If you read Recliner Hostage on Substack, here is the gear behind it. And remember, no one would let me be a medical professional. Talk to your doctor before you listen to some weirdo on the internet. Seriously.
What I used to recover from Bilateral Simultaneous Hip Replacement
- Journavx instead of Opioids. Shout out to endurance athlete and orthopedic surgeon Howard Luks for the suggestion. Not all major hospital systems carry this new pain killer yet. I had to fill the prescription outside our system and bring the unopened pill bottle with the pharmacy handout to the hospital. The hospital pharmacy had to inspect it before giving me the first dose post-surgery. Info here.
- Wound Vacs. Dr. Buller did a plastic surgery close on my hips. The wound vacs helped prevent scarring and infection. My incisions look amazing. Dumb and dumber were worth it!
- Hydraulic lift recliner. Purchased used on Facebook marketplace. Used for elevation, sleeping and easier standing.
- Walker with four wheels, brakes and under seat storage. I started with an inadequate hospital walker. Purchased here.
- Disabled parking pass. If your MD doesn’t offer it, ask for one. I almost made the mistake of declining it until KT intervened. Walking wasn’t a problem but the pass allowed for greater space between parked cars. I needed to open my car door wide to lift both legs together out of my seat.
- Grabber reacher tool that is foldable. I dropped everything. The grabber gave me back some independence. Cheap on Amazon.
- Soft ankle weights. My PT progression needed more inertia.
- Frozen high protein meals. I focused on 100-125g of protein per day. Having frozen pre-prepped meals helped my family.
- DoorDash or Grubhub. Impromptu dinners for friends or family were much easier to host.
- Gym membership. I have a great home gym but lifting and twisting with dumbbells and barbells was replaced with the safety of machine strength training.
- Robot vacuum. Okay I didn’t purchase this for my surgery but we did get a new one and it saved a ton of cleaning stress.
- Six large ice packs to rotate in freezer. I used two at a time every few hours.
- Right spouse. KT was all in on this project and I could not have done it without her. She walked me to every bathroom break, tucked me into bed each night with my legs elevated and swathed in ice packs. She helped me walk and understood my need to do things within my capabilities. She also knew when it was time to make me stop. Having the love of your life be a teammate in the trenches made all the difference.