Broken Hip

Re: Broken Hip

Saskia Quinn — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:45:32 GMT

Paula, how is your mum coping these days?

Re: Broken Hip

Sarah Cahill — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:43:16 GMT

Our dog groomer fell and broke her hip in the surgery a few months ago and is coming back to work on 3rd August, she was up and about using sticks after a few weeks I think, she is mid 50's but has osteo problems. The poor woman tripped over her own dog who was in the way and then the poor dog had to be euthanased whilst she was in hospital - not because of this situation though! I think she had to get her femoral head screwed and they may have to re-op as the screws are beginning to stick out - she is coping really well though and says the physio makes a massive difference.

Re: Broken Hip

paula morgan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:13:42 GMT

Thanx Bouncyfi, she is in Ayr and fingers crossed everything seems to be going ok, I went down yesterday and she was really quite sore but she had perked up a bit today, well according to my niece and my brother, she was really mad at me as I gave the nurses her anti depressants and some other pills and they wont give her them, I only gave them to the nurse as I didnt want her to have a reaction with what they were giving her, but she was not pleased with me at all. I dont know, I cant seem to win with my mum, she was also angry that I came down to see her as it is a 500 mile round trip, but hopefully she willget on ok with the physio x

Re: Broken Hip

paula morgan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:25:37 GMT

Am down at mums but cant find the charger for her laptop, so before I get cut off I will catch up on posts tomorrow as I will be home then x

Re: Broken Hip

Fiona Leathers — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:20:38 GMT

Paula - if your mum is anywhere near me & I can do anything for you just give me a bell!!

Re: Broken Hip

Mac Feather — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:10:30 GMT

Its never easy when u are a distance away from parents,as u say u feel useless but sometimes even wee things like speaking on the phone can lift the spirits and help no end.

Hope your mum is ok.

Re: Broken Hip

paula morgan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:23:55 GMT

Albatross, Thank you so much for all the advice, I hadnt even thought of half of it!

My mum is in pretty good health but she is prone to depression and I am really hoping that doesnt rear its ugly head. There is lots of help and support for her when she gets out. My brother and dad dont want me to go down today as theres nothing I can do when shes in hospital, would be better waiting until she got out as my help would be needed more then, which I suppose is right enough, I will wait until my brother phonesme tonight and decide what to do as I will need to arrange time off work. I am not supposed to start college until 24th August so I will also need to wait and see what mums like by then.

Once again thank you so much for your post, I will get on to all the things needing put in place before mum gets out xx

Re: Broken Hip

Saskia Quinn — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:36:47 GMT

Albatross, that was a very helpful and kind post for Scotlass, I hope it gives her some good advice when she reads it.

Paula, I am so sorry to hear that, you definitely are having a run of bad luck at the moment. I will be thinking of you all today and have a safe journey home xxx

Re: Broken Hip

albatross — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:26:00 GMT

Your poor Mum!

Recovery depends on lots of things. For replacements they heal much quicker than breaks. So some reports of quick recoveries are due to replacement ops.

My Mum had probably the worst outcome from a break in 2001, and has very limited mobility - but this was due to the fact that she has osteoporosis as well, and the local hospital decided to do a cost-saving op and not line the hip socket, nor glue the shaft in (she broke the neck of femur which is the most common place when they say "broken hip").

Check what type of operation they are going to do, check which part/s she broke, and check if she has osteoporosis or not. You could always ring ahead tomorrow and find out what they intend to do before the operation.

Unfortunately they can't leave it un-repaired due to risks of bone marrow leakage (as the consultant told me), but it depends on her original state of health and what the operation will entail.

They will get her up and walking the same or next day from the operation. She mustn't cross her legs over nor bend down (the leg has to kick backwards if she bends) for 6 weeks to reduce the risk of it dislocating (this is the most common need for repeat surgery). Get her a grab from a mobility shop (most towns have one or you can order online), these are a godsend as you always drop things and never think twice about bending to pick them up. They help too with putting shoes on (also buy a long-handled shoe horn, and a zimmer mesh bag for carrying items if she has a zimmer for a while-if sticks then use a carrier bag or rucksack for carrying those items when you need hands to propel yourself).

Tell her to do all the exercises she is given, and if a physio isn't available (another problem Mum had as she was switched to an old part of the hospital and they forgot to send the physio regularly), then hire a private one. The earlier she starts to build the muscles back up again the better the recovery.

Mum's biggest problem now is having a very low pain threshold (which also affected her willingness to do physio when she did get seen), and the fact that the shaft has moved and is slowly drilling into the soft pelvic bones, which can't be repaired, and so her leg gets shorter as the years go on, and the pain increases.

Your Mum hopefully won't have these problems, but could end up with one leg shorter than the other and need a shoe building up. She will find that out before they let her out of hospital. You are entitled to two free build-ups a year from existing shoes, or have special nhs nasty looking ones made. This includes harder soled slippers, and also sandals. She may not need this though if they get it virtually the same as the other one.

Our hospital wouldn't let her out unless she had help at home, a bed high enough to get into, a scania frame for the toilet and a higher chair to sit on. It will also depend on whether she needs to climb stairs or not as to when they let her out and how much physio she has). Hopefully their teams will arrange it as hospitals are better equipped to aid people back into the community nowadays but if not, contact her usual doctor in advance (they may not know she is in hospital until it's nearly time for her to come out so chase them early) and ask him/her to put into motion calling the occupation health team so they can come and assess the needs at home (they did this for us before mum came out), and then your dad can arrange for all the aids (free loan for however long you need them - mum still has the zimmers, chair, scania now). Also try asking for stair lift or bath lift if this may help her.

keeping my fingers crossed for an uneventful operation tomorrow and a speedy recovery.

Re: Broken Hip

les punton — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:24:52 GMT

thanks she was! a month b4 she died i went round and she was waiting on the district nurse to see to her leg...............

the night b4 she had been to a wedding, had a sherry or 2 and fell and cut her leg. She was 98, I want to be like that when im old

Re: Broken Hip

paula morgan — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:16:08 GMT

Thanx Lesley thats reassuring. Your Gran sounds great

Re: Broken Hip

les punton — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:13:50 GMT

a friends mum had broke her hip as my friend was going on a cruise, she came back 2wks later and her mum was tottering about on sticks. obviously its not the same for everyone but I thought this was encouraging.

Also my deceased nana who was in her 90's had hers done. I visited once out of hospital and she was in the attic moving furniture!!

Hope everything goes ok - just relised this hasnt answered ur q's!