I had a hip replacement in July, 2014 at age 59. I was in the hospital for 2 nights and then went home. Our house has a first floor bedroom and full bath and my husband is retired so I didn't have to go to a rehab facility.
The orthopedic hospital that I used has a pre-surgery "Hip and Knee Class" so I met other folks in my same situation, many of them had been through this before with previous joint replacements, so this was very helpful.
I took the opioids for maybe a week and I didn't feel like I needed them so I went to just tylenol. I had trouble sleeping, it may have been from dropping the opioids.
I was using a walker for 3 weeks, until my first followup with the doctor, then I graduated to the cane. I loved the cane and being able to be more independent! That's when I started taking walks and moving more. I started going to a indoor track and I could do a mile if I took a break halfway. A couple times I overdid it and I didn't have pain, I was just exhausted. My stamina was really lacking.
After surgery a physical therapist was coming to the house weekly. It was very helpful and I did all the exercises, none were strenuous. My doctor didn't send me for further physical therapy, probably because I told him I was walking a mile at the track. I would use the cane for a while and then walk without it just to see how that felt.
I continued to use the cane around the house but I knew I was outgrowing it when I would forget it in another room! I did use it on stairs for a while longer.
Looking back, the hardest parts were maneuvering in our small bathroom for getting in and out of the bathtub and using a seat in the shower. We couldn't close the bathroom door with the raised toilet seat contraption in place! But that raised seat sure was helpful.
Overall the recovery process for me was an intense first 2-3 weeks, then feeling like I was making great progress and feeling quite good. The bending restriction is very limiting, you learn to work with it and get by.
I'm very glad I had it done as my whole world was limited by my hip pain. It was expensive and took a period of time but it was worth the investment.