Day 3: Home from the Hospital

We have a two-story house, and it turned out to be no problem to live on the second floor. I was able to crutch up stairs without problems, and since the renovated bathroom, the bed, and our best easy-chair recliner were up there, this way I could withdraw and rest. Descending for meals and visits by the therapist and nurse made for some variety.

I set up a recliner next to my bed, and gathered together some pillows, a big mug of icewater (you'll be thirsty for quite a while), reading material, cell phone and cordless phone, and my laptop (we have wireless, which is a great boon). This made for a pretty comfortable base with lots of options. Bless the recliner - it was home sweet home for a while.

I grew to hate the phone, because inevitably I would forget to schlep along the handset, and as I was expecting calls related to nursing visits and such, I could not ignore the wretched thing. So if you hate cold-calls by solicitors anyway, wait until you have to wrench yourself out of a chair, hobble to find the phone, and then enjoy a recorded message from some dufous...

You will probably have arrangements made for a visiting nurse and physical therapist. It's nice to be able to talk over your condition with someone, and to start work on mobility and strength. My therapist made a very good point about not rushing things: form, balance, posture, and gait are important. If you were limping before the operation, it may have been a long time since you've walked normally, and the goal of the operation is a restoration of full activities, not merely a return to gimphood. I know different people will heal at different rates, but I wonder if some of the miracle reports about people walking unaided after a week need to be asterisked: are they walking smoothly, or limping and gimping around?

A few things to know about:

First, it is very easy to feel lightheaded when you pop up out of a recliner, especially if you get into the shower and have nice warm humid vapors around. Make sure you have a place to sit or someone to help you, certainly the first time or two. Note that this is true in the hospital as well: be careful about trips to the bathroom, etc. You really don't want an uncontrolled fall onto your new hip.

Also, apparently it is common to experience post-operative temperatures in the evening, and you might find yourself with minor chills, sore skin, lower energy, or whatever symptoms you show when you run a temperature (we're talking numbers between 99 to 100 F, not the higher values that might indicate an infection and the need to contact your doctor).

Sleeping sucks. Until you get loose enough to roll over onto your stomach you're kind of stuck sleeping on your back or non-operative side, and for me that is a position that turns my brain on, not off. A pillow between the legs is not required for Birmingham people, but helped me when I tried sleeping on my side. Even once you can sleep in any position, I found that there was just enough tightness or discomfort that I would only sleep in blocks of 90 minutes or so, with lots of twisting and turning, which did not help my wife sleep. For a few days I reverted to taking a Vicodin at bedtime, but then I saw the recent news story about ramapant abuse and I decided to stop. If you can at all help it, do NOT nap during the day.

Finally, I felt - and apparently this is not uncommon - quite despondent and depressed for one or two evenings once I was back at home. I still felt sore, and incapacitated, and just miserable and sorry for myself and sorry to be causing such a fuss for everyone. This feeling passed as my energy returned and things healed up. So if you feel this way, tell people, but don't worry: the feeling is likely to pass.