Much to my alarm, my surgeon wishes to use spinal anesthesia (are all spinal anesthesias epidurals? I didn’t wish to assume.) to do my hip replacement. I have researched it online and been quite surprised to find out it’s relatively common and seemingly preferred these days. There does seem to be some benefits that would be appealing.
However…I am completely incapable of coping with something so invasive and potentially painful. Absolutely no way on earth if the coping required of me is to remain perfectly still and not jerk or spasm or cry or move or scream or do anything which would cause them to shove the needle someplace it shouldn’t be and thereby paralyze me for the rest of my life. No can-do folks. You’re looking at a woman who cries when the dentist puts Novocain in her gums.
I sent a frantic email to my doctors office when I learned this, saying no no no… The upshot is that I’m going to have a consultation with anesthesiology this coming week, via video. And I absolutely intend to hear everything they have to say but I feel pretty sure that I’m probably gonna land on “yeah, no way folks. Plan to put me under.” (People who have been around here as long as I have and paid attention to some noisy threads I’ve been in know that I am no fan of anesthesia, I’ve had some alarming experiences. But I am pretty sure I’d rather have general than anything resembling being awake and having a needle in my spine.)
Nonetheless I enjoy taking in information and if you have anything to share I would love to hear about it.
I’m also welcoming anything you’d like to share regarding your post surgical experience. Of particular interest to me are:
The soft tissue pain you experienced from the actual flesh cutting, especially if you are overweight and they had substantial flesh to cut.
How long it took for you to be on two feet, especially if you were in a severe, crippling situation before the surgery. (I have been bedridden/wheelchair-bound for about two years. I have lost strength and stamina just because of that alone, so I anticipate a pretty tough recovery.)
How difficult you found it to monitor and avoid bending your hip joint past the 90° angle. I was very alarmed when I learned this was necessary because I am, even now when old and decrepit in many ways, super bendy by nature and I move past the 90° bend all the time for all kinds of reasons and I am freaked out about spacing and dislocating my shiny new hip.
And anything else you’d like to share I’m all ears. Thanks!
I found it remarkably simple and easy when I had my knees done. They had me doped up pretty well before the epidural and I felt almost nothing. I talk to the anesthesiologist before operations and tell them I don’t want to feel anything. Before that I tell the doctor I have severe anxiety and need maximum anesthesia or I won’t have the procedure. Worked four times so far.
Do you have any range of motion? You can exercise before the surgery and it will help, however it isn’t likely to be easy.
The doctor who did my hip replacement wanted to use spinal anesthesia instead of general. Since I don’t know how to compare one to the other, I can tell you that I had no issue with the spinal. I was not aware when the needle went in. You will not be awake during the surgery and you will have no memory of it. I am sure your doctor can clarify this.
I had a couple of months to exercise before my replacement. While I wasn’t in a wheelchair, I was in an uncomfortable situation for a few years and as a result my right leg was, and still is to a degree, stronger and bigger than my left leg.
I had the replacement done on a Tuesday and was on my feet on Wednesday. I ditched the walker and used a cane after 4 days.
The recovery, for the most part, went very well. However, it did take quite a while to get the strength back in the left leg. It still isn’t as strong as my right leg, however the improvement has been great. Do the physiotherapy and keep moving. You will want to sit down and not deal with any lingering discomfort, but moving and build strength are the best way to combat that discomfort.
Keeping the 90 degree angle wasn’t too difficult. I put a raised toilet seat on my toilet and had one of those chair wedges on the chair I usually use.
You won’t be awake and alert, you will be given lots of good drugs through an IV to make you really relaxed and to induce amnesia about what happens in the OR. You’ll be given those before the spinal is done-what stays in your spinal space for the surgery is a very thin, soft, floppy catheter. A needle is used to place it but doesn’t remain.
You are much better off not doing a general if you can avoid it. Recovery from a general can be tricky and that can slow down the healing of your hip.
I had an epidural for childbirth, which I think may not be relevant. If someone can confirm that it is, I will comment. I did have an odd (not serious, fortunately) reaction.
Talk to your doctor about your anxiety and pain intolerance. The anesthesiologist can give you something like midazolam to make you, like, super chill about the whole thing before they even roll you into the operating room.
Same. I was worried about the epidural. It was no big deal at all. Had my right hip replaced. I was totally knocked out during the procedure though.
Recovery is different for everyone. The epidural was easy.
My brothers wife apparently needs a hip replacement, but won’t do it. I think she’s 65yo or so. Won’t do it. Afraid of it. She’s using a walker and rarely leaves the house. That is slowly driving my brother crazy I’m sure.
Stoid, Getting mobility back is a huge thing. Of course you’re scared. No sane person wouldn’t be.
All I recall is looking at the very bright lights, and waking up with an angry nurse because I was swearing.
Do the exercises afterwards. My right leg doesn’t work as well as the other because I blew them off.
Good for you. When this came to be, and I was still mobile but surgery was a month away, I put an extra handrail on a part of our stairs.
And 15 years ago, when I had our downstairs bathroom remodeled, I put in ADA approved and positioned handrails in there. At the time I was thinking for when my mother visits. Turns out I needed them, and really not a bad idea.
Don’t fight time, travel with it. And live with it. Deals must be made. No other choice.
I am doing all I can. My most cherished goal is to die laughing, and this is the single most critical step. My quality of life has been maybe 2 on a 10 point scale. On good days.
I think I reached maximum hell on the day I had an appointment for some kind of shot from a pain management doc, and for miscellaneous reasons my pain was pegging at 10 when I entered. After some back and forth he told me I was in too much pain for the pain shot.
Prior to this adventure, pain and I had a very distant, icy relationship. I would get a hangnail and need to lie down.
Just got my quadriceps tendons reattached to my kneecap today. Had a nerve block, and epidural, and sleepy-time drugs (but expressly not full anesthesia). Talked to the doc about it all–arms are a special case with nerve block–you lose all sensation. With the lower body they could tailor to specific areas. I think you’ll be ok. Oxycodone doesn’t improve the quality of my posts, I will say.
Stoid, yes, your doctor would use spinal anesthesia, and then give you a sedative so you won’t know what’s happening. It’s not like you would be wide awake throughout the procedure (unless that’s what you want, and I have encountered people who did!).
Thank you everyone who took the time to share your experiences. Your information was valuable.
I have consulted with the anesthesiology people, taken in your experiences and done research… And the end result is I intend to go with the spinal anesthesia because I am reassured that I can have this without it freaking me out. (I was convinced early on that yes, of course it is the better choice in terms of recovery and what not, I was in no position to argue with that it’s just my tolerance for psychologically disturbing procedures involving sticking things in my body and especially in very delicate parts of my body. I suck at that.)
for the pain shot.