THR 19 Months Out - Weak muscles causing problems

[subie2021]

Hi Jamie,
For the leaning, try doing some very conscious walking, as in an exercise or pt. Stand straight and concentrate hard on your posture and do maybe 20 steps, repeat a few times. I'm a leaner too, and it really helps.
Two things that help me are @Eman85 tip of ising a shopping cart for support...lots of steps in the store! And my OneStep therapist has used "Walk (or stand) with a long back". That gives me a mental picture to aspire to.
Good wishes for more recovery

 

[Jamie]

But in situations like working in the kitchen where you have to turn, pivot, and move from side to side, those movements are more challenging to me right now.

I remember this well. After both THRs my new hips just hated any sudden pivoting or twisting. Just give it time. That non-weight bearing allowed muscles to further weaken. They will firm up around the implant in time.

Boy, that’s good to know, @Jaycey. I don’t recall reading that this was a recovery issue and it’s comforting to know that it’s “normal.” Over the years, I’ve spent most of my time with knee patients since that was what I knew best, so I missed a lot of the small issues that impact hip patients.

 

[Jamie]

Hi Jamie,
For the leaning, try doing some very conscious walking, as in an exercise or pt. Stand straight and concentrate hard on your posture and do maybe 20 steps, repeat a few times. I'm a leaner too, and it really helps.
Two things that help me are @Eman85 tip of ising a shopping cart for support...lots of steps in the store! And my OneStep therapist has used "Walk (or stand) with a long back". That gives me a mental picture to aspire to.
Good wishes for more recovery

@subie2021 This is exactly what I’ve been doing and I can tell it will be effective over time. The “long back” comment is very appropriate as it does give you the mental image of standing or walking with a very straight back, which is what we should all be doing all the time. Thanks for that!

 

[NightQuilter]

These experiences are why I am thankful to have had a bilateral hip. I was forced to "embrace" them both immediately. Once home, I used the walker to get into the house, then it became my magazine and knitting rack next to the recliner! I decided to use the crutches exclusively as they forced me to stay upright and not favor either leg. Then I started having them there "just in case" but worked to walk without using them. I was able to wean off any support within 3 months. But then, as we all know every recovery is different ... and I was a much younger person back then!

 

[danelady]

Working my way thru your posts that I missed after my series of dislocations I just came upon your housekeeping (or lack thereof) posts and boy can I relate! The first dislocation was right outside so the EMTs didn't have to come inside but the last 2 they had to come in to load me up and I was just so embarrassed! Mopping? I sweep the floor and have to lay down totally exhausted, lol. The whole ride into town each time I kept explaining how I hadn't been able to properly walk for a year so housekeeping was the last thing on my to-do list, lol.

I'm still waking up every 2 hours like clockwork though, lol.

Ok, time to read some more!

 

[Jamie]

The weather is going to turn into winter here in Kansas City in the next few days....just for a short period, but it will be enough to zap all the flowers and my garden. The low Tuesday is supposed to be 22! Yikes!!!

So, today I went out and started tearing out the garden. My main goal was to pick everything that I could since I doubt anything will survive these cold nights. My gosh....my huge tomato plants were hiding so many green (and some red) tomatoes. I picked and picked and think I finally ended up with about 50 pounds of them. I also got enough okra for one more cooking, a couple of "hidden" cucumbers that may be too large to eat, and a bunch of jalapeno peppers. If they all ripen okay, I'm going to be freezing a bunch of tomatoes for winter chili and soups. Yum!!

The last couple of days I've been able to walk a little better without the cane both in the house and outside. Less limping and I can feel some strengthening in my surgery leg. This progress is certainly welcome as I have so much to do to around the house. In addition to all my harvesting today I also brought my 6 foot gardenia tree inside for the winter. That was a chore! My hip did okay, but it was so awkward and heavy that I think I may have strained a muscle in my left shoulder. It's pretty sore tonight. I took a Tylenol and hope it will be better tomorrow morning. Sometimes you have no choice but to do some of these things when you're by yourself. If I could just train my Devil Dog to help.........

 

[myglasshalffull]

Wow, that's quite a harvest! We had about 10 green tomatoes that we brough in a couple of weeks ago and I placed in a brown bag and left on counter, last two just ripened.
I did my big turkey dinner Saturday night and bending and lifting 20+ lb turkey in and out of oven to baste did my back in. I rested yesterday and today I'm totally back to normal.
I'm on East Coast and we have been treated to some amazingly warm temperatures for this time of year. Rain next 2 days but by week's end forecast to go back into 70's for several more days.
My oldest son graduated from University of Kansas in Lawrence, I visited him and his wife there quite often and loved Lawrence. Very nice little town.
Sounds like you are progressing nicely, devil dog and all!

 

[NightQuilter]

What an amazing tomato harvest!! So glad you were able to accomplish all that without too much aggravation of your hip - hope the shoulder strain relaxes soon.

 

[Jamie]

Shoulder is fine today, thankfully. No real harm done. Temps are supposed to drop to 22 tonight and tomorrow night, so it will definitely kill everything. Then it's going to warm up to the upper 70's for several days. Typical Midwest weather.

@myglasshalffull .... Lawrence is a nice town. It's about 30 minutes from where I live in the Kansas City suburbs. These days, it's almost considered a suburb of Kansas City as the KU Medical Center located there continues to grow and grow. Both my grandkids graduated from there and liked the school.

Each day my walking without the cane in the house improves just a little. It's making me both happy and more impatient to get to the end of recovery and be normal again. Actually, I'm going to be better than normal with the new hip. I can feel such a difference in my movement. And I'm blown away that all my back pain is totally gone. Sure wish I would have realized that would happen and I might have tried to get the hip done years ago. I'm probably going to completely dump my Celebrex when it becomes outdated and not renew the prescription. I just don't need it. Any pain I have in the hip or elsewhere can be handled with a single 500mg Tylenol tablet. That is beyond amazing to me.

 

[Layla]

And I'm blown away that all my back pain is totally gone.

Jamie, Same!
Leading up to my THR my back used to go out occasionally, so naturally I thought I had a bad back. Well, since my hip was replaced, no more bad back or "going out" episodes leaving me looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa for a couple days.
New hips rock!

 

[Layla]

Happy Two Month Anniversary!
I hope each week is better than the last and you are feeling like a new woman in the New Year, which is creeping up fast! No more joint surgeries for you now...you're cut off! Time to get back to all you love and enjoy!
Thanks for all you do here, you're greatly appreciated and loved.
@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Thanks for the good wishes and kind words, Layla.

I seem to be a bit "stuck" right now in terms of progress. But then again, maybe it's just my impatience. I was able to spend a couple of hours out in the back yard getting things cleaned up for winter. Today was absolutely gorgeous weather. We had a couple of nights in the 20's so the garden was toast. I got a fairly good start on cleaning out the beds. I tell you, the okra plants were so big, the stalks were like bamboo! Some were 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Obviously that's a great spot for okra and I'll be doing that again next summer.

@SaraK reminded me that I might need some new shoes. I normally wear sandals or Crocs outside. I had new sandals but had been wearing my old Crocs. That may be part of my walking problem where I tend to lean to one side. When I put my new sandals back on today, I think I did walk better. Still mostly with the cane, though. My leg just isn't strong enough to go it alone. And I really have to watch any fast movements or twists. I ordered new Crocs that should be here in a few days. Old shoes have your old wear patterns and that can really mess with your gait when you're trying to recover.

 

[myglasshalffull]

Jamie,
I purchased a pair of Oofos slides a few weeks ago to wear around the house and out when I fill bird feeders. Boy, what a difference these slides have made in walking with great comfort and ease.
I wore for about two weeks before ordering a pair of closed in shoes from them, I don't like those as much as I like the slides but they are comfortable.
I do need a closed in shoe with cooler weather approaching, we have Skechers store nearby and might go try on a pair of the ones you just slide your foot into. When I was working I had/have the non slip tie Skecher and have put them on a couple of times but I don't find them as comfortable.
I'd prefer to go barefoot but podiatrist said no barefeet, bummer.
The proper footwear does make all the difference.

 

[Jamie]

My new Crocs came yesterday and, even though it may just be a coincidence, today I've been able to walk much better for short periods without the cane. I hope this continues as it was getting old feeling that I couldn't support full weight on my surgery leg all the time when walking. I'm sure the muscles are getting stronger too. On the days that I leave the house, I'll walk from 5,000-6,000 steps on my errands, so I am getting some walking in.

I usually buy bright red Crocs because I just think they are more fun. But, this time I purchased navy blue ones. They were less than HALF the price of the red shoes.....$22 versus $47! That definitely made the red ones much less fun. In fact, all the fun colors were that higher price. Those dirty dogs.....you know it doesn't cost any more to throw in colored dye instead of dull black, gray, or navy. I'll just have to get me kicks some other way, cuz I'm not paying a premium just for the color.

One interesting thing I noticed walking on errands....most of the time I've been in level parking lots and walking is easy. Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment and the asphalt lot has a pretty good hill going up to the building door. It was significantly more difficult to go up the hill even with the cane. I had to work at it a bit. Coming back down wasn't a problem. Since I have been doing stairs okay, this just surprised me a little. Different muscles getting used, I'm sure.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

I'm glad you're doing so well; much better than I am that's for sure, and I'm happy to see it.

 

[Layla]

I usually buy bright red Crocs because I just think they are more fun. But, this time I purchased navy blue ones. They were less than HALF the price of the red shoes.....$22 versus $47!

This is crazy! That's quite a price difference, not just a few bucks. I couldn't do it either, unless the color had some personal significance that I couldn't do without. The Crocs all serve the same purpose so you may as well save the extra $$ for some other overly inflated expense, lol. Take your pick!

You're doing well, Jamie. Keep it up!

 

[Jamie]

I developed a sudden pain in my left shoulder day before yesterday. It was on the top of the shoulder and up my neck. It was especially bad when lying in bed and trying to sleep. Fortunately Tylenol helped, but it just wouldn’t go away. It was pretty obvious to me that it had to be related to my use of the cane on that side when walking. But it sure seemed odd to have come up now after weeks of using my cane.

So, in the middle of the night last night, I got up and went on the computer to the BoneSmart Library article on cane adjustment. Sure enough, I think I know the problem. I hadn’t realized that the cane I use was still adjusted for my late husband who was taller than I am at 5 feet 2 inches. When I checked the cane length, it was almost 2 inches too long! I don’t know why this didn‘t make me hurt before, but I’m pretty sure this is the problem. I lowered the cane by two holes in the adjustment and am walking now with this iddy biddy short metal stick. It‘s pretty funny to me. Sometimes being a Smurf-sized person is a challenge!

 

[Layla]

I hope the adjustment is helping with the pain, if not now...soon. It has to feel pretty miserable, especially trying to get comfortable in bed to get some sleep. I'm sorry to hear this. You need to feel well rested and chipper in your new Crocs.

 

[Jamie]

Neck pain was much less today and I was able to tool around the house off and on all day with just my Crocs and no cane. Focus now is, when I'm doing that, to try and walk as normally as possible with heel touch, roll forward to toes, and push off from ball of foot. I'm just pleased to be able to make this small step forward after so many cane days. I'm a little over 9 weeks out now.

 

[Jaycey]

You are nine weeks out but don't forget - you had 4 weeks of non-weight bearing. You are really doing great!