THR Clairebella’s recovery journey

[Clairebella]

Hello! I’m also so grateful for advice here and I am sorry that I’m not around giving back as much as I would like to people!

I am 6 months post op now. While I can say it’s like night and day from day 1 post op to now, I still feel like I’m behind on recovery? Or potentially just having too many set backs.

So, my walking and gait is fine. I am still doing reduced hours at work (nurse). My worries are the following:

-Still have a lot of soft tissue and muscular aches and pains.
-Surrounding muscles still very weak
-Still have a big dip at my scar, PT says it’s muscle mass and will ‘pop’ back out when stonger
-Leg gets tired by around 7000 steps per day and if I did that level of walking all at once it gets tired, muscles switch off and I start to limp due to pain also.
-Becoming quite uncomfortable by the end of my 8 hr shift. It’s like a deep burning/tingling pain in the muscles around the implant. My quad down to my knee then aches. It does resolve after rest, but often needs a good day of rest.

I still also get the energy drain, man it is bad! Especially with work.

 

[Hip4life]

@Clairebella Thanks for the update. 2 surgeries in one year, dealing with pain all that time, and now working in a physically and mentally draining job: am I surprised you're still dealing with aches, pains, and fatigue? Certainly not! Can I relate? Most certainly! I worked in long term acute care with 12 hour shifts after my RTHR. Luckily, I had a boss who was very compassionate and flexible. However, when you go back to work, especially in health care, everyone expects you to, well, work! The first few shifts, maybe some concern, but then it's full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes! I regularly had to elevate and ice and medicate when I got home even at 6 months post op and I was experiencing sore tendons as well. You sound like you even possibly be dealing with some sciatica. Bottom line: your soft tissues are still telling you that they are still healing. Working with that going on is like trying to shovel snow while it's still snowing.

The only answer I found was to just try to do the best I could to give myself the TLC I needed on my days off. Give yourself permission to do that no matter what anyone else says. They're not recovering from major surgery, let alone working, you are. It would take me two days to just think about getting normal chores done. I would have to ask the others at home to help. It's the only way I could survive. Maybe my hubby complained out of my earshot or to his friends but he never was unkind or insensitive to my plight. I am very blessed. After dealing with ongoing groin pain that I had a release done for at 9 months post op, I finally started to feel like I was on a "normal" recovery trajectory. It took a few more months and me going part-time to eventually get there. I still have aches and pains but I consider those part of normal aging and life and easily taken care of if I choose.

I'm not saying the rest of your recovery will go like mine but I am saying that you need to do what you need for yourself to get to the same place of feeling back to your life without the joint pain. Be kind and patient with yourself. Keep moving forward even if it is at a snail's pace. Ask for help if you need it and get advice from your healthcare team if you feel stuck. I have every confidence that you can finish this in fine fashion. You just need to give yourself the chance, patience and the space to do it. Many of us have been there. Keep us posted. Blessings.

 

[Esmeralda]

Hello fellow 6 monther, I too have been out of the loop over the last few months and can't believe how quickly the time has passed.

Sorry to hear you're still having ongoing healing issues but I wanted to let you know you're not alone as I am still struggling as well. I don't have all the same problems as you're experiencing and I am lucky enough that I don't have to cope with an 8 hour work shrift at this stage of my recovery but I can relate to the soft tissue aches and pains together with the muscle weakness. I'm guessing from your post that you're still seeing a physio, have they had any suggestions regarding the discomfort you are still experiencing and what might help alleviate it ?

 

[Clairebella]

@Hip4life thank you so much for such a helpful post, I felt tearful reading it with relief that someone can resonate with me, especially a fellow healthcare worker. I do also have a compassionate boss and I am not up to full 12 hr shifts or my full 30 hrs. I’ve been feeling so anxious that I’m experiencing discomfort still, I think it brings back all the lack of recovery and pain that I had post Arthroscopy. But, I just need to remember like you say, 2 operations, ongoing soft tissue healing and trying to work is a lot. I had lots of sciatic neuropraxia as they described it post Arthroscopy and that’s definitely not fully resolved yet. Even today, after a rest day yesterday I have tingling down the side of my thigh.

@Esmeralda hello! Let’s hope in another 6 months we are both stronger and less achy!
I’ve been seeing my PT maybe every 6 months. So, she says my TFL muscle which they cut through is very weak and needs to be strengthen. My quads are also weak. For example, trying to do a dreaded clam is very hard for me. I lie on my side and it’s like no message is going from my brain to lift up my leg. However, I have been doing some weekly and it is a bit better. I’m also doing heel raises, balance on one leg work and sit to stand. Plus pool.

 

[charlotte72]

Hi I’m having this but opposite hip also has Oesteoarthritis
I’m 11 weeks only pain is opposite hip hope yours resolved

 

[benne68]

@charlotte72 Clairabella hasn't been on the forum in well over a year, so you likely won't receive a reply.

I want to encourage you again to consider becoming a member of the Insiders Club so we can give you personalized support for your recovery. Become an Insider

As a Basic Member, you only have the ability to search and read threads and post on topic comments in an existing threads, but you may not post about your own recovery. Please read our Guidelines for Posting.

Best Wishes, and we hope to see you join the Insiders Club, so we can support you with your upcoming procedure.