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THR Celebrating one at a time, encore!

@SurreyGirl that stinks about the NHS. I think you need to have some "concerns" to go in for the one year check!!

MIL on way back to hospital as I type :-(

Hope you are continuing well in your recovery. Good to know that the healing goes on for so long....confirms what BS says :-)

Have a great weekend!
 
@Lea61 MIL is unwell again and heading back to the hospital...should be there by now.

Pretty funny that others fell asleep at Mary Poppins!! LOL!! Phew, gets me off the hook for being pathetic!

Brother is in Bda yes. His GP is consulting with an internist about antibiotics...as the lungs have not resolved and the course ends this weekend.
 
Hi there @Alitm - I'm playing hooky from work today so have some time on my hands to catch up on threads. It sounds like you are doing well with hubby away but goodness, it sounds like the balance would be very easily tipped before you know it (into that forbidden ODIC land).

I really am in awe of how much you are managing. I am glad that you'll talk to your OS about those 3 flights, that sounds like a really BIG deal so soon after your new hips. I concur with you, flying is NOT fun anymore. I detest the lines we wait in, the struggle watching those people determined to pack their oversized carry ons into the overhead bins, the tiny uncomfortable seats, the "smells" on the aircraft (ewww). I will only have a 3 1/2 hour flight to FL but my OS stressed the need to take aspirin starting the day before and also to get up and walk during said flight. I don't see how easy that will be with the restrictions of "no more than 1 person waiting in the aisles" and there always seems to be the same 4 or 5 people needing the facilities no matter how short the flight. My husband REALLY despises flying so although he would grudgingly go with me, I will spare him. I have taken the midnight flight that arrives at 5 a.m. several times so I might check into that. The problem is that I don't sleep on airplanes (partially is my fear of walking/talking in my sleep) and I sleep terribly when I travel so by the time I get back, I'm a big old mess.

I have a very good friend who has an adult daughter with a very rare form of Epilepsy. She has been riding since she was a little girl and though it was super challenging for them to find a barn that would keep her horse there AND let her ride, they did it. They are hoping that the Equestrian Foundation (I'm sure it is called something different but I can't recall exact name right now) will classify Epilepsy as being acceptable to be able to be in the arena.

Happy Friday to you, hope your weekend will be a great one with some sunshine and warmer temperatures!
 
PS Oh my gosh, I just read that your MIL is on her way back to the hospital. I'm so very sorry. I can only imagine the worry you must have about her and your husband there with her. I do pray for her recovery once again and also for your BIL. Oh . . . .also for your husband to be able to do okay while there with is own upcoming surgery. Y'all should write a book about being able to survive all of these medical issues at the same time!!!
 
On a brighter note, I went to see the massage therapist/somatics practitioner today. She worked on the muscles in my quads, IT bands, hip flexors, and the adductor muscles on both legs. We did some somatic movements and she also worked on my right shoulder, which was tied up in knots....it is my achilles and collects all my stress! She had a feel of my right hip scar (first surgery) and felt there were some adhesions. She gave that some work and it really helped the soreness in that hip. Interesting. She showed me how to massage the scar myself and suggested doing it in the shower, when I am really warm.

@stellaluna and @Jaycey I asked the somatic practitioner about why I found the diagonal somatic walking pattern exercise on the bed easier than the sitting up somatic diagonal walking pattern on the chair. She said the lying down version gives more support and not as many muscles are engaged to keep the torso upright, feet on the floor. It is easier to start learning the pattern laying down, and then work up to the chair, if earlier in recovery. For me she said to try both ways, as I've been doing the laying down version for a few weeks now. Really finding it more taxing mentally to perform the "chair walking"!!
 
I could not agree more w/you @Alitm about the Somatics. It is incredible at cultivating self awareness in how we move. Awesome on sharing the file!!
 
@NanaKP re: flying......I find the night flights are packed, with no room to spare. The flight I usually take from Vancouver to Toronto takes an hour to board...it is one of those huge airbus planes. Nothing fun about flying! Good luck with your travel planning. Get as much assistance as you can for your hips...I will when the time comes. I'm not undoing the progress thus far!

NanaKP said:
I have a very good friend who has an adult daughter with a very rare form of Epilepsy. She has been riding since she was a little girl and though it was super challenging for them to find a barn that would keep her horse there AND let her ride, they did it. They are hoping that the Equestrian Foundation (I'm sure it is called something different but I can't recall exact name right now) will classify Epilepsy as being acceptable to be able to be in the arena.
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This is such a wonderful story. I would think your friend's daughter could qualify for para status perhaps, through the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF)? I'm not sure how epilepsy is rated to be honest. I would think the USEF would be able to guide your friend.

Enjoy your weekend!
 
@Lea61 MIL is home again. She lives literally four mins away from the hospital. They took more blood work and tested again for UTI, gave her a bag of fluids and sent her home with a broad spectrum antibiotic. She has good care at home. My daughter and sister in law are taking a night flight to Toronto tonight, and down to Bda and then hubby will return tomorrow night. They will be able to take shifts. Really it is all about "putting out fires" and comfort care at 96. Apparently she is low in sodium, which can cause renal failure. She may have a UTI as well. Tests will come back on Monday, but the antibiotic and fluids given will help in the meantime.

I'm taking each day to do my walking, somatics and physio exercises. I'm glad about your spacing with your surgeries. My first surgery hip has complained on and off since about week four after second surgery, as I became more mobile. It was thirteen weeks out by that point (but such early days considering how long the healing goes on for) and had to totally take up the slack for second surgery hip when first surgery hip was only nine weeks. It is quite interesting how it is all shaking out, and I am able to do more each week. Your time between surgeries, getting first hip stronger, is money in the hip bank for sure! You'll be glad of it.

We are having crazy warm weather here, by east coast standards. The snow drops are out and the bulbs are poking their heads out. The grocery stores are selling primulas! We could easily still have a big dump of snow, between now and the end of Feb, but I'm hoping this trend continues...for walking outside!!!
 
Good morning, @Alitm. It's a gorgeous day here in the PNW so I'm guessing you're enjoying a lovely start to the day as well--especially gratifying when I read about dreadful snow storms and cold in other parts of the country. Sorry to read your mother-in-law was back in the hospital, but then encouraged to read she's back home again and your husband will be returning home shortly. Sounds like in his absence you've continued to be disciplined with activity--enough but not too much--and I know you'll be glad to have him home. Cheers, and have a great day.
 
Good Morning to you too @Barbaraj! It was -2C with frost first thing this AM, but the sun is out and it is due to go up to 9C today, so probably about 50 F in the sunshine! We had a robin in the garden yesterday....which is early ...but most welcome. Our snowdrops are up, so hopefully a sign that this crazy mild winter(except for hurricane force winds) will stay this way. We did have snow for about two hours last Tuesday, but it turned to rain and washed away quickly. All the grocery stores have the primulas out for sale now, so had to buy a couple last week for my back door pots, which are protected from frost.

Hubby got in last night. My SIL and hubby's and my daughter arrived in Bda yesterday to be with MIL, who apparently is sleeping a lot. Test results hopefully back today. She doesn't have dementia per say, so the hallucinations she is having are due to whatever is going on in her system. It is either UTI and/or sodium balance, which have been what has showed up. The TIAs come and go. We all want her as comfortable as possible. Such a roller coaster ride for all concerned.

My brother has an important appointment today with a medical nonprofit that works with folks with asthma, COPC and the like, so hoping he can find some other forms of relief, in addition to being on O2 24/7. He started prophylactic antibiotics to keep the pneumonia at bay. I'm not sure he has completely kicked it, but can't continue on the high levels of antibiotics. We'll see what today's appointment has to hold.

I'm working hard on getting a good night's sleep, and staying OFF the electronics before bedtime, and reading instead. When I sleep well it is like a magic elixir! When I don't get the sleep I feel dreadful! I'm so trying to avoid getting sick. The flu is rampant around here.

I'm doing my physio daily and walking around the farm. Tried my neighbour's elliptical, which is positively antique. I need to go to the gym and try theirs. I have physio again today.

It is so beautiful and sunny here now. When it is like this one can't help but smile :-)

I still haven't made it to the gym to get on the elliptical but have been walking around the farm and doing some in hand work with my big horse and the pony in their little paddocks, as their leading behavior has deteriorated with my hubby allowing them to get away with things like diving for grass on the way to the pasture (he just stops and lets them...which seems OK, until one is leading two big horses and feeling as if one is being pulled apart!). The young horse comes back at the end of the month from being at the trainers, so I just need to get Tall and Small back online!

Enjoy your day in the sun :SUNsmile:
 
Well, good Monday evening to you, @Alitm. Glad your husband is back home, I am sure that is wonderful to have him around and I will think positive thoughts that his mother's test results come back with information that will lead to a proper diagnosis and treatment. She sounds like a real miracle at 96, and it would be wonderful to read about a recovery and return to her presumably quiet but contented life. Hope brother's respiratory issues ease up a bit, too. You guys are definitely due some more relaxed, dull times--although with your husband's upcoming surgery I know things will continue to be tough for awhile. It was beautiful both yesterday and today, not really bathing suit weather but unseasonably nice. No real flowering of anything in my yard yet, except a winter flowering camellia (in the backyard, so nice to look out and see it) and some sort of scented plant which looks quite unremarkable but smells heavenly (sweet box?). Tons of grape hyacinths are getting ready to bloom (but for the fact they are enchanting when they bloom, they are a spreading menace otherwise.

Sounds like you're behaving yourself, walking and making plans to hit the gym at some point. I do love the elliptical, it is a great machine so I hope you're actually able to hop on (the trekking one, with arms on it, is the best if they have them)--nice range of motion for your entire body, and it doesn't both either hip. Cheers!
 
Four months on first...two months on second..
I reel when I think of all you have been through to get yourself back to well.
Do pat yourself on the back friend.
At my six month post on appointment...I was showering praise and gratitude to my OS...and he immediately said that, in his opinion, the patients attitude and outlook contributes just as much to a successful recovery.
I know by this year's end you will be riding into the sunset..and sunrise if you'd like.
 
You have a lot going on @Alitm
I hope things soon settle for you.
Wishing you perfect healing and peaceful days ahead.
Hugs
 
Hi @Alitm
Just missed Righty's 4 mo anniversary on Monday so....Happy Anniversary!
Today it's Lefty's day....Happy Two Month Anniversary!
I hope your week is going okay so far.
Wishing you all the best for the rest of it.
 
Had another great physio appointment on Monday. More stretching exercises, primarily for my hip flexors and quads. Of course whatever gets stretched, there is a corresponding muscle that gets strengthened. Still doing just five of each stretch (once a day) to start with and slowly building (only up to seven on last week's stretches!), but no discomfort (other than the stretch) or pain. I can feel that I am slowly getting stronger, which is exciting. This seems to have corresponded with the returning energy, which I never thought I'd see again after second surgery! I still get tired really easily, and there is no stopping the overwhelming feeling when it hits.

I'm still working on getting more sleep and the progress I make when I get a good night's sleep. It is really interesting to see what changes from week to week. A little niggle here is gone, but something sometimes comes up somewhere else, or on the other leg. It is also interesting to see how the first op leg regressed, more than I anticipated, but now seems to be coming back up again, and my second op leg now feels like the second op leg....if that makes any sense!

Poor hubby went for his pre-op on Monday and they found he has an irregular heart beat! Good grief! He is fit for the surgery, but will have to wear a halter-monitor after this hernia surgery, once he is more comfortable. He is so fit and active, it is a surprise for sure. So what's another ball in the air.

My poor young horses who is still at the trainers for a couple more weeks had stopped eating and had dropped weight, so vet was called and I went down to meet her yesterday at the trainers. Horse required sedation, a full dental assessment and teeth filed, as he had a couple of sharp teeth way at the back and corresponding ulcers on his gums on either side. So weird as I had his teeth done in August so this wouldn't happen while he was out in someone else's care. Usually a dental work up lasts a year for most horses. The good news that he will heal up fast now that the sharp points have been filed down, and that my hips held up so well.

I was able to take back the raised toilet seat, crutches, cane and walker to the Red Cross today. Another great milestone!! Yay!

I'm only sleeping with one extra pillow, one that goes from under my knees when back sleeping, to between my knees when side sleeping on first op side (still like the pillow, even though that restriction has been lifted). I see that as progress!!

Still have help in the barn for a couple more weeks. I am leading the horses out to pasture myself now....and I can walk in the pasture a bit. Before surgeries it was SO painful. It is amazing to start to be able to do simple things that were so hard to do and so very painful before surgery. Feeling blessed!
 
@Barbaraj Thank you for your kind thoughts about MIL. It has been discovered she has very low sodium, and this was the cause of the hallucinations. So strange as they manifest after the TIAs....so maybe the sodium has a link to the TIAs as well. At this point it is about quality of life and keeping her comfortable. One never knows what will happen next.

Bro is on a prophylactic dose of antibiotics for three weeks, is going for physio for the pneumonia to try and clear the lungs. The COPC works a bit like cystic fibrosis in that it hinders the lung function. There are four of us siblings and my older sister and I are "the bookends" with the two brothers (who both smoked) in between. The younger of the two died in 2008 from lung cancer, so it is a particularly sensitive time watching what my much older brother is now going through. I know smoking is an addiction, and so hard to kick, but it is a killer.

Hubby's pre-op showed up an irregular heart beat, but he is fit for surgery, and they will follow up with the heart issue after hubby is more comfortable after the hernia surgery. He is so fit from all his hiking with the dog and work on the farm, that it is hard to think there is an issue. We'll get to the bottom of it all soon enough. Just need to get him through his outpatient surgery on Friday.

I have been enjoying the weather so much. I have noticed those pesky grape hyacinths getting ready to bloom. As you say, they are lovely when they bloom, but they spread like weeds! I am so looking forward to working in the garden this spring. Right hip will be six months in March and left hip will be the same in May..perfect for gardening!!

I really think the elliptical is what I should be doing next. It keeps the hips where they are happiest in terms of alignment. I just need to go to the gym and try it!

How is your good hip doing, and how is the not so good hip holding up? Thinking of you on that.
 
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@Mojo333 I remember reading here about attitude towards surgery etc. when I first started reading on the forum. I remember lying in bed one morning after I'd seen the OS for the first time and thinking, I can't believe both hips have got to go....but then everything finally made sense when he showed me the x-rays and we discussed what was needed. I finally had a doctor legitimize my issues, but it was overwhelming. However, I knew I couldn't live with the pain, had a frank discussion about what I'd be able to do once recovered from the surgeries, and my mind just just switched into high gear forward! I'm terrible at long term projects so to be still at this now is pretty amazing for me!! Thank you so much for your moral support, kind words and advice along the way :roseshwr:.
 
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@Alitm Wow - you are ticking off those milestones at a pace. Well done! I know you wanted to be as fit as possible to be there for your husband going through surgery. Sounds like you are there. Hugs to that young horse - hope all the teeth problems are resolved.
 
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