THR 1st Surgery has 2nd Surgery

[1stSurgery]

@SaraK Whoa!!! 1 week?! 2 1/2 weeks?!?! Back to work?! That's insane. Do you work for Ebenezer Scrooge?!

I couldn't have done it. I worked from home but no extended hours until recently. Wow I'm amazed. You're superwoman!

The ice plan sounds good but our freezer is up a floor from the bedrooms so it's a coordination event! Still I want to try ice this time over gel packs. It also doesn't have much space for a lot of bulky ice packs, always full of seafood and such!

I love my kitty!!! She's a Russian Blue and they're notoriously skittish around all but one or two humans. But she too loves to do lap time and sleep with us. Calicoes are so pretty too! Mine took a fascination to the Walker, convinced it was a new gazebo I'd bought for her. Then when I put a seat cushion on it of course she thanked me for the new nap spot. They are so nice to have around when healing, but it took quite awhile till I could actually reach down and pet her!!

 

[SaraK]

Client needs, etc. With first, I was able to start back at part time for a couple of weeks, but there wasn't anyone really available to take over my work while I was out. With second, my work was significantly affected by the tax act. I had 2 choices - delay surgery (which would have cost me a few thousand bucks and the pain in the interim) or go back early. I did about 15 hours from home during the week I was out and then full time in the office after 1 week. Since everyone else in my group was working more than full time, there wasn't anyone to listen if I grouse that it was supposed to be part time. Like I said, I definitely wouldn't recommend it. I was exhausted when I got home and the brain fog hadn't entirely lifted (so I had to make lots of post it reminders). I definitely got my walking in, though - I've described my office as being about half a city block from the ladies' room and that's not too big an exaggeration. The worst part was forgetting my cane at home the first day. By the end of the day, I had gone from being ok without the cane most of the time to considering getting the walker back out!

If you can, take your time getting back to work. The brain needs the rest as much as the body. Even with the body, it's easier to control the amount and type of exercise and other stresses put on the body at home than at work.

 

[1stSurgery]

That just sounds daunting @SaraK! Brave girl! Glad you got though it ok and only needed ice and rest to recoup. I think my hip #1 experience was harder than #2 will be because I had to go through recovery on only one functional leg, which wasn't even functional right after surgery --until more healing took place. My Unoperated leg was in bad shape and got much worse during those first weeks out of hospital when it was suddenly assigned more weight bearing work. So it has been a one-legged recovery pretty much. Logically that should mean #2 will be faster and easier. Logically.... Yes, I've been working from home and it's been fine.

 

[SaraK]

I do hope the second one is easier. Have you checked out the thread by @BeBe ? Her first recovery was much more difficult because of a LLD and a bad 2nd hip. The second seems to have been much easier. My second hip didn't really start getting bad until a few months after the first op - just as I was becoming active and enjoying the first! As they always tell us - each recovery is different - even on the same person!

 

[Layla]

For anyone reading this post which seems out of place and off topic, it's the carry over from a convo the two of us began on another thread.

I tried to PM you to keep this off the forum but your privacy settings must be set so you can't receive PM's. It's not private, just won't be of interest to anyone else. Maybe we'll get their sympathy.

I'm sorry you suffer from the same. It is validating though to communicate with someone who's experienced this.

I was crying and terrified the first time it happened to me....guessing like 5-6 yrs ago. I was convinced stroke or aneurysm. You can't help but automatically think something burst within your head! Naturally I've mentioned it to family and some friends afterward but they just stare at you and say "Wow, that must be kind of scary." Or something similar. I phoned my Eye Doctor thinking they'd want to see me immediately. As soon as the nurse called me back and I explained my symptoms she said "Ocular Migraine". I said, "No, I don't get migraines and I didn't even have a headache!" She further explained you don't have a headache with it.

I've read they're benign but I still don't like when it happens. I probably average one a year. Maybe some years two. I first described it as a flashing that looked like a broken jagged mirror. Mine normally start with the center field of my vision disappearing. I've driven with one too, only because it came in while I was in the car. I would never get in my car to drive in the midst of one though. I got one at HomeGoods once while shopping and while annoying, I felt trapped and just continued to walk around the store and shop. Naturally I was preoccupied with the dumb thing the entire time. It is always like 30 mins which is so strange.

I realize it's not funny but when you said the dog disappeared, then part of the car, I think I snort laughed I would never say that to another if I didn't suffer the same myself. They are a nuisance and I don't like it still but I just calmly muddle through. I just envisioned you driving down the road and doing a double take as the dog was GONE! Then part of the car! Sounds like the Twilight Zone

I've never read the food connection so that is interesting but I have read about a stress
connection more than once. And I can get stressed sometimes so I can't dispute that theory. I'm really thankful for that Baby Aspirin tip though. Thanks so much!

One last thing. There is a YouTube video on what one looks like in the process which I initially found comforting. It was as close as I came to feeling somewhat validated until you came along.
When you never hear of anyone else experiencing it, you feel kind of alone in it all.

I hope you're having a good day!
@1stSurgery

 

[1stSurgery]

interesting @Layla, I didn't realize they were that rare but now that you mention it I think you may be the only one I know, no wait.... I've told others about it who had episodes and didn't know what it was. But only a few. I used to get them more frequently, been several years now. Which could be all the supplements I take now, maybe there was some minor deficiency unknown at the time.

Normal would be maybe 3-4 times / year back then. But the very first time I almost passed out. From fear I was going blind. Was at work and they took me to ER in an ambulance! They didn't know what it was. I went to opthamologists, neurologists, had scans mostly to eliminate the worst scenarios. Then finally someone told me about the ocular migraines. First time it happened though, I had a whole person disappear right in front of me! And I was surprised everything went to gray, not black. Had always assumed blindness was a black screen.

Always on the right side field of vision for me. One time I was in between flights at Heathrow in London and had a very short connection when it happened! Trying to read all the flight departure signs, numbers and people disappearing on the right side, very unsettling and stress / lack of sleep definitely played into that one. As I got more familiar, as soon as the first bright flashes started, ASAP I would take the chewable baby aspirin and it wouldnt go into a full 30-40 min episode. It can happen at the strangest times! Another time I was bra shopping and it happened in the dressing room! Suddenly....Half a bra. But I had to pay full price!

I'm not sure why they seem to have stopped but I do take a wide array of minerals and vitamin supplements now that I hadn't previously... as well as a good lutein, lycopene, carotene Vitamin A one, by Solgar --for eyes. And have learned to manage stress better! But I do know how scary those first ones were!! From what I've heard we are blessed not to get the alternative...migraine WITH the pain! From what I've read it seems to be a vascular condition so whatever supports the vascular system would be helpful, I've even heard coffee can help end an episode but haven't tried that. Hope yours eventually go away like mine did!!

 

[1stSurgery]

Thanks @SaraK Yes I have read BeBe's thread and followed most of it. I am deciding now that second one will be easier, even though first was really pretty trouble free. Just didn't have another leg to stand on! Which hasn't allowed for proper walk times. That's too bad you were mid stride in your new hip when the second came calling! I thought that would be my timeframe, something like that. See how wrong we can be?

 

[SaraK]

Just so you know the two of you aren't alone - I'll join your ocular migraine club. My episodes haves been as bad was what you've described but I do have them occasionally now but did more often when I was younger. I said something to my ophthalmologist once and he told me it was a migraine without the headache. Zigs and zags and squiggly thing though the field of "vision," areas of vision that would go dark and tunnel vision. Not fun!

 

[1stSurgery]

We are three!! We need to start the ocular migraine board!

Small world, eh?

Interesting that you pretty much stopped getting them too. I also used to get low blood sugar episodes where I'd get faint, dizzy if I didn't eat regularly and those stopped about the same time I noticed. I always described the zig zags like a kaleidoscope image field, because it was curved.

Welcome to the ocular migraine club! Lol

 

[SaraK]

Be sure to watch your blood sugar! I was told those episodes of hypoglycemia were signs that your body was having trouble regulating insulin and we're actually a precursor to diabetes. I had hypoglycemia and then had gestational diabetes and now am Type II diabetic. We were watching for it and caught it early on, which decreases the chances of some of the nasty side effects.

 

[Layla]

Wow, interesting, @SaraK. Never heard that. It's that mother we share, that's where it came from, I just know it!!
@1stSurgery you are a riot! Half a bra / at full price

Ok, no more of this. We have to behave now Back to hip talk.

 

[1stSurgery]

But ....before hip talk (and I will find a way to tie this into hips...) wanted to tell @SaraK that I stopped having the low blood sugar attacks around same time I stopped getting ocular migraines --so was wondering if there perhaps was some connection there? As in the HIP BONE's connected to the thigh bone, thing?? (See how I did that @Layla?!) Glad you caught the diabetes early on though - sorry you have to deal with it at all.
I also learned back then that cinnamon regulates blood sugar fluctuations, so I began putting it liberally on all sorts of food and almost never have blood sugar issues anymore, so I'm good and labs are all good.

Ok now - we've gone around the body- back to hips and I'm back to some work from home today!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

 

[BeBe]

Hi @1stSurgery
Saw I was tagged and continued reading and you all are talking about ocular migraines!
Me too!! I used to get them as an aura with my regular migraine headaches. Finally switched
thyroid medications and have not had migraines or "gone blind" since.
Sounds like your THR recovery is hampered by the "next in line"... BTDT!!
I am happy I didn't have long to wait between!

 

[An54]

We are three!! We need to start the ocular migraine board! ..

Welcome to the ocular migraine club! Lol

We are four! I've had a few migraine auras myself, but haven't had one for years. It's weird to look in a mirror and observe that half your head has completely disappeared. As someone mentioned above, the blank area isn't black. Rather, it just isn't there. There's no There there. It's a deeply weird experience. My 'blank spot' used to expand, blocking out most of my field of vision, then dissolve gradually into a shimmering mass, and finally dissipate.

 

[Gidget]

Me too! Different connotation...ocular migraines...no pain. I’m havong Botox for them (sometimes 3 a day) and the injections are working well.

 

[1stSurgery]

Well that's too weird there are so many hippy patients that also get ocular migraines! Yes @An54 it's totally bizarre to see everything just vanish! First time is a terror. I never let them go very far after discovering baby aspirin remedy. So have not experienced the shimmery effect.
And @Gidget... Botox? Wow, that's a new one too! Have you tried the chewable aspirin? It's only after the onset, to stop it from getting worse. Once I see the first flashes in the corner I'm on the baby aspirin. Glad the injections are working and hopefully there won't be any side effects.

 

[1stSurgery]

@BeBe yet another Ocular Club member!! Strange, I can't even imagine any tie in to osteo arthritis ...but we do seem to have a good sized group here.

I actually just booked the second hip today. Called wanting sept 6 --as my OS office always says call one month early since they're booked a month out. Worked last time. Today they said the first opening was second week of OCTOBER!!!

I have two big work events third week October that I must do and can't be log-legging it to on a walker!

She later found a cancellation 3rd week September and I jumped. But now I need to recover very fully in 4 weeks flat after that one. And I need to be walking pretty well. A bit nervous about it, but it's the best I could get.

I cannot wait to no longer be in recovering mode.... or to no longer be a patient!' This Christmas season should be one of major celebrations with all surgeries done and healed fully!!

 

[Layla]

Hi @1stSurgery
The group is growing. Six so far and thats pretty crazy since up until now I knew of no one!

Back to hips...are you interested in sharing the exact date of your next surgery yet, so it can be added as your signature? If so, just leave it here and a mod will add it for you.

I agree that you'll probably be feeling pretty good by the holidays.
They'll be no stopping you in 2019!!
Enjoy your evening

 

[1stSurgery]

Hi @1stSurgery
The group is growing. Six so far and thats pretty crazy since up until now I knew of no one!

Back to hips...are you interested in sharing the exact date of your next surgery yet, so it can be added as your signature? If so, just leave it here and a mod will add it for you.

I agree that you'll probably be feeling pretty good by the holidays.
They'll be no stopping you in 2019!!
Enjoy your evening

Hi @Layla, it's September 20th. Thursday. My second trip to the spa resort by the sea.
After a lifetime of not being in hospitals... this year is seeming a bit surreal! Can't wait till it's over! Thank you for being here amongst the log legged bodies packed in ice --to comfort us!

 

[Layla]

You're very thoughtful. Thank you for the kind words. It's my pleasure....so many great people here.
It's been fun communicating with you, you're a riot!
I'll report your date to be added to your signature.
Hope your sleep is sweet!
@1stSurgery