By Virginia ‘Ginya’ Carnahan, APR, CPRC – Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute
In 2008, I had my right hip replaced to relieve constant pain from arthritis. At that time my orthopedic surgeon told me I would most likely need to have the other hip replaced at some time. Fast-forward eight years – in April of this year I started having pain in my “good” left hip. A visit to my surgeon confirmed what I expected: It was time.
This major surgical procedure is not usually an emergency, so patients can actually plan the surgery at a convenient time. Unlike many other urgent surgeries, the joint replacement patient has an opportunity to get prepared.
Here are some things that I did and recommend for others who are facing this type of surgery.
First: Select a surgeon you like. There are many well-qualified “orthopods” in our area. I didn’t like the first one I went to. He had no personality. Blah. The second one was wonderful – and has become my orthopedic surgeon of choice. I felt like I could really talk to him. He looked me in the eye. He answered my questions. He showed me models of the implants. He seemed to have plenty of time for me. (I also liked that he had his children’s artwork displayed in his exam rooms!)
Second: Consider where you will have the surgery. I selected the smaller of two local hospitals. My type surgery was perfected years ago – there was nothing experimental or unusual about me or the procedure that would cause me to think I needed the larger hospital. The smaller hospital offered more private attention (wonderful nursing, dietary, and physical therapy staff). Parking was easier, a nice consideration for the friends who would come to visit me.
Third: I have been doing some mild “workouts” twice a week for the past 2 years, and find that this effort was really beneficial pre-surgery. I lost about 8-10 pounds over that time. When you consider that using walkers, crutches and canes (all needed during recovery from knee or hip surgery) requires you to haul your body weight around, it makes sense that the fewer pounds, the easier it will be. If you have time to slim down a few pounds, do it. Another consideration is to get a pair of light weights (4-6 pounds) and start lifting them 20 times, several times a day. (You can even do it while seated watching you favorite evening TV shows.) If you can strengthen your arms, wrists and shoulders beforehand, you won’t get sore muscles when you start using the crutches, walker or cane.
Fourth: Carefully prepare for your return home. Some patients will go to a rehab facility for a couple of weeks of physical therapy after discharge from the hospital. Some go straight home and if they are motivated enough they can do their rehab at home. Realize that whenever you do return home, you will be using some kind of walking aid. Remove all throw rugs! The last thing you want to do is fall! Go through all your daily supplies – over the counter medications, prescription drugs, cosmetics, personal supplies (toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) to make sure you have a good supply on hand. You don’t want to run out of something important to you.
Fifth: Stock your cupboard with simple food items. After anesthesia and on top of the many drugs you are sent home with, your appetite can change. You need to keep eating plenty of protein and calories to support your healing body. I bought individual servings of applesauce and jell-o, cheese sticks, easy to fix frozen dinners, ice cream, canned fruit cocktail, cottage cheese – things that are easy to prepare and easy to digest. I found that Dark Chocolate “Boost” is quite tasty – not the slimy consistency of other meal-replacement beverages I had tried in the past.
Don’t forget soups – chicken noodle and chicken rice are universally good to restore your strength and good humor!
Sixth: Picture your return home. The morning before I left for the hospital I put my favorite sheets on my bed. I decluttered the bedside table and made sure my eye-drops and lip balm were close at hand for my return. Trips to the bathroom the first few days are torturous so try to keep them to a minimum. Have your home and/or cell phones charged and close at hand. People will call, you know!
Finally: After it is all over and you are back on your feet, and have returned to “normal,” think about sharing some of the helpful aids you had to purchase. I bought a “reacher,” a bath sponge on a long handle and a gizmo for helping one pull on socks. I don’t intend to use these things again. (Because you are not allowed to bend at the waist more than 90 degrees, pulling on socks is nearly impossible without this gizmo! And you are required to wear those tight compression knee-high socks for a few weeks!) I heard about a woman who had hip surgery scheduled 6 weeks after mine and made her a gift of these things. Saved her close to $50.00!
Dattoli Cancer Center
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