Hip Replacement: Rehab and Recovery Needs - Mini Updates in #13, #14
So, after starting to get his weight under control and actually seeing a doctor regularly (after IDK how many years), my 66-year-old dad is facing hip replacement surgery.
Next month.
As in, twenty-nine days from today.
While I knew he was going to the doctors (GP and podiatrist), I did not know how much pain he was actually in because Dad being in pain is my normal - he's always had pain from his ankles (limited range of motion due to double clubfoot & corrective surgeries as a youngster) and he's never really been the most fit individual due to the moving issues, but this is pain enough where it's limited his ability to work (price stickers & odds and ends at the grocery store, so a more physical job than his former incarnation at a bank) and he's using a cane.
He's prepping for his surgery and recovery, but my siblings and I don't think he's done enough planning for his care post-op. None of us are able to come help him during the day - I live ~2 hours south; my brother Joe lives in NYC and doesn't have a car; my brother Ger & his family have already done more than their fair share by allowing him to live rent-free at their home for most of a year after his (that is, Dad's) ex-wife kicked him out (also my SIL works for the Red Cross and may be deployed at any time if another hurricane hits PR); and my sister has maxed out her PTO, has a partner who travels for work (he's a truck driver), and 3 young kids (9, 6, and 2.5.)
We are asking all kinds of questions and he doesn't have a plan.
Allow me to repeat that: he. doesn't. have. a. plan.
None of this surprises me, but it is sending me into a mild panic that he will be stuck in his apartment, need help, and nobody will be able to get to him. And somehow my brother Ger, sister, and I will be blamed, despite all of the above reasoning why we cannot help more.
I have offered to come up next week to help him put his apartment in order and assemble his bedframe, but I can't be on call for emergencies; it's just not practical.
So ... what else do I need to ask Dad about his recovery plans and needs so that he actually DOES it?
Hip Replacement: Rehab and Recovery Needs
Based on the hip-replacement experiences of a number of friends and neighbors, one of the most important things to facilitate recovery is getting adequate physical therapy. Is there any possibility that he can be discharged from the hospital to a rehab facility for at least the immediate post-op period (when he will probably need nursing care as well as PT for at least a short time), maybe followed by home-based PT (if there are PTs in his area that make home visits). The PTs can also determine what kind of walker he will need, and for how long.
Who is his health care POA? (I hope someone is...) That person should be able to talk in advance with the hospital's discharge planner (typically a social worker), who should know what rehab resources are available in his area. Hospitals really don’t like to discharge post-op patients who live alone to their home without a plan. An interim stay at a rehab facility, followed by home health services, is fairly typical. Obviously this will depend in part on his insurance and other resources, but if he’s 66, he is presumably at least on Medicare, and joint replacements are common Medicare- covered procedures. A good discharge planner should either have an idea what his insurance may cover, or can refer you (or his health care POA) to someone else at the hospital, who is often called a "financial counselor," who can help.
And if it turns out that he doesn’t have a health care POA and HIPAA release forms allowing his physicians, etc., to talk to you or your siblings, I think that’s top priority. Otherwise you’ll have to rely on whatever info he wants to tell you, and even the best put-together person is often a little hazy right after surgery.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
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