In state of shock...

[Tweetybrd]

@JenJuniper Hi and !

I totally understand about being in a state of shock. I was exactly the same way. It has been just a little over a year from when I was first told I would need a THR. I ran into a few doctors who looked at my age before they looked at the condition of my hip and so was told I was too young.
I got a 2nd (and 3rd, 4th and 5th) opinion and found someone who looked past my age to my bone on bone hip and I will be having surgery in January.
I wish you luck with making your decision it is not an easy one. Be sure to come here and read and ask any questions you have. It is a great forum.

 

[NWhipster]

The shock is very familiar to me. I am 58 but my mind still think I am in my 20s. When my Dr told me after looking at my X rays it wasn't a matter of if, it was when I would do a THR on my left hip and then my right hip.

In a way I was lucky that my OA went downhill very fast on my left hip. It got to the point that when I was walking through the airport I was asked three times if I needed a wheelchair or a ride on the cart. So my decision was made for me to do the THR on my left.

My OS was great and the recovery was short. So, when my when my right hip started acting up. I decided not to wait. OA never get better it only gets worse.

You need to make your own decision. For me, life is too short to live in pain. Hip parts now last a long time.

Good luck, please keep coming to this group for information and support.


Sent from my iPhone using broken link removed: https://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=75543

 

[JenJuniper]

Hi @Tweetybrd @NWhipster
Thanks for your comments
Yesterday in a much better more positive mood about it all! The power of knowledge!
I feel more able to consider things in a more rational state of mind and the other half and I are going to have a good chat this weekend about the best time in the early part of next year I could have an op which would cause the least disruption to our schedule (building work going on in the house at the moment!!!) ..... and ensure I get a post op holiday to recover!!!
How long before you can fly post surgery???

 

[Jaycey]

How long before you can fly post surgery???

Depends on the length of the flight and every surgeon is different on this. Minimum is usually 12 weeks but do check with your surgeon. Here's an article from our Library on this: Flying soon after surgery.

 

[Nana2-8]

Welcome @JenJuniper ~ So glad you have found this site! As I have told others who are at your stage of decision making, ......(and keep this in mind during your weekend discussions with your better half) ......since you have been told surgery is on your horizon........while you are waiting, you are putting an added burden on your other joints. A poor hip forces you to 'compensate'......and by doing so, you are throwing your other hip, and probably both your knees.....maybe even your pelvis and thus your back.....all 'outta wack'!!! Our bodies seem to do this for us......while we are in denial! And especially in your line of work (thank you for your work,, by the way) you would feel so much more effective if you knew you were in tip-top shape. All in all, I join the chorus of "the sooner, the better". Keep us posted.

 

[SwimGirl]

@Sunny girl You hit the nail on the head on the last two posts. You really do feel like you are alienated
And so many times I felt like a freak! Got so tired of people asking me what I had done because I Was limping.
I mean what can you say.....well I was living and breathing and my body decided to slow me down! Nobody gets it! Unless they are right there with you!

 

[Sunny girl]

Hi @JenJuniper, so glad you seem to be getting some clarity after the initial shock of diagnosis and hope you got to have that D&M this weekend. It will be a decision that will change your life. And a post-op holiday sounds like a grand plan.

Yes @SwimGirl. Having OA of the hips (which luckily for us is totally fixable! How blessed we are!) has given me empathy for others who are suffering, and how many must feel they are living in a fish bowl, being continually 'witnessed'. Also made me realise not to make observations and well-meaning comments to others who appear to be in difficulties!! It has also given me huge insights into how the elderly and frail can fall so easily into neglect in the home ... and of themselves, as tending to housework/cleaning/cooking etc becomes fraught with difficulty.

Always surprised how some people don't 'get' hip OA though. Someone said 'Oh. You must have worse hip pain than me then if you're having surgery.' Well, yes. While I'm on the bandwagon, there are people who say: "Have you tried: positive thinking/magnesium/Feldenkreis/magnets/rose-hip/chiropractic/pranic-healing/chanting/harmonic bells/calcium/mindfulness/turmeric powder/ayurvedic mud/flower remedies/homeopathy/essence of fairy wings/unicorn glitter/add any other named irrelevant, inappropriate substance/therapy here ... The inference is that you are taking the easy route by having surgery!! And that we haven't taken every step so far to avoid that final route.

Just give me the drugs and the metal implant and have less to say people!

Oops, sorry for the rant! Gotta laugh tho.

 

[Miss Muffet]

I'm with you @SwimGirl - nobody wants any inference that they're a slouch when they're actually in pain, smiling through and doing their best.

Part of wanting to get on with the surgery was to stop being defined as someone with OA. I felt that might be the case because it coloured my life so much - how I walked, where I went, what I could and couldn't manage to do and the copious amount of drugs needed to try and keep on top of the pain. I just wanted to be 'normal'. So the choice of having surgery is/was the obvious option.

And it has made me far more sensitive to the needs of those with disabilities or special needs. Ours is temporary but others have to cope day to day with the inconveniences they face.

 

[SwimGirl]

@Miss Muffet I agree with you! Now that I have more movement and mobility I really forgot how easy it is to accomplish things. My how difficult things got! I mean every single day! I really do have compassion for those with disabilities and special needs also. But you are right as this gives you much more awareness of the struggles others face daily. I always said....It could be worse and it surely could! We are fortunate ones indeed!