THR Heal first, then exercise, then dance!

[An54]

One of the best dances of my life was a night of blues dancing where this one partner and I got each other ... and we mimicked and elaborated on each other's moves. ... The chemistry between me and this dancer made much look a lot better than I was. Maybe chemistry is more important in the slow dancing?

@Going4fun , I know exactly what you mean about the chemistry thing. If you get each other, you interact in a way that is outstanding. It could be a total stranger; you may never learn his/her name; you may never see them again... but for a few moments you are engaged in something awesome.

 

[Mojo333]

I really felt some stiffness the next day, I assume from the dancing, but then again, as noted above, I'm also stiff when I don't dance--so what is that about??

Totally normal recovery stuff...was for me.
Just can't sit too much, do too much...things do complain/stiffen as all tries to get back to normal with a prosthetic hip.
Glad you are getting back to life @An54

 

[An54]

I'm 11 weeks out. I think you hit the dance floor after 14 weeks ... For me, I think it's gonna take 16 or 17 weeks ...

@Going4fun , Hello fellow BoneSmartie dancer-- my latest dancing update:

First of all I wanted to mention that I didn't anticipate dancing at 14 weeks post-op. In fact I had 'chosen' an inaugural first-post-op-dance date about a month further along, in late November, which would have made it closer to 18 weeks post-op. As I was dedicated to what I call the 'rest cure', and h*ll bent on not overdoing it and getting set back, I told myself that I was not allowed to step out onto a dance floor before such-and-such a date at the very earliest and only if I felt absolutely up to it. However I failed in my mission to rest harder & longer before hitting the dance floor. You know how difficult it is if a band sails into a great song such as In The Mood, or Sing, Sing, Sing. You are almost helpless in controlling your legs; they propel you to your feet when a good dancer asks for a spin--the irresistible suction carries you forward--your rational brain may be screaming No! No! step away from the (beautifully sprung hardwood) dance floor... ignore the 18 piece Big Band!!... but alas... before you know it you are triple-stepping, the old joy is awakened, and you are fully addicted again.

My point? Be afraid, Be very afraid.... no! sorry, wrong script. I mean : approach with caution. Don't rush it. Avoid live music at good venues as long as you can, until you feel good and strong.

So I was out last night again, another 18 member Big band event, 2 male vocalists, & a beautiful and spacious sprung dance floor. There was a drop in lesson offered before the live music started. It was the most advanced 'drop in' lesson I had ever seen, focused on the 8 count triple step, and ending with the Charleston. I thought it would bomb as it was too much, too soon, but on the contrary by the end of the lesson there were about 50 people out on the floor going through the moves. I sat out the lesson, but got a few dances in when the music started. My first dance was with BirdMan, whom I spotted across the room sitting with one of his many lady friends. It was a good dance. However BirdMan seems to work through every single move he ever learned in each dance, so it is relentlessly changing with foot kicks and this and that; not much time for artful interpretations. I also got a third of a dance with a hellish complaining West Coast Swing Dancer/Fox Trotter type, which I short-circuited with apologies. Next was a dance with a very elderly gent with Alzheimers . I could see when he was dancing with his daughter that he was a good dancer, but when he danced with me he got nervous and kept apologizing all through the song, so I'm not sure it was much of a pleasure for him; I couldn't convince him he was good. Neanderthal Man didn't show up, and indeed very few of my dancing friends were there.

The height of the evening for me was a dance with a youngish French Canadian gent who is an absolutely fabulous dancer , a real artist. Blues-dancing seems to be embedded in his very core, underneath all the swing moves. His whole torso, everything, gets fully engaged, flowing.. he could perform on stage.. Gad, I think it was the best dance of my life!! "Québécois" is not only a great dancer, but a most generous gentleman, willing to dance with all the old- and oldish- ladies. I was suspicious upon first meeting him at dance venues a couple of years ago.... wondered if he was a 'plant' , a paid taxi dancer, etc.. because how on earth could someone as good as he was be willing to dance with someone like me ?? But it appears he does it voluntarily; he must be mad. Anyway it was the highlight of the evening, and I am pleased to report that so far I have suffered no ill effects, except of course for the standard stiffness.
How is your at-home dancing going?

Let me know how the next novel goes. I don't know that I'd be up to book club material as yet, or the accompanying discussion.

@Alitm , I have to confess I watched the YouTube video of volume one of our current read, admitted as much to the others, and we still were able to have a fine conversation about the author and times (WWII, Romania) I do still intend to read the book; I have to track down a hard copy, and will take it on the train with me when I go on my big winter adventure across this mostly frozen land.

 

[Layla]

@An54
I feel your passion, I'ts nice to read how you're once again enjoying something you hold so dear.
To many more spins on the dance floor! < Pretend it's wine or champs

 

[Going4fun]

@An54, you are so modest. "Québécois" likes dancing with you for the same reason you like dancing with him. He's having as much fun dancing with you as you are with him. That's the interesting thing about dance-floor chemistry: it can occur across ages and across vast differences in levels of skill and experience.

I am particularly amazed when I have a great dance with someone who is literally on the floor for the first time. How can that happen? They don't know all the moves I know ... they're nervous. I have to keep things simple as the "lead." And yet ... somehow we sync up and we both experience pleasure from our own movements and from the other's movements and from our movements together. And it all adds up to a dance that can be as fun as a dance with an advanced partner. Kinda magical!

I'm glad you brought up the age thing. At my favorite local scene, I'm far older than most folks. In fact, there are college students and lots of people in their 20s. So far, I have managed to push aside my concerns than I"m too old for these people. (I know there may be a difference between and older man vs. and older woman) ... But heck, when I started 10 years ago, I was 20 years older than most people ... now I'm 30 years older. Keep you going!

The good news: my at-home dancing is improving every day ... I've turned some kinda corner on my walking and with my quad--one of those big improvements after the small improvements followed by plateaus ... I'll write a three-month update next week. Along with the walking improvement is increased dance fluidity. It's like I can now gradually sink into my operated leg whereas before, it was like I was ratcheting it down in slots that skipped spaces.

Yes I will be careful about my return ... thinking a month away ... At some point, I'm going to work up to creating a playlist say of three or four songs ... back-to-back ... and see if I can dance (at home) through all the song set--sorta like it was a real dance. I'll expand that playlist ... and do this before I go out to dance.

 

[Alitm]

Hello @An54, I get such pleasure reading about your dancing ! Great that your dance post was in the same post as the book post, or I might have missed the dance post entirely!! As @Layla says, "I feel your passion!"

I am reading but still not up to normal full steam ahead. My son's girlfriend's Mum is trying to engage me in word games on line, and I just can't do it. It is the strangest phenomenon. However, am watching a lot of equine training YouTube videos published by my favourite trainers and am taking notes. No problem there. Is it more about motivation and interest? I don't know!!

 

[Barbaraj]

Well, @An54, as someone who has two left feet, I am amazed at your love and enthusiasm for dancing, but it's fun to read about how happy it makes both you and @Going4fun! It is so wonderful to have a passion for something. I find it amusing that my son is a dancer, clearly a talent he did NOT get from his mother, but it's so much fun to watch him dance. He's a hip hop dancer and all arms and legs, and I confess I'm not wild about much of the music associated with hip hop, but I will never tire of watching my son and I can understand the passion and joy that dancers find when I watch him. I agree recovering hippies need to be cautious starting out, as I would think any kind of dancing might stress out a recovering hip. But I am sure once the music starts playing and your foot starts tapping, you're eager to get out there and move! Enjoy that, but be sensible.

 

[Layla]

Hey
You back yet? Or still on your adventure?
I want to hear all about your trek. Did you love it?
We need details and naturally want to know how the hip held up...
@An54

 

[Mojo333]

Yes...do let us know.
Hope your New Year is starting off well!

 

[Going4fun]

@An54, I hope you are doing well ... from a member of your dance fan club here.

I think I'm getting close to returning to the dance floor ... or at least stepping my feet onto the floor for some short periods ... Love hearing about your adventures on and off the dance floor! And please don't worry if your hip is super-performing and you're concerned some of us slower healers will react badly. I'm looking forward to getting to where you are.

 

[An54]

Hey
You back yet? Or still on your adventure?
I want to hear all about your trek. Did you love it?
We need details and naturally want to know how the hip held up...
@An54

Dear @Layla, @Mojo333 and @Going4fun ,

Forgive my negligence. It's been a long time since I logged on. I guess it's my 7 month hip-iversary (sp?). I have so many BoneSmart friends here to catch up with on various threads, but will start with an update about my own journey.

I did take my big train trip across Canada, right from Vancouver to Halifax-- from the Pacific to the Atlantic -- with a six day break in Toronto to stay with my cousin there. I also took the train from Halifax back to Toronto for part of the return journey, and, after another break, caught a cheap flight from Toronto back to Vancouver.

The whole trip was great. Hubby declined to join me as he doesn't like the cold, but gave me his blessing for what I think he considered was a very strange idea of a holiday. I got the blizzardy snow storm I craved (yes I am indeed weird) on the return leg from Halifax to Montreal; and an added bonus--during the latter portion, when the holiday rush was over, sometimes by dusk I had the entire observation- car/ bar-car/caboose to myself, with just a single porter snoozing in his little cubby hole. I met so many interesting people in the dining car during the holiday time (before Jan 3th) , where you are always seated with others. But this isn't the forum to go into much detail about all that. Let's just say for me it was one of the trips of a lifetime.

However, spending the better part of three weeks sitting on a train, or plane, or in your accommodation (because icy streets are so treacherous) sure didn't do me much good physically. I was weak and creaky and stiff. I realized that I really had to ramp up the exercise component when I got home, and even went so far as to go to Fitness World with Hubby, the first time in about seven years or possibly even ten or fifteen years (insert embarrassed blush here). My goodness... what fun and new-fangled machines they have now. I pedalled on an 'interactive' stationary exercise bicycle where you have a moving screen that makes you feel like you are cycling through Ireland--and you can see others from around the world cycling the same route! Their avatars were constantly passing me until I got more aggressive and started pedalling faster.

Alas, Going4Fun, I have been doing very little dancing. You might think from all my dancing talk upstream that swing dancing was my full time job, but I had been writing about the dancing component of my life because it was the most hip-related thing I did; pointless to get on a hip surgery forum and talk about one's poetry writing, etc.

Sadly, my favourite local dancing venue folded, our good old dancing crowd dispersed... and of course that age-related thing becomes more of an issue in crowds of young strangers, who don't typically go out of their way to ask white haired old ladies to dance. I did manage to get in a few good dances with Neanderthal Man about three weeks ago during a Blues night... I had to take it slow, in half-time or whatever it's called... but at least I was out there on the floor. Neanderthal man has moved to the bush, so he doesn't appear in town much any more; he was actually dancing in his cork boots (logging boots), so that kind of evened us up. Birdman (a chum of mine) is still around and we get the odd dance, but he has so little heft it's a bit like dancing with popcorn. Wish Hub enjoyed dancing, but he'll only do it under extreme conditions, at pistol point (haha, only kidding). Are you dancing again yet? How is it going?

I have to say that altogether my op-hip has healed up well; I am completely unconscious of it. I'm not fit or strong enough yet, but that's my general condition, not surgically related. Like Barbara, I am likely eventually facing surgery on the left hip; will see how long I can go before lefty becomes a problem.

cheers all

@Barbaraj @Alitm

 

[Mojo333]

So good to hear from you.
I'm so happy you had a great trip and that your hips held up well.
Riding for long periods, sitting for long spells in general stiffened me up also...still does a bit, but not sure now if hip related or just getting older.

Happy 7 month hipversary!

 

[Layla]

Happy Seven Month Anniversary!
It's wonderful to hear from you @An54
Was getting a complex, figured it was something we said

You took quite the trip! I'ts evident you thoroughly enjoyed it by your description "trip of a lifetime."
I envy your courage in traveling alone. I couldn't do it. I don't believe I'd have difficulty meeting and engaging with others, even enjoying myself, but I'm afraid I'd feel lonely.

My mom was a travel agent for many years and has traveled the world. She most often had traveling companions but on occasion did travel alone on something the biz refers to as "fam trips" fam being familiarization so they're able to check out the area, activities, hotels etc and consequently have the ability to make the best recommendations to their clients. Actually something you'd probably enjoy after reading your update. At any rate, after a trip to Poland, this time alone, she was telling me how on New Years Eve she was lying on her bed in her hotel looking out the window at the most beautiful fireworks display. I told her I thought that was the creepiest, loneliest, most dreadful thing I'd heard in a long time.
She thought I was crazy. Visa / versa. Different strokes for different folks.

The interactive stationary bike sounds fun. Isn't that a Peloton? I suppose there are other brands also. I recall another member (hikejunkie) used to describe pedaling through Scotland etc, it sounded fun.

It's great to hear your hip has healed well. It sounds like you plan to engage in more exercise and fitness moving forward. I wish you the best in finding exercise and activity that you enjoy and makes you feel fulfilled. Sorry you're most likely facing another op. All too familiar story as we all know. I'm in line also.

Enjoy the week. Thanks for updating, it was nice to hear from you. Stay in touch!

 

[Going4fun]

@An54, so great to hear from you ... I've been looking for updates on your hip and your activities.

You are doing so great ... love that the trip was the trip of a lifetime for you ... and I can why you might like a blizzard. Have to be a certain kind of adventurous person for that, I suppose.

Well, sorry to hear that the dancing venue has folded ... dance scenes do that ... It's so great to hear that you aren't thinking of you hip ... I still remember I think it was your fourteenth-week update ... when you wrote that you no longer felt like a hip surgery patient.

My hip (a little past five months) is coming along more slowly than yours ... though I've been dancing more and more in my room ... and faster and faster ... I'm getting close to going out there to a public event, but still have some tightness in my thigh that I'm icing my way through. But my hip does get noticeably better every month ...

I'm thinking it might take month 6 ... in three weeks ... or month 7 to really feel great dancing ... but I'm getting close ... oh ... and go ahead and write about your other activities if you want ... Your activities show what's possible after having the surgery. Great update!!!

 

[Mojo333]

Hi @Going4fun !
Great to see YOUR update too.
I saw incremental improvement for up to a year and even up until now.
I can't say I've forgotten I have new hips...because everytime I spend a full day walking and bending with ease, I am thrilled and amazed!
I am glad we are able to share our journeys and love to hear that you are still improving!
Happy Belated 5 month Hipversary.
Onward and upward...

 

[Barbaraj]

Good morning, @An54. After your thoughtful post to me, thought I'd come over to your thread and catch up. I have to say that I'm with your husband, a trip during the cold, wintery months to anywhere other than somewhere sunny and glorious seems unlikely and very unappealing. But you obviously enjoyed your cold weather trip, despite the stiffness and soreness that it brought on. Sounds like you ARE back at the gym occasionally, and hope it's working out for you as there is nothing wrong with gentle exercise, I feel. I've explained my reasons for exercise/the gym on my thread which are perhaps different than yours but valid for both of us. In the end, it's slow and steady, that's the ticket! I love the recumbent bikes with screens. We've only got one of 'em at my gym, and it's biking tours (no racing) through various parts of France--wine country, Paris, etc. You go at your own pace and it's very relaxing, the only sound is a faint swoosh as cars "pass" you on the roads. It would be a more frequent choice for exercise but there is only one of these and there are far more of the ellipticals which are my usual choice.

Sorry to read that dancing is taking more of a back seat these days as you seemed to enjoy it so much. I cannot understand the enthusiasm, I confess, since even without less than cooperative hips, I am a total klutz and self-conscious on the dance floor. There are few opportunities for dancing, and the only ones I recall at the moment are a few evening events through my husband's firm where the dancing after dinner was very sedate, holding onto my husband and slowly revolving in a circle. One "dance" and I'm done.

I know it's a HIP forum and that's what we're supposed to be focused on talking about, but although I think it's worthwhile and clearly the point of the whole forum, the downside, I think, is that it encourages talking about our hips, their aches, their pains, their stiffness and achiness, their soreness and all the other weird things we experience daily--and while it's all true, it often feels out of proportion to what's actually going on in my daily life. When that's all we talk about, it leaves the erroneous impression that we are consumed by our hips and it's not really true, at least for me. I confess I do a lot (some might say excessive amounts) of my whining about hips/thigh/back issues on this forum but really and truly this is NOT my life. While constant, I refuse to let my hip and their issues take over my life! Reading my postings, one might imagine this to be the case but honestly, on a daily basis it is just an unfortunate and uncomfortable undercurrent. I suspect that is why, despite indications to the contrary (like, "slow down, you idiot") I will continue to press on and, like Frankie, do it MY way.

Anyway, welcome back to the forum. I know hip stuff is all consuming, but it is really fun to read about other things as well. I am assuming as long as we keep it in check, and give hip chatter its due, it's okay to write about the totality of our lives as well which, frankly, are often just as (really, I hope, more so) interesting as laser focus on our hips. I may be out of line here (moderators, forgive me) but a more full picture of folks' lives puts the hip stuff into perspective for me. Just my opinion, however...

 

[Going4fun]

Just to back you up @Barbaraj, it is SO GREAT to read about non-hip stuff ... and I think it's related to the forum ... We want to move ahead with our lives and hear how other people are living after surgery ... And reading great stories here about the various hobbies and various lives people are getting back to ... is inspiring, invigorating even. And ... we all manage to encourage others about their progress after surgery.

 

[An54]

Good afternoon (for me) @Going4fun, @Barbaraj , @Mojo333 and @Layla ,

I am closing in on my 8 month anniversary, so here is my update.

I've been on the forum these past couple of days, reading through threads, including my own thread from the very first post. I'm amazed at how much I had forgotten about my own journey--for example, about the terrible stiffness I was experiencing. I am now sometimes stiff after a long walk, (when I reach down to unbuckle my shoes, wowie zowie, what a challenge), but just getting up and down, in and out of chairs, moving around normally, I'd say most of the stiffness has gone. Before sitting down to write this, I got down on the floor and up again a few times to see if I could do it, and yes, no problemo. I didn't have to crawl over to a piece of furniture and climb up, or call for assistance from Hub. I still can't really cross my op-right leg over the left when sitting down; not sure I will ever be able to, but we'll see. I'm noting it here because in another six months I may be doing it all the time quite naturally, and will have forgotten it was ever a problem--so here it is--on the record!

I can get my own socks and shoes on and off, pick things up off the floor, and generally do everything pretty normally. I did have that big scare when I hurt my back a couple of months ago; I noticed my post here about it displayed more optimism than I actually felt at the time. That event I do recall with clarity, as I wondered if it was game over for me... after all the trouble, cost, convalescence and hassle of THR... and then I ruin my lower back with one impulsive action; there's irony for you (insert weak haha laugh here) However after some weeks I did recover, and interestingly, my lower back ended up feeling somewhat looser--even better than before, as though I had broken up some encrusted cartilage or something; it was very weird. But that was a close call.

I never did get around to going to PT. But I figured as I seemed to be healing well, better to leave well enough alone. I looked over my time line and see that I did get out for a swing dance at about 14 weeks and a couple of days post-op with no mishaps, but upon review I think that was a bit risky, and I won't try it again when it comes to hip #2. I must avoid Big Bands until at least four months along.

 

[An54]

So @Going4fun , here is my dancing update. Altogether I haven't been doing that much dancing over the winter, especially as I was travelling part of the time.
However I have started in again during the past month, and am trying to get out to dance more and more. I'm trying to reconnect with the joy of just solo/freestyle dancing, because it's so hard to find a partner. Also, most local bands are sooooo rock/soul/R&B oriented, that endlessly hoping for swing music just ends in frustration; I even have to connect up with the inner disco queen occasionally, just to be sure I get out there and move around. And even if they do play something swingy--who am I going to dance with? Unless BirdMan or Neanderthal Man are at the event, I am out of luck. I haven't seen the awesome Quebecois around for ages.
Actually, I do have my old buddy 'Birmingham' (expat from there). He started swing lessons the same time I did, same group--but he had trouble with his knees for a while. A couple of years ago he and I could really connect on the dance floor, but I've noticed when we dance now that he's lost the 'backstep'... no 6 count rockstep, so it's back to just simple ceroc back & forth moves, which removes a whole important dimension, like eating curry that has no spices. Oh well, I remind myself , the important thing is to keep the body moving, and get that heart rate up.

As for Neanderthal Man, he seems to be back in the city, as I see him around a lot more. But he has a new girlfriend, so is obliged to dance with her more--and me less, or not at all. Mind you, it won't last long, maybe two months, and she'll be off, wounded; he is notorious. I've seen it again and again over the past ten years. I don't even bother making friends with his girlfriends any more--and some of them are very nice!-- because I know they'll be flying out his revolving door before long. I mean, I love dancing with the guy, but as a date, I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.

Birdman is a chum (a brainy and classy chap), but he has a bevy of lady friends, and is in great demand.
So one of my dancing objectives is to stop being too picky about partner/swing dancing , and, as mentioned above, start enjoying solo/freestyle dancing again.

 

[Layla]

Hi @An54
It's nice to hear about how well you're doing.
You took a slow measured approach to recovery and I'd say it's paying off. With healing time remaining, I'm sure it will only get better. Thanks for updating!
A great rest of the week to you.