Rider1960, Dorothy, back home finally!!!! (the long version!)

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I could understand that. Maybe since there is a lot of techniques out there that dont require much muscle cutting and not everyone getting a THR is over 90yo.

I would like JO's opinion also please @Josephine:
 
Hi Dorothy

Just read about your Aussie dogs - you go girl, they are a great breed.

With regard to our operated hip being as strong as a healthy hip, my first OS said the same thing to me.. But I am not seeing any evidence of that.

Must say with all other things happening for me at the moment, I am just grateful to be able to walk ( and be alive!)

lol xxxx
 
Which post do you want my opinion on, Ms Haldox? I can't find it.
 
Which post do you want my opinion on, Ms Haldox? I can't find it.


@Josephine:

So so sorry JO! Post #177-in bold:



I just talked with the retired ortho here at work and he said it will usually take 6 months to build back the strength in the leg. But, he also said that it is unlikely that my leg will be have the full strength of a leg that never had a hip replacement and that is an unreasonable expectation. I'll ask my ortho surgeon about this next time I see him. I don't want to call and bother him about this now.


Dorothy
 
Hi Dorothy
I agree with Cardie, I am planning on having a healthy hip again ones I heal. I know it will take lots of work exercising and patience, but I am game.
Anyway, that is my plan.
I also was going to get me a three step to get onto my horse. Here at home I have a cut log to stand on, but at a trailhead it comes in handy. Been using a shorter box last summer, but I think I need something higher for now. On the trail we have plenty of fallen trees and rocks or boulders lying around here in northern Idaho. Actually, my daughter gave me a couple of years ago a step that I have never used yet. It folds together and can be taken along on the horse. It holds only one foot and has a string, so I can pull it up once I am on the horse. Will need to try it out.
The vet checked out my Silver today. He said he looks like a 15 year old except for his arthritis. I did have him draw blood just to be sure all is fine with him. He is getting a set of four shots five days apart for his arthritis. It is called Pentaussie (Pentosan and glucosamine). It is very expensive. $200.00 for the four shots, but if it helps him I will be happy.
The vet says that I can ride him, to just be sure to get him in shape slowly. Well, that is what I need for myself anyway.
My Cody sounds like your mare, that is why I want to ride my Silver more for now. Silver spooks on the spot while Cody jumps. I have more than ones hung on his side. No falls as of yet. He does it like yours, only a couple of times a year. Usually it is a killer deer or bird or something so very spooky. :snork:
Have fun with your dogs. My Buddy who had the THR was a Border Collie/Australien Shephard mix. Very hyper but awesome. They are such fun to have and good company.
Take care
Bea
 
Hi Bea, I'm so glad Silver's vet check went well. I've never heard of that particular arthritis injection; I'll have to check it out. I just know of Adequan and Legend.

About the leg strength--I'm *hoping* for the best, but I'm not going to get depressed if I'm not able to bring it back totally to the time before I started having hip problems. That takes pressure off me. I tend to be pretty intense about this kind of thing, and I could see myself working myself into a tizz both physically and mentally, determined to *make* it strengthen and possibly hurting it, rather than helping it. I still do my hip exercises and walk as much as my other hip and back will allow ... I've decided that's all I can do and I'll take whatever I get back. If I have to make adjustments to my life (like getting a higher mounting block and kind of crawling over my horse's back and neck to get my other leg over her rump if need be) then that's all I can do. I'll just keep plugging along and see how it goes.

Dorothy
 
The hip is feeling almost completely like a natural hip. It still needs a little more strength--I can feel it get a little weak as I get to the top of a flight of stairs. But, I can do pretty much anything I want to do without thinking about it and I don't look like a "recovering hip replacement patient" to the outside world.
I have a question--I'm 11 weeks post op and the hip is doing well. My gait is good and I haven't limped for many weeks. But, I do notice that it seems to have levelled off in improvement of the overall strength of the leg.
I think you may have heard it said on here before that recovery is never a straight line. It's a series of peaks and troughs so don't be surprised when things seem to slide backwards every now and again.
I just talked with the retired ortho here at work and he said it will usually take 6 months to build back the strength in the leg. But, he also said that it is unlikely that my leg will be have the full strength of a leg that never had a hip replacement and that is an unreasonable expectation.<grin>
But, I'm taking his opinion as just that--his opinion. It's also been a while since he did hip replacements, so perhaps people *weren't* as high functioning back then as they are now. Surgical technique advance over time.
Quite right! In the old days we were just happy to see pat</grin>i<grin>ents without pain. Looking at all the sporting, running, riding and other activities types gives the lie to that and no mistake! You cannot ever predict the final outcome until at least one year has passed. That day when you get up one morning and realise :ideaIPB: your hip was NOT the first thing you thought about today!
</grin>
 
I have one artificial hip and one perfectly healthy natural hip. There is no difference in strength between the two. They feel exactly the same and they work exactly the same. It's a process to reach that point though. It didn't happen overnight and I would really discourage putting a deadline on it. We're all wonderfully unique and we all recover on our own schedule. If you aren't there at six months, maybe you will be at nine months or twelve or twenty. What really matters is that you're in a better place now than you were pre-op and you'll be in a better place in six months or a year than you are now. As long as you're progressing, that's what matters.
 
Hi Dorothy, yes it's great to read your and Horsey Girl's descriptions of trail riding. I think it would take quite a long time to get your foot up into the stirrup, though, so any help eg mounting blocks etc would be imperative to begin with. I really like the description of Bea's fold-up mounting stool, that sounds such a good idea. I was wondering whether, when you're practising with your saddle-on-a-stand, you could start to raise it a little more each time, up on blocks or something, so that you can gradually encourage that foot higher. Would that be possible?

I'm trying to think back to what stopped me riding, and it was getting the right leg over the horse, but that's because my right hip was worse than the left, whereas with you I guess it's the other way round? I shouldn't imagine you'll be riding again before your next THR, which I can see must be frustrating. But you might find that recovery from the left one is quicker. I just want to tell you that my new hip is already brilliant, and recovery appears to be quicker this time, after a slower start. And as for the right one, I've completely forgotten that I ever had it done. I'll freely admit that it's not quite as strong as a healthy hip should be, nor do I have quite the ROM I'd like to see, but then it is only not quite 5 months old.

I've checked out Australian shepherds, and they look pretty similar to our border collies. Susie is half border collie, so I know a bit about their temperament, agility, intelligence. Great dogs but they need to work, don't they?
 
About the leg strength--I'm *hoping* for the best, but I'm not going to get depressed if I'm not able to bring it back totally to the time before I started having hip problems. That takes pressure off me. I tend to be pretty intense about this kind of thing, and I could see myself working myself into a tizz both physically and mentally, determined to *make* it strengthen and possibly hurting it, rather than helping it. I still do my hip exercises and walk as much as my other hip and back will allow ... I've decided that's all I can do and I'll take whatever I get back. If I have to make adjustments to my life (like getting a higher mounting block and kind of crawling over my horse's back and neck to get my other leg over her rump if need be) then that's all I can do. I'll just keep plugging along and see how it goes.

Hi Dorothy,

I think this is all a good plan and predict you'll be able to contemplate it more deeply later in the summer when you are "on the other side" from your second new hip!! :thumb:

Take care,
Cardie
 
Thanks everyone. I appreciate the info and your opinions. I think I really DO have to get used to the recovery not being a straight line. The hip feels stronger today than it did just yesterday ... for no apparent reason. Odd thing, this hip recovery ...

Jane, my Aussies are NUTS, lol. They LOVE being busy--you are absolutely right--they need things to do and a ton of exercises and attention. Is your dog like that, being part border collie?

Mine don't have an actual job, but I spend lots of time playing ball with them, taking them for walks and hikes when I'm able to and have a friend who has been walking them on weekends since my hips have been problematic, and working on some training stuff. They love to learn new things. They also run along the fence line and yell at my horses, which gives them the feeling that they are keeping the horses in order--I guess that could be called "their job". I have a pretty large fenced yard and area that extends out to my horse barn. I live on a busy road, so they can't run free at home, but I take them more out to the country and let them run--they are unbelievably fast and it takes a lot to tire them out.

My Lucy is a "runner" who will sometimes take off (and take her "sister" with her) and might be gone for a couple of hours, so I've been working with her recall using a remote controlled citronella spray collar. It works reasonably well--she's pretty smart and she is learning that I can "reach out and touch her" with that. I just have to be careful she doesn't run out of range before I call her, followed by a spray if she ignores me. She's a great dog, but she does have that "wanderer" thing about her. Odd because she is otherwise such a clingy dog in general. My other one won't go anywhere without either me or sister Lucy leading the way. So, I just need the ring leader to stick with me on off leash walks and hikes.

Dorothy
 
I'm doing pretty well. The new hip is fine. The other one gives me some trouble. I think my back pain may be caused by the hip arthritis more than it is a true back problem, even though I do have some disc bulges, degeneration, and stuff like that. It seems that the back becomes worse only when the hip is aching. The back isn't as bad as it was even a couple of weeks ago, though, because I've been doing some targeted stretching exercises for the areas that feel tight. I think my body really seized up a lot over the past couple of years that I was so sedentary and painful. Thank goodness the worst hip is replaced and I can move more than I used to!

I'm trying to walk as much as I can. The new hip is handling it with only a little muscle soreness here and there, pretty much only after I've done significantly more on one day than usual. I've found I have to rest it for a couple of days after a longer walk. The other hip and side of the back sometimes make me stop to rest several times along the walk, depending on the terrain and speed I'm trying to go. Hills are the most difficult--even small inclines up and down.

I was feeling pretty good yesterday, so I took the dogs for a hike on some state land trails nearby. We had a great time! The remote citronella spray collar is working great for Lucy. She is learning that she MUST come when called--that I can "reach out and touch her" even when she is quite a ways from me. She has a great recall ... when she wants to, lol. With the collar, I call her and if she doesn't respond then I hit the spray button. She doesn't act afraid or intimidated by it--she just gives a surprised "Yuck!" look, spins around and comes running to me to get her treat and praise. I've been using it for a couple of weeks and she is at the point where I rarely have to hit the spray button. It has a range of 300 feet, so I have to be sure she stays within the range or all bets are off. I watch her pretty carefully and call her back before she gets more than a couple hundred feet away. She is a very fast dog, so I have to keep on my toes and watch her. I'm loaded down with treats (she loves carrots) to give her (and Heidi too, of course) when she comes to me.

The weather was perfect for hiking and I felt like pushing it a bit. We were out on the trails for about 1 hour. I had to stop and sit on downed trees a few times for a couple of minutes during the last half hour to rest the bad hip (the one to be replaced in June). The new hip felt fine during the hike. It's a little stiff this morning but the stiffness works out once I'm up and going for 50 feet or so. I'll just have to go easy for a couple of days to let it rest and repair the muscles. I knew this was a long hike for me and I was expecting a little back lash ... but it will be fine in a day or two. I'm not worried.

I feel like I'm in such a limbo state--the new hip isn't quite up to snuff (just a little more than 12 weeks post op, so I must be patient ...) and the other hip is problematic and waiting to be replaced. I keep telling myself that this year is going to be a "repair the body" year and everything will be back on track for next horseback riding and hiking season. It will all work out. It will all work out.

It's gorgeous and sunny here today. A little chilly, but that is to be expected for this time of year in upstate NY. The trees are leafing out nicely and the grass is growing. I've cut back on the horses' hay feeding because they are eating some pasture grass to supplement that. They love the grass and I love that I don't have to buy hay again until August!

Everyone have a wonderful day!

Dorothy
 
Dorothy, sounds like you are doing great! Keep up the walking. That stiffness will ease! Enjoy your lovely weather.
 
It will all work out. It will all work out.

Hi Dorothy,

I agree with you! It sounds like you are doing great with the new hip's recovery and dealing with the other hip and the issues it creates. Not too much longer to go for your next surgery. :thumb:

I'm fascinated by your citronella spray training and will google for it. I am desperately trying to re-train our bonus dog, who has become a terrorist at the fence when anyone goes by. He is our Aussie shepard blend and is much different from the Lab that was our only dog before we inherited him... Wow, fantastic dog, but we didn't get a herd of sheep for him to work with... :th_heehee:

Take care,
Cardie
 
Hi Cardie, Those Aussies can be a challenge--if you don't give them something to do, they find their own job. I'm sure your dog thinks it's his responsibility to yell at everyone who walks by. Aussies are quite protective of their family and property.

This is a link to the collar I have.

http://www.amazon.com/Innotek-Spray-Commander-Training-Tool/dp/B001FK7ZB6

It works really well. It works like a remote shock training collar, but with the citronella spray instead of the shock. I just couldn't bear to use a shock collar on sweet, sensitive Lucy. She's gotten shocked a couple of times when she touched the wire while going under my electric horse fence (which is pretty weak because the solar charger isn't very strong--I've touched it a few times myself, pretty weak compared to some of the electric fencers for livestock) and she had a severe reaction to that; poor girl. I can't imagine what she would be like if she got shocked with a collar.

But, I like the concept of something that tells her "I can reach out and touch you" even at a distance, and the spray is just enough to get Lucy's attention without being too much to scare her or mess her up. I don't want to be mean--just get her attention so that she knows something unpleasant will happen if she doesn't come when I call her. I know a lot of people use shock collars and swear by them, but I just can't do it to my sensitive cream-puff-mentality type Lucy dog.

The collar has been a God send for Lucy because she used to see or smell something and run off for a couple of hours or more with Heidi in tow ("sister knows all the fun places!!") and I had no idea where she was or what she might get into. I could stand there calling her until I was blue in the face. Once she got running ... there was no stopping her until she was ready to come back. But now she can have a good degree of freedom on off leash walks on the country trails (I never leave her off leash where there is traffic) and still stay safe and within my sight.

It's tough to tire out an Aussie with on-leash walks. They need to be able really stretch their legs, run a bit, investigate things, trot on ahead, off to the side of the trail to check something out, or whatever. I bet my dogs cover at least 10 times the ground I cover on our off leash walks. They are always moving. If only I had their energy!

Dorothy
 
Hi Dorothy! Where are you in Upstate NY? I'm in Plattsburgh and boy am I glad to see some warmer weather coming this week. Too bad we have to have rain tomorrow!
I'm just starting outdoor walks but I'm a little leary of any ground that looks uneven. But how great to just be outside.
I have the same muscle aches after walking and really want to try to up the distances as I leave for Myrtle Beach May 21 and plan to do a lot of beach walking then....Last year we bought a place down there and then my hip issues began so I have had very little beach walking time....I can't wait! I will be 2 months post op by then.
Well, enjoy our break into sunshine this week....

Kathy
LTHR 03/26/12
 
Hi Kathy, You ARE up north. I'm south of you by quite a bit--near Binghamton.

At around 4 weeks post op I was feeling nervous about walking in certain places and on uneven ground too. But you will be amazed how much different and more confident you feel at 2 months post op vs. how you feel now. I was walking very confidently everywhere at that point. A few weeks makes a lot of difference.

Dorothy
 
Just popped in to read your latest update today...Glad to hear you are feeling better today! My husband is from your neck of the woods, Syracuse in fact :)
xoxo,
Linda.
 
Dorothy,
Sounds like you are doing great! I love your attitude about getting them done and moving on! I feel the same way, can't wait to get side #2 done and move on!
Dee
 
Hi Dorothy
Just checking in to see how you are doing. Sounds like things are moving along. I am going to check out that collar you have for yourdog. One of my dogs, Teddy, a three year old. He is very lively but shy and he needs some help in reminding him when I want his attention when he runs.
Have a great day. The sun is out here for a change, am going outside before it disappears.
Bea
 
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