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THR Butterfly Flutters Over

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I have severe OA in my fingers (and everywhere else) however, with regard to my fingers... I cannot bend any of my fingers from the first joint! In fact, I can't make a fist either.

I used to knit a lot and tried again about 12 months ago and I am still knitting my 25 stitch scarf! Don't think I will be able to tackle a jumper for some time...

So I thought I would have a go at crocheting a never ending granny square blanket, and to my delight, have found that with a large hook my blanket is growing rapidly, just in time for winter 2014. I have found that crocheting has lessened the pain in my fingers and thumb joints and now I can do it easily for a 3 hour car trip. The other benefit I an getting is that as it grows, it keeps me warm laying on my lap :)

My next project is to crochet a similar blanket using multi color wools - my experience!
 
Ugh, I knew that on some level-- I really did! I also think, in a totally weak defense ;-), that the month apart thing is basically bilateral. So much back to back stress. My OS, at my first followup, said I'd have a minimum three-month wait between the two. I didn't question his logic, so I am waiting!

I am doing well in a couple of regards. I was able to dump my walking aids for everyday use, but keep my crutch handy for any time I get fatigued. When I am tired, my horrible limp comes back, so I use the crutch to keep myself "true." I can hardly believe that my gait really does seem so much better! But, true to the BS mantra, I am really trying to not overdo. I tire easily, still need my Tylenol regimen, and respect all the healing that takes time. I so want to bike, hike, and get back to climbing, but have declared 2014 as the year to heal. Sounds good in theory, but it tries my patience!

(I really want to get that second hip repaired. Soon!)

What I see echoed in your (and others') words, however, is a certain grace in the journey. We may not be "there" yet, but our "here" is generally much better than our starting points, bluesy and frustrating days aside. And that's where I've got to reiterate how grateful I am to read your empathetic comments :-).

I am so looking forward to the hope of a new year. 2013 held some good moments, but 2014 sounds exciting!

Wishes of a wonderful new year to you, too!


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@MountainGirl I really like what you said about our "there" and our "here." You hit that nail right on the head, for sure. That's exactly how I feel -- and my "here" is most definitely better than where I started from, even if I am not quite "there" yet. I need to stop and seriously think about that sometimes. My left hip is great, but the right is slower -- but then OS had to do some reconstruction in the hip socket, so I guess that is to be expected (that's what he says anyway). The right one was on Oct 28 and I still have to be very careful or I limp, favoring it, which is why I still mostly use the cane, especially when I am outside my house. Sometimes it bothers a little, but usually not. When I compare where I am now to where I was before the surgeries, it is night and day. I couldn't have gone on much longer with that awful unrelenting pain; it really did a number on me emotionally as well as physically.

Do you have a date for your second hip yet? I was quite surprised that I wasn't really scared before the second one, despite the fact that I was absolutely terrified before the first one.

Peace and love to you,

Milli
 
I want to be in a new "here", too. I'll settle happily for that and hopefully work my way to a new "there"! I just am so tired of being where I "am"! Three weeks from today will hopefully be the start of a better life. Just scared of the unknowns... But soon they will be knows. Can't wait to write that first post from the "other side"!
 
@Butterfly Read what you wrote to psychteach. She & I live in same general area.

You wrote just recently (today?) that one of your fears was never walking again. I think I'm afraid of that, too, but haven't quite said it out loud. I know you can identify: I'm in such cruddy condition I can't believe they'll even get me out of bed after the surgery!! Truly! Oh, Milli... I'm so scared & anticipatory at the same time... can change from hour to hour. I am also totally without patience, nasty/b*tchy unless I make valiant effort at control, exhausted, intolerant to noise (TV, which hubby makes too loud), averse to long conversations on phone, etc. -- all not the "me" of the past. I know I've said all this before; am just venting/babbling and YOU'RE the lucky one to be at the other end.

But: I'm SO, SO thrilled for you at your steady progress. You said it was like night & day! Makes me cry just to think of getting anywhere near there. I would be so grateful.

Going to visit my SIL today who had valve replacement on Thursday. Other family member told me she sounded weird on the phone & was saying strange things. Bet it's the gen anesthesia coupled with her age (79). Have a good day, kiddo. Sorry for the pity party.
 
@shrinkette. Your post made me so sad......all of your fears of not walking, etc etc......Can assure you everyone feels like that...just not honest enough to admit it....think you are brave to come out and say it.......the surgery, for me, was a non event ( despite the fact I was terrified beforehand).....had spinal, posterior...didn't feel, hear or see anything!! Was up within 2/3 hours walking, with crutches...slightly nauseous, tired but no pain. The recovery has been up and down, a real roller coaster but at 12 weeks a positive result.....at 12 weeks I'm on my way to a better, pain free life...you will be too. Sending lots of good wishes your way...Chrissie xxx



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@Josephine My second hip, the right one, was done October 28 (posterio-lateral). I did quite a bit of walking yesterday (with my cane). I walked around in stores, because it is too cold outside. I got in and out of my car three times. I do this carefully, by reclining the seat back and then swinging my legs over to get out of the car.

I also tumbled out of bed on Dec 23 in the very early AM and landed on the floor, not hard, but on my right side. No pain after that (except to my dignity -- who falls out of bed at 67?). I haven't been doing any other physical therapy, except ankle pumps and gluteus squishes, normal stuff around my house, meal prep, laundry (carefully, no heavy lifting), very light house cleaning (no vacuuming or mopping). I still use my grabber to pick up stuff from the floor, although I'm bending more now than before the surgery. I've been walking around in the house a lot without the cane. I did bend over from a standing position on the driver's side of the car to get something off the passenger seat after coming home yesterday. I'm not routinely using any pain meds anymore, except acetaminophen once in a while for my shoulder and knees.

Anyway this morning, Dec. 29, I have pain on the right side on weight bearing, for the first time in many, many days. It is about a 2 or 3, and is located on the pain chart at B R4B and B R5B, just about exactly where the lines between the A and B and the R4B and R5B intersect.

Do you think I've done something awful to my implant, or do you think it is just from overdoing it walking yesterday or bending too much? I am afraid that I might have loosened it or something. I do have chronic, intermittent low back trouble, too, so maybe my back is acting up, but the pain is only on weight bearing on that right leg. As you know, I am a worrier. I plan to take it very easy today and rest.

What do you think?

Thank you for your time and attention, and sorry to be a bother about this, but it is causing me considerable anxiety. I've tried so hard to follow the mantra (with great success in my recovery), but I fear I've goofed something up. Hard to draw the line between too much and not enough.

Thanks,

Milli
 
Oh, @Butterfly I am so sorry you are going through this new wrinkle. I can feel your anxiety and do hope Josephine gets back to you soon with some reassuring words so you can stop worrying. I would be (am) like you
-- always thinking worst-case scenario. Hopefully, she'll tell you that you might have overdone something OR that stuff just happens... that rest & industrious icing will make it go away... OR that maybe you strained something... OR that the effects of your fall are just being felt now & are temporary. Try to relax -- no easy task, I know.

I'm sure you'll hear from her soon -- remember, time differences. I will be watching for her response. Yes, do take it very easy. Ice probably wouldn't hurt. Can you get involved in a good book? It's gonna be ok.
Love,
Ellen
 
Is this the spot?

[Bonesmart.org] Butterfly Flutters Over


Because that's miles away from the hip joint and more likely to be the SI joint (sacroiliac) which would be entirely in keeping with your low back pain. The SI joint is also likely to be more painful on weight bearing.

[Bonesmart.org] Butterfly Flutters Over


I suggest you do whatever you have found useful for your low back pain, heat, cold, Tylenol. You know the drill!
 
@Josephine Thanks for the reply. Yup, that's the place, and with what feels like muscle tightening around it. It radiates a bit toward the outside (away from the center of the body). The muscles above it, next to the spine, (like in R4B and what is directly above that) are sore, also. It is very similar to what has happened in the past with my SI joint stuff. GRRR!

But it is a relief that you don't think I've loosened my hip. In the past, the SI joint has just acted up periodically without my knowing why. Perhaps all the adjustments my body has been making to work with the new (now even) leg lengths, pelvic tilt, etc. have caused it to act up? I was worried because this is the side the OS had to do the "extra work" on the hip socket part. He also said he had to place the cup part slightly differently than the other hip and the cup itself is not the same as the other hip -- he said it's larger.

Unfortunately, most of the exercises and stretches I've always done with this are on my don't do list from the hip surgery because they violate the 90 degrees and the crossing the center of the body rules.

Do you think it is too early on after surgery to get a chiropractic adjustment for the SI joint? This pain is not crippling, but it certainly slows me down and is frustrating.

Would a person know if they HAD done something to loosen their implant? I don't really think the rolling out of bed thing had enough impact to loosen anything, though. It wasn't a hard impact, and I landed on carpet, all wrapped up in blankets.

Thanks again for your help, as always.

Love,

Milli
 
@shrinkette Thanks for your kind words. I'm having a kind of lousy day, all right (the holidays always make me feel kind of down, anyway).

I believe it IS my SI joint acting up again. It's happened off and on since I was in a car crash at 17. We were hit head on by some idiot driving way too fast in the wrong lane without headlights. No seat belts in those days, remember? Good thing the car my boyfriend was driving was a big heavy car. It's a wonder I'm still here to tell the story. It did leave me with a screwed up back for the rest of my life, though. One thing that has always struck me as strange about that whole thing (as clear in my mind today as it was the night it happened) is that it seemed to happen in VERY slow motion, and my mind was quite calm, as though I was an outside observer. I remember seeing the cracks appear in the windshield, very slooowly, and wondering why it was so slow, and being interested in the patterns they made, and then thinking in a very detached way that I was going to hit that windshield. Weird.

Anyway, I digress -- I think the SI joint thing will settle down, it always does, just takes some time. I was worried I had loosened the implant or something. Trouble is a lot of the things I've done in the past to settle it down I can't do now. Oh, well. I'll get through it. I'm just bummed out about the whole thing. I've been trying to walk more and more and now this will slow me down a lot.

You seem to be doing better lately -- I'm glad. You'll be so glad when the op is over and you can feel how much difference it makes. You can get back to being YOU again!

I still can't believe I fell out of bed, at my age! I haven't done that since I was about 4 or so. Wonder how that happened. Maybe senility is setting in? I think I probably just got tangled up in the blankets, though. I don't have them tucked in at the bottom because then I can't get my leg elevating pillow thing under there, so they are loose. Oh, well.

Love and peace to you.

Milli
 
It's a shame but yes, I do think it's a bit soon considering the extra you had done. I'd wait until at least 6 months out.
 
Woweee -- that is SOME vivid account of your car accident! Almost sounds like an out-of-body experience. I'm sure that this phenomenon has a name... don't know it off the top of my head. It obviously was a life-changer; your memory of it is crystal.

How come you seem so conversant with bone anatomy? I wouldn't know an SI joint from a lambchop! Maybe because of your accident & other issues, like your back. But anyway, it sounds like this is manageable for you given that you've had this problem in the past. I understand your fear that the fall or activity might have done some unspeakable thing to your hip, but apparently not, thank God. Jo is worth her weight in gold, isn't she? She's like our own little cyber-Valium!

As to your tumble: I hate loose sheets... I like being tucked in, but understand the pillow issue. So you SLEEP elevated? At least you landed on carpeting & were enveloped in blankets. Be grateful you didn't land naked on granite!! And your dignity is intact here.
Be glad you're not Humpty-Dumpty!

I'm sorry this is not a good day for you. Lots of angst today, huh? Same here. You've said before that you get kind of low around the holidays... Maybe they stir up some memories of past holidays with people no longer with us. If that's the case, you honor them by remembering them, I think, because that's how they live on. The holidays have little importance to me these days, probably because I'm so immobile that everything's an effort. I'm definitely isolating, but used to be very social. Would go to office Xmas parties, help friends decorate a tree, entertain, shop for gifts, enjoy the incessant Xmas carols (I do, actually!). Nowadays, I give cash gifts... Bada-boom, bada-bing. Nice box of Belgian chocolates to my GP's staff, $$$ to the blood-draw lady & doc's assistant. Same for post-lady, pest control guy, house cleaner, hair guy, $ nail gal. Done. No muss, no fuss, no mall. Gosh, I hope I don't sound Scrooge-like!

Today I read on BS of a couple of cases of folks having more difficult recoveries and I worry that I will be one of them -- people who still have pain 6 months out or nerve damage, for example. I've read this all along, of course, but just can't shake the feeling that everybody else 'makes it", but I'll be different. Irrational, "stinkin' thinkin'", as we call it in my trade. I'm still worrying about getting into bed, getting to bathroom 'in time', being
'plugged up , shall we say, and more -- so much more. Then i lecture myself about having gotten through knee surgery & doing better than expected.

Worrying about sitting in high-enough chair. Kitchen chairs have arms & cushioned seats, but may be too low; not sure what to use for height, since I'm so short. Recliner-lift chair arrives 2 days pre-surgery. I hope to go home like everybody else, but may end up in a rehab so I should really pack a bag for that. Husbands are NOT good at that stuff, and I fear I would rip his head off & his eyes out if he attempts it. I could never survive jail.
I am truly babbling away here, my sweet. Got carried away with concern for you & anxiety for moi. It's somewhat cathartic, though... <Deep breath> OK, I'll stop. I'm starting to sound nuts. If nothing else, maybe it distracted you. Rest, relax, and ruminate about a better year to come. ❤❤
 
Dear @Butterfly --

My son, at age 10, still crashes out of bed with regularity. Furthermore, he often sleeps right through it. Sorry you too took a tumble! I have no idea if it is a comfort that it happens here, too, but I hope you can laugh at my little guy and his nighttime antics. *grin* That said, I am sorry to read about the setback. I just returned from a week in a very cold, icy place. I scarcely dared take a step outside for fear of doing the splits or landing on either side. Pretty scary, and I am sorry you lost a round with gravity.

And dear @shrinkette -- Your "here" post-op will hold one thing that is so fleeting and elusive now-- HOPE. A few days before my surgery, I encountered a woman pushing a walker, ever so slowly. She was also smiling. I did something that is somewhat uncharacteristic of me and called out to her. I told her I had the same model walker all set up in the back of my car for my use (yes, I am that dork in real life). She explained that she had had THR in June of this year, and that getting outside and walking under her own steam was something that she hadn't experienced for years. She'd been in a wheelchair for two years previously. I was doing the math in my head and hoping that I would be able to not have to move so carefully so many months out, and she was BEAMING because this was so much better. We exchanged good wishes and I was left with the feeling that come what may, it was going to be okay on some level for me-- there was going to be that promise of getting better. Of course, it's so easy for me to say now-- one operation is over and done! :-) I too can hardly wait to hear how it goes for you! Even if you do end up doing rehab (I so hope you're pleasantly surprised).

Good night, ladies... I so appreciate your candor...


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Butterfly, you are bringing back unpleasant memories of my almost crash to the floor due to tangled blankets shortly after surgery experience. I remember vividly how frightening it was even though I caught myself in time. The could-have-beens were alarming!!

Now for your entertainment, I will share the humiliating experience of my fall on the ice two days ago. It actually has a happy ending. After slipping on the black ice in our apartment complex parking lot, I lived my greatest fear. Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!! My leg muscles are just not strong enough for me to get up on my own. (My own fault, I have to confess.) So, I crawled on my hands and knees to the nearest car, about 10 feet away. Halfway there, the pain on my knees was excruciating, but I so badly wanted to get up and get going before anyone saw my complete humiliation, so I just kept going. Once at the car, it was still a struggle to get up onto two feet....thought I was going to fall back down! I didn't, but by the time I was up, I was completely nauseated and struggling just to breathe normally. Adrenalin? Pain? I don't know. But there I was. At that point some very helpful people came to help me. One of them quickly brought a chair over. Once I could sit down and put my head over my knees, normalcy quickly returned. By that time, they had called my SO, and he was there to take me home.

I was SO ANGRY at myself for failing to check the ground under my feet. We were having a mini-heatwave (43 degrees) after a dreadful ice storm, and I was so excited to be walking outdoors instead of on the stupid treadmill. Have I mentioned that I detest winter?

But the happy ending is that I am a little sore still, but essentially uninjured. No dislocated hips. No broken bones. My crushed psyche will get over it. And the moral of this story is that I will resume the necessary exercising to get myself to the point where I can get up under my own steam. That's a promise!!!!

I firmly believe that if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you will eventually get where you're going. Here's to all our baby steps. :)

Sharon
 
[Bonesmart.org] Butterfly Flutters Over
Hope you and yours have had a wonderful Christmas holiday with lots of family fellowship and sharing of gifts and lots of good food to eat.


I’ll be looking for you at the BoneSmart annual New Year’s Party. It’s been a very eventful year for most of us---and will be a very eventful year coming up for others of us looking forward to surgery in the new year.


Remember to bring food and drink to share---and pictures are always appreciated and loads of fun to share.


SEE YOU AT THE PARTY!!!!!
[Bonesmart.org] Butterfly Flutters Over
bottomshollow
 
@sharonslp OMG! So glad the story ends happily. I would've been scared stiff... sounds like you probably were until you got to your feet. Happy you're ok. . Happy New Year, my dear.
 
@sharonslp @MountainGirl @shrinkette Thanks for the commiseration and support. I still can't believe I fell out of bed. Must have gotten tangled up in the blankets, or something strange.

I think is my sacroiliac joint acting up again, as Josephine says. I've had trouble with it for years and it does just occasionally act up. Since all ths hip stuff, every time anything happens I worry if it will (or has) mess up my new hips.

Does anybody know how much force it would take to loosen a new hip? Just being paranoid, I know.

Peace and love to all.

Milli
 
@bottomshollow I'll bring a huge sinfully fattening chocolate cake, some champagne, and some green chile chicken enchiladas! I'll have a big piece of the cake before anything (don't tell Poppet, because I know the cake is not very healthy, but after all, it is New Year's)!
 
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