Tips For Coping With Open FAI Surgery...

1/ Make sure you get a haircut before hand – makes it so much easier to managein hospital and when you get home.

2/ Shave you legs, give yourself a good body scrub and keep moisturizer up inthe week before – make you feel better during recovery and the iodine they slop everywhere can make your skin dry and flaky in the weeks afterwards. I am using Bio Oil on my skin & will also use it on my scar when fully healed, it’s great!

3/ I was allowed home on the 5th day after surgery & made the trip from CHCH-Timaru with lots of pillows supporting me. Make sure you take painkillers before the trip home.

4/ Pain relief in hospital – They will force Panadol on you religiously and try to wean you off stronger options but make sure you keep up the stronger stuff if you can as I was feeling ok but it took them 3 days to begin with to get on top of my pain medication as I was taking morphine (10-20mg 2-3 times a day sinceOctober 07) before the op and my body was used to it so speak up if it’s not enough. It took around 30 minutes in recovery to settle my pain as all theygave me to start off was 20mg!

5/ Take Arnica Plus Spray by Naturo Pharm in the weeks leading up to your operation and in the weeks after – 2/3 Sprays 3 times a day. This helped me hugely and I did not come out with any bruising – only a little yellow where the stitches were. It helps your body heal naturally.

6/ Make sure you get home help with ACC or through Insurance if you can – I have a lady that comes every Tuesday for 2hrs and does all cleaning & washing etc and is such a great help. Also make sure you get a raised toilet seat with handles, a trolly with wheels and couch raisers.

7/ If you can get a lazy boy/recliner do that or if you have one or know someone who has one see if you can borrow it as I slept in it for the first 3 weeks after surgery. It is so much better than the bed as I am able to get up myself and lie flat if I need to or shift the angle of the chair myself. Otherwise I don’t think I would have been able to get up or out of bed if I was on my own. Plus your not having to lift your leg in and out of bed and reduces the chance of slipping or straining the hip.

8/ Make sure you drink lots of water to help your muscles heal, stock up on magazines to read!

9/ BABY WIPES – these have been wonderful, keep a pack in the toilet where you can reach as sometimes after the surgery when your trying to balance on the loo things don’t quite go right and this just helps clean and makes you feel much fresher lol till you can have a shower. Also keep a pack wherever you are during the day as they are handy to wipe hands etc. You can get some really nicesmelling ones too!

10/ Once you have got the hang of your crutches and want to carry things I use a plastic bag and put things in and take them to the lounge with the bag on my crutches otherwise you don’t have any free hands and if your on your own it can be pretty frustrating not being able to carry things.

11/ Stock up on muffins and ready to eat foods – things that you can pop in a bag and get on your own & easy to eat foods for during the night when you need to take pain killers.

12/ SHOWERING – The day I left hospital I was strong enough to stand with one leg and partial weight on my op leg and have a shower on my own. When I got home I had a couple of sponge baths in front of the fire till I was happy to have a shower. A detatchable shower head is a must – as this helps a lot for the first few showers. I got away with not needing to have a hair wash till I got home and found it easiest with a $10 shower ext from The Warehouse & used it over the sink as it is much easier to lean forward than backwards after the op. Or if you have a shower with slider shower rose it would do the same job.

13/ Massage - if you can get someone to massage E Balme into your calf/foot andthigh (away from the cut) this will help circulation and the muscles to repair.Plus it feels great and helps you relax.

14/ Satin PJ's & Satin blankets. I manged to pickup a satin quilted blanket for around $20 and used this in the bed when I migrated from the lazy boy as it lets you slide in & out without straining your muscles & is sooo much easier. This is also useful when getting in & out of the car if you can lay the blanket on the seat before you get in it helps you slide in out with ease.

Photo of my bed setup with the satin blanket;