Three months today...
Just thought I would add a little to the continuing saga of my THR adventures.
It's hard to believe just where the time has gone! I've now had this hip for three months, and to be honest, I'm growing to love it. I'm walking dozens of times further than I could pre-THR and my distance is only hampered by my own fitness. Although I have found that I do have a limit with the time on my feet, then it starts to give a low-level ache and I have to rest for a bit. But it's slowly improving and getting better. I have never been a super-fit person and being bent over with arthritis has knocked my general fitness right down, but now I can work on it with time. I am going to have a exercise bike delivered later on to help get my fitness up a bit (and lose a few pounds). I would say that I have around 80-90% range of movement than before. A lot of the time, I forget I had it done and sometimes I twist or move awkwardly and I get a sudden reminder. Putting on socks is possible, but that defines my limit of movement at the moment.
I have been using a walking stick for over a year and it's very strange to find myself not needing one and people often ask me where it is.
My sleep patterns are fully restored as it was only until Week 9 until I could sleep comfortably on my op side. Driving is ok, but getting out the car with my op side the same side as my door can make the joint pull a bit if I'm not careful, so I have to get out with both feet together. Still a bit of healing to be done there, I guess. I am struggling with long distances as my car seat presses my wound and I get stiff sitting in one position for a time.
I am still off work (Yay!) and treating my time off as a very long extended holiday and doing the things I couldn't do before. I have a house that needs decorating and some serious DIY projects which need doing, but these I'm saving for a few weeks time when my movement increases a little.
I'm back to my doc a week tomorrow and there to talk about returning to work - although I don't think he would be good enough to sign me off for another three months - as I'm getting rather used to this leisurely lifestyle. So unless the Lottery comes my way, I'm scheduled back to work two weeks today, possibly on reduced hours/activities. My biggest concern here is the hours I would spend driving.
What I would like the doctor to prescribe is a holiday to Florida and give my THR a real workout (last time was a painful crippling experience) and see how my hip copes with the hot weather, theme parks, food, rollercoasters and walking, purely in the name of recuperation and recovery and to make sure everything is bedded in and working perfectly. I have a slight suspicion he may not agree with this and I'll have to resort to saving some money and doing this myself. Hopefully I would like this to happen maybe Christmas time, with a bit of luck.
So I guess this is it. Everything is good, no major problems with recovery. I am walking normally without any limp or discomfort for the first time in many years. I still have thoughts about what happened at my op and that isn't going to go away which has left me with one scar on my leg and another in my head. But I'm trying to look forward and not back. I'm done and grateful that the THR has been a perfect textbook job.
Finally, A big thanks to everyone who helped me get through it all and took time to respond. It was a big help and I'm not sure how things would have worked out if you hadn't been here for me. I'm not sure I would have even have had it done.
United Kingdom
Great to read this Graham...... we do all get there eventually!!! Well done
