rider1960
post-grad
Yes, Diane, I believe we could have continued chatting for another 5 hours--at least! I came home thinking ... I didn't find out "this" about her, or talk about "that." Next time we will continue ... 
Suki, I'm glad you haven't had any problems with your insurance. That's one problem none of us need to be worrying about when we've got so much going on with our recoveries. My disability insurance is like a private policy. It's something offered by my employer, but I pay the entire premium and am subject to their rules. It's run by a regular insurance company; I won't mention the name here, but it's one of the big guys, which probably explains all the hoops I'm having to jump through. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that the next review gives me another 6 weeks without more reviews in between ... that way I'll know that I'm approved for the whole stretch of time.
Alicia, something like I have doesn't show up in an x-ray. My surgeon diagnosed it mainly on my description and his exam findings. The severity and length of time it's been there indicated that it was more than a simple "pulled muscle," but the exam didn't indicate something horribly bad. He said that if it were a bad tear, my body wouldn't have been able to do the things that he had it do during the exam. I/he was able to do everything, although it caused pain. But the fact that it *could* be done without the body sort of "stopping" and not going any further with, say, when he did the pretzel stuff or the straight leg raising testing stuff he did--that showed that things were primarily intact and the tears he suspects are small and "heal-able" without needing further testing or a major repair job. Just my patience ...
Jamie, thanks for your support. I, too, am very happy with my surgeon. I trust him a great deal. I've gotten to know him pretty well and really feel he's "got my back," which makes me feel much better about things. He is also a hip specialist who does nothing but hip stuff all the time and has pretty much seen it all. He's the one the physicians go to when they need something done with their hips, as I've heard of several physicians in my neck of the woods who had either replacements or resurfacings done by him. And, plus he's a very nice person who I can tell really cares about me and wants me to get better.
Oh, just a side--I asked him about wearing the padded shorts for hip protection after I start riding my horse again. He said he didn't know if it would really help that much if I fall, since the hip can take a pretty hard knock if the impact is in the immediate area. He said the biggest problem would be if my foot got caught in the stirrup and the leg got twisted--the femur would probably break at the end of the the femoral stem--the weak area. He also said "None of my horseback rider patients have fallen off." To which I chuckled and said "Oh, they are falling off--they just aren't telling you because they are afraid you will tell them they shouldn't continue to ride." I belong to some horse-related forums/message boards where I've read threads about riders with hip replacements, and I've read about people falling off, getting kicked, being practically run over by a horse--all kinds of fun stuff, ha ha--it's happening--but apparently their hips are holding up! That was good news to me and says something about the strength of our new parts. I will probably still wear the padded shorts--a little extra protection certainly can't hurt.
Hope everyone is doing well out there in bonesmartland. One topic Diane and I discussed at length was how much we love this board and are so glad we found it. It's such a great resource for information and support. Thanks to everyone who works on it to keep it running so smoothly.
Dorothy
Suki, I'm glad you haven't had any problems with your insurance. That's one problem none of us need to be worrying about when we've got so much going on with our recoveries. My disability insurance is like a private policy. It's something offered by my employer, but I pay the entire premium and am subject to their rules. It's run by a regular insurance company; I won't mention the name here, but it's one of the big guys, which probably explains all the hoops I'm having to jump through. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that the next review gives me another 6 weeks without more reviews in between ... that way I'll know that I'm approved for the whole stretch of time.
Alicia, something like I have doesn't show up in an x-ray. My surgeon diagnosed it mainly on my description and his exam findings. The severity and length of time it's been there indicated that it was more than a simple "pulled muscle," but the exam didn't indicate something horribly bad. He said that if it were a bad tear, my body wouldn't have been able to do the things that he had it do during the exam. I/he was able to do everything, although it caused pain. But the fact that it *could* be done without the body sort of "stopping" and not going any further with, say, when he did the pretzel stuff or the straight leg raising testing stuff he did--that showed that things were primarily intact and the tears he suspects are small and "heal-able" without needing further testing or a major repair job. Just my patience ...
Jamie, thanks for your support. I, too, am very happy with my surgeon. I trust him a great deal. I've gotten to know him pretty well and really feel he's "got my back," which makes me feel much better about things. He is also a hip specialist who does nothing but hip stuff all the time and has pretty much seen it all. He's the one the physicians go to when they need something done with their hips, as I've heard of several physicians in my neck of the woods who had either replacements or resurfacings done by him. And, plus he's a very nice person who I can tell really cares about me and wants me to get better.
Oh, just a side--I asked him about wearing the padded shorts for hip protection after I start riding my horse again. He said he didn't know if it would really help that much if I fall, since the hip can take a pretty hard knock if the impact is in the immediate area. He said the biggest problem would be if my foot got caught in the stirrup and the leg got twisted--the femur would probably break at the end of the the femoral stem--the weak area. He also said "None of my horseback rider patients have fallen off." To which I chuckled and said "Oh, they are falling off--they just aren't telling you because they are afraid you will tell them they shouldn't continue to ride." I belong to some horse-related forums/message boards where I've read threads about riders with hip replacements, and I've read about people falling off, getting kicked, being practically run over by a horse--all kinds of fun stuff, ha ha--it's happening--but apparently their hips are holding up! That was good news to me and says something about the strength of our new parts. I will probably still wear the padded shorts--a little extra protection certainly can't hurt.
Hope everyone is doing well out there in bonesmartland. One topic Diane and I discussed at length was how much we love this board and are so glad we found it. It's such a great resource for information and support. Thanks to everyone who works on it to keep it running so smoothly.
Dorothy
United States
and I only see it because I know it. You are so used to be so physical and feel you should bounce back quick. If everything they say is true about needing "at least" one year to recover from major surgery, and I am finding that to be true, may I remind you that you are still working on year 1 from your first surgery? Just sayin 
Probably has to do with all the out food and this box of cap'n crunch I keep 
