Lounge Doctor

THR Diary of my journey to happy times

Thanks guys. I did (sort of) hear your warning words beforehand or I would have been more gung-ho with the exercises and would be in a much worse state. But I’m hearing you loud and clear now! I had a good night, thanks to the codeine, and most of the nasty feelings have gone, I hope permanently. Definitely not doing any exercises today, or for the next few days, then will review.

@HertsHippy it was a yellow band, she said it was at the easy end of the range. But it is tucked away in the back of the drawer and won’t be seeing daylight for quite a while.
 
Resistance bands - nope! Just don't go there. Not necessary at all. You are not training for a sports event. You are recovering from major trauma. These PT people have a check list and give everyone they see the same set of exercises. Just walk. It won't make you sore and walking will strengthen.
 
Thanks, appreciate the advice. Don’t worry, no bands, I hear the collective wisdom! I have done aqua aerobics in the past and enjoyed it, when living elsewhere. The only time I investigated our local pool here I was repelled: overheated, noisy, stank of chlorine. And that was just the staff. But I will check with surgeon when I see him in just over a week that swimming is ok and will investigate. Pool may have improved or there may be other places.

Yes the physio advice doesn’t seem particularly tailored to me, or my hip, despite the therapist being employed by the hospital which does lots of joint replacements. So why go? Good question. I guess I’ve gone to these past two sessions because I will have one follow up with surgeon at 6 weeks, and if anything isn’t as it should be I don’t want it to be my fault for not following instructions. And I booked the next session in two weeks from now because the therapist was standing by me at the reception counter and ... you know, politeness. And an even more stupid reason I guess, that I’ve paid almost £11000 to be treated privately ( because I didn’t want to wait any longer for NHS) and physio is included in the package. It’s like overeating at a hotel all inclusive breakfast. Which I try not to do! Anyway I’ve discussed with H and I’m going to phone tomorrow and move appointment back a week. That will take it to just over 8 weeks. She can look at my walking which I hope will be aid free by then, at least across the physio studio, and suggest exercises if there are issues that need correcting, but I won’t do the exercises till I feel ready.
 
@Klassy I feel quite concerned about physio. I waited for this surgeon because of his reputation and have no concerns there at all but apparently he is a real PT freak. My true feelings are like the Bonesmart philosophy but I don't know how I'm going to get away with it. All the PT I have done over the last 5 years has made me worse, not better in the least. I'm like you though, nervous to not do what I'm told in a situation like that, at least outwardly.
 
I know a lot of people are really wary of physio - but my experience both times has been nothing but positive and helpful. It really does depend on the physio you see- mine have been fantastic- and I couldn't have got through the first or this one without their help and support- and then of course also ensuring you take control of what you want the physio to help you with if you feel they aren't assisting.

I completely echo that most of us aren't training for a competitive sport when we see the physio post surgery- but a good physio does see the whole (holistic) picture and patient. I've also noticed from reading this forum addictively for nearly 18 months- the North American physios generally seem to be keener on the more intensive exercises and the resistance bands (and far fewer of the NHS ones- )- mine have never suggested bands- nor have they pushed any exercises and have actively told me to avoid overdoing it, causing pain etc.
 
@LdnFizz - I agree. My physio is great and has not been pushing me too hard. She works hard to understand my physiology and often tells me to do less but do it well. There does seem to be a difference between the UK and the US.

The other difference that amazes me is how quickly US patients go home. I think I was a very good patient - fit, not overweight and no health problems. I was admitted for four nights but released after three because I was doing very well. In the US I would have been home the same day - sounds scary.
 
Yes I’ve felt aghast at how quickly people go home, though they generally seem happy about it.

I’m generally a fan of physiotherapy, I’ve paid many pounds, and Australian dollars, for treatment of various troublesome body parts over the decades. I only had an NHS one once, after I broke my wrist, and I thought he was useless because he didn’t want me to do anything. Seemed to think I should expect to live with permanent pain and damage. I don’t think I would have regained full ROM of my wrist if I hadn’t gone to a private physio who specialised in sports rehab. The difference though was that my wrist was in plaster for the bone to heal for 6 weeks before I did physio. And none of the other physiotherapists have wanted me to push past discomfort, let alone pain.

@Carriemay60, we may both have to rehearse our saying no before our next appointments. I am sorry to hear that you have had bad outcomes in the past, but use that to empower you to say no if you want to. A PT can’t know your body like you do, or your history, and your past misfortune makes you a more complicated case than most they would deal with. I don’t think you should let reports about your surgeon’s views of PT worry you though. Hah, easy to say! I’m such a big worrier myself! I was worrying I had overdone it yesterday, but it was only a niggle and today I’m fine. The thing was, thanks to Bonesmart I was forewarned. The physio was probably happy that I was doing what she told me to yesterday, but I was holding a lot in reserve. I will try her exercises, but only when I’m ready. As you say, you chose your surgeon because he has a good reputation. He gets results. Maybe he believes in PT because he sends his patients to therapists who provide the right sort of therapy.
 
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The end of Day 38 and all’s well. A few little things to report, probably of interest to no one except my future self (maybe not even her).

Last night I woke and without thinking rolled on to my non operated side. Then I thought, oops, not supposed to do that, no pillow between legs etc. But since I was already there, I stayed put. All fine, nothing hurt. But it wasn’t the wonderful comfortable position I’d imagined. Perhaps because I’ve bought a new pillow for sleeping on my back, but my shoulder felt wrong. So I rolled back to lie on my back. But I think the change shows that these things happen when our bodies are ready.

The area round my incision is a lot less swollen/bumpy and numb than it was. I got H to trace round my scar with his finger at a distance of 3 inches, 2 inches, 1 inch. (I can’t actually see it well enough to do it myself). Normal sensation 2 inches out. One small numb patch below scar at 1 inch out.

I took a shower without having H in the bathroom to hand me crutches, soap, towel etc. The last time I tried that was Day 25 and it took me two days to recover. This time easy-peasy. Progress!

We walked to a new cafe that has just opened a couple of blocks away. About a third of a mile each way. Easy to cover the distance (though slow). The cafe is part of a chain, so the food was nothing special, but the coffee was good. H’s phone recorded 1300 steps each way, seems about right for the distance, he was taking short steps to keep pace with me. My phone recorded 1036 on the way there and zero on the way back. What is going on there?!

I had a brief try at walking indoors with one crutch held just above the ground, but I can see from my reflection in a conveniently placed glass door that I am lurching from side to side a bit. I’m going to leave off trying that for now, and concentrate on walking smoothly with one crutch indoors, two outdoors. I think if I leave it alone, like sleeping on my side, walking without aids will just happen.

The sun was shining today. My mood is much more cheerful. These things are almost certainly connected.
 
@Klassy It could be that some rate him unfairly on that topic. Quite possible and a reminder not to believe anything until you know for yourself. It takes a very long time to get into a good surgeon in Canada and I don't want to burn any bridges with him. With both my back surgeries we were working for an American company and money talks down there. In both cases I had surgery just 2 weeks after slipping disks. The last one, we were living in Japan. I had a friend living on the West coast where I was confident I would be very welcome for my recovery. She found me the name of the surgeon that looked after their NFL football team; phoned his office, sent a MRI and got on a plane after booking a date within 2 weeks. In Canada, a slipped disk could easily wait 2 years!
 
What a fantastic update!! You are doing fantastic and wisely listening to your body and intuition. I think all of that will make your long term recovery very meaningful. As far as walking with aides goes, one you switch to a cane you will suddenly start finding yourself in a room and realize you forgot to bring your cane with you so yes, it just kind of happens. I was months not sleeping on either side. If I laid on my non-operated side, I had the sensation of something as heavy as a brick on my operated side. It was quite odd.

With all the dining out, I'm getting the impression Mr. Klassy is either not interested in cooking or he's not allowed in the kitchen! lol:friends:
 
LOL, Mr Klassy does his best, bless him!
The Canadian system sounds as bad as my local NHS (I say local as I know other parts of UK do better ). If you have a good surgeon, that’s the really important thing. Mine had a great reputation and so far, touch wood etc, all signs are that he did an excellent job with me.
 
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@Klassy
What IS that on your avatar?
Baby Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors?
 
@Klassy you are approaching this with a lot of common sense and you are right, the body does have a way of telling you when or when not you are ready to move to the next stage.

You are right not to come off the crutches too early. I used them outside for quite some time but got used to powering around the house without them.

When I first started sleeping on my non op side I found that I stretched the op side muscles too much so went back to sleeping on my back. A further two weeks and it got a lot easier.

I had to laugh at the Audrey II comment. My first pro show playing in the orchestra after the op was Little Shop of Horrors. I loved it.

Onwards..
 
Sounds like you're doing well, Klassy!
Those milestones, like hubs not needing to help with the shower feel like such huge accomplishments
toward regaining our independence. I remember. I'm happy for you. :yay:
I hope you've had a nice day. Wishing you a great weekend :SUNsmile:
@Klassy
 
IMG_9294.JPG


LOL @Mojo333 , knowing how you feel about sprouts, “Little Shop of Horrors” is very apt.

Back story: when I was very low on Day 6, we needed shopping and husband didn’t want to leave me alone, so decided to try online grocery shopping. He clicked on various fresh foods eg courgettes (=zucchini) , bananas and sprouts, which usually come in bags, and specified quantity of 1 for each. When the delivery arrived it was 1 item, not 1 bag. Now one banana is not so crazy, and one zucchini is passable, but the sight of one, 1 only, lonely, Brussels sprout, neatly labelled and bagged, just made us crack up. We thought of someone in the grocery HQ carefully picking it out and bagging it and putting it on the scales and thinking “yup, I hate em too, but you gotta make an effort”. And since it cheered me up and it was seasonal ( sprouts are considered compulsory at Christmas even though most people don’t like them) I adopted it as my avatar.

I should probably get round to choosing something cuter like a kitten. Mind you, little Audrey 2 works too: Feed me, feed me, feeeeeed me ..... I’ve known cats like that!

PS I put the picture in this post, because once I change my avatar this post won’t make any sense otherwise.
 
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Yes, Day 39 was nice. The sun shone and I walked a bit further than yesterday. All is well!
 
And here is my new avatar. This is not my dog.... yet. I want to get one just like this, and when the prospect of surgery got me down, I would picture myself playing with a puppy like this, and it got me through some dark nights.
 
Aah...cute pup..
But now I miss the little sprout:giggle:
Glad you are doing well!:dogwalk:
 
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