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THR Ginny's Recovery Thread (LTHR)

@Ginny12
You are sounding very positive which is great. I think we have all come across those wobbly moments but luckily for me mine didn't last long. Hopefully yours will be the same.
I have tried looking for the Active Scar Shield and can't trace it in the UK. Maybe someone else knows differently.
 
Best of luck with your visit with the OS tomorrow.
I'm sure you haven't done any damage by whatever you've been doing if you're feeling no pain.
It sounds like you're experiencing some Energy Drain.
Since our body's energy supply isn't limitless, when we're in healing mode after major surgery
our energy will be used for healing first, not leaving a great reserve for all the other activity of daily life. It is completely normal to feel tired for quite some time. How long....most likely relates to your body's rate of healing. Making our best effort to get adequate sleep and rest is beneficial.
Our body does it's best healing while we're sleeping.

Gratitude list sounds like a great idea. I've read some of the things you're grateful for and enjoyed it.
Hope you have a wonderful week!
@Ginny12
 
ACTIVE Scar Shield can be shipped to the UK and to other countries. Please use the link through our BoneSmart web site:

broken link removed: https://shop.bldgactive.com/products/ssg/?source=bonesmarthocl

Right now the company is offering free shipping (at least in the USA; not sure about other locations) and a 10% discount for BoneSmarties who use the code BONE10 at checkout.
 
Day 14

I am going to start my first post of the day with a gratitude list it has been scientifically proven to improve ones mood! And hopefully aid recovery too.

1) My husband, i don't want to make anybody feel ill but i was a lost soul before i met him. We met later in life (married 16 years) and his unfailing love and support is something i thought that i would never have, never deserved.
2) Bonesmart i will not keep using the same things that i am grateful for but i feel bathed in such warmth and support on this site. One hears of one line forums where people can be unpleasant to one another. None of that here, healthy debate, but always conducted with respect towards others.
3) My cat Archie, he is lying next to me now, curled up and purring. Good looking boy too.
4) The staff in my local Waitrose (supermarket) always take the time to chat and help. Free coffee too, i love free things!
5) Clean water, i had my first proper shower yesterday, so lovely to feel clean. It goes without saying too that so
many people in the world struggle to get water to drink, and it is coming out my tap!
6) Good visit with my OS today, more on that later.
7) Painkillers, i need say no more.
8) The different seasons. I love them all in their own ways.
9) Chocolate, most females i think will get this one.
10) Rosa Parks, i cannot over stress what an inspiration i find her. One small woman's bravery changed the world.

This list has not taken me very long, and yes, i have no science to prove it but i do feel better emotionally now than before i wrote it. Forgive the solipsism!
 
Thanks for sharing the things you're grateful for, Ginny. It's refreshing. A heart of gratitude is good for mind and body. Thanks also for your continued kind and gentle support on the forum.
I hope you have a lovely day!
@Ginny12
 
Hi All,

Quick post as my husband has gone for fish and chips, any Brit knows it is the law to eat them hot with salt and vinegar.

Saw my OS, he said i could drive and walk unaided. I am still a bit shocked, but, i did indeed walk unaided in a corridor in the hospital. He took the stick off me and made me do it. I was a bag of nerves, but, crucially, i trust him and it was fine. Not sure i am totally ready to get rid of my stick or drive but i can if i want to. I felt a bit like a little bird flying out the nest for the first time.

He believes in PT and is aware of the exercises i have been given and told me to carry on. That said, i am very mindful of all the knowledge and experience on here and i will not do anything if i feel unsafe. I am very grateful for this site. I know he is an outstanding surgeon and he has very high expectations of what his patients should achieve.

Thanks one and all.

@Jamie I will order some of the scar healer, thanks so much.
 
Fabulous report, @Ginny12! I hope your mood was instantly boosted by all that positive feedback from your surgeon. And while walking without any assistive device might make you a bit nervous, I am sure if you do more you'll feel increasingly confident and be striding along with comfort and assurance very soon. And I loved your gratitude list, and share many of the same thoughts, especially about my husband, a second marriage and wonderful partner for me, and most recently an excellent and compassionate caretaker for his hippy wife! Anyway, I am smiling as I write this, as there is nothing more exciting and gratifying that to read a positive post from a fellow Bonesmartie! Hurray for you!
 
You go girl...:heehee: slow, but go!

I remember when I finally dared to put all my weight down and walk on my new hips...I was killing my arms and shoulders on my walker out of nervousness for putting full weight...I was Shocked that my hips didn't hurt!
I said on forum "my hips don't hurt" and I believe I got a "duh? You had them replaced remember?":heehee:
Sure, quads were sore..
Incision sore, but hips were Great!
Isn't it just grand!:egypdance:

Hope you have a good evening!:friends:
 
Day 15

I went to my first formal PT since discharge. Things are moving fast (too fast for my liking) and he said i can reach down to put my shoes on. Can this be true? Seems very soon to me and i told him that but he said that after 2 weeks very unlikely to dislocate. Also to walk unaided as the OS said. I tried it outside and limped and felt vulnerable so i am going to keep using my stick for now. Passed to do stairs normally and that does feel OK. He said that i could also lie on the unoperated side but my little book (from the same hospital) says 6 weeks before i can do that. I am a bit confused. He seemed to know his stuff but i have read so many tales on here about people having setbacks that i am wary to push too soon.

He also said my pelvis was uneven but that is normal at this stage, hope so!

Does anybody massage their skin to try and keep the muscles loose?

Grateful For:

1) Being able to vent on this site, imagine nobody to ask for help. Shudder.
2) This one is shallow - My grey roots are coming thru, now one can buy powder that covers it until i can get my hair sorted out.
3)Fruit had a delicious orange today.
4) Central heating, gone cold in the UK.
5) When i am better i am going to volunteer and help my local community more. I have been meaning to do this for years, but the honest truth is i have been too self centered. Grateful that i can help people as others have helped me.
6) My mother-in-law
7) My little car and the fact that i will be able drive again soon.
8) Wet wipes, don't ask.
9) The NHS
10) People like Danny Boyle

@Barbaraj What a lovely heartwarming post, thank you.
@Mojo333 As ever, thank you. I really don't know how you moderators find the time to answer so many people!!
 
Good that your OS has great expectations of you but only do what you feel comfortable with. “Going too fast for my liking” says it all. It is YOUR recovery!

My physio and others have drummed into me not to come off the crutch cane completely if still limping. I am gradually increasing my walking distances without the crutch but err on the side of caution.

Once you get your mobility back it is easy to overdo it so very sensible to keep your cane with you whisky practising walking unaided.

Quite a few of us are massaging around the scar once given clearance to do so and it does help, particularly with some minor tearing burning pain and muscle ache.

I still tighten buttock muscles regularly, stretch out in bed first thing etc. and practice heel to toe walking and it is getting easier.

It took me just over three months to be able to put my socks on unaided and I still use the long handled shoehorn just because it is easier.
 
Well I don't know for sure about dislocating...but if I tried to reach my shoes at two weeks...it would pull and hurt.
If I tried to sleep on my side, it would be sore and uncomfortable...though I really wanted to.
You need to still be using your cane in my opinion.
Your body will tell you when you are ready for these things!
I think he IS rushing things!
As Surreygirl stated..It is Your Recovery
The best one to know what you are ready for and when is You.
 
@SurreyGirl and Mojo333 Thank you for your lovely replies.

Day 16

Grateful for:

1) Freshly ground coffee, when i was young it was Mellow Birds!
2) Electric toothbrushes
3) Lovely sunny day today
4) I had a really nice breakfast and was able to eat more as my appetite is coming back.
5) My mum, she has battled with severe mental health problems all her life and not really able to give to her children. As she is getting older i can appreciate that she did the best she could. I am grateful that we have a much better relationship now.
6) Books
7) Netflix
8) This is firm favorite, my grabber.
9) Freshly cut flowers and in fact the wonder of nature in general.
10) The humour of Kathy Burke.

As i have previously said this list is very self indulgent but i am writing it in the public domain so i actually keep it up. I have tried in the past in a note book and because no accountability it went by the wayside. My excuse is that by writing things that i am grateful for here it makes me focus on all the positive things in my life which hopefully will reduce stress and let my body heal.

I don't know about the healing bit but i always feel better emotionally after i have written my list.

I wish everybody well.
 
@Ginny12
Writing things down really does show that you have lots to be thankful for.

As for the grey roots, can you do them yourself? I always do mine and its very easy. I have short hair so one box of colour lasts 2 sessions so its really cheap.

My grabber is a favourite too. in fact I have one upstairs and one down. Even though I am way ahead of you in the recovery stakes (op 13th July) I still use the grabbers quite a lot.

Crutches/cane - I don't care what anyone else told me. I used at least one until I felt safe. Inside its much easier, you have things to grab hold of and no one rushing past you. I felt a lot more vulnerable when outside and find that its a visual aide for others to steer clear of you.

Hip op number 2 coming up for me on 24th Nov so I need to get the toilet seat raisers out again :-)
 
@Bionic,

Thanks for all your lovely posts, i am hopeless with my hair but my hairdresser has said she will come to me. Another thing to be grateful for!

I am so sorry that you need the other hip doing, seems to be so common needing a second hip. That said, you have the right attitude and at least know what to expect. Still, must be daunting tho.

I am sending you lots of healing vibes and i appreciate yours to me via the posts.
 
Good day to you, @Ginny12. It is a beautiful, sunny (but chilly) day here on the west coast of the USA, and while many whine about the change from daylight savings back to standard time, I actually love it early on as I'm a morning person, and it's so wonderful to wake up to light instead of thrashing about in the dark for while until the pokey sun decides to rise (or not, as we're so often cloudy and gloomy this time of year). Sure, I'm not wild about having it get dark around 5:00 PM, but by then I'm usually tucked up in my house for the night. But looking out my study window this morning and seeing blue skies and sunshine starting to puddle over the rooftops and lawns is very cheering for me.

I intend to hit the gym today by myself. Now that I've been released to drive, I can get myself there and back and stay for the amount of time I want to be there, not when it works for my husband--it's a small victory for me, but another milestone along the recovery road. I'm with everyone else with respect to activity--you shouldn't feel pressured to get off your assistive device until you're ready and feel confident you won't stumble and fall. What's another week or so? I know by the time I ditched the walker and then ditched the walking poles which I infinitely preferred, I knew I was ready, it wasn't because anyone else told me so. YOU know your body, and can be your own best advocate. Remember, slow and steady does win the race!
 
Day 17

Grateful for:

1) Radio 4
2) Paint by numbers
3) Having a new hip, i am very grateful to my previous one too. I have a new appreciation of my body and want to be kinder to it.
4) Eye masks
5) Samaritans
6) Nurses, even the occasional grumpy ones. They have a very hard job with very little recognition of how skilled and intelligent they are.
7) Cleaning staff in any workplace. How would society function without people keeping the place clean. I wish that cleaners were paid so much more for their valuable work.
8) My bath board, it means i feel safe sitting in the bath and not being smelly is a bonus too!
9) Grapefruit oil, i have a little sniff of that and it wakes me up and reminds me of being on warm holidays.
10) The Sun, it does not make an appearance much in the UK at this time of year in the UK, but, when it does i get a little jolt of pleasure.
 
Day 17

All seems to be going OK. Tidied my bedroom up a bit and while i am not houseproud normally that little bit of independence is so gratifying.

Open question:

When i saw the physio a couple of days ago he said that my pelvis was a bit uneven but that was normal post op. One hip higher than the other. He then asked if i was having any back pain. I said that actually the night before i saw him i was aware of a slight lower back pain for the first time, to be honest it is more discomfort, that discomfort has continued till now.

Has anybody else had this lower back discomfort/pain?
Is it related to the hips being uneven?
Can it be sorted out?
Am i more aware of it because i have been cutting down on the painkillers?
Is it related to walking more in general and without a stick indoors?

Thanks for any answers in advance.
 
Hi, there @Ginny12, I suspect it probably takes all of us awhile to sort out our slightly uneven hips and our gait (one of the reasons I started PT today) and I think back issues can crop up. Icing helps, I think, and I do like a heating pad sometimes when my back has been sore. One way of dealing more effectively with back pain is working on strengthening your core, though yoga or (for me) Pilates. You are a bit early out for much of anything, but talk with your PT about exercises now and in the future to strengthen your back and reduce discomfort. Could also be the cutback in medication or more walking, or a bunch of stuff! One day at a time, get that hip healed first!
 
Hi Ginny,
Love your gratitude posts! Some of the things you're grateful for call attention to things that I'm also grateful for, but don't always give a second thought. We really have to be mindful in life to not be self centered, moving within our own circle and people not always giving a lot of thought to others. Your posts have been enlightening.

It's also a possibility that your back is aching as your gait is once again changing and adjusting to your new hip. That's the reason my OS and PA gave me for a heel issue I've had since THR. Turns out it wasn't the proper diagnosis for me, but may be for your back? A possibility to consider, especially if it slowly begins easing.

I hope you're having a peaceful Sunday and am wishing you a great week to come!
@Ginny12
 
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