Thank you- that is very helpful and informative!

My dad had hip surgery at 85. He was in the hospital 3 days and then in a rehab place for about 20 days. Luckily , he had no side effects from anesthesia and was more or less coherent very quickly. He didnt like the rehab place ( obviously) so he made it his mission to follow all the therapy and recovery plans. He was able to walk with a walker and came home. He also lives in a multistory home and the first thing we did was move his bedroom downstairs ( for good). He did at home PT for about 2 months. Its now been almost 2 years and at 87 he can get along ok. He uses a cane but it doesnt slow him down too much. He lives with my sister (he did before the fall too) so they help take care of him. I would recommend someone checking in on your dad if he lives alone or needs more help. At rehab they gave him many tools to helo shower, put on his shoes, grab things, etc. Maybe look into that and also we bought a wheelchair. It was helpful in the first 6 months when he couldnt walk far. I hope he recovers fine if he ends up doing in!!

OP here- thank you! This is all very helpful information!

OP - I would line up a home health aide to help your dad for first couple of weeks at home and to be a second person in the home. Be sure that they have him learn how to do the stairs before he leaves the hospital. Be sure you have a strong man around to actually help your dad get home from the hospital, into the house and up to his room because it may be a challenge. I would suggest renting a shower chair which actually may work better in a bathtub initially where an aide could actually help him get in and out. Also get a shower head that can be handheld put on the shower he will be using long-term as he may prefer to use the shower chair in there for a time. (It is not hard to do.) It may be best to have an aide in the morning to help him get up, bathe, dress, eat breakfast in his room or on that level before heading downstairs. Depending on how he does on stairs, the aide could assist in getting him down to the main floor for the morning, and then back to the upper level for the first few days. Usually, you need to hire for 3/4 hours a shift. If all goes well and he does the PT exercises faithfully he should regain his strength.

My husband had a hip replacement at 63, and he used a male urine bottle at night which dealt with the issue of getting up to go . We also bought a 3-in-one bath chair, which could be used bedside if one was too weak to get to the bathroom or a fall risk say if the bathroom is small and hard to maneuver two adults in there. We found you could put the frame of the chair over the toilet and the arms acted nicely as grab bars until he was stronger. He was in good shape overall, but what we learned is that he had low blood pressure and the doctor's nurse never really noted it, so he was prescribed Percocet for pain, which he never really had. Anyway, a visiting nurse suggested he take it anyway "to be able to get the most out of PT, and he ended up having a full-out fainting. Thankfully, our daughter who is a PT was home for a few days and caught him using the bath chair. Then she had to instruct the young ambulance volunteers on how to use a backboard to get him out of a narrow bathroom. Motto is be sure his prior medical record has been read if there is any chance of interaction with medication.

For what it is worth, my husband has done the recommended 4 exercises after a hip replacement in bed before getting up in the morning daily, and he has never had a complaint.

I would think twice about the surgery. Anesthesia can cause short term dementia. But can also cause permanent dementia.

At the time my dad was having hip replacement surgery (2008), muscle sparing hip replacement was a pretty new procedure and that’s what was used. It was as minimally invasive as possible at the time. The surgical unit made my dad get up and walk very soon after surgery. He never stayed at a rehabilitation center — but he was only 65. I think he was only in the hospital for 2 days. He needed a hospital bed and stayed on one floor of his house during his recovery. He was supposed to use a walker. Even though it’s uncomfortable to recover from surgery, his pain was much less post surgery than what he’d been living with, with his bad hip.

Recovery from anesthesia can cause symptoms that can misdiagnosed as dementia. It can take months to recover from. May never be the same

Remove all rugs. Buy the shoes/slippers PT suggests. Encourage him to do PT. Recovery, if no complications, is actually not too bad. Less than something like shoulder surgery.

My dad (early 80s) just found out that he will be getting a hip replacement. He is not overweight but I wouldn’t consider him to be in good shape - he’s pretty weak and stopped exercising a while back because of pain. They currently live in a multi level house. Can you please tell me what to expect for recovery? Also, What are the most important things for him to do pre and post surgery? I’m assuming he will need to go to a rehab facility before home. Are there any that you can recommend? What is the expected length of stay? What can I do as his daughter to help. My mom is also very able to help! Thanks!