THR Here We Go Again!

[Barbaraj]

Ah, it's Monday and the start of a new week! Not a nice day out there, with heavily overcast skies and the threat of rain later on, but nothing scheduled so I can be lazy if I want. My son is coming over in a few hours so I can help him finish off a Christmas stocking he wanted me to make for his girlfriend. I was happy to oblige, although I made him come with me to the fabric store to pick out materials he thought she'd like. She's apparently into pink and flowers so it is a very un-Christmas looking, girly-girl sort of stocking. My son has no clue how to operate a sewing machine so I put it together, but I want him to hot glue the big flower and see if there are other embellishments needed. Anyway, whatever gift he tucks into the stocking I'm hoping she'll appreciate that it has a pretty package.

Very, very tired of this morning stiffness although I suspect I've got months ahead to deal with this. It does mostly ease up during the day, although yesterday we had lunch with friends and all that sitting made my hip and thigh ache throughout the day. I did try to get up and walk around a bit but I was very conscious of how uncomfortable I was, and just a tad bit discouraged. Yesterday was my four month anniversary and although I know it's foolish and unrealistic, I had hoped that this stiffness and achiness would be less by now. Why? Well, just because--as I said, not very realistic on my part.

I will hit the gym at some point after my son leaves, and feeling very cheerful that maybe that 30 minute worth of elliptical translates into a whole lot of steps actually (I love your research, @gertie!) I never really focus on the number of steps really, it was just that as I was trudging down recovery road I was hoping the number of steps would go up, showing that I was engaged in more activity. The fact that it is consistently reading the same pathetic number of steps daily is what's discouraging to me. But, @Elf1, the real key is how I'm feeling and don't give too much weight to this kind of thing. Just have to keep on chugging along. Happy Monday!

 

[Elf1]

Happy Four Month Anniversary! I know you aren't necessarily where you want to be in recovery but it sure looks like you're doing well from the outside! It's all temporary and will eventually level out, well, except for maybe that stiffness when first getting up (for me). I think it's a combination of age, arthritis, silly weather and my body telling me to not spend so much time on my rump!

 

[gertie]

I had hoped that this stiffness and achiness would be less by now.

I've been paying attention to this for myself--and mornings are indeed easier more often than not--and the stiffness/soreness I do feel in the morning or after sitting for a while is more likely to be in my knees than my hips and the knee stiffness works itself out pretty quickly. So, I think there's light at the end of that stiffness tunnel!

 

[Barbaraj]

I was up early this morning--woke up unaccountably at 5:45 and couldn't get back to sleep. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6:15, and good news is despite the too early arising, my hips felt pretty good. I have my final PT session today, and I'm hoping I'll be given a plan for going forward. I am reassured by your comments, @gertie, that your morning stiffness is fading and the reminder that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel! I do think, @Elf1, that you are right that a certain amount of stiffness will linger and I probably just need to accept that going forward. I do have a bit of arthritis in my lower back and my right knee but the key, I think, is to continue with exercise to keep myself as loosened up as possible. Accepting limitations gracefully is one thing, but doing what we can to ensure we minimize these limitations as much as possible is also a good idea. Onwards!

 

[Going4fun]

@Barbaraj, congrats on reaching your four-month mark. Obviously I can't promise you anything ... but ... I swear ... my startup stiffness ... just disappeared at about 6 to 7 months in ... and I don't think it was PT, which I started around then.

The stiffness when rising from a chair was annoying and had me worried. I marched into my six-month appointment with the surgeon complaining about that stiffness (and more) ... and it seemed like within days things had changed. I could suddenly stand up and my body was ready to start moving. This occurred seemingly without any transition, just a sudden change for the better.

So, your body is still healing. Four months is still early early into the process.

 

[Barbaraj]

I hope you're right, @Going4fun and at the 6 or 7 month mark I may have a distinct lessening of this morning stiffness. I think that's what happened with hip #1 although I also know that just about the time I smugly was thinking #1 was feeling pretty good, hip #2 started whining and complaining. I know overall that four months is still pretty early in this lengthy recovery process but, of course, I am impatient.

I did get discharged yesterday from PT and given a manageable schedule of daily exercises by the therapist, as well as some recommendations for cardio going forward. As I've commented before, I am someone who likes and is able to adapt to structure so having a clear plan for exercise is very helpful for me. I am choosing to believe, on my good days, that I will indeed achieve a point in time when only minor twinges will occur and nothing on a daily basis to remind me of my bionic hips. Of course, I will have two humongous scars forever but they will seldom be on display as I can count on one hand the number of times I've appeared in public in a bathing suit. I think I read on the forum at one time, from folks who are several years out from surgery, that these scars will fade from their current virulent purple color to more pale, skin toned lines. So far no sign of that, and the skin continues to be slightly indented along the incision line. Does that ever change, with scar line rising up to become more level with the rest of my skin surface?

Today is mystery book group meeting at my house so I'll need to do some tidying up beforehand. I baked a blueberry sour cream coffee cake which--heavy sigh--was a new recipe and not one of my finer efforts. It is sort of gluey and heavy (yes, I did add leavening!) so if folks don't eat it today it will be tipped into the yard waste bin. It's my book selection so I'll need to do some research online before the meeting so I can sound semi-intelligent and well informed about the author and reviews for the book. Need to get PT exercises done this morning but with a more realistic list of exercises to get done, I think I will be able to get 'em done and then go on to the rest of my day.

Sunny, cold and gorgeous outside-- a lovely day!

 

[leejaa]

You sound more optimistic today. Is the sun shining. I find optimism is easier with sunshine.

I still have an indent on the left side from 2017 but am not slim so that might affect the look. There are some really cute swim suits with more coverage and/or shorts if needed.

Your book club sounds like fun.

 

[VSlowLife]

I am glad to hear you are doing so well @Barbaraj .
There are cute swimming skirts, as well as shorts so you needn’t give up swimming because of hip scars. Also I do not know what hip surgeons recommend on scars and at what point, but for my recent new ”line” I was told to put a sunscreen on it every day for a year so it would not discolor. So far so good.
Regarding indents from surgery, fortunately mine leveled out over time. The worst was a chunk taken out on my upper arm due to basal cell cancer. I was told fat cells would come to the rescue over time and they did.
Have a good time with you mystery book group!

 

[Barbaraj]

Thank you, @leejaa and @VSlowLife for the suggestions for swimming suits with coverage so as not to expose those scars. But I did chuckle at the comment that I have options so I needn't give up swimming--I am actually NOT a swimmer at all! I am a "floater in the water" usually as I've never liked swimming really. And like many women and certainly women of my age, putting on a bathing suit even without hip replacement scars is something I do not look forward to. But, we have a vacation planned for next April with my daughter and her family, at a resort, and I know I'll need to wear a swim suit so I can get into the pool to play with the grandkids. It would be nice if the scars were less lurid in color and the indent less, but it is what it is and I'll just cope as best I can with my self-consciousness. I will definitely be slathering myself up with sunscreen as I no longer get a lovely tan in the sunshine--I burn and get ugly age spots--heavy sigh--if I'm not careful.

Mystery group meeting was fun although a small crowd yesterday. The woman who started the group has had to step back due to her personal situation, so we're just trying to pick up the pieces and move forward. No meetings through the end of the year so we'll see how things go in January.

Usual stiffness this morning, but will dutifully perform PT exercises and may head to the gym in a few hours. It's just another day on the hip recovery trail.

 

[leejaa]

Have a lovely day.

 

[Fit4Family]

Hello @Barbaraj Happy to read your progress and got a chuckle out of your swimsuit thoughts. I am the same way. If I never swim in an indoor pool again it would be fine with me. My scar is fading quite a bit at 8 month mark. Much thinner and some areas are very light pink, from original deep purple. I’ve read it’s likely to continue to improve. Hope you see steady progress this next month with stiffness and niggles. So appreciate your generous support and encouragement. You are amazing! Happy weekend

 

[Barbaraj]

Ah, a lazy Sunday so far, although I managed to do laundry, bake two batches of cookies (one turned out "ehhh", and let's hope the other batch--peanut butter cookies for my nephew in college--turned out better. I do not like PB cookies so I have no real sense if these are okay or not. But I remember in college getting any sort of baked good, regardless of the quality, was a banner day. A friend of my mother's sent me cookies every year and they always fell apart in transit, arriving as delicious chunks and crumbs which my roommates and I happily ate, licking our fingers to get every last crumb! I'll mail these PB cookies tomorrow and hope for the best.

Doing much better with the reduced number of PT exercises I am doing daily, down to about half of what I was doing before and thus I am able to get them done fairly quickly and then out the door to start my day. Hip still groans and whines first thing in the morning but, like so many others, I find during the day I feel much better. Yes, I am still very much aware of my hips but the stiffness/achiness is very manageable as long as I'm not an idiot and sit too long. I was chomping my way through a mystery on my Kindle on Friday, and my thigh and butt were killing me when I stood up and I admittedly lurched a little bit. But walking around and cursing my own foolishness took care of the ache.

It's off to trivia tonight for bar food, greyhounds and seeing whether we can win or not. I'd prefer to stay home and veg out, but must support our son, the trivia host. I've been on my feet a good deal today with a trip to the gym this morning followed by marathon baking session so feeling actually pretty good this evening. Tomorrow is another week and then Thanksgiving on Thursday. Need to hit the store before then for salad ingredients and I'll make and bring homemade rolls as well. I bet a lot of fellow hipsters are gearing up for the big day next week and may even--shudder--have to prepare the entire meal! So fortunate that my sister in law and her husband will be managing the meal with add-ons from some of those in attendance.

Happy Sunday!

 

[gertie]

that these scars will fade from their current virulent purple color to more pale, skin toned lines.

My first THR scar from October 2016 is almost invisible except that there's still an indentation when I'm standing--when I'm sitting and the leg spreads out I have a hard time seeing the scar--standing there's always a little pouch of tissue (rearranged fat? fluid? scar tissue?) and a dip where the scar is. My knee scars from 2017 are also just thin white lines. So there's hope for those scars fading away.

 

[Calgal]

the skin continues to be slightly indented along the incision line

Wondering the same thing! I've got a huge dent along my scar...a pit in my thigh, to be honest. Looks like I've lost a chunk of tissue but THR doesn't take out tissue as far as I know.... Hopefully this will 'fill out' at some point....but not agonizing over it. Too old to be vain. Just grateful for a pain free hip!

 

[Barbaraj]

Well, it is the day before Thanksgiving and I am feeling pretty good this morning, just the usual stiffness and ache which eases during the day. I am grateful for the most part that my recovery is chugging along fairly smoothly, and even more grateful today that I am not the one responsible for making turkey day happen tomorrow. I have to bring rolls and a salad, but those are easy for me--I am not a huge fan of turkey and having made it for many, many years for Thanksgivings past, never successfully (either drier than bone, or slightly underdone and vaguely slimy), I am thankful not to have to do that anymore. My husband's sister and her husband do the bird and many of the side dishes, so salad and rolls feel like a no-brainer to me. And while huge meals with too much food hold little appeal, I know I'll enjoy seeing family with lots of chatter and laughter during the day.

If I am really efficient I am hoping to make bread dough overnight in my bread machine, and then get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning to form and bake the rolls. If I can get it all done by 8:30, my husband and I will head out to do the neighborhood "Turkey Trot". It will be cold and we'll need to dress warmly but it will be nice to get in some exercise (it's a long walk basically) before a day of sitting and stuffing.

And thanks for encouraging thoughts about the incision and indentation, @gertie. I am just grateful for healing and will try not to think about the scar or my indented flesh (rather like the inverted dip on a loaf of bread). If it eases up, great, otherwise it will be what it is and I'll not fuss.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

[leejaa]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

 

[VSlowLife]

(rather like the inverted dip on a loaf of bread).

Only a baker would put it that way! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope your morning plans go as expected.

 

[Barbaraj]

Made it through Thanksgiving and successfully avoiding doing anything on Black Friday--woo, hoo! And Thanksgiving morning my husband and I did make the annual neighborhood "turkey trot", a 1-1/2+ mile walk which involved some hills going down (ooh, those were the worse--my left groin was aching) and uphill (nowhere near as bad as the downhill stretch). I felt quite virtuous starting out the day with some exercise considering the big meal later in the day. There was, as usual way too much food (although our sons were thrilled and both hauled away big bags full of leftover containers) but it's always fun to laugh and chat with family.

Yesterday my husband went to the annual "Apple Cup" football game, between the two biggest universities in the state--and the UW Huskies, my husband's alma mater, won! I hit the gym for a short workout, dutifully did my PT exercises and then showered and collapsed in a chair for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great day! I slept poorly last night--woke up at 3:00 with persistently aching left hip, probably a leftover scolding from the turkey trot exertions--but finally fell back to sleep around 5:30 and slept until 8:00, which is generally mid-morning for me. Still feeling a bit stiff this morning but hard to tell if it's just the usual morning "ooh, aah, argh" or more turkey trot leftover. In either case, I know that it will eventually subside. Off to the gym again today and then I will spend some time this afternoon getting all anxious about the three weeks until Christmas and no plans made yet! Need to get organized, like yesterday!

 

[SurreyGirl]

Well done in the walk and you are very brave. Hope you “assumed the position” afterwards! Have a lovely Christmas

 

[Fit4Family]

Loved your description of your loaf of bread indentation. You are such a great writer @Barbaraj Very impressive that you managed the Turkey Trot. Have found decent to be far more challenging as well. I have started looking at route first now around here and make sure I start downhill first, as the up hill is so much easier. Counterintuitive don’t you think?
Hope you have a great week.