Reassurance for my mum - Knee & Hip Problems Message Board

alfiesmum · 03-24-2009, 05:30 PM

Hi everyone,hope someone can help,my mum had a THR on the 9th march 2009.She was 83 on the 12 march, she is a very active lady.Does loads of stuff for herself and walks a lot.She has no heart or blood pressure problems so was a good candidate for thr.At the moment she is staying with me and doing exercises 3 times a day and walking around for about 5 to 10 minutes every hour.The hip itself is great and she has no specific pain there now.However the operated leg from the knee down is very swollen and the skin is really tight and uncomfortable for her especially towards the end of the day.She does have a rest, lying down in the afternoon, the unoperated leg is also swollen but not to the extent of the other.She is wearing elastic socks up to the knee (during the day) to prevent DVT and her doctor has seen the swelling and is not worried about DVT which we aren't either but he said the swelling is because of the tissue damage at the top of the operated leg; and will take time to go.
Has anyone else had swelling like this and does anyone know what is too much or not enough exercise?? Also the plastic gadget from the hospital may do tights ok but it certainly doesn't work on the elastic socks and taking these on and off is the only thing preventing her from staying at her own place and being " independant" again.

libloom · 03-25-2009, 03:05 PM

Your Mom sounds like one tough lady....good for her!

The swelling is totally normal after what she's been through...and she's still in the very early stages of recovery. She may want to elevate the legs when laying by propping pillows.

Is the sock tool a hollowed out piece of hard plastic with a rope at either side? If so, I scrunched the TED (elastic surgical) hose onto it, slid my foot in and pulled the hose on..reaching forward to pull them up the rest of the way.

She'll do just fine. Recovery requires lots of patience!
Linda

alfiesmum · 03-25-2009, 03:33 PM

Thanks Linda, she comes from a family of longlived folks so I'm expecting her to be trotting around for a while yet.The swelling is not so bad today so maybe she exercised too much yesterday. I guess its just taking one day at a time.The gadget for putting on the stockings is a flat piece of plastic which curls round when you put it inside the stocking but I don't think its sturdy enough for the TEDS as they pull off when you pull on the straps.

Larimergirl · 03-25-2009, 07:21 PM

Hi. I had similar swelling. My doctor too was not concerned and said it was due to tissue damage--but he also advised me to walk daily but not to over do it either--be moderate in exercise. As for the stockings, I had to wear hip length TEDS first and had to have assistance in removing and putting them on. Once my doctor let me go t knee highs, I found the sock donner (a flexible plastic tube) worked ok. I have seen metal sock donner's on websites that might be easier for her to use.

Maggie

Silver Swan · 03-26-2009, 01:02 PM

Dear alfie:

I have the same kind of sock donner that Linda described - the hard plastic tube with a cord on each side. I was able to put on the TEDs with this. Taking the TEDs off was simple and easy using the "dressing stick" which is a long dowel type thing with two hooks on the end. One of the hooks can be used to push off the TEDs. I think it would be worth spending the extra money for you to get one of the hard plastic sock donner and a dressing stick. They would both make your mother able to do the TEDs by herself. Look on the Internet to see picture of these two dressing aids. I still use mine because my other hip now needs replacement and bending too far down to the floor "hurts"! Spend the money and get these two dressing aids. They are worth their weight in gold. I wouldn't give mine up for anything!

Shirley H.