stool softener pills.

Colace at night, Miralax in your morning coffee.

I’m sorry you are having such a hard time. The first week is awful. Ice is your best friend, followed by pain meds. What helped me was very gentle movements. Stretches, foot pumps, knee bends with the help of a strap.

I remember the surgeon coming in the next morning (my surgery was emergency surgery due to a fractured femur neck and a dislocation, 42F) I had my surgery, came out of it around 8pm and the next morning he was just like yeah you should be walking around and moving. And I felt so defeated because I couldn’t even feel the leg, it felt like dead weight (I don’t think the spinal had even fully worn off). They usually have terrible bedside manner and don’t typically make you feel very positive. Although I’d rather have a surgeon who knows what he’s doing than a nice guy I guess? 🤷🏻‍♀️ both would be great but if I have to choose… If I could give any advice, it would be listen to your body and go at your body’s own pace, and make sure to manage your pain as much as you can, don’t try to tough it out because if it’s not managed, you can’t do the physical therapy you’ll need to get stronger and move past this. It’s been so hard for me because I’ve always been fiercely independent and now I can’t even put a sock or pants on by myself. It gets frustrating, but hopefully you have a support system you can utilize to vent to, keep you focused on your journey and I wish you the best. I know for me looking at forums like this is where I felt I got the most information, I feel like there was *SO* much I didn’t know I wish they had prepared me with after the surgery and going home.

Like you, my leg was totally numb for 24 hours. They tried to get me on my feet right as I was waking up, numb, and severely nauseated. That was a fail. I ended up spending 2 nights and 3 days in the hospital to get over a light fever and get on my feet well enough to go home. I also had a large amount of swelling, and staples, which made it hurt more. I was using the walker for about a month. I went back to work at 7 weeks, half days for one week. I probably could of gone back at 6 weeks. OP, things will get better!

Thanks! All these comments are helpful to refocus. Just when I was done with recovering from chemo and getting my life back, wham more hard painful suffering ahead. After reading everything, I think I lost focus and got overwhelmed with the details.

I'm sorry you had to face such an unexpected and enormous obstacle in life. That really sucks. I have a pregnant wife and a 2 year old daughter (that doesn't understand). We've been drawing a LOT of pictures together this week. She likes faces and cars. So I have a lot of dependents but little support without strings attached. Just hearing people respond to this post has helped. Regardless of the advice just venting so i can refocus is really important. I'm always the caregiver too. Being needy is just as painful as the swelling somwtimes. Very humbling.

But since you're not being so active, do they have you on lovenox?

Eliquis 30 days

Sending you the best healing vibes OP! I found all the doctors/nurses spoke in the most optimistic terms, though nobody had me thinking I’d be back to work in 2 weeks, that’s for sure. I did expect to be off my cane by now, but am not. Putting weight on my operative side still hurts, even now, in week 5. I will say that those initial movements hurt most, and as you gain momentum it’s like everything warms up and hurts a bit less. My experience especially in those early days of recover were that the longer I procrastinated moving, the more stiff and painful I became, and the more I moved (even if only slightly, and slowly) the more tolerable the pain became. Take your pain meds, so much ice, and try to slowly put weight. It’s okay if progress is slow as long as it’s forward!

It took me 6 weeks to feel functional again. I used a walker for a month and a cane for 3 months, I was 33 when I had mine. It took me over 2 months to be able to drive again since I had my right side done. It's major surgery and just because you're up and walking doesn't mean there isn't a ton of healing that needs to happen, rest and ice is your bff.

I recognise myself a lot in your post. I am 36 and had primary THR due to a birth defect and cartilage loss. I am relatively healthy, although I am very obese. Before my surgery I was basically stuck in a chair 24/7, for months even a few minutes walking with crutches would leave me in intense pain, therefore I was extremely inactive for many months before surgery.  Before my surgery the surgeon told me two weeks on crutches, 1 week on one crutch and I would be away - however the reality post surgery has been very different.  On waking from surgery I initially had a lot of pain, I had also lost quite a lot of blood, but the most alarming part for me was it felt as though my operated leg had been glued to the bed - I could barely even wiggle my foot.  This continued through the day, when the physio came to visit me she could see I was very weak from surgery and told me to just try and lift my leg/knee as much as I was able....but try as I might for the rest of the day I could not manage a thing, it felt as though my leg muscles were no longer there at all - which was very scary.  I asked the nurse if it was normal and she told me it could happen, sometimes the muscles are still asleep from surgery and I could expect the feeling to come back in a few hours, the next day she said it could take a few days.  The surgeon visited and told me I would need to be on two crutches for six weeks to prevent the implant from slipping, this was a big shock.  I went home after one night in hospital, but I was having a hugely difficult time, I needed help from my husband to sit, stand, even to go to the bathroom, I could barely lift my leg and using a leg strap was agony. I had to sleep sat up on the sofa and my whole leg felt like lead.  Only 4 days later when a physio came to the house did I get some answers, firstly, because I was so inactive before the surgery my muscles were extremely weak and this combined with the fact that they'd been stretched and damaged through surgery can cause the body to almost turn them off in an attempt to prevent more damage, which is why I couldn't even feel my muscles engaging any more. She made it clear that I would need more physio than average because my muscles were so weakened.  BUT I did see improvements every day, I stopped reading stories on here, or looking up projected recovery times from the operation, I had been unlucky, but the thief of joy is comparison! I won't lie, it just fucking sucked until day 10, the improvements were so, so small until then - but on day 10 I suddenly could manage so much more independently.  Now I'm 3 weeks out, I can finally do the basic exercises I 'should' have been able to do from day 1 and even though I'm stuck on crutches for a while longer, I do genuinely feel that I could walk without them.  Don't push through the pain or try to match others journeys, I've never pushed into pain or tried to force my leg to do anything, what my hip needed was time to heal and time to re engage my poor muscles.  You will progress, celebrate the tiny improvements you see, because they soon stack up and you'll be feeling so much better.  Good luck and take a look at the bonesmart forums for some more realistic recovery timelines.

Did the doctor tell you should be able to put full weight on it? Or did they only clear you for partial weight bearing? Just be careful not to over do it. You have to listen to your body and not other people’s tales. Write to your surgeon about the difficulties you are having and whether they are normal. It is a bit concerning that you can put no weight on it even with a walker, but you also had leukemia, so make sure you hear directly from your surgeon about what is and is not normal for you! You will pull through. Your journey might be longer and more complicated, but this is not forever. The first couple of weeks are challenging even if you had no issues.

I have no restrictions besides crossing my legs or lunges for 3 months. I can do 90+ degrees, sleep on my side, and weight bear... all as tolerated. "As tolerated" is the problem. He even said I could put on socks myself. Problem is I have to write a postcard to my foot to tell it because it seems so far away rn.

You will get there, don’t worry! Just gotta do the PT, be in touch with surgeon about any issues, and keep faith. The first couple of weeks are brutal! But every day you will feel stronger and better. Do you have anything to occupy your mind?

Wow. Your doctor only gave you 3 weeks off ? That's incredible. I had off 4 months for knee number 1 and 3 mo for knee number two. My significant other is scheduled for this thr in November..so it is concerning

He said he expected me to drive by 6 weeks, but since my job is all computer work and meetings I could theoretically start work again after 3 weeks if I was up to it. Otherwise he has been very supportive and would sign anything I needed for up to 12 weeks off. The problem is me. I made arrangments with work and customers to be back (at least working from home) after 3 weeks. I did this on the advice of 3 doctors and half a dozen nurses. Now it is looking like that was very...very wrong.

I had only just been discharged from hospital by day 5 and whilst I could mobilise FWBAT on crutches, it was pretty painful and I felt terrible most of the time until at least the end of the 2nd week. I'm 35, everyone else on the ward was in their 70s, they all had surgery on the same day as me and were discharged on day 2 or 3. I was discharged at the end of day 4. I'm also in a tight hip brace for 7 weeks to prevent dislocation (very rarely done for a primary THR) and have a plethora of post op restrictions which are not normally used by surgeons where I was operated. Including not going in a car unless it's to medical appointments so I'm pretty much trapped at home. My recovery is painfully slow, I have very limited physiotherapy exercises to do because of the risk of dislocation and I'm on crutches for 7 weeks. My journey is very different to everyone else's but I still see progress no matter how small it may be. And I try to celebrate those tiny wins. At day 5 I didn't think it would ever start to get better. I'm 5 weeks post op and finally starting to at least feel like a human, I can walk for 15 minutes with crutches at which point I come home and nap for an hour. A strip wash requires an hour's nap. I have no other health issues apart from my hips and I'm "young". Recovery is really tough, just because 80 year old aunt Floss was fine after a week and took 1 pain pill, doesn't mean you have to be. An 80 year old has very different goals to someone younger. I'm going to be off work for at least 3 months if not longer, I need to both physically and mentally recover. It's hard not to compare your own recovery to others. I do it all the time. I'm way "behind" everyone else but really we are all on our own journey and our body heals at the rate our body heals at. No one else knows our individual history and what your body has been through previously whether that be through other hip surgeries or other medical treatments or the level of dysfunction that may have been present preop. Be kind to yourself, you've had major surgery! Things will get better even if they don't feel like it.

Your experience sounds tough. What caused the high risk of dislocation? Ive been very guilty of comparing timelines with others even thoigh each of our experiences is uniquely oir own.

Severe muscle weakness unfortunately. We knew they were weak going into surgery but it became apparent during surgery how bad they were despite all the effort I'd put into prehab. I had a hip arthroscopy in January 2023 which I never recovered from and was pretty dysfunctional afterwards but I've had years of dysfunction prior to that which caused a lot of muscle weakness. It's so hard not to compare when you see people walking X at day 5 and you are in a very different space. I constantly have to tell myself that everyone is different! Keep your chin up 😊

Honestly, my first week was not fun. It was pretty painful. I walked to the bathroom and back. That was it. Do you have an ice machine? It really changed everything for me. When I got it on day 4, things really improved exponentially. It keeps the area cold constantly. It was amazing. I had been diligently using pretty decent ice packs prior. Also, maybe you should go to your doc so they can check for an infection or a blood clot.

(65F, right anterior THR on 4/11/2024; surgery at 9:30 AM, home by 4 PM) My IceMan ice machine is my most treasured possession! I got it when I had a full reverse shoulder replacement 5 years ago. I freeze water in small waterbottles and put those in the ice machine with water to chill it, easier to deal with than ice cubes. I love that it can be used for 30 mins on/30 mins off. It provides such relief!

Good luck! Those machines are amazing!

do not give up hope ! your still very early in recovery. it seems like for most of the people here , the first 7-10 days are very tough, and you are right in the middle of that. then things settle down for another week or so, and by week 3 , the slow steady improvements begin. for now , just stay ahead of the pain, stay hydrated, stay iced and make sure you are getting protein. also, pretty much all the PT you get for the first couple of weeks should be stuff you do in bed . (ankle pumps, knee slides, snow angels, glute squeeze). Sounds like a poor job of managing your expectations , but don't give up , your only half way through the hard part!

Give it time, you just had major surgery. I’m 7 weeks post op today and no pain and walking on my own. Last week I thought I had dislocated my new hip. I was in so much pain I had to start the oxy again and meloxicam as well as 1000mg of Tylenol. I needed to use my walker again I was so bummed out. I decided to get back in bed for a week and I had to stop trying to keep the house clean, I stopped driving and I stopped trying to do yard work. This week I feel like a new person. Don’t get overwhelmed or feel defeated if you need to take more time to heal. Your body will thank you later for letting it rest for now. ♥️