When I had hip replacement surgery I had no idea what to expect because although I have had dozens of abdominal surgery I had never had any hip surgery. My doctor gave me a lot of information before I had hip replacement surgery because it’s their job, but doctors don’t know everything, and there were some unwanted surprises that my doctor didn’t warn me about that I wish they would have. As a disabled person, I have had dozens of surgeries and know that regaining strength after you have been sitting in bed for weeks takes time, and I was prepared for that. I thought that hip replacement surgery recovery was going to be similar to all my other surgeries because I was not aware of how major of a surgery it was for people with Spina Bifida. I have no regrets about getting hip replacement surgery because if I hadn’t gone through with it, I still would have hip pain that would have affected my quality of life. I do wish I would have had more knowledge before having hip replacement surgery because I could have been better prepared than I was. What do you need to know before having hip replacement surgery? In this post, I am going to talk about what I wish I had known before having hip replacement surgery.
You have to exercise a lot to gain strength- After I had hip replacement surgery, my doctor told me that I needed to exercise to gain hip strength, but what they didn’t tell me is how much exercise it takes to see significant progress. You are not going to be able to jump out of bed and immediately resume your regular workouts because you aren’t going to have enough strength to do that. The first year of hip replacement recovery is the hardest, and you have to be super consistent with your exercise routine because you won’t get your strength back if you don’t exercise. Exercise is three times as hard when you lose mobility, and you aren’t going to want to exercise, but you need to force yourself to do it. Doctors tell patients that they need to exercise but what they don’t tell you is how frustrating it is to exercise and how much it takes to see progress. You aren’t going to jump out of bed and start walking a mile, and that may take a year more to be able to achieve that. I knew that I was going to have some setback in fitness after I had hip replacement surgery because I always do with every major surgery but I was not prepared for how hard exercise is after hip replacement surgery.
You will have zero independence- I have had many surgeries where I have not had as much independence and needed help doing things for a few weeks that I normally could do myself. After I had hip replacement surgery, I knew that I was probably going to need a little more assistance, but I was not prepared for the loss of independence. Most surgeries I have had, some level of independence, but when I had hip replacement surgery, I basically had none for the first six months because I was not allowed to bear any weight on my operated leg and had hip precautions that restricted what positions I could get into safely. As a disabled person, I sometimes need a little help doing things, but I would consider myself pretty independent, and losing independence was one of the hardest parts of my recovery. Most people who have hip replacement surgery are able to start walking immediately with minimal pressure, but because I have minimal feeling in my legs, you can’t teach me that, so I had to sit in bed for a few months. It is hard to lose independence because no one prepares you for that, and on hard days you have to remind yourself it’s only for a short time.
You probably won’t sleep for a few months– After hip replacement surgery, doctors usually will prescribe some pretty strong pain medication because hip replacement surgery is a very painful surgery. I have had a lot of painful surgeries, but nothing compares to the pain of hip replacement, and I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on my worst enemy. Sleep was a struggle after hip replacement, and I had very poor sleep for several months because there was nothing that could take the pain away. Pain medication helped a little, but I tried not to be overly dependent on it because the only stuff that worked had a side effect of constipation, which I didn’t want. Some sleep positions made it worse, but there were none that made it better, and the only thing that improved pain was healing, and that takes time. No one prepares you for the complete exhaustion you get after hip replacement surgery because of high pain levels.
The constipation will be horrendous- I remember that hip replacement surgery is not something I want to repeat unnecessarily, and I could not give you specific details because it’s been a few years since I’ve had a hip surgery. The one thing I do remember very clearly, like it happened yesterday, is how horrendous the constipation was when I got home. I stayed in the hospital a few days longer than I normally would because my hemoglobin got low and I needed blood, so I was a few days late doing my bowel regimen. I get constipated a lot because my bowels don’t work properly, but I have never gotten that constipated, and that is my biggest fear if I were to need a second hip replacement, is reliving that experience. It was harder to go to the bathroom, and I think the worst part was having to sit on the toilet for an hour every couple of days. The pain medication that I was taking had a side effect of constipation and did help, but I had no other choice. Anyone can struggle with constipation after surgery, but when you have a disability that affects your bowel function, it’s ten times worse.
It will take years to get mobility back- Before I had hip replacement surgery, I had no idea that I was going to lose mobility because it was not made very clearly. I was told that in one year that I would be fully recovered, which is not true, and because of my disability, it’s taking much longer than that. I suspected that the one-year recovery time was probably off, because doctors always get recovery times wrong but I was not expecting to still not have mobility six years later. I have learned how to adapt my life to accommodate my mobility loss, but I do wish I would have known I was going to lose mobility that may or may not come back because it was not a nice surprise.
Hip replacement surgery helps get rid of your hip pain, which will improve your quality of life but it gets harder before it gets easier. You experience so much pain that people who have never had hip replacement surgery will never understand. Some people struggle with their mental health after hip replacement surgery because of severe pain, and want to give up, which is why I think therapy should be something that is highly recommended after major surgeries. Most people that I know with Spina Bifida have hip dysplasia, but not everyone will need surgery or have the same recovery process as I have. People who are not able to walk will not have to spend months trying to get strength in their legs to be able to walk again. My recovery was hard, but it’s not because my doctor did a bad job, because there are some things your doctor has no control over. Some surgeries are going to be harder for disabled people than they would be for a non-disabled person because your doctor can change your disability. Doctors don’t know everything, and sometimes we aren’t told things not because our doctors are trying to be dishonest but because they weren’t taught that in school. What do you wish you have known before having hip replacement surgery? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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