First, what a great thread this is. I feel like we really are having a class reunion!
welshjane--I am so sorry to hear about your cancer returning. Gosh, I was hoping you were hiking across the hills with your dog having a great time. My heart goes out to you as you continue your battle. I hope your trekking trip goes well and you can enjoy that.
Lynne--I'm sorry to hear you are still having problems with your hip, leg, and now a fractured arm. I remember your situation, and you have definitely been through a lot. I hope you can get some relief, whether you choose to stick with the meds or change your mind and proceed with some more surgery when the time is right.
As for me, my left hip was replaced in January 2012 and that went great. I read in someone's post here that it's great to be able to get up without asking yourself just how bad you want whatever it is on the other side of the room--I remember that feeling so well before my first (worst) hip. Wouldn't want to go back to that at all!! The left hip is wonderful. I call it my superstar-perfect hip.
My right hip was replaced in June. Some of you may remember that I encountered a much more strenuous hospital post op PT program and before I "woke up" enough to realize I was doing damage, they had pushed me over the edge to actual muscle and tendon injuries. I've been continuing treatment with my hip surgeon and he's done a variety of tests and injections trying to pinpoint the exact muscles/tendons affected. I'm definitely better than I was, say, a few months ago, but still not where I want to be. It still hurts in the groin and inside upper thigh when I raise the leg, such as when putting my leg inside a pant leg, getting in a car, things like that. I also can't walk very far without the pain increasing--about 1/5 of a mile is about it. Not because of the hip (hip is fine--I've had 4 orthos check it out trying to get to the bottom of this).
The general consensus from the MD's I've met with about the problematic muscles/tendons is to leave it alone and live with it, or have surgery--I've chosen surgery. May 17th I will have a exploratory hip/groin arthroscopy by my hip surgeon. He will see what things are looking like in and around the hip and clean up/release any tight or scar tissue that may be causing the pain. He will also do a surgical adductor longus tendon release and put platelet rich plasma on as many areas as he can get to. We know the adductor longus tendon is a problem, but not sure about the rest of it--might be the rectus femoris or the adductor brevis--can't pinpoint it for sure without looking around. I've thought long and hard about this surgery and it's something I feel I need to do to get my life back. I'm still having trouble coming to terms that these injuries even happened in the first place ... but hopefully if I feel better and can strengthen the muscles again after the surgery, therefore getting my life back on track, I'll feel better about the whole mess. I wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing, so I met with 3 other orthos (2 were sports med orthos and 1 was another joint replacement ortho) to get their opinions. No one thinks I'll be worse off than I am now, so I think it's worth going for. Wish me luck.
Regardless of the glitches I've had, the hips themselves feel really great. My surgeon was having a hard time wrapping his head around my pain being due to plain old overworked injured tendons and muscles and he did a number of tests and also had me meet with the best sports med MD in their practice to see if he thought it was tendonous or muscular and also make sure he wasn't missing anything. But, I kept telling him that I thought the hip was fine. A person can just tell the difference between pain coming from the joint and pain coming from some where else, even if it is nearby. My surgeon has been wonderful about not giving up on this and has been very accessible to me with my many questions and complaints along the way. He's also one of the best hip surgeons in this part of the country with performing hip arthroscopies, so I know I'm in good hands for the next, and hopefully last surgery.
I still have all the critters I had last time I checked in here. The crazy dogs still drive me nuts (in a wonderful way), my cats are still pretty and sweet, and the horses are doing well. I think everyone is looking forward to Spring
Dorothy