THR 6 months post-op, still can’t walk unaided without limp'

[canoewoman]

Thankyou. My family doctor has been good and wanted me to talk to my PT who says this kind of fracture sounds like osteoporosis related issues and am going for a bone scan next week which my MD promptly arranged. As for the surgeons office I am at a loss about what to do. As for my sons wife who has for the most part been very good to me I am at a loss to know what to do. I feel like the future will be walking on egg shells with her and I am very very down about it. Mr MD gave me some antidepressants that also help with pain so am starting those next week. I dont want to rush into this as I have had serious side effects from medications (ie the dilaudid and blood thinners) and other drugs.

I know my son and his wife have a full plate with hectic jobs and child care and my little grand daughter starting school this Fall and my son's wife also suffers from depression and takes meds for it and has her own family issues which are really quite heavy duty. She invited her parents here to travel with us to PEI for a week and her mother himmed and hawed for weeks saying she has to stay there and help babysit her new grandchild and her knee is in pain as she needs a knee joint replacement too but wont do it so she ended up cancelling and only her Dad is coming. It caused some family problems. I offered to make some meals and freeze them to take for a couple of nights and my sons wife told me to stop micromanaging. Have no idea what that means. An offer to cook or provide a meal is pretty simple and usually welcomed. I have never had anyone talk to me the way she did before so its been heart breaking yes.

I said I would be happy to sit and visit with her mother if she is not too mobile but that went over badly as if I was seeming pushy which was not my intention. It was pretty simple. What can my son do? Its his wife and their children come first but I almost feel like packing it in and moving back to where I used to live. I got an offer of an apartment in a seniors co op down the street which is coming up October 1...not a bad place and I have met some of the tenants and a nice group of people and its much cheaper than where I am but I turned it down. I simply have no strength to move right now and I cannot ask my son and wife to help me do that under the circumstances.

 

[sherrymorss60]

Krista I'm so sorry to hear about all the problems and pain you have been going through. I'm also sorry I have neglected you as I have began to proceed rapidly through my own recovery. Please know that I'm thinking of you and sending prayers for your pain relief and recovery. Take dare my dear friend. I'm so glad you have family to stand by you and help. That makes so much difference.

 

[Krista]

@sherrymorss60, please don't ever feel sorry for not keeping up with people on the forum. We come and go, based on our needs and availability, no requirements, and that is one of the best things about BS! I appreciate your supportive comments, though, for sure. I am very lucky that I have such a wonderful husband and sister. They helped make the worst of it bearable and we all have so much fun, even when doing what are considered "chores." Without them, life wouldn't be possible. Again, I am so happy you have been feeling much better. ♡♡♡

@canoewoman, you have some real dilemmas. Your offers of help, which are welcomed by normal people, were spurned, and that is heartbreaking. Yes, your son's wife and children come first, but your son should also be requiring that you, his mother, be treated with respect and kindness. That's a difficult decision about moving back a long distance away, and one that should be made very carefully. I have discovered that as we age, it is very important that we be near people with whom we have close relationships and can share caregiving with when necessary. If you stay where you are, you can work to make new relationships with others, not relying just on your son for emotional and other needs. Not easy, I know, but so important. And when you get older and your needs increase (as most of ours do), he will be nearby and more able to give help to you than if you were so far away, whether his wife likes it or not. And do get the bone scan, and a DEXA scan if you haven't had one recently. Bone and cartilage health is of utmost importance to us as we age, as we all know on BS, and as I have just discovered in a new way with my vertebral fracture. Take heart and take care!

 

[canoewoman]

I spoke to my son today. He and his wife are having some problems so I am not pushing him about anything. He and my grand daughter and I went to a local museum special event and she had a great time and we had a very pleasant afternoon. My son's wife stayed home with the baby who was having his afternoon nap so it worked out. I sat most of the event out but was within talking distance of my grand daughter who kept asking me questions and pointing event things out. She really enjoyed herself so I just let things go.

My back is really sore tonight so took to bed early with a heating pad and some tylenol and am feeling a bit better but am off to bed again to get some sleep.

I went through some of your threads so I am not certain about all the details of your fracture. Mine is compression and apparently alignment is maintained and a short loss of height so nothing much you can do but rest and be careful...no lifting or things like that and also not lying in bed for long periods as its sounds likes its osteoporosis related and sometimes these fractures occur just doing the simplest of things even lying in bed for a long time.

Goodness knows I lay in bed a lot the first month after hip surgery even though I was up and walking. I was just to zonked out on pain meds for much else and I really needed the sleep after all the painful nights pre op with the arthritis pain.

Thankyou for your kind words and I do have a bone scan booked for two weeks from now. The original date was next week but they called and had to change the date which is ok as its been about 3 years since I last had one so a couple of weeks wont matter. Last one showed minimal problems so this came as a surprise.

Getting old is no fun.

 

[Cynthia777]

Hi Krista!
I'm still on vacation (coming home tomorrow), but I wanted to check in on you to see where your surgery stood and to see how you're doing. I'm happy you're at peace with waiting until October and waiting makes a lot of sense. Sending you big hugs my sweet friend!

 

[Krista]

@Cynthia777, got your nice message! Hope your trip was all you wanted it to be! Chat with you soon...

@canoewoman, good about the bone scan. Have you had a dexa scan lately, to check on the level of osteopenia or osteoporosis in your spine?

My fracture was a compression fracture, too, about 3 weeks ago. We think it was triggered by me trying to lift a bag with 9 ears of corn in it. I had to immediately drop it, and that night I started having those soul-crushing back spasms. My husband says that there are bumps protruding from the area on my back where the hurt vertebra is. I don't know if is in alignment or not, but it's been recommended that I have this balloon kyphoplasty which will put cement in and give me a bit of the height back. The MRI showed that I had another compression fracture below the new one. I am guessing that I had that one 6 years ago when I was backpacking in the sierra nevada mountains. I never even had an xray with that one, but just took things very easy until pain stopped and gradually got almost back to normal. Anyway, the hope is that this procedure will stabilize the vertebra and my back will get strong enough to have needed hip surgery again.

I don't have to worry about "lying in bed" too much. I have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea this summer, and have always only been able to sleep while on my side for as long as I can remember and cannot sleep on my back, or even rest comfortably on my back. Ever since I hurt my back 6 weeks ago (a few weeks before the fracture happened), I've been sleeping sitting up, either on my recliner or in bed. For a couple of weeks right after the fracture, I could only sleep sitting up at my dining room table, hunched over pillows. Even last night I had to spend half the night that way.

I don't sleep much, although I really want to. I don't enjoy being awake very much, although I am making the best of it! Good luck on your journey.

 

[nevillek]

Hi Krista,

I see this thread is very long and since I can't follow it completely, I'm curious to know what really happened that is making you go for another surgery right now?


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum

 

[Krista]

Thanks for your interest, @nevillek! Here's my story. I had a right THR on July 21, 2015 due to bone-on-bone osteoarthritis. I had no limp before surgery, although I often used trekking poles for support when walking because of some weakness and pain. Since the op, I have never been able to walk without using a walker or crutches, or without pain. At a time post-surgery, when I should have been able to do so, I was unable to balance on only my surgical leg. The other leg immediately dropped down, my hip dropped, and I have a pronounced and painful Trendelenberg gait. Over a year later I still can't balance on it, which means that the muscles that are necessary for holding the hip steady while on my surgical leg were badly damaged.

I suspected a gluteus medius and/or minimus tear, but my original surgeon insisted that it was just "weakness somewhere" and I should do more PT (I had done 22 out-patient and 10 at-home sessions already) and take steroids. He said, in answer to my questions, that the GMs cannot tear and certainly would never need surgery. I saw some more doctors who thought it might be a problem with my back (it wasn't) and finally had a MARS MRI of my hip. The original surgeon couldn't see the tear to my gluteus medius on the scans, but the new surgeon that I found for a second opinion DID see it. He determined from the scan, and from seeing what I can and cannot do on that leg and how long I had been disabled, that it wouldn't heal without surgical repair. He and another surgeon from his practice are going to do surgery on my right hip, first to see if anything else is wrong with my implants or other problem, and second to repair the gluteus medius and any other muscle which may be torn past being able to heal on its own.

I had an antero-lateral approach to surgery, and in the operative notes it says that the GM was dissected (pulled apart) for access to the hip joint, and that it was sutured back together. How or exactly when it tore down to the bone subsequently, we do not know, but it must have been very shortly after surgery, since I have never been able to walk unaided since then.

It took a long time to get a date when both surgeons could do the op, and it had been cancelled once before by them, and this time I had to cancel because I got a vertebral compression fracture, which will delay the hip op further. I have been waiting and hurting now for so long it has become my new normal.

I notice that you are just a few weeks out from your THR. I am wishing you a complete and uncomplicated recovery!

 

[canoewoman]

Hi Krista. No I have never had a Dexa test but I have a bone scan Aug 29 and an appointment to see my MD on the 31st and an appointment to see the surgeon on August 30 so perhaps something can be done. My worst issue now is with the sciatic pain and may be the nerve is irritated or the piriform muscle is swollen. The pain from the fracture is actually very minimal but I feel I am walking better with a cane but I would not do any long distance with it like I used to. I still use the walker. The physiotherapist has reduced my hip physio to very minimal stuff as she is concerned about my back and she gave me some exercises to do that will help my back but not put any pressure on it. She is off for 3 weeks holiday starting next week so it will give my back time to rest a little more.

All that has happened to you is so upsetting and at least you are getting some attention. I dont know if I am supposed to wear a brace or not but my MD said the surgeon has to decide it and after a third phone call to his office his receptionist called with the above appointment date so at least I can see him now.

I hoped by now back in the beginning moving in month 4 that I would be walking with my cane and really on the mend but now these complications and its very discouraging and a whole set of problems not necessarily connected to the hip surgery but adding to the focus to recover from that and not deal with something else. I never thought any of this would happen and I have a knee that has to be done and am giving serious thought to passing on the whole idea.

I keep busy and walk and I have no pain walking but trying to sit or get a good nights sleep is very hard.

Thanks again for your support.

 

[Wrknitout]

@Krista I just wanted you to know I am thinking of you. I hope your kyphoplasty goes well tomorrow and helps to insure no more back spasms and that you will be able to endure your upcoming hip surgery in October. You have been through so much. I am going to pray for recovery for you. Hugs.

 

[Cynthia777]

I'm wishing you the best and sending up prayers for you my dear Krista!

 

[sherrymorss60]

Krista I'm adding my good thoughts and prayers for you as well. Take care my friend.

 

[Tweetybrd]

@Krista Good Luck today! I'm sending up prayers for you. I hope this gives you some relief and you can then go ahead with your surgery in Oct. Hugs

 

[Krista]

Thanks for all of your good wishes, everyone!

I made it through the vertebral balloon kyphoplasty. No problems. According to the interventional radiology surgeon, it was a textbook case. I was given fentanyl, versed and benadryl, and was always awake, just barely. Also had some local anesthetic injected. Was told to tell them if I felt anything, and at one point I did feel some pain and told them, and got more. I heard a tapping sound, a hundred of them?, as he was using something to pound into my vertebra the needle that was to deliver the cement. That was weird. I asked a couple of questions as things went along, and remember that my words were slurred and difficult to say, as if my mouth was all swollen and dry.

The worst part was getting from the gurney onto the narrow table where I had to lie face down in the operating room. I was so scared that I'd have spasms. They helped me and we managed to get me in the right position, with arms up (and taped, so they wouldn't fall down) and so IV hand was available. No spasms then, but I definitely had them during the procedure, at least a dozen or so. I could tell they were happening, although I didn't feel any pain from them. Was in recovery 2 hours, and then husband helped me dress and we drove off. My back was stiff.

Husband and I had lunch at my favorite hot dog place with best fries in the world. Went and got a wedge pillow to help me sleep in bed. Got home and took a nap partially sitting up in bed. Woke up in pain. Have quite a bit of pain in the middle of the left side of my back. The injection site is to the left of the middle of my spine. It is a soreness, no sharp pains or spasms., but significant. I am taking some extra pain meds today, and perhaps the next couple of days, too, depending on how I feel.

It will be a couple of days before I will know how this is working. Husband helped me take a shower and wash my hair when we got home, and I had no spasms. Will continue to sleep sitting up tonight, not staying in any one position for very long anytime during the 24 hours.

Glad I got this written down, as part of my journal to what I hope will be final return to health and mobility.

 

[Pumpkin]

Krista,
Glad they kyphoplasty is behind you, once it is healed you will be on to your muscle repair.

 

[Katiedid2]

So happy to hear that you got through this procedure. Will be hoping that the pain subsides soon and you can rest better and get on with recovery without any further obstacles.

 

[canoewoman]

Sounds like a hard day for you but I hope you feel better soon and that this ordeal will be over for you. You deserve a normal life without pain and disability. I think we all do but this surgery is not as fabulous as it sounds as I am finding out.

Be well and just take care of yourself.

 

[Constanze]

Hello @Krista , I'm very happy you are through with the kyphoplasty procedure. It sounds very tough from what you reported and it's great you recovered from it so fast, as it seems, and went out with your husband. I wish you the best and that your hip surgery can go ahead in October. No more spasms. Take care - best wishes - Constanze

 

[Tweetybrd]

@Krista So glad that it is over with for you. Get some rest.

 

[sherrymorss60]

@Krista I hope this finally gives you some relief. I'm continuing to send good thoughts and prayers your way for pain relief, some much needed rest, and to finally be on the road to recovery. Take care my friend.