THR Crash and burn

[countdowner]

Lynne,

I am so sorry that you are still having so many problems. I do hope that all will be sorted out for you but would hope that it will be before six months have passed.

I have been reading through all your threads again and see that you have suffered a lot. I also realise that your fracture is a lot worse than mine. I went for my three month check up last week and was told that the soreness and pain that I was experiencing was due to burstitis probably being caused by irritation from the wires. I actually believe that I can feel the wires, occasionally when walking but more when I am sitting and have to move around somewhat to get comfortable. I hope that I am imagining it!!! I have to go back in three months for another check up but I've been told to phone if the pain gets any worse in the meantime.

I'll keep watching your threads and keep hoping for some improvement for you.

Take care, best wishes

Chris

 

[rider1960]

Lynne, what did your surgeon say about the wires--how is more time going to make the wires go away or stop bothering you??? I'm concerned for you. I hesitate to give too much of an opinion because I don't know the whole situation and I'm out here in internet-land ... but I would press the surgeon specifically about how more time is going to make the wires less painful? Seems to me that anything protruding off the bone and into the tissue that the body doesn't absorb and is poking like that will continue to hurt no matter how much healing occurs around it. That's why I ask what your surgeon told you about this specifically. I, personally, would hound them until I got an answer that I could understand and that made good common sense too. That's the way I am--I need answers that make sense and I've had to learn the hard way that doctors are not God and we need to advocate for ourselves.

If you do decide to see someone else, I would go for at least two opinions--you don't want to jump into anything unless it's the right thing to do and two opinions or more will help you figure that out. What I did when I was having problems at the beginning of my hip journey after I got tired of being mis-diagnosed and/or blown off by the doctors in my area: I chose three out-of-the-area surgeons not connected with each other. I scheduled appointments with all of them--made 3 calls on the same day--didn't wait to see one ... and then schedule the next after that ... because they are always booked so far in advance. I figured I would start with the first one I saw and move on from there if needed--whoever I liked the best would get me. I could always cancel the appointment with ones I hadn't seen yet.

Best of luck. I can't remember if you tried this, but I had an appointment with my back/pain clinic folks today and they prescribed a fentanyl patch for me. I'm told that can work well to keep your pain relief at more of an even level throughout the day. I will still have Percocet for breakthrough pain too. You may want to ask about that.

Dorothy

 

[lncrwley]

Thank you Suki, Poppet, Chris and Dorothy. I seem to be having another one of those "off" days again. I went to my last scheduled PT this morning and told him that I quit. I don't see any improvements lately. I will continue my exercises at home. The doctor had mentioned having PT measure me for a lift for my shoe. He looked at my legs and thinks that a quarter inch should do it. If the lift is too high, he said that I could peel off a layer. How scientific!!! I still have the prescription so I will ask to see who can make a decent lift around here.I tried the lift today and I think it lasted about 5 minutes before I started getting pains all down my leg.
I really don't want to get a second opinion about the twisty tie. There's only one doctor in this city who takes my insurance and I wouldn't let him touch my dog! He is THAT bad! I guess I'll just suck it up like I have to do with everything else.
I just get so disgusted.

 

[Suki]

Lynne,

Well, I think you are handling all this really well. And hopefully in a few more months you will be feeling like your old self and can get on with life the way you want to live it. Hang in there, baby!

Suki

 

[sissy46]

Lynne, any chance of going out of town for a second opinion, find a doctor who does take your insurance? You've been through so much, and you're very tough. I don't blame you for being disgusted.

 

[C Mac]

Hi Lynn,

Well, just because your OS says come back in 6 months doesn't mean you HAVE to wait that long if the wires continue to bother you. You can set a time table for how long you want to wait before going back. Also, when I had some bothersome pain in a particular spot I asked my GP to send me for an ultrasound of the area. This helped me narrow down some of my pain issues. I don't know if this would help for your situation, but at least it keeps the ball rolling on gathering information in order to plan some action.

On the LLD, I learned that it's am imprecise science for us so early out from surgery, especially with the CDH issues. It's really a bit of trial and error over a period of time. Try something and see how your body responds to it. If it hurts or aggravates something stop and try something later after things settle down. While it would be so helpful to have an exact measurement taken and lift prescribed, sometimes LLD issues have a lot more to do with other parts of the body like the back and pelvis than they do with the actual length of the femur.

Lastly, nothing wrong with taking a break from PT. You can always return to that modality later. You are still very early out from your surgery and then the break, your body is still doing a lot of healing and adapting to that hip. Do what you want to do at home and maybe keeping a little activity journal will help you feel like you are making some progress as well as keeping track of how you feel and what helps or hurts as time continues on.

Sometimes the journey is just longer than we'd hoped for...
Take care,
Cardie