Bilateral THR Anteriors 15th June 2015 - my recovery

[Legin]

Oh pal I'm so happy for you. I know how it feels when I was diagnosed with my silly condition I shook the consultants hand, the two handed shake that says ty. You are the best person and worst re phased return as yup you can say oweeee nope to much but also guilt pokes its head up and the I don't want to let people down. Be strong lass.

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[AndyH99]

Oh wow, it sounds like you have taken a significant step forwards. Fingers crossed it works for you. Strangely enough that's an identical pain killer stack to the one I take.

Ref the legislation, that's a really good reminder & it's going to prove an interesting challenge I suspect if you travel a lot for work. I know it's going to cause me a few headaches to say the least.

Have a great recovery day.


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[Suzette]

I took half a sleeping pill, and slept for 8 hrs and woke up with no pain in right hip. Assume I stayed in one position and did not keep moving about trying to find a comfy one.

Although really did sleep, don't really want to take strong sleeping pills. So will continue with half a tablet to at least catch upon some zzzzz. I have ordered melatonin from the US as the natural alternative, after reading numerous articles from proper medication Web sites to ensure safety, as in UK they are prescription only so wanted to check out why.

Will see if they arrive and test them out.

@AndyH99 how do you take your meds. I am not in work today so I am testing out the best routine to control the bursitis hip throb.

@Legin thanks for your message you are right about the guilt thing..I need to stay strong and with the help of Mr compassionate Dr , who I now love and wished I had done the double handed hand shake, I feel I now how some medical support if a longer phased return is required due to the sitting down pain and also the driving.

if it means half salary, so be it....

I feel very chilled and calm at last x o x o

 

[Legin]

Finance can be a tough thing we are v close to the bone heck the marrow, hence my new new job. But I have learned that we really needs to listen to our body. Well cept when mine gurgles, it did yesterday at my assessment, I just said, and the stomach says noooooooooooo.

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[AndyH99]

@Suzette given my recovery stage I keep my pain killer meds as simple as possible, so 2 tramadol and 2 paracetamol every 6 hours starting at 5:30am. I plan to try and reduce my tramadol to 1 next week presuming the pain keeps reducing and no further mishaps. If things take a turn for the worse I just slot the oral morphine into the middle of the 6hr window.


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[Suzette]

Hi @AndyH99 this morning I tried 1 dihydrocodeine and 2 paracetamol, but that seems to have given me a headache !! Will try the 1 tramadol and paracetamol later. I have the deep tissue massage this afternoon, apparently that hurts. ...

@Legin how is your new job and also your numbness etc. Is it all going ok? Or in the right direction at least?

 

[Legin]

Numbness is still there but hey ho no use dwelling on what was. Job is brilliant, the chap was diagnosed dementia and given a fairly standarised care plan. We are making wee tweaks as there is so much more he can do.

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[agileHippie]

So glad you got a good night of shut-eye! I hear you about using the 'hard' stuff, but just like in the early days of our recovery with regard to pain meds, sometimes you need the hard stuff to get over the hump!

Your body will be in a better place to normalize if it's not exhausted. Hope the good news continues!

 

[copsham]

Hi @Suzette
A coincidence - you and I both had, dare I say it, a good nights sleep last night. may there be many more. Like you i am against heavy medication but that is for frivolous use. You have tried the folk lore and alternatives and now you are taking the heavy meds for a specific need - no problem there. You know you will be sensible with them!

I had forgotten about not driving on heavy meds - do not risk it! You do not want to loose your licence. As your employer sounds insensitive to put it mildly why not just refer to your medication in general stopping you driving just so that she cannot jump to conclusions. If she shows any ambivalence why not offer to have a "back to work" medical. An employer can arrange one done by an occupational health nurse and they are not going to say that you are fit to drive!!

Hopefully everything will settle down and in a few weeks you will be posting about day to day concerns rather than such biggies! Look after yourself, go slowly but surely!

Copsham x

 

[Suzette]

Hi @Legin so glad you are liking your new job and putting a few tweaks to that dementia care plan, your right about having to just get on with it rather than dwelling.

@agileHippie I was fairly impressed with the lack of pain I had when I woke up, I slept through too. Will see how it goes, After a few days of trialing it out.

@copsham that is great you slept, did you do anything different? Let's hope it continues
Mmm the driving , think you are right about having to go down the fit for work/driving medical..its also a bit worrying that it's now my right leg that plays up, as that's my braking and accelerator side. So if it hurts to sit for long periods of more than half an hour approx, I am unsure how the leg muscles will react to braking etc. It's all a bit of an unknown at the moment. Is your foot appt on Monday?

@donor and @Tweefishy @forestje @lalo @AndyH99 @Hoppy Nanny @Cynthia777 hope you are all doing ok, today I truly thank you for your support xoxox

So went to chiropractor, she took loads of info down and checked the range of movement in my hips before it hurt and also my back, she was actually quite impressed with the range of movement I have in both areas. So that's good.

She was also a bit stumped, as was the surgeon, with exactly what bit is causing all the stinging and burning. She checked my IT band and was happy with that, there may be a bit of bursitis remaining but the main problem she thinks is causing all the other issues, are the quad muscles and glutes disapearing and becoming fairly weak in the right leg. She said weak muscles ache and any walking I do creates more aching and pain, plus the over developed muscles that have been compensating for the weak ones are not helping. My knee cap is also being pulled sideways. Or the muscles are allowing it to move sideways as they are too weak.

So I had deep massage and acupuncture, both made my eyes water, to see if that helps and I am to do the exercises, that focus on the weak muscles....including me going to that swimming pool I said I was going to go to!!! Only to do little movements to start off then increase when ready. Tell you what, my buttock cheek is aching !!!! At least I know I have a bit of a cheek .. see her again on Tuesday and will ask her to venture further ,as I in my rather stiff neck that I keep cricking, might as well get the whole lot sorted whilst I am at it.

Let's hope we all get a good rest tonight and our healing continues and as copsham has said, we can eventually move on to day to day stuff xxx

 

[forestje]

Hope you feel some benefit soon. xx

 

[lalo]

.......but the main problem she thinks is causing all the other issues, are the quad muscles.........

That is exactly my situation
I am working hard at PT to try to build some strength back in the glutes
And I also have the butt and knee pain.
Today the PT assisted then taught me a stretch for the piriformis muscle and the muscle felt like it had been wired to high voltage.
Great to see You are sleeping now.

 

[Suzette]

Hi @lalo yes muscles!! Or lack of them. She deeply massaged my piriformis muscle, oooh that hurt. She also massaged thigh and quads to try and loosen them up a bit. That wasnt as bad as the bottom!

I also had a fair few acupuncture needles stuck in the piriformis area plus about another 20 down the length of my leg. That felt rather strange and a couple hurt a bit on the way in, but we will see if that helps in any way.

She said the muscles are now all out of balance and working against each other and are causing all the stingy achy throbs. When I walk, after 20 minutes, the weaker muscles really hurt and that pain then lasts all day.

So like you I have to build up the glutes.
She said to do the clench then do the leg exercises.

For the quads she said to just concentrate on that exercise when you lie down and press your knee into the bed, but to do this in slow motion so I can make sure my knee goes up and not across. Also, although my IT band isnt too bad, that is also pulling knee out to the side.

So fingers crossed we get our muscles back and all the other aches and pains will start to go too. Let me know how you get on.

 

[Suzette]

I dont think this ache is from deep massage yesterday. But at nearly 10 weeks, it feels like a deep bone ache stinging feeling at the top of the thigh rather than the usual muscle throb. Or is it that bursitis that no one can actually decide one way or the other whether it is still there... Does anyone else get this....am I normal !! ???? well as normal as can be expected x

 

[Tweefishy]

I definitely have the deep thigh burn. Yet it's slightly lower than the implant descends to, so it's always seemed weir to me. It feels better with ice.
I am seriously worried about work. Yes it's an hr commute each way in stop and go traffic. I tried contacting my boss 3x last week to make a plan for my reduced hrs the first two wks back, but crickets.... No response at all. My husband is just as worried about me driving and going back to that madhouse as I and plans to take the week off to drive me and pick me up so I'm not trapped there for my normal 12 hr day. I keep telling myself to just show up and do my best and everything else is on them and not my problem.... But that's tough to truly believe. I feel for you and your upcoming training. Sounds like a set up in a way. I hope you rock it and prove those A-holes wrong and shut em up!
I went to the beach for the first time today! Actually Down to the sand, and sitting/ laying on a blanket! It was so wonderful. We set some amazing goals for ourselves to reach within this next year and we both feel good about the changes. I'm back to using a cane since my tumble over a shoe. Oh well.... At this point, I know I'm still better off than I was before surgery.
How is the sleep going? I too use melatonin for sleep. Others are just too strong for me and make me groggy all day. Happy weekend love!


RTHR, posterior, 15JUN2015

 

[Legin]

It won't hurt to ask someone, but I found that it takes forever and a day to get glutes back. I like the eexpression they are working against each other. Keep at it lass

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[Suzette]

Hi @Tweefishy , oh it really isn't right that they are not replying to you, it is stressful enough having the op, on top of hurting yourself, and the doing it again, on top of the massive stress going back to work is after 11 /12 weeks away...and being tired and not sure what you are going back to, is a bloody nightmare!! I don't understand why some people are like this to others, who are trying really hard to get on with their lives and get back to normal...Yes they are A holes...
Mmmm it is also lot of driving you are going to have to do. I drove about 12 miles yesterday and My son had to drive back as my hip started throbing. Is your car automatic, and does that mean you will be using your hip leg for the pedals etc? If your husband can have a week off ok to help you out, it may be a good idea. So tou could drive there and to see how it goes and have hubby there with you? I was warned, by a work collegue, not to push my luck with driving to work etc, as it will be expected that I can push myself more and drive further away from home and the office. ...

In respect of that prison training I have to do, luckily it's in November, so it has now been confirmed, after I said I couldn't do it without training! !! So I contacted the person at the health authority who has commissioned us or rather, me, to do the months training work on their behalf, lucky for me that I know her. So I have discovered they have access to the clinical software, so on one of the days I am not in my work, so on my sick day in the phased return, I am going to go over to her office and I will train myself on it. I will not be sharing this with my office, as she has made no attempt to help me sort this mess out, that she arranged. It's all about money......

Yes, This pain is weird, mine was down the bottom part of the thigh below the implant, but now it's nearer the top and to the side of the incision, it must be the internal bits and pieces healing or something, maybe!! It stings as does my butt, you know, am sure this is the bursitis and piriformis and I do not understand why the 3 medical people I have seen can not decide whether it is or isn't. ...I am wearing this stinging along my thigh and butt daily and it is now getting on my nerves!!! Still at least my new hips are ok so as I was told, it's all normal....not...

I do believe I have muscle imbalance, @Legin, I hope it doesn't take ages and ages to get my bottom/glutes back, as I didn't really have a lot to start with... it seems it all moved to the front where I now have a bigger belly instead!!

You would think the aching I am getting would at least start building a bit of the muscles back up again, instead of just hurting all the time.

Sorry you are both back on sticks but hopefully it will help out for a while until things settle again.

xx sleep well all xx

 

[Suzette]

Ps looking forward to trying out melatonin, have ordered a few strengths from the US so I can trial different doses

 

[Cynthia777]

I guess I'm fortunate that I'm a chronic Glute tenser! If any part(s) of this body is in shape, it's those pair!

 

[Suzette]

Right I am going to consciously squeeze those glutes as often as possible. I am doing it right now !!