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THR Deep Breath Reporting for Recovery Duty

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@DeepBreath you are so right that this is a process. I remind myself the same thing and that we are so much better off now that just a few short months ago.

At work, I have through the end of the month but Friday was our last "normal" day if there is such a thing these days. The new hires who are replacing us are going to be in town starting tomorrow to train with us for the next couple weeks before we leave. In addition to the hands-on training, all of us who are leaving have put together detailed step-by-step instructions of many of our job duties to help them with the transition. Even so, there will be a lot of questions I am sure so I have also offered for them to call me anytime if they have questions once I leave; I will be happy to help however I can.
 
Time and patience...that's true. Yesterday I did a mixture of yoga and Pilates. That seems to work well. I still would like to tone up my thighs. I'm guessing it might take me a year from my surgery date to see the results I want. Enjoy your weekend, @DeepBreath.
 
@DeepBreath - Glad you're feeling better after not doing PT for a bit. It is so tricky at any phase of this process to know what's best for your body. But you do a mighty keen job of rising to that challenge!

Your friend is going to just adore her special little gnome guy! Sounds like you had fun toodling around with The Boy on his half day! Fun going to lunch, too. Hope all the walking was totally painfree and you just forgot all about the hips for awhile.

Hope your next week is great and your PT gives you some good insight on Tuesday. I'm also hoping to get some in home PT and perspective on my sciatic type pain next week....
 
@Hipster Girl, I am sending out good vibes as you go into your working with the new hires phase. You have such a sweet, helpful spirit about this whole process. I hope your company knows what a loss it's taking by not having you working for them after they move. Their loss will be another company's fortune!

@Hip Hip Hooray! you know, I am having similar feelings. I have just about decided to stop waiting for that 'magic moment' when all of a sudden all discomfort will be gone and I'll be able to do everything I want. I too am looking at that one year mark and hoping that I'll be close to realizing my goals then. I'm lucky to be where I am...able to walk pain free and be so much more active than I have in a very long time. I trust that the muscular 'kinks' will work themselves out and one day I won't even hardly think about being bionic. :)

@Readysetgo, the time with my son on Friday was wonderful. I'm lucky that he still seems to like doing things with me. I'll take that for as long as I can. :) He is so funny.....he turns 15 at the end of the month. Now, our daughter was rarin' to learn to drive at his age, but he's not all that interested. Lately, I have been encouraging him to drive just a little bit in our tiny neighborhood (two streets and two cul-de-sacs). He was resistant at first, but is now kind of enjoying it as he gets a little more confidence. I told him that this summer we would be finding big, empty parking lots (schools, churches) and getting him a little more practice.
I am sending out tons of good vibes that the PT will help with the sciatic issue and will help start the strengthening process. You're going to be just fine. Time and patience....time and patience. We just need to keep reminding ourselves about that.
This whole recovery thing is about balance, for sure. I didn't do any at home exercising Friday, Saturday, or yesterday because I was out and about moving around quite a bit. However, I obviously need those stretching exercises because my quads, hamstrings, and glutes felt 'crampy' and the tiniest bit weaker. It's finding that balance...and having the patience to do so.
Here's to balance and healing! Have a great day, hippie friends! :cheers:
 
@DeepBreath - I'm happy The Boy still likes hangin' with Mom! Sounds like you 2 have fun together. You sound very calm about him starting to drive, but I guess you feel more confident about it after going through that with your daughter. I've heard other parents say they were never nervous about their daughter driving, but their son? Well they'd just prefer he stuck with his bike and skateboard. Your son sounds cautious and conscientious so doesn't sound like that's a problem for you.

Must have been a nice break not exercising for a few days. Sometimes I feel a bit bored and burdened by the PT exercises. But I know they are good for me for the most part. Sorry you are a bit tight now. Hope that eases up with a bit of stretching.

I had a good session with PT today. He thinks the sciatic pain will eventually disappear. I told him how OS said there were a lot of bone spurs and PT said cutting all those out could account for the increased recovery/sciatic pain afterwards. I have to say the pain is already a bit less today so that's hopeful. I just got worried when that pain increased day by day at first! PT said it was very swollen but range of motion was very good.

So yes, my friend - time and patience, time and patience! :yes:
 
Hi @DeepBreath, That's interesting that those muscles felt crampy and weaker after a few days of rest. That makes sense. I'm focusing more on strength again. I was surprised that when I switched from riding my bike, to walking a few miles, my hips felt stiff. Now they've adjusted. You just never know. That's exciting that your son is learning to drive. He sounds really sweet.

I feel the same way about being able to walk (and drive,) pain free, and yes, it's a relief to be active again. I feel much younger and more cheerful since healing from this surgery. It's so much easier to do chores, too.

Take care. You sound like you have a very happy home life.
 
@Readysetgo, I am so happy that you had a good PT session and that he thinks the sciatic issue will resolve with time. I am sending out good vibes that it is gone quickly as stuff like that is so worrisome. I didn't go to PT again today because that sensation is still there even with a week of rest. My OS said last week that things look just great, so I don't know what's up with that. I'm getting a bit discouraged.
Re: my son driving, it's funny because I am not a calm driver. Outwardly I am, and I'm fine with city driving, but I hate driving on the highway. I have never been nervous with teaching my kids to drive though. Maybe because I really understand those beginning jitters and go slowly.
I really do like hanging out with The Boy. He's got a really quirky sense of humor that's similar to mine and we crack each other up often. :)
Hang in there with the recovery, friend. You're going to get where you need to go just fine!

@Hip Hip Hooray! the sensation is odd. There's no pain really, but rather just tightness and stiffness. I didn't experience this at all with my first hip. It's...aggravating.
My OS suggested swimming and I am wondering if I should maybe scale my PT back to once a week and just try to walk more and swim. I just don't know...
 
I've just caught up on your thread and looks like I've missed a lot! What a dear sweet son you have. It says a lot about you, as a mother and your parenting, when your teenaged son enjoys hanging with his mom. Good job, my friend.
And that stiffness and weakness will get better. Oddly, as soon as I stopped PT, I started feeling better as each day passed. All I did was my normal activities, with bowling and golf thrown in to the mix. But "working out" with PT, I found, isn't all that important to the recovery process.
I am still thrilled, for you, that you have come through both of your surgeries with flying colors!
 
Hi @DeepBreath, Really? If it makes you feel any better, I've had stiffness regularly with both of my hips. I thought it was normal. To me, it feels like the stage before pain. I have it with after almost any new activity. Does icing help? I hope it gets better. Is it slight or intense? Mine is mild.
 
I'm sorry you're still having issues after having backed off PT. I'm just wondering if one of those new exercises irritated something? Very strange. I had read somewhere on BS, where a member started using heat instead of ice (she/he was well past the early recovery months) and it tremendously helped with the stiffness (I wish I remember who said it, but I can't recall). Have you thought about trying heat or alternating heat and ice? Just a thought. I hope your PT can help with the problem.
 
@Nana757, thank you so much for the kind words, friend. I really appreciate that. I try to be the best momma I can be. I've really lucked out though. I have good kiddos. They're my treasures! :)
Thank you as well for sharing about your recovery process (as always!) I am hoping it is just something that has been tweaked and can be set to rights easily. I know how fortunate I am that I am really in no pain, just a stiff, numb feeling. It's so good have you back on the forum!

@Hip Hip Hooray! thank you for telling me that. :) While I certainly don't wish for anybody to be experiencing stiffness, etc, it honestly is comforting that I'm not alone.
Yes, icing does help. The intensity depends on what I've done that day. I've found that even lifting a full hamper of laundry and walking 20 feet down the hall with it to the laundry room is a no-no. If I don't break those trips back and forth into lighter loads I will surely feel it that evening. Before I stopped PT the feeling had gotten quite intense. At that point it was right at the base of my posterior incision site, right in line with my groin area, and down the outer side of my thigh. It is definitely numb....not dead to the touch numb, but that numbness that seems to linger at the incision site for quite some time. Right now, it has receded to the spot right under my incision site and the front of my thigh feels tight and like it could cramp at any second, although it hasn't (knock wood).
Again, it's a balance thing. If I do too much, it flares up. If I do too little, I get stiff as well.

@Cynthia777, you have the best, common sense advice. :) I do wonder if heat would help it since my thigh area feels tight quite a bit. I do think that heat would be soothing on it. I think I'll dig out my heating pad and try alternating heat and cold tomorrow just to see how it goes.
I'm scheduled to go to PT on Thursday, but I think I'll call and request just to have a sit down with my therapist and discuss things with her. She's a sweetie and I don't want to just shut her out. However, I don't think what we're doing at this point is working. How I'm feeling now seems like a setback.
I also think it's time to reach out to our experts here and see what they think.
Thank you for listening to me, friends. I so appreciate it. This site and all of you are a tremendous comfort to me. :flwrysmile:
 
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@Jaycey, hello. :)
I have been experiencing some strange sensations and wondered if I could get your input on them, please?
On the 25th of March I will be 6 months out from my first THR and on the 24th of March, 4 months out from my second one. Both were posterior approach. I had no out patient physical therapy with my first surgery and in home therapy for just 2 weeks. I started out patient PT 4 weeks after my second THR.
Things were going quite well with the therapy up until a couple of weeks ago. Once in awhile I would get stiff feeling on my newest op side the evening after a physical therapy session, but it would go away pretty quickly.
My progress seemed to stop when my therapist added several new exercises in the span of just over a week.
For the sake of brevity, I won't list all of my exercises (most of which I seemed to tolerate quite well), but the ones that were added were:
* Side Steps with Resistance - I walk sideways with a resistance band around my ankles for about 15 feet, twice each way.
* Balancing on One Leg - 10 seconds each side, five times each.
* Bridges with Feet Propped Up on an Exercise Ball - 20 times
* Straight Leg Lifts - formerly 15 lifts each leg, increased up to 20 each leg
I go to physical therapy twice weekly and do my basic exercises once daily at home on my non-physical therapy days. I abstain from doing any exercises one day per week and just do my normal housekeeping, cooking routine.
Shortly after beginning the new exercises I began to experience a significant feeling of stiffness and surface numbness on my newest op side right at the area of the Trochanter Bursa and the Iliotibial Band area. It mainly seems to be localized in the area around the lowest part of my incision, but can extend across my upper thigh underneath my groin area and down the outside of my thigh. I notice that my quads feel quite tight and sometimes my buttocks on that side as well. The quads and buttocks sometimes feel like they want to cramp, but luckily have not so far.
Prior to this, my gait felt like it was becoming more smooth and my muscles felt nice and loose. I now feel like I've taken a step backwards. I feel stiff again in my hip area (sometimes on both sides) and like my limp has returned. I'm definitely 'waddling' more again.
I take one 15 mg Mobic (Meloxicam) per day and ice both hips at bedtime.
I saw my OS on Monday, March 7th and after examining me, testing my range of motion, etc, said everything seemed to be progressing just fine. He suggested I back down from physical therapy for a week and see how my stiffness/numbness felt. While it is better, it is definitely still there. I did not attend physical therapy all last week and I've taken it pretty easy for the past four days, doing just the necessary housework/errands (no dedicated exercises), but have to be careful to not be too sedentary because that also makes me stiff.
Any thoughts you might have on this would be greatly appreciated. Mainly I am wondering if I should stop out patient physical therapy altogether for a while until this numbness/stiffness abates. I'd hate to lose the strides I've made, but if it is irritating the area around my newest op hip, that isn't helping either.
For the most part I haven't had any problems with the first surgical side although the incision will get sore once in awhile and the hip area will get stiff occasionally. I also experience lower back pain on an infrequent basis.
If it would help to know the other exercises I had been doing on a daily basis, I can list those as well.
Thank you for your time and patience in reading this. :)
 
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Hi @DeepBreath, Lifting anything heavy has been what's caused me the most pain. I'm glad you're moving your laundry in small loads. I've also had a reaction if I used weights on the machines at the gym. (over 20 lbs.) Some machines I can't use any weight. It sounds to me like the new exercises are causing a flare. I didn't feel comfortable doing any straight leg raises until 6-7months. Even so, I'm still very cautious. I hope by backing off you experience some relief.
 
@DeepBreath sorry you are having a rough time. Frankly, I would stop all that PT and focus on walking and getting your gait sorted. Bridging, balancing and leg lifts are bound to cause cramping in muscles that have not been used for awhile. In any case bridging really does not help your hip! Shame on PT for dumping all this new exercise in one go!

Let things settle and then focus on lengthening your walking trips. As Jo always says, hips don't really need all that exercise. Ice and elevate if it helps.
 
@DeepBreath - Just want to say I'm thinking of you today and hoping that stiffness is easing up for you! Did you try the heating pad yet? Do you know a good massage therapist? Might be nice to get a massage with someone who is knowledgable and detail oriented with good hands to work on those stiff spots. It can be frustrating doing the sleuthing on your own about why your body is reacting a certain way, can't it? Especially when the reaction comes way after whatever we've done.

Anyway, I'm sending you soothing, healing thoughts that this gets resolved for you soon! :flwrysmile:
 
Hi @DeepBreath I'm sorry to hear about the stiffness and limping. I think the sit down with your therapist tomorrow is a really good idea. It could just be too much all at once with the new exercises. I hope you are feeling better today and that your therapist listens to your concerns tomorrow and has some good suggestions. :friends:
 
I just reread your post above and it occurs to me that I didn't ask you the question about shoes. Have you replaced any shoes you were wearing pre-op? Granted PT will cause the symptoms you are seeing. But back ache can also be caused by wearing shoes with any pre-op wear pattern. You might also want to consult a podiatrist. You are walking very differently now. I have to wear inserts in my shoes as my arches are high. You might benefit from a bit of support for your foot.
 
@Hip Hip Hooray! lifting anything even moderately heavy really bothers my hips. I learned the hard way not to overdo in that capacity. Thank you for the kind words. :)

@Jaycey, thank you so much for your advice. I do think that backing away from the PT is the way to go. Piling on the new exercises seemed to really make the discomfort flare up.
In answer to your question, yes I have purchased all new shoes. That was one of the many valuable tips I got from this forum. :) I can definitely tell a difference in my pelvic structure and how I'm walking now that the dysplasia has been corrected. I am having to basically relearn how to walk correctly. It takes some concentration! :)

@Readysetgo, thank you, friend. I wasn't able to try the heating pad yesterday as I was busy getting meds sorted for The Boy. His seasonal allergies kicked in and he was miserable. Hopefully he's settled now though and will be feeling much better. :)
I was mentioning to my husband the other day how good a massage might feel. I might need to look into that. I know that when my PT does the massage it sure feels wonderful.
How are you doing? I hope you're feeling good and that you can detect forward strides in your recovery. You're in my thoughts!

@Hipster Girl, thank you so much. :) It's just a process we have to go through. In the grand scheme of things it's still pretty early days for me. It's easy to forget that. I know better than to expect things to magically be perfect...but I still do it anyway. :wink: I hope your week is going good.


I can definitely tell a difference in the numbness and stiffness now that I've had a couple of weeks of rest. It has decreased dramatically. I'm not even going to think about out patient PT for a bit and will just concentrate on walking and doing the basic stretching exercises I was taught at the beginning.
Also, I need to get serious about weight loss. The added padding on my stomach and thighs does not help, A) my new hips, or B) my mobility and ROM. I was down 10 lbs after my surgeries, but haven't gained any more ground on that front lately. It's time to address that issue.
All in all, I'm pleased that the rest has helped. I'm just going to keep on, keepin' on. :)
Thanks for your support, hippie buddies! :flwrysmile:
 
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