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THR A Bionic Octopus!

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zauberflöte hi there, no, it is this range :)

broken link removed: https://zierashoes.com/
 
My pleasure BarbieJ

I am going to see if I can get a couple more pairs to stash away for retirement... I love my ankle boots and these are so well made, expensive, but worth it.
 
Poppet, thank you for tagging me, since I used to love shoe shopping before my hip replacement. All I can wear now are my Asics with an orthotic heal lift slipped underneath the removable insole.
I know you meant to tag BarbaraR, though. Grateful for the mix up. I got on the Ziera link. Do you buy them online? I will keep these in mind. Now that I need a substantial orthotic, I cannot wear any shoes, especially backless sandals.
They only carry two styles in a boot. Are yours the one that come in colors or the kind with laces, like Fleetwood Mac?
 
First day back at work, did four hours, quite tired at the end of it. I'm pleased to be back home resting. Went to the doctor first thing, I still have a temperature, am now on third course of antibiotics. Feeling much better though. :)
 
Back to work - well done. I saw my OS today and got him to change my back to work date from 4th June to 22nd May. Only a little bit earlier. He doesn't want me going back too soon but I convinced him that I would be fine.
 
Week 8 update - I can't believe it's been 2 months!
- Went back to work last week for four half days. It went really well and I wasn't too tired or sore at all. I'm aiming for a full week this week. I've done two 8 hour days so far.
- I got more antibiotics last week but have finally kicked the infection, and temperature was back to normal on Friday.
- I'm walking more and more without a crutch, just slowly, but painlessly. Have just gone two days without using it at all. I walked for half an hour on Sunday without it as well.
- Physio has stepped up the level of difficulty with my exercises to help build up the muscles that are still weak. A couple of them are quite hard. The clam is one, but I am seeing a small improvement since I started doing these. It's exciting to see and feel the progression of healing from week to week.
- Went clothes shopping for a couple of hours, no excruciating pain! It was wonderful, I could have done longer but didn't want to push the tiredness.
- I can sleep on operated side at last.

I'm really happy with how healing and recovery is progressing. Although I'm still struggling with the blues. I've even had those "why did I do that?" thoughts.
 
Hi there Diane my Kiwi friend :)

So pleased work hasn't tired you out too much... and clothes shopping, now that is a treat..

I hear you about the 'blues' .. and the thought 'why did I do this'.

Life is so different following a THR, excitement because we don't have bone on bone pain, but suddenly there are a whole range of other emotions that seem to creep in..

You have done it tough because you have had an infection on your toe (so pleased that is getting better), but emotionally it is all draining!

I am pleased for you that you can see the little milestones they are so important to celebrate :) hang in there honey!
 
octopus said:
I'm really happy with how healing and recovery is progressing. Although I'm still struggling with the blues. I've even had those "why did I do that?" thoughts.
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Hi Diane,

Your 8 weeks report sounds good, you are still *very* early out from your surgery and have a whole lot of healing going on. Two 8 hour days of work sound BIG, I hope that you have some flexibility to your return to work schedule in case you need to scale it back for a little longer.

Those blues and the 'why did I do that' thought are very common for your phase post-op. It is a really drastic surgery and one that doesn't give much wiggle room for going back. I found that as the first year progressed I became a bit more trusting and familiar with my fake hip and how it moved and could move (return of range of motion). This helped me feel a bit less consumed with the hardware and procedure I'd been through.

The clam exercise can seem painful and difficult now as it's focus is on a small muscle that's been traumatized from the surgery. If you find it's too much to do on a daily basis you can always skip a day or do less repetitions. In time it will become a more manageable movement -- 6 or 8 months down the road.

Take care,
Cardie
 
Thanks Poppet & C Mac

I'm relieved to know its normal to still have the blues. I guess I didn't consider I was still early days. I am able to just do what I can with work. The temp I used is happy to come in and cover for me if necessary. I feel quite tired this morning but I suspect that's more to do with a couple of late nights, will try to get an easy one today. My physio is not pushing me hard, which is good, he even says not to do the exercises at the weekends.
 
octopus love your 8 week update! Kicked the infection, back to work, clothes shopping OH MY!!!! I'm going to have to wait to understand the "why did I do this" aspect-- I can't wrap my mind around that one yet. I'll be there soon enough tho :)
Poppet why oh WHY did you have to send that link to Ziera shoes? I went to "southern hemisphere" and just drooled. I hate wearing heels tho, so there wasn't much for me. But I still drooled.....:heehee:
 
Hey Diane - Your report sounds pretty good for 8 weeks out. I think between now and 4 months is pretty hard because the recovery rate slows down. You have to start looking at how you are now compared to two weeks ago instead of two days ago. Pretty soon you will find yourself walking quickly down the hall at work and realize it happened and you didn't even think about it. It is pretty amazing when it happens. Cardie is right about learning to trust your hip, it will happen.

Just remember to get your rest. It *is* still early days. Even for us "youngsters" (middlesters?) full recovery is 9 months to a year minimum. I have to keep reminding myself of that as I am getting more and more active.

Definitely at 8 weeks I was still having to pace myself, so if I had a big day, I tried to have an easy day following it.

So glad that pesky toe is finally starting to behave itself!

Sorry to hear about still having the blues. :console2:
 
Hi Diane -- everyone else has said it so well. You are doing absolutely beautifully (except for the bad toe thing that would depress anyone trying to recover from a THR) -- in fact you're doing much better than I was at this point in time. I could never have gone back to work so soon. And you're not using your cane! All I can add is that in my case, something amazing happened at around 16 weeks. There were no more bouts of the blues. I felt as if I had taken a big leap forward.... everything I did/am doing from that point on was/is (I'll give an artist an artistic analogy) like filling in the detail on a painting: you've done the really hard work, now you're simply making it better. nerdgrrl is absolutely right about noticing improvements in two-week increments from now on and soon you'll stop asking those questions about whether or not you did the right thing: you'll just know you did. Hang in there and take your physio's advice about not pushing the exercises. You will get stronger as you concentrate on improving your gait and equally importantly, resting when your body tells you. As Cardie says, those tougher exercises will be much easier in time.
 
Thanks nerdgrrl and Vida! Funny you should talk about looking at two weeks now. Two weeks ago, I could not stand just on operated leg without pain, now I can. Re the blues, I'm starting to see glimpses of the pre surgery me, but I think it will be a while before she fully returns. Interesting you both mention the 4 month mark, I look forward to that. All in all I'm really happy how I've recovered so far.

I've just done my first week full time and am not excessively tired, in fact I think I was way more tired at the end of a week before surgery. I guess it was coping with all that pain. I have had some minor soreness the last two days but that could be due to other factors, such as wearing different shoes (pre surgery ones) or lounging on the couch, watching tv. So nice, until this week I hadn't sat on the couch for eight weeks!
 
Hi Diane. If you continue to have soreness, take a close look at your pre-surgery shoes. If they have started to wear down at the heel, or on one side, you may need new ones. Because we all had such strange gaits before surgery, we wore our shoes down a certain way. Now, with your "new normal" gait, the old wear patterns may throw you off. I had shin splints every time I went for a walk, until I bought new shoes.

Glad to hear you are doing well, otherwise. :)

Sharon
 
sharonslp said:
Hi Diane. If you continue to have soreness, take a close look at your pre-surgery shoes. If they have started to wear down at the heel, or on one side, you may need new ones. Because we all had such strange gaits before surgery, we wore our shoes down a certain way. Now, with your "new normal" gait, the old wear patterns may throw you off. I had shin splints every time I went for a walk, until I bought new shoes.
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I think that is a very good point - I couldn't quite work out why the shoes that I found most comfortable pre-op are no longer so good - and I think you have hit the nail on the head.
 
Just remember to pace yourself and not go too far too soon just yet. I'm trying to get my foot/ankle sorted out after starting back to activity. I feel like I''m in recovery all over again... This too shall pass!
 
Thanks Firebrand & dede62, yes, I may have been just a tad busy. :) I'm off to the physio tomorrow, so will discuss with him then.
 
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