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THR I am titanium!

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It's my new hip's 3 week birthday today. I had a great day yesterday...the least amount of pain since surgery. I walked the dog about 6 blocks, went grocery shopping without the boy to carry everything, made a dog food run, went to outpatient pt, and then out to dinner with the DS and DH. But I think i am paying a bit for it today. I think maybe I did too much because I was feeling better. That's the danger isn't it? You feel better, do more and then feel worse. My DH told me to always do less than I think I can. I am taking it easy today, laying around and icing. I am hoping to get my hip/leg to feeling like it did yesterday. I have been pretty much cane/crutch free since Sunday, but I try not to be on my feet too long. I am still taking pain meds, but I have decreased the frequency and amount. My nights are still the worst time for me. I cannot seem to stop the leg aching. Sometimes my left leg mirrors the right just for fun. ;) Must be sympathy pain.
 
Wow - time flies! Sounds like you are doing great! Yes, it's hard to go slow when you start feeling better. My trick was to plan an activity day followed by a planned rest day. Pretty soon the rest days decrease. Use that cane/crutch when you are tired so you don't get in the habit of limping.

Are you taking your pain meds at night? At three weeks you still need that help - especially at night.
 
I think I just have to take a bigger dose at night. I am having a bit of difficulty figuring that part out. I am taking 1 ultracet (37.5/325) and an aspirin or additional 500 mgs of Tylenol every 6 hours usually 6 am, 12 pm, and 6 pm or there abouts. At night, 10 pm, I have tried taking 2 ultracet or 1 Percocet 7.5/325, but I still wake up every few hours from pain. At the 4 hour mark I take additional pain medication. My night pain is better than it was last week, so i am still on an upward path. I am keeping a medication chart...mostly because I kept forgetting when I had taken what LOL! But it has proven to be helpful in tracking my progress.
 
Unfortunately even with pain control sleep issues are a part of this recovery. Don't fight it - just nap when you can during the day.

I'm tagging Jo so she can comment on your meds schedule. Josephine That's great you are keeping a medication chart. Helps in so many ways!
 
Yay! Sounds like you're doing very well! Glad to hear. You are right. Feel good, so too much, feel bad. It happens to all of us!

Keep up the good work. Let that PT work out all the kinks and do what your body lets you do as far as the exercises.


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You are doing so well for only 3 weeks but I agree with you that when you start to feel better you do too much and then feel worse. I think this is the most difficult part of recovery knowing how much is too much. Your hubby gives good advice to always do less than you think you can. I notice that you also went through a failed arthroscopy as I did resulting in 2 major surgeries close together. Take care of yourself,rest as much as possible and keep taking the pain meds for as long as you need them.
 
Kim22 that arthroscopy was a complete and total waste of time, and two of the hip specialists I saw afterwards when consulting for the THR procedure pretty much said as much. The OS surgeon I wound up choosing said he would never scope hips that looked like mine. :/. Oh well, mustn't dwell on the past...or 5 months of UNNECESSARY pain. :hissy:
 
Hi @calicat Indeed best to look forward and concentrate on your recovery with your new hip.I hope you got a good nights sleep.
 
I actually almost had 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep! That is my longest stretch since the surgery. :dancy:
 
Seems to me your moving right along fine compared to your 1st post.Same issues here,feel great,overdo it,feel bad.Whatever,all part of the process.Nights and mornings are still difficult for me also,especially when I overdue it.(cough,everyday)Today is an I overdid it rest day for me also.No sweat,slight delay in the flight program.Just gives me an opportunity to be lazy,overeat and be annoying on bonesmart.Doin great over there calikat .Peace.
 
Kim22. Thank you for the kind words. I am assuming that your hip scope was a failure also. Mine failed miserably, and I developed the dreaded hip tendonitis afterwards so I am trying to be very cautious this time around. I still have quite a bit of groin pain so I rest and ice, and rest and ice some more. I try to be careful with the medication because I don't want to mask the symptoms and do too much. I have to say that my hands really miss the NSAIDS though. My right hand is on my list to fix next. Sometimes my thumb joint is pretty unbearable. I am going to try and get in for a cortisone shot next week to tide me over until I can do something about it. At the moment I just cannot think about another surgery.
 
calikat You assume right the arthroscopy was a waste of time and my hip deteriorated very quickly after it. The only good thing that came out of it was that the OS saw with his own eyes the areas of bare bone which were not seen on X-ray or even on the MRI. I was told that my arthritis was patchy so the xray did not show the extent of the deterioration. However, the xray I had 6 weeks after the scope showed the true picture. The MRI did show a torn labrum and as it appeared there was only very early arthritis, I agreed to the scope hoping to buy some time.

Sorry to hear about your sore thumb and I hope that the cortisone shot gives you some relief. Have you had one before? I have also had to stop the NSAIDS recently due to a raised liver enzyme and have to be content to take paracetamol only. I found that it worked better with ibuprofen so they are a big miss to me too.

My left hip and knee are very painful now and I think I will be needing a LTHR soon. It's never ending isn't it? I also developed groin tendinitis about 7 weeks out from my hip replacement as I felt so wonderfully pain free and you guessed it I did too much and twisted awkwardly on a tired and iced hip. So less is definitely more in recovery from this surgery. It's great that you have your own PT at home to advise you about taking things slowly. Happy healing thoughts from over the pond.
 
Hi Kim22 My scope also showed two areas of bone on bone that were not seen on the MRI, MRA, and xray. Remarkably it was in the areas from where my pain seemed to generate. Imagine that! ;). I also had a grade 4 femoral head defect which is a fancy way of describing arthritis ... the OS's words not mine. I knew had multiple labral tears, but I think most people with hip dysplasia do. I was told we have floppy labra :shrug: susceptible to tearing. Like you my hip deteriorated very quickly after that surgery. I got better for about 5 weeks and then things quickly went down hill. My after scope xrays showed bone on bone too so in July I started trying to set things up for a hip replacement. But things really started to get bad so fast! And most of these surgeons are busy and it's not like you can just walk in and schedule surgery.

As far as my thumb, I have had it injected. Hurts like crazy for about a week after but then is heaven! It usually lasts about 4 months. I need to have it fixed. I have just been putting it off. I had my left hand fixed in 2001. It is a 4 to 6 month recovery. My hand surgeon said he wanted me to get the hip fixed first because he does not want me to have to use crutches, etc. after the repair. I am going to beg for the shot, but I am not sure if he will let me have another one.

I hope you get the tendinitis under control. Has anyone discussed trying a steroid injection? I am going to ask for one if mine doesn't improve with the hip replacement. So far it seems to getting better ... a little bit each day ... but I really take it easy. I avoid any hip flexion exercises and too much walking. I think I did too much walking early in the hip scope recovery and that is what caused it. I take short little walks. Unfortunately I did not learn that hip flexor tendinitis was a complication from hip arthroscopy until after the fact. Boo.
 
Josephine. Oh darn. I did not know about the 6 week wait after surgery. :( Thank you for the heads up Jo. Have I told you yet that you are one of my favorite people? You help so many! I am so grateful that we all have you to watch over us. Makes me feel almost tearful. :) Well I will have to tough it out. My thumb joint is so sore. I am sure using the walker and crutches did not help things. I was thinking the hand surgeon might not let me have another one because I have already had 4 over a 2 year span. Some doctor's have told me I can have no more than 3 or 4 in one joint (over the years I have had them in my elbow, shoulder, thumbs, back, and hip), others say that is not the case. I am going to go with what you say. <3
 
Not sure I deserve such a glowing compliment but thank you anyway. As the cops and firemen say "Just doing my job, ma'am"!
calikat said:
I have already had 4 over a 2 year span. Some doctor's have told me I can have no more than 3 or 4 in one joint
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Well, I sincerely hope not as I have had around 15 in both shoulders (making 30!) over the last 10 years! There's a wide variety of opinion and caution over this kind of thing amongst the medical fraternity!
 
Like I said...I am going with your opinion. <3 Josephine. I just think if I can have a shot which gives me 4 months of relief, I would prefer that over surgery for as long as it works. If the surgeon won't give me one, I am sure my rheumatologist will. They seem to have a different perspective than the surgeons regrading surgery. ;)

ETA. Yes you definitely deserve the praise. In my opinion you go above and beyond.
 
calikat - hello, I'm trying to catch up with other threads and have been reading yours. I was comforted to know that your beginning sounds as awful as mine was. Wow, wait a second - that sounds SO wrong - I don't mean I'm glad you had a bad start - not at all! I just mean, I went into this thinking that I was going to feel SO GOOD after my surgery, and it has not been that way. Granted, I'm only 5 days out, I know - but my expectation level was a bit "off" shall we say.

While I was reading the beginning of your thread - I was nodding and going "me too, me too!" a LOT (I also woke up in recovery in absolute AGONY, for one thing. I've had many surgeries and that was a first).

It sounds like things are going much better for you now and I'm so happy for you! :cheers:

Looking forward to keeping up with your recovery. Wishing you smooth sailing! :SUNsmile:
 
calikat thanks for understanding, I figured you would! You are very kind. :)

And thanks so much for the pillow stacking link - hurray! :spin:
 
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