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A quick Q:
Is it OK for a 70 year old to travel for approx 3hrs immediately upon discharge following a hip replacement❓
The mother in law would prefer to have her surgery at her local hospital in Devon, but would like to recuperate with us in Gloucestershire.
Whats the risks, considerations we need to weigh up❓
Many thanks.
DVT would be my biggest concern.
Plus she'll be exhausted and 3 hours travelling is a lot of sitting when you're more comfortable laying down.
also - post operatively I struggled with the NHS provision when I broke my hip in one NHS trust but lived in another - I got no support post discharge.
Thanks for your experience & advice. Support post discharge is in hand. Its the travelling side of things we're looking into. She'll be on fragmin as standard, i don't now whether this'll be adequate.
I understood there were private ambulances / patient transport services that you can book for this sort of thing. A quick google seems to bring up quite a few so might be worth looking for a local one?
I did a 2 hour drive following a hip arthroscopy (as passenger obviously). It was ****ing sore..so I'd say no.
The surgeon will have his/her own set of post operative instructions, usually given out in pre op 'joint school'.
My surgeons were no bending over 90 degrees, no car journeys, no driving, sleeping only on your back. The restrictions were for a full 6 weeks. This is quite conservative, but if I'd be pretty silly to ignore his advice and mess it up! So it's likely a no.
Ask the surgeon. to some extent it depends on how long after the op she is discharged and how fit a 70yr old she is.
My mother came home from her hip surgery in a car - how else do most folk get home? a journey of around 40 mins.
A 3 hour journey is a lot for someone recovering from major surgery. If it was me I'd be happier looking after her in her house - thats what I did for my mum. took a week off work to see her right.
My daughter had an L1 spinal fusion in September, after 5days in a ward she was allowed to travel home by car . The journey was about 3 hours , we broke it up by stopping at supermarkets that had wheelchairs so she could go to the toilet etc.