Hip surgery represents an amazing opportunity for people who have had chronic hip pain or problems walking to experience an impressive improvement in their quality of life. There are different conditions which precipitate the need for hip surgery, but most of them involve hip replacement.
In hip replacement surgery, the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant. The surgery is conducted in order to relieve arthritis pain or to fix severe damage to hip joints after a hip fracture.
There are multiple possible techniques that a surgeon may choose in the case of hip surgery. In part, the differences between them relates to the location and type of incision made. Examples are the posterior approach, the lateral approach, the antero-lateral approach, the anterior approach and the minimally-invasive approach.
Depending upon the type of surgery carried out, recovery times - and the patient's experience during recovery - can vary.
If you are interested in knowing more about a get-well gift and hip surgery, here are 5 typical stages of recovery that a hip surgery patient might experience (your friend's situation may vary). Included is a suggestion for appropriate gifts at each stage:
1. Recovery room (first 2 hours):
Immediately after surgery, the patient will still be under anesthesia. They will be moved for about two hours to the recovery room where they "come to" and wake up. During this time, there are to be no visitors allowed in the area. While sending a gift into this room is probably not possible, you may want to have some flowers ready for when they are transferred out of this room.
2. Intensive care unit (ICU) is recommended for some patients (24 hours):
For some patients, about 24 hours in the ICU is recommended. This is up to their doctor and depends upon various factors. It is unlikely that visitors will have access to the patient during their time in ICU, so better to hold off on giving a gift at this stage.
3. Remainder of hospital stay (several days in some cases):
The patient will remain in the hospital for several days or more. Usually, physical therapy is begun the day after surgery. This would be a great time to give a gift such as a soothing CD, a gift basket full of goodies, or a handmade photo album.
4. Initial at-home recovery:
Once the patient is transferred home, the initial recovery phase will require more personal care for the patient than it will later down the line. The patient will likely use crutches or a walker to get around. At this point, the best gift might be simply your paying a personal visit to the patient to ask if you can help them out around the house.
5. Long-term recovery:
For several weeks after surgery, the hip surgery patient will still be experiencing recovery, although the inconvenience and pain will be much less than before. At this time, any gifts that help them make their way around the home - or just something to cheer up the place a bit - will be appreciated.
Consider getting the right gift to suit the hip surgery patient's given stage of recovery.
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