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THR Diary of my journey to happy times

@Klassy great photo thank you. Have you seen the snowdrops in the Rococo Gardens in Painswick- I hadn't even heard of them until recently. Given our weather in the south east of England (nothing on some parts of the USA- looks extraordinary) I was amazed to notice yesterday how happy my geraniums were looking again. Perhaps the frost had a similar impact on them to the several glasses of prosecco I had yesterday- which perked me up. I wonder if it might be a little too icy for a glass today- I have a party to go to- but my crutch might slip away. No snow here yet either.

I thoroughly recommend a pedicure- but then I haven't been able to cut my toenails since the mid 1990s- so I am a big fan.

I was somewhat amused to see the @gimpnomore name- it took me a few minutes to remember the other meaning of the name! But it sums up what so much of us want- and if you are walking with more panache you're getting there- wanting to walk like a "normal" person!

Have a good day and stay warm.
 
Klassy - "Hermione" and I getting on well and had a fantastic 2.5 week holiday in the warmth and walking with no stick.

Now back after an 8.5 hour flight and driving my little car in the ice. ugh!

So I went from steps to beaches yesterday to a frozen car park and walking with two Lekis just in case today. "Hermione" is already moaning at me about the cold!

The shoes I have are Propets and they have a rather clever laceup design which was great for my recovery.
 
Day 52: A stroll around the neighbourhood. The sun was shining and that dictated the route: keep on the sunny side of the street because the shady side was icy. Snow is falling now, but today there was real warmth in the sun and spring doesn’t seem too far away.

There’s a spring in my step too, because today I finally made it upstairs! I know it’s pretty ridiculous not to have attempted it in the 7 weeks since I left hospital, but I had a phobia about getting up there and then being afraid to come back down. So I waited till I was sure I could make the return trip. And it was no trouble at all!

We had champagne to celebrate. I tell you, that Lavender really can’t hold her liquor. I had to go back to using two crutches to help her safely to bed.
 
Lightweight Lavender :martini: :swoon:

Happy Friday, @Klassy i hope you're having a good one so far.
Just catching up on your thread. Hate to be a Debbie Downer, and not all will agree, but think twice about a pedicure...especially this early out. I'm speaking of a nail salon pedi. My OS warned on the risk of infection.
What worked for me one month post op to comfortably clip toenails was to sit on a hard chair (kitchen for me) and put my foot on a small step stool. We all find our own way and you'll find yours, just a suggestion.
I hope you have a great weekend!
 
Thanks @Layla . I’d never consider you a DD for giving advice! I don’t have that much flexibility yet, but I’ll wait. Nails are not desperate yet.
 
Gosh @Layla the jurisdictional differences and concerns are so interesting aren't they. None of the surgeons or GPs I've spoken to here have any concerns about pedicures- in fact I've also seen some of the US posters being concerned about dental work post surgery- but I asked a couple of surgeons about this and they said that was an older protocol that was no longer recommended or a concern. (Obviously pre-surgery remains a no-no).
 
I agree with Layla's caution. The place I go to, everyone has their own box of tools an they now have plastic liners for the foot soaking tubs that are new for every use. I wouldn't be considering it if that wasn't the case post-op especially.
 
This is an appalling whiny self indulgent moan of a post. I’m ashamed of myself for being so pathetic when there are people facing real hardships.

But it is going in here because I am chronicling it all, good and bad.

Day 53: I’m down in the dumps. My sense of humour has gone awol, along with all optimism. I’m thinking of Mojo’s diagram (expectations vs reality) but it isn’t cheering me up, I feel like I’m not even on the wiggly line, I’m on the floor going nowhere.

Why can’t I walk unaided? Other people are doing it at 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks... why can’t I at 7.5 weeks? Is it because other people put up with pain but I don’t? I can walk unaided but I hate the feeling I get in my hip. It’s not a pain so much, it’s a horrible wrong feeling. Yesterday I was trying to push through it, but then my hip was bothering me all night and I couldn’t get comfortable. Should I start taking painkillers again and do the unaided walking?

And it’s not just the walking. It’s everything. I’m so slow and clumsy and everything seems to require awkward bending and there’s a constant draining feeling of insecurity. I can empty the washing machine but I can’t reach the sock at the back. The house is such a mess and dragging me down, but to tidy and clean at the rate I can move is impossible. It’s a battle to keep on top of it at the best of times. This is not the best of times. H has been so good to me but he has always been a person who accumulates stuff and generates mess and doesn’t see it, and I am so sick of biting my tongue not to nag.

And then looking forward. You can be positive and say that improvement continues for over a year. But looked at another way, a whole year and one is still in recovery. I don’t remember anyone telling me that beforehand.

I’m watching gardening programs and I can’t even enjoy that because it doesn’t feel like I’ll ever be able to put my weight on a spade and dig, or step across flower beds or turn a compost heap.

And it has been raining all day.
 
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@Klassy - you have to go at your own pace. And don’t believe all these super recovery times - walking unaided in 3 weeks but how far and how well? I am still getting lots of aches and it can get a bit depressing until I think about the state I was in a year ago. My Pilates teacher says it takes well over a year to properly recover. We will all get there in the end. It’s not a race.

You are lucky to have rain - we had more than an inch of snow and some schools had to shut!! What would our American friends think.
 
I wish there was an emoji to give you a big hug. :flwrysmile: . I think if your hip when you try to walk without aides, then you should err on the side of caution and not push yourself. Even walking with an aide is still walking and aiding in your long term recovery. I remember feeling like you many times about the house and my husbands poor eyesight for that alone. Drives me buggy. I usually get so fed up, I hire someone to come in every 3 or 4 months and it starts all over again.

No worries about complaining here and looking for a shoulder to cry on - some of us will need your shoulder now & again too! I hope you feel a bit brighter tomorrow.
 
Klassy said:
Why can’t I walk unaided? Other people are doing it at 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks... why can’t I at 7.5 weeks? Is it because other people put up with pain but I don’t?
Click to expand...

I don’t know your situation of course, but 7.5 weeks isn’t long! I had my second THR 7 weeks after the first, and I was walking unaided and not in pain around week 6, but the other hip gave me more problems and I had pain for a longer time. I’d expected it to be easier with no arthritis on either side. I’m sure other people will chime in telling you of timelines longer than yours (and now they feel pretty great).

I was very annoyed about not being able to put my weight on a spade to plant the bulbs I’d ordered. The landscaping company never showed up and then there was a freeze, I was so miffed. Then suddenly temps went up in December and there was rain, then half a day of temperate weather with soft ground, and I realized I was probably in good enough shape to do it myself and I did. I went in and rested every half hour, with ice. A week previous, it would have been out of the question.

It’s good to get these feelings out of your system! But everything can change at any time, truly.
 
:console2:
Post op blues and frustration with this recovery journey. Not a fun time.
I'm sorry you are struggling.
But things Do get better and there is alot of improvement coming.
Do you have an OS appointment coming up any time soon.
I feel certain that "wrong" feeling is healing soft tissue and muscles still healing...but followup xrays were always reassuring to me.

Sending good mojo your way.
Keep the faith, friend!:roseshwr:
 
I can feel for you. Three months and 4 months out I was still using aides. I tried to walk unaided but the hip was so painful and stiff after 10 minutes of trying. I still walked as much as I could using one crutch and it gradually got easier. 6 months out and back in the cold I am still using a stick in the icy weather as don’t trust myself otherwise. If I sit at my desk too long I freeze up and the first steps when getting up are difficult. I find it hard to believe that just last week I was stepping down to the beach in the sunshine and walking freely like the op had never happened!

No one told me about a years recovery time either! But when I look at myself pre op and the pain, and the early days post op I realise how far I have come.

I hope your post op checkup is all good and that the progress comes.

The important thing is to concentrate on heel to toe walking and good posture. It will come but only when your hip decides she is ready.
 
Oh Klassy, I'm so sorry to hear that you had such a miserable day yesterday :console2:. Many of us have had those feelings, and well done you for describing it all so well. It will be so helpful for future hippies too when they have their down days. They will go on to read how things improved for you (they really will), how you go on to walk well without aides (you will), and to reassure others that things will improve.

I hope you had a better night last night, that the sun is shining brightly in your corner of the UK, and that you feel a bit brighter yourself. Take comfort that your surgeon was happy at your post-op check (I confess to laughing at the "best knickers" bit, that's happened to me too!). You will get there. Best wishes @Klassy.
 
Thank you my friends, you brought me comfort.

Today is a new day and will be better!

@HertsHippy you are right, a day of rain is nothing complain about! I should remember the people coping with snow or heatstroke. Or think of last summer when it didn’t rain for 6 weeks and I was scanning the skies for clouds and fussing over my garden, which survived perfectly well despite all my worries. I put it on record though because I am sure it is all part of my mood.

@Carriemay60 , thank you for the hug, I felt it. I’m glad someone else gets the house bug thing ( not glad you have the same, you know what I mean). I had a word with H, managed not to let it become a row, and we are going to tackle some of it together.

@EL11 , thank you for sharing my garden feelings. I was fretting because I had really hoped to get a hedge planted but ran out of time and strength pre op, and I looked at the steady rain and thought how well it would have been bedded in by now, not to mention the sight of Monty Don on TV planting just what I had in mind and telling me once more that early winter was the best time, and I thought that may well be a year of lost growth while I wait for it to grow enough to screen out an ugly view. But I did get my bulbs in, so something to enjoy this spring. I shall look at the garden, not across at the ugly view. Enjoy your bulbs! I’m glad you got them in, also very encouraged that you could get back on the spade in 3 months.

@Mojo333 , yes I shall keep the faith! I’ve been signed off by OS. I can make an appointment but it will cost £200 to see him, plus some more money for X-rays. So I’d need to feel something was wrong, not simply me being fed up. I’m sure it is just the healing process, I saw him only a week ago and that is what he said, I just want it to go quicker!

SurreyGirl said:
Three months and 4 months out I was still using aides. ...just last week I was stepping down to the beach in the sunshine and walking freely like the op had never happened!.
Click to expand...
you give me hope! And although you are back with us in the cold, there is spring and summer awaiting us.

@helenium it seems like your hips have put you through a lot. Thanks for the reassurance, and making me feel it’s Ok to vent. I did hesitate about posting in the midst of a self pity party, but I said I was going to post every day, and some days are bad days. But most are not!

The sun is shining today so no more whining.
 
Day 54: Much more cheerful today. Physically not much change if any. After a couple of weeks off meds I have decided to go back to Paracetamol, 2 tablets every 5 or 6 hours. I won’t consider it a backward step, just a change. I think the nerves are waking up from surgery and are zapping me a bit, so medication may quiet things down. I think it has helped. The famous lump is a bit smaller, or else the surrounding thigh is bigger.

I have taken it easy today. Sunshine too precious to waste, but so cold that a trip to the coast did not appeal, so a gentle stroll round the neighbourhood, and visit to supermarket with H. We did a mini tidy of the house, just sorting the magazines and junk mail and such that had spread themselves over every horizontal surface. Only into two piles mind, one to toss and one that H has to go through in case he missed anything. Left to me they would all be in the recycling bin, but at least the piles are neat.

I’m accepting my crutches are going to accompany me for a while, and I let H do more of the stuff that involves stretching and bending. The patience muscle at least seems much stronger today.
 
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