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THR Constanze's recovery diary

Hi @Constanze
Hope you are well. Some one was talking about Iron Man today and i thought of you! We were on the edge of booking our Australia trip when I fell and have a complex break in my foot, so now an op on 11th Jul. I hope your plans for Cairns materialise. It is such a long journey but will be worth it. Be in touch Karen x
 
@copsham/Karen:
Hi just wanted to say I've written a message on your recovery thread. May your foot get better. I'm so sorry about the broken foot. And: Yes, we made it to Cairns. My hip is fine. Will write more when I'm back. Love from Constanze
 
Australia Report


Hi everybody,
Thought I'd take this opportunity to give an update. We've been in Cairns for nearly 2 weeks now. We'll fly back to Germany on Sunday.

My husband has bought a Holiday house in Cairns which we rent and use it ourselves on the few occasions when we are there. This is the 3rd time we've been to Cairns.

So in the first week, we had to do some organisational and administrative work about the house - see the estate agent and the short term accommodation office and follow up the deliveries because we are renting it furnished. And we have tenants in the house already (we ourselves are staying in a Hotel), so we had to hurry up.

The second we is actually intended for rest and relaxation, but, as some of you know, there's a cold spell in Australia that is affecting even tropical places like Cairns. And we managed to catch a flu from which we are only just recovering.

But we're still having fun. Yesterday, we went on the scenic train around the Kuranda area and on the Sky Rail. Today, we went for a nice Relaxing walk down the Esplanade with its beautiful cafés by the sea. I'm also enjoying my new hip - walked about 8 Km the other day. I think I'll try to go the the pool as well, which I couldn't in the past few days. To all my Australian Bonesmart friends @craftdee , @Great Aunt Janet, @FiFi, @Vetgirl, and whowever I may have forgotten: Hope you are fine, not freezing too much and free from the flu. Best wishes - Constanze
 
Well @Constanze HELLO, or CoooEEEE as we say in Oz :heehee: So glad you're enjoying your stay in Cairns, I've never been there myself, but my Mum and Dad went a few years ago and they loved it. I can't believe it's cold there, didn't think that EVER happened. It's been nice here on the West Coast, but it is cold in the evenings... we got down to almost one degree C the other night, still in the 20s in the day though, not much rain which we sorely need.

I am asthmatic and have managed to get a chest infection, I'm sure it's not the flu as my son and his wife and her family have had that and it's a doozy!! I wait too long to medicate or increase my meds for asthma, and am always surprised when I get the inevitable chest infection! Bit of a slow learner me :snork:

Isn't it great being able to participate in "holiday activities" now, we went away recently and I couldn't believe how much more I could do than on previous visits to the same area... it sneaks up you, the loss of movement - or at least pain free movement - I'm sure you'll agree what we can do now is Soooo much better

I'm going to vaccuum my pool tomorrow, that's about as close as I'm going to get to it though. Looks good with the sun shining, and I did do some work with my laptop out there today, it was very pleasant indeed, but there's not enough punch in the sun to heat the water.... it's COLD.

Enjoy the rest of your stay Down Under

Donna :friends:
 
Hi @Constanze - sounds like you are having my husband's typical holiday - he always catches something! Apologies for the weather (I am wearing gloahoves to tyupe) - very cold here this morning too, and you missed a heatwave back at home! I'm still taking the vit C I started pre-op, too scared to stop!

Lovely to have the holiday home to come to when you come over here, and Cairns is a very relaxing city to visit, lucky girl! Sounds like your hip is doing really well - how was the flight over? Did you hop up and down a lot? Mine all going fine too - I wore my favourite cowboy boots (and felt long legged and v slim - am not, but) last night and walked down town with family for a meal out and back again - I haven't been able to wear them for years as I was walking so badly - NO PROBLEMS! :)
 
13th week - brief update
Hi all my bonesmart friends. Just want to report briefly that I had my 12-week-check-up at week 13 (in week 12 I was in Australia) at the hospital where I had my surgery. It was pretty uneventful. X-ray looks ok and the doctor was surprised at my ROM. I can now do movements of which I didn't even think they were possible. While I apparently had a minor limp for 1 day in Australia, I'm now back to normal. It was a nice young Australian in the hotel where I stayed who pointed it out - he just asked me how my leg was - better now? Not that I was in pain at all - in fact I wasn't aware of the limp - I think it was just laziness. I must have been afflicted by my flu. This flu is gone now and my husband is also recovering and his cough is almost gone. Meanwhile, the house in Cairns is doing fine. We are letting it out and the friendly short-term accommodation company is looking after it.

I'm cycling or driving to work (that depends on how I feel) and working. It's warm here - that's an advantage. The doctor told me I don't need another checkup for my hip before one year is over. So now I can get on with things. I may not post in Bonesmart very often any more but I will read the posts because I'm very interested on how my Bonesmart friends are getting on and what concerns the new people have who join Bonesmart.
Best wishes from Constanze
 
Thanks for your lovely post.
Constanze said:
13th week - I may not post in Bonesmart very often any more but I will read the posts because I'm very interested on how my Bonesmart friends are getting on and what concerns the new people have who join Bonesmart.
Click to expand...

At the right time to move on it is good to hear from you. You have been a great friend to many and I have appreciated your support. Big hugs and perhaps we will hear from you on your anniversary!
 
Hi everybody,
Thought I'd give an update after 6 months, but now I've changed my mind and decided to write sooner - after about 4 1/2 months. I can do everything I could pre-op, and some things better. Yoga for example. I've always been rather stiff, which was why I had bad marks in sport at school. I suspect that I've always been a bit stiff. Now I enjoy my new flexibility.

I've completed my bike campaign "Bike & Business" or "Mit dem Rad zur Arbeit" in German which translates into English literally as "Going to work on your bike". Now I've started another one. This time it isn't the days cycled that count but each kilometer counts. And the routes needn't be between home and work, but any route - any distance counts. This activity is called "Stadtradeln" which means City Cycling. While "Bike & Business" is organised by a major German health insurance company and the General German Cycle Club (ADFC), "Stadtradeln - City Cycling" is organised by Climate Alliance (www.climatealliance.org).

Both cycling campains are not only excellent ways of encouraging people to protect the climate but also to keep people fit - they help combat obesity, diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease (the bad 4 health ailments that exist worldwide now). That's why I think it's a good idea to advertise these campaigns in all countries. Well people used to go to work and shopping on the bikes in Beijing for example but now they go by car more often. If they could go back to cycling a bit more - but maybe it's difficult with the smog. I wish you all a lovely autumn/fall with no pain in the leg. - Constanze -
 
Hi Constanze -thanks for that explanation of the cycling challenges in your city. What happened in winter? It is too cold, snowy and icy to bike here in winter but there is a push to get people to cycle in the other seasons. I used to bike home from my teaching job as my husband would drop me off at work. I am happily retired now.:yahoo:
I am at the same stage as you in recovery -TRH on March 23 - and although I can walk without a limp or aids I do need to focus when getting up after sitting. The first few steps are quite painful though.
You sure are doing well! Do you think your other side will have to be done at some point?
 
@Granny Di , you're absolutely right. There isn't a biking campaign in winter. Thanks for pointing it out. I forgot to mention this: "Bike & Business" is from June to August, "City Biking" is 3 weeks in September. Although some crazy people do cycle in winter here. The Rhine-Main area in Germany (between Frankfurt und Wiesbaden) has a relatively mild climate with little snow in winter. I can imagine it's difficult with the cold and the snow in Canada. Is there enough snow to go to school and work on skis at times :)?

There is another problem with the bicycle. A physiotherapist in rehab after I had my hip OP pointed that one out: What about those who work physically hard at work? She said going up the steep hill from her home to were the rehab center is located would make her exhausted before she even started work. But for those who have office jobs - they ca kill two birds with one stone.
 
@Granny Di - I forgot to answer you question. With any hope, my right hip won't need replacing. They x-rayed it and it looked perfectly healthy - no sign of coxarthritis. This is just the funny thing. So my bad hip couldn't have been caused by too much sport otherwise my other leg would be a bit worse. And it's probably not dysplasia either (unless you can have one-sided dysplasia). Maybe some cartilage damage after a fall in my youth(?). Anyway, I hope that residual pain after you get up from a chair will subside soon. Warm regards - Constanze
 
@Constanze What is cox arthritis? Falls and injuries as youth are forgotten and come back to haunt us. I think bad falls have caused my back problems. Anyhow you are doing so well and will have many more years of fun athletic activities. There was a man on my Patagonia hike - recently retired about age 56 -who had both hips replaced and was able to do all of the hikes including the full W Trek in Torres Del Paine so I think you will be like him.
Paine is pronounced Pine but I called it Towers of Pain! haha
All the best to you!
Diane
 
Wishing you all the best for tomorrow Constanze. Hope all goes well for you.
 
@Granny Di: coxarthritis (or maybe it's coxarthrosis - don't know, must have translated that directly from German) is osteoarthritis in the hip when the cartilage is damaged and there is pain and inflammation, often caused by a malformation (dysplasia). But a physiotherapist told me it can also be caused by an injury. However, this is not certain. The origin of bad hips is often unknown, and I don't know how it happened to me, but I was told that I was stiff, clumsy and uncoordinated for a long time. So I opted out of gymnastics, sport on any machines (bars etc.) at school and yoga and preferred swimming, biking, running and other kinds of endurance sport. But now I have more flexibility and can give these other disciplines a try - isn't that nice?. Anyway, my other joints (knees etc.) seem ok, too. Warm regards to Canada
 
Thanks for the compliments and advice. My wife says the car is my third or fourth childhood. For the record it is a 2015 Subaru WRX Premium. My clutch leg is also the one that had the LTHR.
I am now to the point where I don't even think about my hip anymore except in retrospect and then it is Wow, I actually went through that?!
All good now.
My guitars and keyboard are how I unwind. I was in a band for a while but live in the country and the 50-mile round trip to practice twice-a-week and hauling two amps, two guitars and a keyboard around was not fun anymore. I just play for fun now.



Sent from dougie0216's iPhone using BoneSmart®
 
@Constanze, I just read through your thread. It was very inspiring! I used to ride my bike to work a few years ago. Maybe I will be able to get back to that, too. I tried the recumbent bike at the gym, but was in a lot of pain after that. I'm also excited to start swimming and using the machines at the gym again.

Thanks for your detailed posts. I learned so much from you. Keep up the great work!
 
Museum walking...
Just a little report and some news about what some of you bonesmart friends call "museum" walking. First: What's that? It isn't the nice fluid walk used while hiking long distances but the kind of walking you would do in a shopping centre or - a museum - and for this reason - far more exhausting
On Saturday, we went to the IAA - the International Car Fair at Frankfurt. Well, that involves museum walking, doesn't it? We, my hubby and me, like to go to tradefairs. There are some nice ones, not too far away from where we live, e.g. the IAA as I mentioned, then the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Photokina - the international photography and film exhibition at Cologne. We went to all of them and enjoyed it. But last year, the visits were overshadowed by me limping feeling pain.
This year, however, I had fun with the cars - e.g. we looked at the new Audis (Audi = my car), Subaru Foresters (Subaru Forester = hubby's car), and many other fun things, like the lastest of TomTom Nav Sat. Hubby noticed how fit I was - no exhaustion, no sore legs after the visit. All the best for you both old friends and happy recovery to the "freshly" operated ones.
 
@Constanze - you must be walking on air! So good to hear that you were able to do the museum walks without pain or exhaustion. I had my hip done a month before you and I am 10 years older but I know I could not do what you did without pain. I find it hard to do enough to improve my conditioning but not so much that I end up hurting and exhausted. Medication helps with the pain and I really cannot go without it. On a positive note I biked 20 kms on a paved road in 1:12 last week strong headwind on the way back) which did not cause any pain but I was very tired afterwards. You must be anxious to get back into competitions. All the best!
Diane
 
@Granny Di Thank you for your positive reply to my post. Walking on air, dreaming, these are the right kinds of words to describe my feeling with regard to my hip replacement. I have in fact pushed it a little more each week and exercise/activity/work felt good: I'm wondering whether I'm pushing it too far, and that it might all disappear in one blow. But I'm lucky: It hasn't happened. But I must be careful I don't get impetuous, hyperactive or even - manic. Don't worry, I'll be careful. Being in the "We've overdone it club" is no fun.
But: About you - you've done a 20 km bike ride painlessly. That was very good. Maybe cycling is the answer. Non-weightbearing continuous smooth exercise. I haven't done any physiotherapy exercises recently - no time. But I cycle and swim and that feels good. Even the running in the forest feels good - breath of fresh air, watching the birds. While I may not be running any marathons in the near future, the traditional New Year's Eve run (a 6 Km route and a 12 Km route is offered) in my home village may be a realistic aim.
I do, however, get tired after effort, like any normal person. This has nothing to do with the hip replacement though. But it's a good tiredness. I sleep like a log - up to 9 hours a night.
Greetings to Canada. What's the weather like where you are? Our summer ended punctually on September 1st, and it's been cloudy, windy, and cool ever since - with the occasional shower.
Constanze
 
Weather here in Ontario -800 kms north of Toronto - is summery so we are still at our cottage and training our energetic puppy who is 31 pounds already at 3.5 months. In fact we have been in the sauna and into the lake several times last week. I love fall as the bugs are gone. The New Years Eve race sounds like a fun way to welcome the new year. I hope to be cross country skiing!
Diane
 
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