Tag Archives: Rob hip surgery

Holidays, Rob's hip surgery

Rob’s Surgery Update #2–Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY!

22 Comments

Happy Independence Day to all of you, and especially to Rob! With each day that passes, he’s gaining more and more ground in his recovery from his recent total hip replacement.

His surgery was Monday. This is Saturday. He’s doing amazing! They had him up and walking the first day in the hospital and had physical therapy sessions and exercises assigned before he went home on Tuesday evening.

By Thursday morning, he was cooking little pancakes for our nephew, Jake, and his usual morning scramble for himself. Because there are precautions, he can’t bend down and pick things up or do some other actions. But, we fetched him some ingredients and supplies, and he cooked away. No one thought Jake could spend the night Wednesday, as he has almost every week since Covid started, but when he asked, we were able to say “yes” because Rob was doing so well.

He had his first physical therapy yesterday, Friday. By this morning, he had worn the plastic tips off of his walker from so many trips down the road, including the one this morning which was over 1/2 mile.

Jake’s Dad, Ron, came over every day at first to help, mostly for my peace of mind, and to keep Rob company, and take him for walks, etc., and to bring us food. I ended up doing homeschool with Patsy and Jake a couple of times. Everyone welcomed the routine. Another day, my sister came and helped me weed the garden and brought food.

Patsy has been spoiled rotten by Grandma and Aunties and cousins this week. She’s played endless games, and been treated and treated and treated and treated! The day Grandma came, Patsy cooked for her. It’s something all the other kids have done over the years, and Patsy wanted her turn. Grandma is a good sport. She’s eaten many, many interesting meals over the years from many of the cousins, some wonderful, some…….well, interesting. This time, Patsy made her peanut chicken stir-fry, which is amazing, so Grandma was full and happy when she went home. Tonight, she’s off with Michaela and her parents to watch some fireworks from the back of their truck. Jake stayed with me, since neither of us were up for that experience.

Rob is using an ice pack for several hours per day. He’s taking Celebrex, which is like Ibuprofen but stronger, and Tylenol. He’s doing every exercise faithfully, and walking as they said to do, several times per day. He feels very little pain. Some of what he feels is muscle pain as there are muscles in his legs and hip that have not been used for a very long time. That’s it! Can you believe it? I can’t:)

He felt well enough today to have a small 4th of July party with the very small group of family members that we spend so much time with. He and Ron bbq-ed chicken and hot dogs, salads were brought, I made some from garden veggies and lettuce, and my sisters brought ice cream and cake to celebrate Grandma’s birthday.

I know he has a long road ahead of him to build those muscles back up. We’ve been told there will be days that are hard. But, today, we are grateful, we are thankful, we are feeling very blessed by God for the miracle Rob has been granted.

Rob's hip surgery

Rob’s Surgery update #1–June 29, 2020

58 Comments

Rob had his surgery today and I’m happy to report that the it went very well.

Because of Covid-19, things were done differently. We parked and were let in a side door of the hospital. We were ushered into a small room with a bed and sliding door and they got Rob ready for surgery while I sat on a chair tucked into the corner. Then, when it was time, they rolled him away, and I was left in the small room for a couple of hours. It went by surprisingly quickly, and the doctor came and talked to me, and told me it went very well. I waited there another hour or so, then was ushered to join Rob in his room. Of course, everyone wore masks.

To my surprise, Rob was talking and smiling when I entered the room and made perfect sense:). After some time, the physical therapist came in and got him up for a walk. When he stood for the first time, I was brought to tears. Instead of my hunched over, pain-ridden husband, I was standing next to my tall, pain-free husband with such a happy expression on his face. He hasn’t been able to stand up straight for quite some time. When I left, the operation pain meds were still kicked in, he had very little pain, and he only needed a Tylenol. At one point, he said with wonder, “I guess I can feel a little tiny pinch, but that’s all!” The expectation is that he will get some pain during the night, and that will give him more meds as needed. But, with all the pain he’s been in, even one afternoon with none was phenomenal to him!

To be realistic, he has a long ways to go to heal and build up his weakened muscles, but he’s off to a great start. He’ll have to use a walker for a while, and have extensive physical therapy. There are rules to follow and exercises to do for the best recovery possible. I can’t wait! I hope to bring him home tomorrow, but that’s up to the doctor.