THR Diary of my journey to happy times

[Layla]

Awesome news, Klassy! I know it’s something you love, so to see you back at it is wonderful news and progress. I hope you’re having a good week.
@Klassy

 

[Klassy]

Thanks @Layla!

Five weeks now, and noticing little improvements. Eg getting dressed and realising I’ve put my clothes on without using the grabber. I can make meals and do laundry and generally be more independent round the house. This morning I was thinking, I could actually cope by myself now - like those awesome hippies who manage at home alone. Then I dropped a fork in the bottom of the dishwasher and spent a frustrating 10 minutes chasing it around with my grabber to no avail. So not ready to retire the husband just yet.

Today I climbed our rather tricky stairs for the first time. And down again. We haven’t finished renovations upstairs yet, so there was nothing to stay up there for. I managed it ok, but my leg muscles felt really weak. The left leg can’t believe it is expected to be the good leg now. I shall try and go up twice a day from now on to build up strength - I need to get back up a bell tower!

 

[Elf1]

Oh yes, chasing things around with the grabber! Seriously though you are doing well, keep up the good work.

Congrats on being able to navigate the steps, both up and down. Just be careful since the leg muscles are still feeling weak. You'll be back up a bell tower before you know it.

 

[Klassy]

I have had such a great day.

In the morning I mopped the kitchen floor. Crutch in one arm, mop in the other. That wouldn’t normally be my idea of fun, but we have just had a lovely new kitchen fitted and the newly tiled floor has never been properly clean. I have been yearning to get to it for weeks now. It came up a treat. There was one heartstopping moment when I put my crutch on a wet patch and it skidded away, but I was well balanced enough on both feet to survive. After that I was super careful to work from mopped area to dry area.

In the middle of the day a kitchen fitter came to make the final adjustments. So now our kitchen is at last completely finished. It has been an epic, but happy ending at last.

Then two friends came over to ring handbells - and of course to admire the kitchen and do the tour of other renovation work in progress. I was able to stand and chat and sit and ring ( we rang short spells with breaks as we were all a bit rusty) and to join in the tour, even upstairs. I have to stand at the beginning of the stairs reciting to myself “Good leg up to heaven, bad leg down to hell” and then work out which is the good leg, because I have spent probably decades with the right leg as the good leg so it is automatic to lead off with the wrong foot. But once I had remembered how to do it, it went surprisingly well. Much better than just yesterday.

I realise that I have seen no one IRL (not counting Zoom etc) except for husband (of whom I could never tire, of course!), building tradesmen and medical personnel since I started isolating 2 weeks before my op. 7 weeks of seclusion! So it was bliss to chat.

 

[Layla]

I’ll bet that near slip and fall had your heart beating fast, Klassy. Thankfully you managed to catch your balance, remaining on your feet. Glad you enjoyed conversation and a little bell ringing with friends. I’m imagining you in your beautiful new kitchen. Enjoy!
@Klassy

 

[Elf1]

@Klassy sounds like a wonderful day minus the little slip, so happy you were able to remain steady. Amazing how seeing folks outside our little recovery bubble is so good for us!

 

[Klassy]

Confessions of a window cleaner….

This morning my husband went off to get his hair cut. I seized the opportunity to clean one of the living room windows. Don’t worry, on the ground floor, no ladders involved. But I knew it would be vetoed by my very protective hubby if he knew. The window was covered in grime inside and out from the building works. H’s view is that there is no point in cleaning the windows because they are due to be replaced. But the windows company is now telling us the new windows won’t be ready till May. That’s a long time to see the garden through a brown film.

I got to work and had it beautifully clear before H got back.

I could barely take my eyes off it all afternoon. The light! The view! The dramatic contrast with the filthy windows on either side!

H hasn’t noticed.

Smiling to myself and scheming to do the other two.

 

[Layla]

Klassy, you crack me up. I like your writing style. I will admit I did get nervous when I read
“Confessions” of a window cleaner. I immediately envisioned you perched on a ladder. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. Whew!

I got to work and had it beautifully clear before H got back.

I could barely take my eyes off it all afternoon. The light! The view! The dramatic contrast with the filthy windows on either side!

H hasn’t noticed.

Smiling to myself and scheming to do the other two.

The BEST!

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[Klassy]

Lol @Layla , you have probably never heard of the original 1970s saucy film of that name. It’s a British thing!

 

[Layla]

No, Klassy, I hadn’t ever heard of it …but naturally I did a search.

Hopefully you’ll have an opportunity to clean the other two windows when hubs isn’t looking.
Stay safe and enjoy the view!
@Klassy

 

[Klassy]

My journey has taken an unexpected detour.

The new hip is fine.

I woke up yesterday with some odd visual effects in my left eye. An extreme case of floaters. I had a nice day, a friend visited, and I didn’t pay much attention to the eye until the evening, when I began to wonder what was going on, and consulted Dr Google. Somewhat to my surprise, I found the NHS information on my symptoms advised phoning 111, their advice line. Even more to my surprise, someone answered, and took me through a long list of questions. I answered no to almost all. I felt that they were ruling out stroke, heart attack etc. I was expecting them to conclude that it was nothing to worry about, so I was astonished when the advice was to go straight to Hospital Emergency. I spent from 9pm till almost 1 pm in the waiting room. My husband who drove me the half hour journey there wasn’t allowed in due to covid rules and nearly froze waiting in the car. The doctor who eventually examined me felt that there was something going on, and set up an appointment for me at the eye hospital this afternoon. We arrived home in the early hours of Valentines Day and exchanged cards. Romance is not dead!

So this afternoon, another 2 hours for us both in a different hospital an hour’s drive away. I had eye inspections. The ophthalmologist found a couple of oddities but nothing that he could diagnose. He thought it more likely to be an optic nerve problem than anything in the eye itself. I had blood samples taken, and a pinprick test for diabetes which was clear. The ophthalmologist gave me steroids ready to take if the blood tests come back showing infection. He also is referring me for CT scan of brain. And then MRI if that doesn’t find anything.

I feel quite blindsided (horrible pun intended).

 

[Layla]

Aww Klassy, I’m so sorry you are experiencing this. I’m sure it’s quite unnerving. My heart goes out to everyone these past two years who had to sit in ER’s alone, lie in hospital beds with no visitors and prep for surgery without the caring support of a loved one being there. Hopefully this turns out to be nothing serious. I will pray to that end. Please keep us posted and know that we’re here if you need us and we care always. Sending a hug and wishing you peace of mind as you seek answers.
@Klassy

 

[Elf1]

@Klassy oh my goodness, hoping it turns out to be nothing too serious but was better to be safe than sorry. Will keep you in my thoughts.

 

[Mojo333]

Hopefully they are just ruling out all the "bad" possibilities, as it appears they already have for most suspected causes... and if there is a complaint issued shortly after a major surgery... certainly that would urge them to be extra dutiful.
Another thought....
My sister works for an eye doctor and my hubby has floaters and dry eyes.
He often does not drink enough water and has been told this can cause floaters.

Dehydration is another cause of eye floaters. The vitreous humour in your eyes is made of 98% of water. If you're constantly dehydrated, this gel-like substance can lose shape or shrink. This can lead to the occurrence of floaters because the proteins in this substance do not remain dissolved and thus, they solidify.

Drinking more and using rehydration drops have helped him.
Hopefully, they rule out any other causes.

 

[Klassy]

Thanks for your kind words @Layla , @Elf1 and @Mojo333. I am grateful to have this forum to confide in.

I will put the eye issue out of mind for now. Hopefully it will turn out to be nothing. I’ll be sure to drink plenty of water in case that is a factor.

In the meantime I can continue to report that the hip recovery is going well. I coped fine with the car journeys and getting round the hospitals and on and off lots of unfamiliar chairs etc. I am now getting around with one crutch both indoors and also in the garden, which has very uneven ground.

Last night, end of Day 40, I rolled over onto my non-operated side. I didn’t try to stay there, but I take it as a good sign that my body is getting towards the stage where that comes naturally. I looked back in this thread and see that the same thing happened with hip 1 at Day 38, so once again I am pretty much on track with last time’s steady progress.

 

[Reanda]

Hi Klassy, oh all that vigorous window cleaning! I did the same at my home I wanted a good view outside as sitting in chair for weeks.
I also have floaters originally caused by bumping my head on an overhead shelf...I raced off to the hosp for tests. The bump dislodged some small fragments of debris inside the vitreous humour, which then just float around, generally harmless unless you are getting flashes of light which you didn't mention. The brain gradually dismisses these floaters as unimportant therefore over time you tend not to notice them. But the reminder to drink water is welcome as its too easy to forget! Hopefully nothing serious in yr case, but it's very scary, keep us posted.

 

[Klassy]

My 6 week anniversary, yay! It seems to have gone quite quickly. I guess there have been a few distractions, what with medical adventures and lots of tradesmen coming and going with the new kitchen and other bits and pieces. Perhaps it helps that I learnt from the first hip that my recovery would take longer than the 6 weeks that gets mentioned so much in the pre- op information, so I’ve been just a teensy bit more patient.

Today I set off across the room forgetting my crutch. I have done that a couple of times lately, but always stopped quickly and grabbed the crutch. Today I thought I would see how I got on without any aids. The first two steps were fine, then the right leg began to ache on the outside of the thigh just above the knee, then the ache became pain, which got worse. I managed to totter about 12 little steps to the doorway, where I could steady myself and turn round. Then I tottered back. Retrieved the crutch and the pain magically vanished.

Going without aids didn’t feel good and I wasn’t walking normally at all, so I have decided not to try again for a little while. I notice from this thread that I went through the same process a few days before the 6 week point last time. I was still using at least one crutch at week 6.

Another point of comparison is trying to stand and balance on my operated leg. My physio suggested when we talked 10 days ago that I do this for short spells holding on to a counter for balance. I gave it a try but felt pain in the hip joint, so decided to wait a week and try again. I have been trying over the last few days, but can only manage a few seconds, with quite a bit of support from the counter. The pain now presents low on the outer thigh, same as walking without aids. First hip could do 10 seconds without holding on by this point.

All in all, I feel like I may be up to a week slower this time. We’ll see. It may be due to less opportunity to walk any distance on level ground, as I have mentioned before. Or, the surgeon for Hip 2 told me post-op that my right leg was shorter - news to me - so he had lengthened it a bit. I hope he did the right thing there! That presumably would have involved more trauma to the muscles , and explain why I had a lot more swelling than with hip 1.

On the plus side, I have been to visit at a friend’s place, which established that I can sit down and get up from a simple chair ( ie not one with arms) and use a normal height toilet. So I am ready to go café visiting now, once we find a good place to head to.

And during a sunny spell this morning, before Storm Whosit blew in, I managed to turn over the compost heap a bit. (Husband doesn’t do it, just dumps the veg scraps in a messy pile on top which has been bugging me). It was very awkward, pushing around with a rake in one hand and a crutch in the other. But I got it into better shape, and two robins came to feast on the exposed insects, which I found very rewarding to see.

 

[Elf1]

@Klassy overall sounds like a good update, happy 6 weeks!

 

[Klassy]

New hip is fine, I managed to catch some sunshine today walking in the garden a.m. and a half hour slow walk in the neighbourhood p.m.

I know it’s a bit off topic but I want to report latest on my eye issue.

The ophthalmologist phoned on Tuesday to say my blood results showed inflammation so start taking the steroids. 60 mg daily of prednisolone (plus omeprazole to protect stomach). I have a scan (of optic nerve I think) at midday tomorrow, hopefully the roads will be ok for the drive there as we have forecast strong winds and heavy rain.

My floaters in left eye are a bit worse. It’s like looking through strands of hair, plus a cloud of midges. I noticed yesterday that the right eye also has specks, not sure if it started then or if I only noticed it because I was trying to see something clearly and covered my left eye.

The prednisolone is in case I have Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA). I don’t have any of the other symptoms, and floaters don’t fit the usual pattern of vision loss. If I do have GCA, it’s necessary to save my eyesight (hopefully) and maybe even my life. If I don’t, then I have the risk of side effects for nothing. Obviously I am taking the pills whatever the side effects, but they do sound worrying. Particularly the possibility of osteoporosis. At 6 weeks post THR, am I still building bone to bed in the prosthesis?

And do I need to start worrying all over again about Covid? I have had my vaccinations and booster in November, will that immunity be lessened?

Sorry, I know this is off topic but I know there are people on here who have faced similar, and I would be grateful for your thoughts.

I have found Facebook groups for GCA ( soooo inferior to our dear Bonesmart website) but they haven’t responded yet to my request to join.

 

[Layla]

Dear Klassy,
Please don‘t apologize for going off topic. You are part of our BoneSmart family and we’re here to listen, lend support and offer encouragement aside from joint replacement if you’re in need. I’m sure this is unnerving and we can certainly frighten ourselves in searching online. You’re being proactive and under a doctors care. Thankfully you’re scheduled for the necessary tests to rule out the most serious possibilities. I hope you don’t have to wait long for results and that a diagnosis and treatment plan come soon. I will be holding you in thought and prayer for the best possible outcome. Hugs
@Klassy