THR Here We Go Again!

[Barbaraj]

A quiet start to my Sunday, with more rainy drizzle out there. Husband has jetted off for his regular Sunday "boot camp" workout and I, of course, am still lounging around in my bathrobe. I slept well last night until about 4:30 and then turned in bed, stiffened up my body and-argh--both of my legs cramped up requiring me to swing my legs (and, boy, that is hard when you're sleepy and stiff) out of bed and stand up and go slowly marching around, very carefully in the dark, to relieve those cramps. I crawled back into bed and did manage to get back to sleep for awhile, and got up again at 6:30. I know we need sleep, it is restorative and all that, but getting out of bed in the morning is still a challenge for me. I hope the healing I'm allegedly experiencing during the night outweighs the stiffness and weakness I feel when crawling out of bed.

Last night's event was fine--they do a good job of starting and ending things on time so that we were on our way home by 9:45 (I was beginning to droop by then, to say nothing about how twitchy I was feeling after sitting on folding chair, padded seat notwithstanding). Folks attending the event mostly did decide to dress in 70's garb, lots of bell bottoms, ugly and very loud polyester shirts with big collars, some glitter and BIG hair. I felt very nerdy (but comfortable) in my non-70's garb and despite @bickypeg's sweet comments to the contrary, I was happily invisible. The dinner/auction was in support of an organization that provides skiing and other outdoor activities for folks with disabilities so most of the stuff on offer at the auction, both silent and live items, was sports themed so no temptations to buy stuff I didn't need. I was home, in bed and asleep around 10:30.

Well, despite the urge to stay home and loll around in my nightwear all day (always a delightful prospect, in my opinion) I will get dressed shortly, do PT exercises and hoof it to the gym. Despite some folks thinking I "love" exercise, it's just that I am a creature of habit and have a healthy Puritan fear of guilt if I'm not compliant with "the program". Then home after that to do laundry and while away the afternoon with an Edmund Crispin mystery. He only wrote a few--boo, hoo--and I'm on the last one! Time to hit the library next week and load up my Kindle again.

Happy Sunday!

 

[Barbaraj]

I imagine you mean you don't want any pain reminders or stiffness reminders of the joint. I'm sure you'll get there. Yup, that is exactly what I want, @Going4fun It's okay to be "amazed" at these shiny new hips, but I really and truly do NOT want to spend any time thinking about them in future. They will just be there, silent and supportive members of Team Me!

 

[bickypeg]

Oh I haven't read any Edmund Crispin for a long time! Can't think of any writers quite like him but lots around that period of course! The discomfort in bed and getting up lingers a long time in my experience. More tiresome in winter of course when you have to get moving in the dark.
There is something which helps with leg cramps, I'll Google it...

 

[bickypeg]

It can be a shortage of potassium or magnesium apparently but guessing you take the latter for helping to sleep?

 

[gertie]

@Barbaraj I know what you mean about those first trips down the hall in the morning. At over 4 months out I sometimes get a pleasant surprise and have minimal soreness and stiffness--and then there are mornings like this morning! But the fact that there are some easier mornings gives hope.

 

[Barbaraj]

A totally miserable day here in the PNW, lots of rain and gloom predicted all day. Hips are definitely aching and stiff this morning, a very slow rising from bed (and exactly WHEN, @gertie, do I get to enjoy a lovely surprise of a non-aching morning?! I know it's coming but--groan--not soon enough). I have my Pilates class this morning and may try to hit the gym after that if I'm feeling sufficiently energized. I meant to go to the gym yesterday, but my best intentions went nowhere. I did manage to get all my home PT exercises done but after that I got busy doing...what? I finished my Kindle book, did a quick run to the grocery store, ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher, made pork tenderloin for dinner, etc. But none of these felt like "real" activity and my step count for the day was pathetically low, as if I'd barely moved--heavy sigh. I simply don't understand how folks on this forum who claim not to get around easily, even hobbling with assistive devices, are still able to do 5000+ steps daily! What's wrong with me? I sometimes think I should really just be taking walks around my house (so boring) to up the count to a respectable level. So frustrating!

Will head out to the stores today, as my older daughter asked me to find her some inexpensive Christmas crackers. She could, of course, do this herself but she works fulltime with little kids and I understand how browsing through stores is not high on her list of priorities. I, on the other hand, have plenty o' time to do this and although on one hand I'm rolling my eyes at all the stores fully stocked BEFORE THANKSGIVING with all things Christmas (sheesh...), I do like the colors, lights and glitter of holiday shopping, and having a "mission" means I can justify my forays. My goal will be to stick ONLY to finding crackers for my daughter, and not being attracted like a silly magpie to all sorts of Christmas decorations and buying anything else. I have enough holiday stuff already so need to steel myself not to yield to undoubted temptation. And leisurely strolling through stores does count as exercise so can feel mildly virtuous about that.

 

[helenium]

I just love your updates @Barbaraj.

My goal will be to stick ONLY to finding crackers for my daughter

Can't wait for tomorrow's update . Enjoy the stores!

 

[SurreyGirl]

Re the stiffness post getting up. Do you do stretches in bed? I do some including knee stretches and find it really helps me. Things like clenching and relaxing glutes, letting one leg fall to the side with the other leg bent, Pilates stretching and pulling in at the pelvis. Just 10 minutes of “mindfulness waking with stretches” certainly helps the stutter steps in the morning.l and stops the pins and needles too!
Your 70s night sounded like fun!

 

[gertie]

I'm almost a month ahead of you and have been feeling much less morning stiffness (but I suspect it's because I've also been a bit of a couch potato recently)! I'm going through the slothful transition to dark and cold that I always go through--takes a while to get into a winter exercise groove. I know what you mean about daily step counts. I have been known to pace around my house trying to get more steps in but I have such a small house that I get really bored before I get any serious accumulation of steps. It's bitterly cold today and going to get colder for the rest of the week. Slippery wet leaves will turn to really slippery icy leaves. I just went out to lunch, did a quick errand, and pulled the trash can to the end of the drive and that's it for outdoor activities today. Good luck on your Christmas cracker venture.

 

[ceezee]

I simply don't understand how folks on this forum who claim not to get around easily, even hobbling with assistive devices, are still able to do 5000+ steps daily! What's wrong with me?

Maybe your step counter isn’t counting correctly?

My Fitbit wasn’t very accurate but my Apple Watch does a very good job. I count out 100 steps to verify the step count and drive the distance in my car to see if the distance matches. The watch doesn’t do a very good job of counting flights of stairs though. It’s always low.

 

[Barbaraj]

A foggy start to the day but the weather gurus have promised clearing by noon, and sunshine will be returning. I've got PT late this morning and then granddaughter's ballet lesson this afternoon (with drinks and appetizers for the grandparenting chauffeurs), so a full plate of activity. Never did make it to the store to look for Christmas crackers but maybe today, after PT but before the ballet lesson, I can sneak out for a bit.

Feeling okay this morning, just the usual stiffness. I do stretch occasionally in bed before getting up, @SurreyGirl, but I have to be careful because too vigorous a stretch sometimes results in sudden cramping in my operated leg which makes me yelp and roll out of bed in hurry. But generally I agree with you, mild stretching can be helpful if I am careful. But at "zero dark 30" when I often wake up, I am sometimes not exactly thinking straight!

We had luncheon guests yesterday so I was scurrying around preparing food and setting the table. It is always pleasant to have guests, of course, but especially nice when the guests haven't seen you for awhile and are full of compliments about how well you're walking--very mood boosting. And after lunch but before dessert we went out for a walk, down to a local park with a walk along the bluff looking out over the water which is pretty darn spectacular, and one of the reasons I love my neighborhood. Step counter FINALLY made it above 5000--woo, hoo! I don't know whether the counter is "off" or not, @ceezee, but if it isn't, then I am really a huge slug, I fear. I don't think it records my gym exercise as steps, so that even my regular 30 minutes on the elliptical doesn't register as actual steps. I am not sure how it registers stairs. I don't have a Fitbit, I have a Withings watch which I like because it looks like an actual watch and doesn't scream "fitness device". But, I confess I bought it more for looks than a guarantee of reliable step tracking, although reviewers online don't seem to complain about this problem. I suspect it's just me and despite it all, I'm really just a giant slug for the most part, PT exercises and treks to the gym notwithstanding.

This weekend I'll hit the four month mark and not seeing a lot of difference between month three and month four, but I suspect once the new year is upon us I will be happier. My vague recollection from hip number 1 is that it really did take me 6 months before my operated hip was less stiff and achy. But then, of course, the other hip started acting up so I stopped paying attention to assessing hip number 1's incremental improvement. Now, with both hips done, fully bionic, I am hoping that overall I will really and truly start to notice a real and significant improvement at the six month mark.

Happy Thursday!

 

[bickypeg]

I'm sure by January you'll be feeling great. Gym equipment doesnt pick up steps which is dreadful! I have been known to walk round the house at the end of the day just to get to the magic 5000! But I'm a restless soul with poor concentration so I do a lot of unnecessary trips. As in 'why did I come upstairs'? Striding out is better though as I can sometimes literally feel the muscles warming up.
No exercises in bed for me as I immediately need the loo - I'm sure my bladder isnt as efficient since the ops. And my hair's thinner. And my skin drier....

 

[Calgal]

This weekend I'll hit the four month mark and not seeing a lot of difference between month three and month four, but I suspect once the new year is upon us I will be happier. My vague recollection from hip number 1 is that it really did take me 6 months before my operated hip was less stiff and achy.

I agree. I was really still struggling at month 3 but after that there were definitely good burst of ability....but not consistently. Came in sudden bursts for me. Have to be patient and just let it happen. Try not to fret too much about how many steps you clock. At 63 I've now discounted the 10000 step fantasy. Activity is activity and our muscles know it even if our fitness watches don't.

 

[ceezee]

At 63 I've now discounted the 10000 step fantasy.

Yep, it’s a myth.

“It turns out the original basis for this 10,000-step guideline was really a marketing strategy. In 1965, a Japanese company was selling pedometers, and they gave it a name that, in Japanese, means ‘the 10,000-step meter.’”

Here’s the original study cited in The Atlantic article.

Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women

This cohort study of 16 741 older women from the Women’s Health Study examines associations of number of steps per day and stepping intensity with all-cause mortality.

jamanetwork.com

 

[VSlowLife]

@Barbaraj You sound so much better off than I am, even with your almost 4 month old hip. It’s good to read what you are able to do, although at 6 months you expect to be even better.
@ceezee Unfortunately, I fear I am in the under 2700 steps, until I have two new hips. And that is the whole point of THR to be able to be healthier in the long run. Thanks for the study!

 

[SurreyGirl]

I’m finding 5000 steps a day including stairs and slopes plus swimming 2-3 days a week is really helping. Working full time not easy to fit it all in sometimes but do what I can!

 

[Barbaraj]

Ah, it's Saturday morning and while I am definitely aching in my left hip this morning, I will dutifully be trotting off to the gym with my workout buddy in an hour. I had a tough day yesterday, due to a poor night's sleep on Thursday night, but whenever that happens I am usually guaranteed a good night's sleep the following night through sheer exhaustion. I was glad to read, @bickypeg, that I am undoubtedly being shortchanged by my step counter in terms of gym exercise. And I was glad to read, @ceezee, in that article that you sent--thank you--that not walking 10,000 steps per day isn't going to doom me to a steep decline and early death because of my inattention to walking. I am more in line with @VSlowLife in terms of my daily walking totals (usually around 2,000 - 3,000+) which isn't very good, I know, but if I'm being shorted in terms of gym exercise then I feel better. If walking was the ONLY way to recover and be healthy, I would be in really bad shape. But I faithfully do about 45 minutes of PT exercises most days, regularly hit the gym for 30 minutes on the elliptical and do some walking although clearly not as much as I could be. I've decided that step counting is only one way to assess my fitness and that my own perception that I'm doing reasonably well--confirmed by good check-ups with my OS and PCP--mean that I am doing something right.

I am happy to report, @helenium, that I was successful in finding inexpensive Christmas crackers for my daughter and she was quite pleased. They were nice ones, too, and a box of 12 was only $8! Score! And in other more hip-related good news: I will be discharged from PT next week, my final session. The therapist said I am doing really well--strength and range of motion are in pretty good shape. She promised to review the list of exercises I'm currently doing to advise me on what I should be doing going forward. I realize--heavy groan--that I'll probably need to keep doing some form of PT exercises for as long as I'm able if I want to get the best use out of my body and its bionic hip replacements.

You are doing much better than I was in terms of being active while working, @SurreyGirl. I didn't get any formal exercise during the week, but when I got home from work I was doing a fair amount of "child wrangling" when my kids were young so maybe that counted somewhat. I exercised on the weekend, of course, but I was so tired by the time I got home from work and got kids fed, bathed and into bed that I had no energy for anything. Hurray for you for sticking to swimming several days a week, and I'm betting you get up from your desk frequently to walk around. You are doing a great job!

 

[gertie]

@Barbaraj I just looked up steps equivalent of an elliptical workout and one entry, from a health center, said to multiply the number of minutes on the elliptical at a moderate pace by 203--so your 30 mins on the elliptical might be worth over 6000 steps!

And, as you say, the best measure is how you feel!

 

[Elf1]

@Barbaraj from everything I read on here I'm pretty sure you aren't hurting for steps. You always seem to be go, go, going! You are always super busy. And remember, everything we do during a day counts, whether it's steps, lifting, bending, etc. You keep doing what you're doing, it seems to work well for you.

 

[Fit4Family]

You are so not a slug @Barbaraj I bet you get in plenty of exercise. Congratulations on the 4 month milestone. Although I can’t compare timelines I can say each month I’m seeing small improvements.

I have no idea how many steps I take, never liked the counter contraptions. But, I do clock miles on my cell phone if I’m walking purposely. Pretty funny that 10k was a marketing ploy. @ceezee Figures! Lol.

Sending sunshine your way. Hope you have had a great weekend!