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Bilateral THR ByGosh ByGolly ByLateral

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ByGosh so glad you got some photos of your daughters dinner, even if they are a bit blurry, at least you got to get an idea of how it all went. I read on the other thread that your appointment went ok and that your pain will clear up, given time, that's really good news, post more and let us know? :)
 
Hello Friends! I'll try this alphabetically Kim22 LeeApril26 Littlejem sandybeach Songlady zauberflöte Gee, is that all the friends I have??!! Only 7??!! :boohoo: Wait, let me get some more.... oh yes, Allycat Audball octopus I have to get at least 10!!! :gaah: Oh yes, how could I forget Peaches BarbaraR sqwerlie Vida Elosarabrab Geez..I'd better be nicer, or I'll be all alone here, no friends, no one to talk to....:heehee:

Seriously,thanks so much for your inquiries and concern.
I rested all day yesterday in preparation for my 4pm appt. with the OS. So when I saw him, I felt pretty good, no pain. He said my xrays are fine, my ROM is great, my leg strength is very good, my gait is good, I don't need PT anymore, I don't need the cane. What about the pain? 'Soft tissue inflammation'. Things are still healing, there's scar tissue forming, it'll get better. How long can it take? Everyone is different, 3 mos., 6 mos...What can I do for it? He recommended Prednisone to get rid of the inflammation. What activity should I do? Walking, as much as you want; you can do anything you want. What if it causes pain? Still do it, you won't hurt anything. Won't it aggravate it, increase the inflammation? No, do whatever you want...Hmmmmm.
He said I don't respond to the manipulations he did as though I have a tendonitis but he did mention something about the implant could be rubbing on the tendon. When I pursued this he said he doesn't think so because I don't have tendonitis...He summed it up by saying there's nothing surgical that needs to be done. It'll get better. Did I do too much, too soon? Maybe...
Okay so....I guess I looked and acted too good, and next time should go when I'm in severe pain from trying to walk 1/2 block and back? I told him I spend much of the day on the couch with ice. Walk he said, walk.
He's a surgeon, and he sees no surgical cause, according to him, and no surgical fix.

I'm going to see another OS and if he tells me the same thing, then I'll take Prednisone.
What else can I do? :what: I don't want to just down 6 days worth of high dose steroids without being absolutely sure there's nothing going on that needs to be addressed in a different way. I hope it is just inflammation and all I need is meds.

Now, let me get back to my friends list....hmmm let's see....
(I guess it's obvious that I'm dealing with this by being flip? It helps me not to be too negative, and I do have a plan.)
 
aw ByGosh I think 'd be more than flip, I'd be downright sarcastic! You are exactly right, he's a surgeon, he sees no surgical problem, therefore all is well.
my OS's nurse said in a aside to me, "They are so optimistic!" when OS said back to ordinary activities in 4 weeks.
I think you are very right to seek more opinions regarding treatment. Would your GP be one to consult also? And if OS can't see anything and gives you circular reasoning on the tendonitis issue, maybe there is an imaging technique that would lead to a positive dx rather than all this ruling out stuff? (not knocking hands-on medical practise at all, just, now we have imaging too!)
I HATE when they don't listen to you! You had presumably just told him that walking aggravated the pain, and he goes straight to the book and drags out Section6.2.098 about how it won't aggravate it if you walk to Kansas! :hairpulling:
Well,,,,, keep us posted! I've never had prednisone, but I have a friend who is ADHD to start with, and has to take it whenever he gets poison ivy-- NOT a pretty sight! So i don't blame you :)
 
ByGosh AAargh! Have you every tried acupuncture? If you can find a skilled one, the pain reduction can be really significant. Also, what I was told about pain is once it is severe, it can continue independently even if the physiological cause is gone. Perhaps your GP can refer you to a pain management specialist? Prednisone sounds like an awfully big gun when you don't know what is causing the pain. maybe check with Jospehine?
 
Hi again guys, I just wanted to add that I'm very happy that he didn't see signs of loosening or an infection and that everything is 'great'. I'm glad I have good ROM, good strength, can walk well, don't need PT or a cane. But, I'd give up any and all of those to not have pain. What good is it if everything is great but I can't do anything? I can't get back to my life because every time I do, I get pain. Severe pain. Perhaps he's right, and it will take time..but I've been resting and going easy for 6 weeks now. How much longer should I lay on the couch with ice most of the day? Arghhhh!
zauberflöte The imaging is something I plan to mention to the other OS, thanks for reminding me.
I didn't go through this surgery to be as bad as I was pre-op. It's simple. It's not a success if I'm still in pain. And I'm the last person who wants to give up life and just lay around. I was never sick a day in my life. I swam everyday, walked the dogs a mile or two, I was soo active, managed the house, meals, shopping, the kids, working as a nurse. This is an extreme change for me, and even thought I haven't talked about it much, as you all know, it's very, very difficult.

There I said it. There'll be more, I'm sure. Now I'm going to go out with the dogs and walk, just like he said! I'll keep you posted!
 
ByGosh, I don't know if this will help you, but I've been having persistent pain and weakness in one muscle in the front of my thigh. Pain that sends me to the couch with ice, and makes me worry about driving because it hurts to go from accelerator to brake. Weakness that means I have to think about lifting my leg to put on a sock or shave my leg. My appt. w/ the dr. isn't for a couple of weeks. I started taking a few yoga classes again, and I noticed that I got relief in certain poses when the leg was really stretched out. This past Tuesday, at the end of class we were sitting in meditation and i was rubbing the sore spot and found a rather large muscle knot that I rubbed at vigorously for the 5 minutes or so that we were sitting. Incredible relief! I'm about 75% better. I worked out on the elliptical today, and the cramp came back so I stretched and rubbed it and it's better. I'm wondering if the same thing isn't happening to you. Could you just need a really good deep tissue massage? (I hope this helps.)
 
Hi@ByGosh - Wow. So your report is good news and bad news. It would be bad news but much simpler if there were something he could spot that needed fixing.
I found the comments from LeeApril26 and BarbaraR about pain and about muscle knots really helpful - thanks, folks! :)
I'll be curious to hear what the other OS has to say.
I asked mine about some pain today, and clearly the soft tissue healing issue is not as much a concern to him as the fact that the X rays look good. But my pain issues are teensy compared to what you're dealing with, ByGosh!
 
ByGosh, I just got caught up with what has been going on in your life. OMG you have had a lot. I hope your new OS visit gave you some answers. I get pain on my newest leg when walking and I do have a limp or swagger because that leg is weak but I am determined to not use that cane but I might use it to go on walks because otherwise I would be in a lot of pain in a very short time, but around the house and shopping I don't take it with me. I think we all need to give our husbands a lot of credit for all they have taken on even though it wasn't our choice to have the bad hips. My husband is still doing all the laundry, I can't carry the laundry up from the basement yet...it might be a long time before I can do that..:heehee:
 
sandybeach said:
My husband is still doing all the laundry, I can't carry the laundry up from the basement yet...it might be a long time before I can do that..:heehee:​
Click to expand...
Mine too! He even still will do the dishes from time to time, last week he bought some flowers and planted them around our lamp post. I thought it was very thoughtful of him to do this as I am usually that one that does it every year. But then again I've been using this line "I'm broken and OS said, it takes up to a year"....he just says how convenient. You can play horseshoes but to do dishes "I'm broken", you can go shopping but laundry "I'm broken"..... I have a lot of fun playing this game with him! He is so special that he plays right back. :rofsign:
 
Hi ByGosh Well you really did get some good news and some bad and the OS saw you at your best which was something that used to happen to me before I had surgery.Its good news that you are planning to have a second opinion and an MRI Scan sounds like a good plan before you commit to anything like prednisone.Its very good news that the X-rays show that there is no problems with the implants and the OS is of the opinion that you will get better in time but soft tissue pain is pain and it is preventing you getting back to the life you want and certainly deserve. From what I have seen orthopaedic surgeons have little interest in the soft tissues and are just interested in the surgical part. I think BarbaraR has given you a piece of good advice about having professional deep soft tissue massages and someone else mentioned acupuncture and a referral to a pain clinic.One thing you have a plan now and that always helps me to be positive.
 
ByGosh, isn't that just aggravating when they say everything looks great and seems normal and you're still left with, "but what about the pain?" One of my daughters has Ankylosing Spondylitis and she'll get aches and pains or not feel well, but when she goes to the doctor, everything comes back normal. Frustrating! I hope you feel better today and that maybe the other OS will be a little more helpful!
 
LeeApril26 Thank you for the suggestions. Although I think it's too soon to go to a pain clinic, though. That would be my last resort, when everything else is ruled out. I'm not quite ready to throw up my hands and declare these hips a failure. It's only been 3 months, and although it seems like a lifetime, maybe there is something wrong that can be fixed, or maybe I do need Prednisne, and it will take time. I want to have another specialists' point of view, instead of only the surgeon who did the procedure. His opinion isn't exactly unbiased, I don't think.
This pain is related to specific activity, such as weight bearing, walking and flexion of the hips, as in bending over. That tells me there's a reason for it and it isn't because my body is habituated to sending pain signals, I don't think. It's ok when I first get up for ~ 1-3 hours, and it starts as a burning first that then becomes a pain. If I rest and ice, it gets better, and it's good at night, once I'm in bed and I've iced. It hasn't interfered with my sleep, thankfully. (and I hope it doesn't!) If I take it easy most of the day, it's not bad. It starts when I do things - more than just a walk down the driveway, or spend time in a store. And it's worse toward the later part of the day. So it isn't there all of the time. I've thought of a pain clinic, too, but that's way down the end of my list when I'm sure that there is nothing that can be done, and my only option is to live with this for the rest of my life or see a pain specialist. But I think it's too soon for me to resort to that. The same with acupuncture - I want to be sure there's nothing causing the pain, I don't want to just treat the symptom, and not the cause, unless I have to. But thank you for thinking of that, I appreciate the suggestion!:)

BarbaraR Yes, acupressure massage. I've been doing that three times a day, along with Arnica cream, as suggested by sandybeach and Kim22, and I read about it in the library in this forum. There's no knot where the pain is, though. It's in the groin, not the thigh muscle. I did do acupressure massage on a sore thigh muscle, too, and it helped that alot. So I know it can be very effective, that's why I keep doing it, although it hasn't helped this, unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestion and the concern, though! I welcome any ideas that might help.:console2: This could be a case of over-doing it unintentionally early on, too, as I had several MD appt. during week 4 for a red and swollen, inflammed toe, and had to do a fair amount of walking and driving. That combined with PT that was flexion and strength training and walking exercises, three times a week. It started the week after that, and has gotten worse. It subsides, but starts up again when I resume activity. I'm trying to pay very close attention to pacing myself carefully, so I don't overdo it again and again. Hopefully that will help.

Kim22 You're right, having a plan does help, and I do have one. I'm still hopeful that this will get better! "by this time next year...." That's what I'm thinking. Just as you are, I know.

Good job Liveringer - with the joking around and having hubby help out! It sounds like he's very devoted to you anyhow and doesn't mind at all. Same with sandybeach. The husbands here have been wonderful, haven't they? I'm very grateful to mine, and do whatever I can. We share alot of the responsibility, although I'm sure he'd rather I do more cooking now! I wish I could, too, and I do simple things that don't require alot of bending or standing. I have my stool in the kitchen that I can sit on to prepare things. It helps!
 
ByGosh, I went back about 6 pages or so, looking for the beginning of the groin pain issues....I don't think I got to the beginning, but I got far enough to get a good sense of your struggle. BUT....has anyone suggested you look at these articles?
Iliopsoas impingement after THR
Iliopsoas syndrome

And has Jo been consulted on this?

Please read the info about iliopsoas problems. If that resonates, it gives you a direction to move in. If it doesn't, please write up a concise post detailing the who/what/where/when and tag Jo to give an opinion. I am disturbed that you have been dealing with groin pain for about 6 weeks now, and no one (including myself) has picked up on this.

Sharon
 
ByGosh, oh honey, how I wish I could just make you a cup of tea and give you a great big bear hug! You girls having bilaterals done just blows me over! It probably sounds as if I'm breezing through this experience, but when I get home from rehab, I lie done and nap in my lift chair, move at 5:30 to get something to eat, and sit again, then upstairs to my bedroom, in bed at 7, try to stay awake till 8 for pain meds and then gone for the nite! Rest, do nothing and give your body what it needs to recover, especially the pain meds! :console2:
 
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