THR Hitch & Get Along<

[Mojo333]

Great to hear good update.

We are going up to our cabin (in the mountains, I'm a Colorado girl) next week for 5 days.

How wonderful, I hope you have a wonderful week.

I somewhat promised I wouldn't be on the ATV (with my right hip acting up) but we know that if one of the grandsons asks Nana to go for a ride, I'm in.

Maybe want to tell grandsons that Nana just had hip surgery. I can see easy riding on smooth terrain slowly, but as I am ATV rider...I have a wide seat to sit ...and more so if nephews and nieces are in front.
I worry it might be a bit early for that.

 

[DEL2018Jul-2]

That's Great News Nana!
I have several friends that have done the same...that being doing both within 3 mo's time!
I think you'll feel amazing once the other hippy is done!
Hope you have a blast at your cabin ~ be safe and enjoy ~

 

[NanaKP]

Hi everyone - Tomorrow I will be 10 weeks post-op for my LTHR. Yesterday I had a PT session, did everything I had been doing with the addition of upright cycling, leg press on a machine and some wicked side leg lifts. In the afternoon I noticed a "popping" when I lifted my leg up and down right in the hip area. My husband was also able to feel it. At that time, there was no pain associated with it - just the same annoying limp that I have when I walk. I messaged my OS and they assured me that it was probably okay since there was no pain and they would xray it when I go in for pre-op for my next hip on 7/26.

This morning I woke up and I have pain in my hip. Not a sharp stabbing pain but a definite ache, so much so that I used my cane to walk into work from my car. I just took a Tramadol (I had taken Aleve earlier) but as I sit at my desk am wondering if this is something I should be concerned about. Anyone else have this happen?

Thanks in advance!!

PS My daughter and SIL are out of town starting Thursday through Saturday so I will have the grandsons (ages 4, 2 and 6 months). Though my husband will help in the evenings and at night, I will be on my own Thursday and Friday all day so I'm trying not to worry unnecessarily that something could be wrong with my healing hip. Ugh.

 

[NanaKP]

I iced my hip this morning before leaving the house and currently have an ice gel pack on it but I am up and down in the front office a LOT (we have our own business and I handle the front office and bookwork). There's no way I can leave work today to get to the doctor because we're working short-handed but dagnabitall, now I'm getting really nervous about this.

 

[Layla]

Hi there,
Sorry your struggling...

Let's call in the pro @Josephine
I fear you were doing too much with all the PT you were engaging in. You even described the leg lifts as "wicked". That's very telling in my opinion. Ice, rest and wait for Josephine to weigh in. My guess is you've entered the ODIC (Over Did It Club)
Hope it all eases soon.
@NanaKP

 

[NanaKP]

The side leg lifts were very painful and I should've just said NO and stopped, instead I did the 30 as he asked. We're trying to get the left side as strong as possible before the right hip is done but I know that time is probably more of a factor than PT. I am frustrated with this limp I have - I can do marching in place just fine but walking (even short strides/steps) there is a definite limp that I detest.

 

[Layla]

Thirty?! Yikes!
Go to your original Recovery thread and read THE BIG TIP towards the bottom of the Recovery Article.
This thread will be merged with your original.

In addition, you should be using an assistive device as long as you're limping.
With that said, also practice heel-toe walking with the assistive advice. Heel strikes the ground first followed by toes. It takes practice but normally works.
Dig out the crutch or cane until you're no longer limping. You're still in recovery for months to come.
Also, STOP marching.

 

[Bone-obo]

The side leg lifts were very painful

This one's on your PT, who should have seen that you were suffering and backed off. THR recovery isn't the Marines, for pete's sake - you're not supposed to drop and give anybody 20, much less 30! Bad PT! Bad!

 

[NanaKP]

Oh and there's also that not so wise decision I made on Saturday to do butt/thigh squeezes the entire way to and from my daughter's house (2 hours total) on top of driving it myself. Dumb move, I know.

 

[Layla]

You just experienced a major surgery. Depending upon the approach used, your leg may have been maneuvered in a violent manner to dislocate your hip. Your flesh was cut, muscles, tendons, ligaments separated, your femur was reamed out so a metal rod could be placed inside. This is major surgery. Your leg was traumatized, it needs to heal, not be exercised. If you sustained your injury through a car accident would you be putting your leg through the motions you have? My guess is no, you wouldn't. Give it LOTS of TLC, let it heal. It's trying but you're sabotaging it. Rest, ice, rest, ice, rest, ice, rest, ice.

 

[Layla]

One last thing. Jo usually recommends icing where you're hurting for 40-60 minutes several times per day.
Target 4x

 

[NanaKP]

@Layla - I've been practicing the "heel-toe" walking with my cane in the back of the shop (I relayed your messages to my husband). We both agreed, this Forum (& you) have been so very helpful to me that instead of waiting to see how I feel after struggling for days, I should just hop on here and ask. Honest to goodness I just can't thank you enough. You're right, I think I have been sabotaging my progress because I get stuck in that mindset of "more is better" and I should be further along. The purposeful walking is slow but I'm going to stick with it until it's just part of my walk without thought (the cane too for now).

 

[Bone-obo]

, I think I have been sabotaging my progress because I get stuck in that mindset of "more is better" and I should be further along.

That's okay - almost everybody makes this mistake at some point, even several months into recovery. The trick is to listen to your body and distinguish between muscle aches that may clear in a day or two, and sharper pains around the joints, or down the sides of the legs that may be signaling something that'll sideline you for longer. That takes time, complicated by the fact that your new hip doesn't come with an operator's manual. There are differences from your old hip that your body has to get used to, and it's almost inevitable that you'll make mistakes, which is why the Powers That Be here are so adamant about limiting how much exercise we do to recover. In your case, I'd say your next surgery is so soon that it's worthwhile abandoning strength-training completely, and be as conservative as possible to give your left leg the best chance to be there for you when you need it.

I wish you could take a little more time before your next operation - my concern is that the pressure to recover from the last operation is making you push harder than you really need to at this point.

 

[NanaKP]

Thank you Bone-obo for your kind words/thoughts.

We struggled in deciding when to do this next hip (I tried to get them to do them at the same time but they wouldn't) mostly because we are self-employed. It's very hard on my husband when I'm not there and when he has to be gone to take care of me, it's hard on our employees. My husband also takes one week off in October every year to go hunting, he works so very hard the rest of the year that I hate for him to have to miss any part of it. I wanted to make sure I was back driving and well enough that he wouldn't have to worry while he was gone. I also didn't want to be sidelined through the holidays (or when the snow started to fly here) sooooo, that being said, we tried to take in all of those factors (oh and that insane out of pocket we have for insurance).

Last Fall was a real test on my patience when I had my foot operated on and was non-weight bearing then in that boot for so long. I'm NOT a very good patient (say what?? SHOCKER!) I did better after getting pulled from PT last year and put back in the boot right after Thanksgiving because I had to do that walk of shame out of the Podiatrist office then lo and behold, January rolls around and I suddenly can't tie my shoe nor get in or out of my car without my hip getting "stuck". It all went downhill after that and suddenly 2018 wasn't the year I THOUGHT I was going to be having.

I know, I know - I could have gotten a much worse diagnosis (we've had many customers go through debilitating illnesses through the years as well as having lost many through death) but going from active to not active hit me like a ton of bricks. Now I'm whining so I do apologize. My husband says that the Podiatrist (who referred me to the OS) probably gave him a heads up that I'd be a "challenge".

Actually, my husband has been a solid ROCK in making sure THIS time I didn't chance ANY falls or mishaps. He was as surprised as I was though when we started reading through this forum about being careful with PT. It's quite the opposite to everything we've ever been told about joint replacements - makes sense but it was a new way of thinking to us.

That being said, I will go to my next PT session with a very cautious mindset and have a frank conversation with "Kevin". Kevin and I didn't hit it off too well during my PT for my foot - I thought everything they had me doing was just dumb and a huge waste of time, plus they took far too long between every exercise and I was always in a hurry to get it done and get back to work/home, etc. At one point I was asked what my level of exertion was and my smart alecky answer was to push my bangs off my forehead and say "do I look like I'm breaking a sweat????" Yep, 5'2" gal with a 'tude, that was me!! I'm pretty sure when he saw my name back on his roster for appointments, he probably felt like he had drawn the short straw.

I can't tell you how great it is to have a place to go with questions, concerns, thoughts and then get responses so quickly!! You guys all totally ROCK!

 

[NanaKP]

I should probably add that the activity that led up to my walk of shame and getting put back in that boot was from me "jogging/running" around the kitchen with my dog proclaiming "look at me Piper, I can run . . . LOOK AT ME, I'm on TWO feet . . . yahooooo, no stopping me now . . . . looking at me go!!!!" Foot swelled up like someone stuck an airhose in it that evening and when my husband saw it, I had to confess what I had been doing. I even took bottles of wine to the entire staff at the Podiatrist office (trying to earn some brownie points to get back OUT of the boot) two weeks later, it didn't work. One of the gals in that office and I have become friends and she has me in her phone as "fainting goat" because when they asked me what happened (after I fell the 3rd time) my answer was "I don't know what happened, I was walking then I just fell over, like those fainting goats you see in videos." They thought it was HILARIOUS, well everyone but the Podiatrist . . . and Kevin, the therapist.

My OS (Dr. Hipster) at least has a sense of humor and his right hand gal is AMAZING (she'll be getting the bottles of wine this time). They see my husband as being the stoic, serious one who says very little and stands close to 12" taller than me while I'm the one always cracking jokes, dancing around and can't seem to sit still. They also had a patient who at 6 weeks post-op was calling to schedule his 2nd hip (that was during one of my appointments) -- Me "6 weeks? Challenge accepted, I'll be ready at 4 weeks!" I wasn't, sadly, but I still had that in my mind that I was behind in my progress.

There's my synopsis of me as a patient . . . I'll be the one dragging the 30 pound bag of every flavor of M&M made to the surgical staff the morning of surgery and the one dragging the 6 bottles of wine to the OS assistant Stephanie!!

 

[Bone-obo]

Yep, 5'2" gal with a 'tude, that was me!!

Oh, I can tell we're gonna get along famously. There's a lot of us on here with 'tudes - as far as I'm concerned, we're the sane ones.

My wife and I are also self-employed as video producers, so I know whereof you speak. Three weeks into recovery I had to do 2 shoots, back to back, and spent the next week feeling very, very sorry for myself. Fortunately, most of my work involves parking my scarred butt in front of a computer, but all this has left my wife feeling very insecure about incoming work. Not like we've turned down any work, mind you - when you're self-employed you never say no!

Regarding PT's, I went thru 3 before I found one I really liked. Can you request a different therapist?

 

[Celle]

Bump

 

[Celle]

Hello @NanaKP

You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread.
For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:

• That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here.
Don't worry that we won't see your question because, between us, the staff read all new posts every day.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.


By the way, hips don't need a lot of exercise to recover. Since the side leg lifts hurt, stop doing them. Also, the leg press is too much for your hips. Don't do that, either.

 

[NanaKP]

Bone-obo, I probably could request another therapist but word has it among the medical community (Podiatrist office, general practitioner) that he is one of the best. He definitely doesn't have a sense of humor (my husband swears he has never seen him crack a smile), maybe I'll wear off on him???? Maybe I should be taking him some M&M's and wine . . .

We have an automotive repair (engine) shop so though I don't do the physical work on the vehicles, I do answer the phones, sign for parts, run the parts back to the guys, move vehicles around, take customers home (though that has been few and far in between the last 10 weeks) plus all of the bookwork, taxes, payroll, etc. Timing for me is everything with monthly sales and payroll taxes plus then quarterly. This is our 28th year in business and most of our customers are like family to us, they watched our daughters grow up, get married, us become grandparents, etc. They are pretty understanding that I've been gone quite a lot since last year but it still does put Jon (hubs) in a pickle when I'm gone (or he is too).

I think I probably have that type "A" personality that also gets me in a pickle when it comes to my health, recovery. My first appointment after the hip replacement to PT was at day 10. He asked us "what the heck have you been doing???" Apparently the 15-20 walks with my walker a day were causing beyond normal inflammation. He immediately cut me back to 2 walks a day and 2 sets of exercises. The OS and surgical staff had terrified my husband about bloodclots so when they told him to keep me moving, he took it to heart. I was feeling very discouraged then that I wasn't able to do more, go further - Kevin gave me a no nonsense talking to that I needed to let my body heal from the surgery and added exercises each week he thought I could handle. There have been plenty of appointments that had me at home on ice for two days afterward though (through my own pushing).

My original goals (since my dumb foot went on me) was to just get back to running. Now my long term goals are to be able to get on the floor to play with the grandkids, go hiking at the cabin, maybe take some short ATV rides up in the mountains and live life without the pain. My husband goes and goes - like the energizer bunny, I've always been able to keep up with him but the last two years have knocked me on my fanny and kept me more inactive than I ever thought I would be at this stage in life.

 

[NanaKP]

Thank you Celle!!!! I appreciate your help. I'm old-school so still learning this social media kind of thing (better than my husband though, he can order from Cabela's catalog, car parts, read FB and on here but then is done, LOL). When I start recovery from my BOGO hip, maybe I'll have the thread name changed. I wondered about how to find the old thread etc so will do some more learning on that!

I most definitely will be rethinking all things PT in the next few sessions. I do not want to have any set-backs prior to the next surgery, I appreciate your help!