THR Diary of my journey to happy times

7 months today! Just snatching a few moments from a busy day to update, so apologies for not checking in on anyone else’s thread. Thinking of you though, and hoping you are all doing well.

After about 3 months I stopped comparing my two hip recoveries because Hip 2 seemed to be doing worse, with a mega setback. But I recently happened to be looking through the thread and found that I had forgotten that Hip 1 also had a mega setback , some time after month 4. So it turns out Hip 2 is still the winner: it even had its setback earlier!

So let me compare where they are now. What I said back in July 2019:


Left hip is good. I still get a bit of that clicking sensation on occasion, but it isn’t particularly bothersome.

Left knee is fine for level walking. In this aspect I’m back to the standard of several years ago, before the OA pain started. So just in that regard, the op has paid off. I don’t think I am quite there yet with walking up or particularly down hill.

The left knee is still not doing stairs. I can alternate feet going up, if stairs are not too steep and there is a handrail. It is still strictly toddler style going downstairs. The right knee grumbles about the workload sometimes. I have had knee problems for 30 years so this may be nothing to do with the hip, but it is a limiting factor. I must admit to be very intermittent in doing my prescribed knee exercises - I need to make more effort.

Right hip continues pain free, touch wood, but rom is less than I now have on the new improved left.

I seem to be perpetually stiff all over. I don’t know if it is just what comes with age, rampaging OA (my finger joints for example are all lumpy, and I have to loosen them when I wake up each morning) or lifestyle. My lifestyle involves too much sitting in the car for long trips, and insane amounts of gardening.

This is all for the sake of keeping a record of progress, not in any way complaining. I am doing all the things I wanted to do and that had become restricted pre-op: ringing, gardening, walking. I sleep, sit, put on my socks etc without pain.

Life is good.
I never got the clicking sensation with Hip 2. I forget when it disappeared for Hip 1, but both hips are good now.

I can, as before, walk well on level ground. I can also do hills. Lack of fitness is the biggest limitation to walking up hills, but I knew going into the second replacement that I was less fit than immediately before Hip 1. And having Covid about a month ago also made a dint in my progress. So getting puffed is understandable and will improve. Going down hills seems ok at the time but comes with after effects, as described in next paragraph.

I have been doing stairs alternating both up and down for some time. My right knee has been heroic throughout, my left a bit whiny. However, today I have pain in the right knee. It is in the kneecap when going up or down stairs. It feels like kneeling on a sharp object but with a bit of cushion in between, ie sharp soreness but not agony. I remember this as an intermittent problem from my 30s onwards. I am pretty sure I know the cause. We had a house guest (an old friend, fantastic to see her after a couple of years break) and took her walking on the Malvern hills, further than I knew was wise. But well worth it for the wonderful views. I knew my knees would complain afterwards. But I was surprised to get the grumbles from the right knee. I guess on reflection it makes sense, because I was relying on it all the time in order to spare the left.

The good news is that left knee only has a very mild case of the same discomfort. So I am using it as good leg for a change. It is probably good to balance out the workload anyway.

ROM same on both sides.

Stiffness all over? Still ticking that box. I accept that is how I am. I try to keep in slow gentle motion as much of the time as possible. Motion is the lotion, as someone on this forum said.

Life is even better!
 
Oh heck. I found I had somehow posted twice. Couldn’t figure how to remove post, so edited to replace all with some babble. But the duplicate post is back!

It reminds me of trying to evict snails.
 
Hi @Klassy :heehee:
The 3 dots and then the arrow at the bottom of the post will give you an option to delete.
Or.... you can edit to babble:SUNsmile::happydance:

Hope you have a good day!
 
Wonderful update and it's so great to be able to compare the recovery notes.

Just in case you are unable to get it deleted, I've posted to the moderators to delete the duplicate post.
 
I was confused and missed the duplicate post... should have waited on the coffee:mcoffee:

Gone now.:tada:
 
Happy Seven Month Anniversary!
Great update. Thanks for taking the time to share and also for the awesome support of others here.
You are a sweetheart, Klassy. :loveshwr:
Have a wonderful weekend!
 
Testing delete …..
…….
….. nope, canna do it!

Not to worry.

While I am here, an update for @Boofit to say I finished the Thursday Murder Club and felt it was rather feeble. Definitely a case of celebrity-author hype. Hopefully you have found a better read by now.
 
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oh my goodness you made me laugh AGAIN! Sorry about the knee situation:( Other than that though happy 7 month anniversary! The Thursday Murder Club sounds kinda fun. Do you recommend it? I am so much happier when I have a good book to dive into! I hope you have a great week @Klassy!
 
Hi @Snoopy55 :flwrysmile:,
The Thursday Murder Club sounds kinda fun. Do you recommend it?
Both Klassy and I took a Reacher book to hospital to read post-op, but neither of us had time in hospital to read it!! It turns out both Klassy and I liked the earlier Reacher books by Lee Child. And then Klassy mentioned someone gave her a copy of the Thursday Murder Club and since I like Mystery and Crime novels, I got myself a copy (have lots of spare time in recovery:heehee:). The book is written by a celebrity British presenter and has received a lot of good reviews, but I am an outlier.

This is what I thought of it:
Being a senior myself, I sort of like the idea of a group of seniors in their seventies getting together to solve a crime, and I found parts of it humorous, but the plot is somewhat slow for me. I also think there are too many characters that are "fillers" and I find it difficult to keep score!
 
I really liked the Thursday Murder Club and found it amusing and easy to read. I read the second book in the series The Man Who Died Twice when I got home from hospital a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to the third book which is coming out soon.
 
Hi @Ocean . It’s good to get another view on the Thursday Murder Club. By the end the story wasn’t really gripping me, but I agree with you that it is amusing, and an easy read which is ideal during recovery. I received my copy from friends who received multiple copies from their multiple offspring and grandkids who obviously all thought they had found the uniquely perfect gift. So my strategy now is to tell said friends how much I loved the TMC and see if a spare copy of book 2 falls into my lap in due course. (What a cheapskate I am!)
 
@Klassy, I read books on the Kindle app on my iPad. I’m waiting for the second book to come out in paperback so that my Mum can read it, she liked the first book but at 94 doesn’t do technology.

I know that Stephen Spielberg bought the rights to make a film of the first book pretty early on and often wonder who’ll be cast in each role.
 
I know that Stephen Spielberg bought the rights to make a film of the first book pretty early on and often wonder who’ll be cast in each role
Interesting. I hope they find someone new to me and not the regular geriatrics like Judi Dench and Ian McKellen etc. Wonderful though they are, there must be other old actors out there.

But then, isn’t it a shock when some gorgeous young star of my teenage dreams suddenly reappears playing a pensioner!

Further to my post about my friends receiving multiple copies of TTMC, I just received as a belated birthday pressie my third copy of “Where the Crawdads sing” - that makes one on Kindle and 2 paperbacks. I shall give this latest copy to the friend who gave me their spare TTMC. If they don’t already have it. I read copy 1 a while ago, and I think I quite liked it. I seem to be hard to please these days. When I was younger I regularly fell passionately in love with novels, now I am glad to find one I want to finish. Have my mental muscles gone flabby from too much clicking? [opens a new tab, clicks on Google, searches for “why don’t I love reading as much as I used to?” …
 
Well my friends, I have done it! Yesterday we paid the deposit for my first ever puppy. A cockapoo, and you know what? Now I look at my avatar pic (a random gorgeous pup that I found wandering on the internet with no collar I mean copyright) I think my puppy is likely to turn out remarkably similar. Except that she will have a paler nose. She will be coming home in 24 days. How nice to be counting down puppy anticipation days as a change from counting up hip recovery days!

We had a long snuggle session yesterday. I can’t speak for puppy, though she seemed happy, but I have certainly bonded! I am storing the memory for use just in case of blues in future.
 
Congrats!!! Cockapoos are soooo smart!!! She will keep you hopping for sure. Our neighbors son has a cockapoo (Molly), he brings her over when he visits his Dad and she is such a great dog. Just highly intelligent and very trainable.
I'll expect pictures! LOL!
 
Congratulations @Klassy !!! You're going to be a dog mom soon:yahoo:

Have you resumed your bell ringing activity?
 
Wonderful news, Klassy. A dream come true. You'll have to share a pic once she's officially in your care.
Not too long now. :)
@Klassy
 
Congratulations!!!! Oh wow, do post pics when she is snuggling on your lap.
 

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