THR NuMe2014 Recovery

[NuMe2014]

Well my cold virus is almost gone and I am feeling much better.
Today I had a lot of energy and I actually did three 10 minute sessions on the treadmill, some vacuuming, three loads of laundry, changed the bedding on two beds and washed and folded it all, and made supper! The best part .....tonight I don't feel any extra pain or stiffness and I completely forgot to take any pain meds today!
Oh and my dinner date the other day was very nice, it was my birthday and hubby took me out to celebrate.

 

[FiFi]

Happy birthday xxxx

 

[Legin]

Awwwww belated hippo birdy hope you had a grand time. Ooooooooo get you bursting from the shackles of lady sniffles (jesting). Nice one

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[copsham]

Wow your description of what you did in a day is amazing. It also amazes me what we used to do pre hip without thinking as part of "normal" daily lives!

I had a bit of a similar day yesterday and my hip was good too. I went to tai chi, visited mother in a nursing home, took her for a drive in the country side, went to physio therapy, went to supermarket. I cheated though for the first time in many years we had takeaway fish and chips - absolutely wonderful - but unhealthy and left me with indigestion.

So nearly back to normal. I can do my socks but with a little difficulty. I can do the stairs but not totally smoothly. I can't lay comfortably on my incision BUT other than that all good.

I hope your virus stays away and I hope you diary some restful days too.

It is amazing to be coming out of the other side and to hear your progress too!
karen x

 

[NuMe2014]

Almost 9 weeks Post-Op

Well life is slowly getting back to normal....whatever normal is, I'm not quite sure what that is anymore, it's been almost 2 years since I could say I moved and lived day to day "normally"!

I am still using my cane if I go outside or on errands, and first thing in the morning. I am walking 4 times a day on my treadmill for 10mins at 2mph. I am still doing my physio exercises ( I have one more outpatient PT session on March 31, and then they release me. Leg muscles on the most recent operated hip(left) are still quite weak, but that is to be expected. My right hip feels strong!

I am back to doing most of the cooking, and some of the light housekeeping, hubby is still doing the vacuuming, floor washing and the cleaning that requires bending low.

I am having no pain other than that good pain you get when you are using muscles that have not been used for a while. I have morning stiffness, but it is gone after about a half hour upon waking up.

I am still taking acetaminophen 1000mg twice a day.

My sleep was a little off when I came down with the cold virus, but it is getting straightened out again. I sleep for a good 6 hours and then wake up with a stiff back, so I get up and stretch a bit, get back into bed and go right back to sleep for another couple of hours.

We are officially into spring here, but still have some snow and ice. I still can't go outside and do any "real" walking. It is probably good that I can't be outside yet, because for how good I am feeling I would want to be doing a lot of things ourtside and with still having those restrictions/precaustions for a few more weeks I would really be pushing them!
Brenda

 

[copsham]

Hello @NuMe2014
it was good to read your 9 week update. Great to hear that it is nearly your Spring. I bet you will love to get out walking again. When I am out and see active people walking around all spritely I think that they don't realise how lucky they are! I can walk reasonably well but when I am out I am cautious in crowds and so need to walk quite slowly and surely incase someone walks into me

I love the "normal" - just doing some cooking feels so good. I keep thinking I am lucky to be at this stage but I am also conscious that some people start off well and sometimes develope problems later.

You have prompted me to go to my thread in a minute to do an update so thank you for posting.

Take care

Karen x

 

[Legin]

Nice one lass there will soon nooooo holding you back, I really picked up on the 2yrs since moving normally, bet it feels good but also you now do it without thinking. Ooooo just like me no thimking. Keep smiling

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[NuMe2014]

10 weeks Post-op

So I had what I thought would be my last PT session today....not! I now have two new exercises to help with balance and strengthening and I need them! Even though I am progressing along my leg muscles are very week. Around the house I don't use my cane but I have to be very mindful of my gait.... Heel toe, clench those butt muscles and stand up straight! By the end of the day if I am tired I use the cane otherwise I waddle like a duck! While at my PT session they had me do. my usual 10 min. walk on the treadmill, and today one of my therapists commented on how I am a "hip" walker ( I never heard of this before, has anyone else heard this term?) but they want me to be walking using more of my butt muscles! I never knew there was more than one way to walk!

The last two days I have to say life is feeling "normal" again! I have been cleaning closets and cupboards etc, moving around lots and not hesitating about if something needs to be taken upstairs or downstairs, I'm not afraid of the pain anymore... Because there is none!

Snow is almost gone, just a little bit of mud to dry up and then I can be outside.... Thank goodness.... It's been a long six plus months of being inside and recovery!

Happy Easter to all my Bonesmart friends.
Brenda

 

[HollyB]

Yeah, you! Your reports continue to be an inspiration for me -- just love to read them. I've never heard the term "hip" Walker, either. What does that mean exactly?

So glad to hear that things are starting to feel " normal" again -- I've had a few flashes of "normal" myself and it was pretty darn exciting for me when I realized it! Take care and keep those reports coming.

 

[NuMe2014]

11 weeks Post-Op

So I still have to use my cane for walking outside or longer distances, but not around the house. This frustrates me! I was done with the cane by this time with my first hip, but then again maybe I was not so worried about my gait then either - I don't remember and now I wish I would have documented my first recovery! My muscles just seem so week on this leg but then again I have to remember the set back I had when I had that cold virus! I find the walking outside is much better than the treadmill for strengthening. I want to have a normal or as close to normal gait as I can.

On a positive note - Raised toilet seat is gone! Bench seat for the tub shower is gone! I can put my socks on( both feet) without using my sock aid( first time in 12 months). Got rid of the elastic shoelaces and can now tie my running shoes! I can relax in the evening in my recliner instead of just the high wingback chair. I can sit on any one of our dinning room chairs and not just my designated higher seated chair. I have moved out of the spare bedroom and back into " our bedroom".

I have to try and focus on all the progress and not just my walking

 

[copsham]

Hi @NuMe2014
It sounds so good - normality returning! I remember reading your posts when I was a newbie and was impressed with your early days progress - that feels like a century ago. Like you I have been getting rid of all of the "aids to daily living". I was going to do so a few weeks ago but then thought I would hang on to them for a short while just in case .... I had one of the raised toilet seats with handles at each side. I miss it but do not need it.

I feel exhausted as I went swimming, went shopping, did cooking today. Again its getting back to normal. I can walk with out a cane/stick but do get tired quicker than I think that I should.

I am sure before long you will be walking without your cane. I found every insurmountable thing does happen usually after a plateau. Fingers crossed x

 

[NuMe2014]

Thank you @copsham. It does seem like ages ago since our surgeries and look how far we have come! Now that our snow is almost gone I am very impatient to be back to normal even though I know I can't speed recovery up, it will happen at its own pace!

 

[NuMe2014]

15 weeks Post-Op (left hip) 8 months Post-Op (right hip)

Life does get back to "normal"!

My right hip is truly the "forgotten hip". I have no pain or stiffness. The range of motion is better than it has been for many years.

My left hip is coming along nicely. It still gets stiff and a little sore after sitting even for short periods of time. I'm still working on strengthening the muscles on this side.
I am still working on my gait! When I am tired or in a hurry I find myself reverting to my old way of walking of leaning forward and swinging my left leg out and forward.
I walk on the treadmill 3 times a day for 20 minutes at 2.5 mph. I don't even have to think about my gait when on the treadmill, it just comes naturally.

Outside walking is a little more challenging. I have a walking pole I use when I go for my morning walk outside. I find walking in a mall for any distance a bit challenging. The muscles on my left leg get tired!

Stairs are normal going down. I don't hold onto any rails. Going up I still have to hang onto a rail sometimes especially when I am tired or at the end of the day. If I am carry something large or heavy I hold onto one rail going up or down - so no laundry baskets yet still using oversized tote bags for laundry.

Medication - I take Tylenol once in awhile when I have "overdone" it, but nothing on a regular basis. I stopped my Celebrex, and the stomach pill for the side effects! It feels so great to be pretty much med free after so many years of "pill popping" for pain!

Now the real positive stuff!

I can do all my own housework, and to my standards!
I can use my back entry again( the 3 steps are abnormally high apart) it's been two years since I could do this.
I can do yard work again. I am in the process of dismantling one of my rock gardens. 15 wheel barrels of stones moved and now working on moving the dirt( shovelling the dirt into the wheel barrel and moving it to another location). This is a slow and steady process. I am careful about twisting and turning and I can't handle too much weight in the wheel barrel yet! But I CAN DO IT! ( my muscles on my left leg get tired so I work a bit then rest a bit.....slow and steady!

I trimmed a row of spruce trees in our back yard, this meant bending and twisting!

I cleaned out last years dead stuff from my flower beds. (The last few years this was an almost impossible job to do due to pain and no range of motion.) while cleaning out the beds I would find I was bracing myself for the pain and locking I used to feel when standing back up from bending down ... But it wasn't there... No Pain! Funny thing was, it took my brain a long time to remember that I did not have brace myself for the pain.... !

Our daughter is home from university now and she commented on the " big grin" I have the whole time I am out working in the yard. She said she has not seen me this happy in a very long time.

I gained 40 pounds over the last couple years because of not being able to move due to pain. I was even very careful with what I ate, but due to inactivity and peri menopause, the weight "packed on". Now the weight is coming off with minimal effort!

I forgot how much fun life is. I am living again! It is GREAT!

To those of you who are think of having hip replacement surgery... Do it! Life is too short to wait!
To those of you who are at the start of your recovery... Slow and steady and follow the Bonesmart mantras.

I followed a very slow and steady approach to my recovery. It may not be the "way" for some, but it sure has, and is working for me.

Thanks to everyone here, who have helped me on this incredible journey. Bonesmart is such a wonderful place, I don't think I would have had such an uneventful and easy recovery if I had not had this forum to look to for advise and as a sounding board.

Brenda

 

[Constanze]

Hi Brenda,
I enjoyed reading your Report about Yard work. I also love Yard work. We live in a place half-way between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden not far from the Main river, also called the Rhine-Main area (where the river Main flows into the Rhine). It's a wine-growing area and has quite a mild climate. It's beautiful in spring. I planted lots of daffodils, tulips, hyazinths and many more. Also planted a laburnum tree pre-op and it will blossom in a few days. Now, of course, I have to have a rest from Yard work/weeding until everything is healed. Enjoy your new hips.
Best wishes - Constanze

 

[copsham]

Hello @NuMe2014
Great to read your feedback. It is an amazing process.. Like you and @Constanze I love working in the garden. I joke that "I was born in a field" as it is when I am outside I am happiest. Your daughters comment about your smile is lovely - it must be a relief for your family too.

@Constance about 5 years ago (in the days when I could walk normally!) we went to Wiesbaden to see the wisteria, a really enjoyable break.


Within about 6-8 weeks of hip op I wanted to start planning trips and holidays. This was a real sign of my improvement. @Constance soon you will be at the point that myself and nume2014 are in where we can really see our new lives ahead of us.
x

 

[HollyB]

Hi @NuMe2014. I saw your post on FiFi's thread and was thinking to myself how great it was to hear from you again. How are things going? I hope everything continues on that good slow and steady track! You do know that you have been and are my inspiration. I'm heading back for surgery on the second hip June 9 so I'm in the middle of preparing for that right now -- I know that you so understand! I've been to the Joint Class and have had the PreOp appointment with the OS and Anesthesiologist. Now I'm left with cooking/freezing and organizing the bedroom and bathroom. My operated leg has done well and I've been told by PT that it will be strong enough to see me through the rehab for the other hip. I seem to remember that you said you had been concerned about that so I knew to ask both PT and OS -- that was a good tip. Here's wishing you all the best as you move forward on those two good hips!!!

 

[NuMe2014]

@HollyB So glad to hear from you. I have been thinking of you too and wondering how you were doing. I do pop on here and read the threads but do not post very much, so I was aware of your upcoming surgery. You will be so happy to have the second surgery over and done with. I hope you do not have the nausea problems with this one. I will be watching for your recovery thread.

I am doing great, my right hip is almost the forgotten hip and my left one is coming along nicely. I do get a little impatient because it is still healing and the muscles are still somewhat weak. I have to remind myself that at this stage( 17 weeks post-op) with my first hip I was concerned about it being weak and not strong enough going into my second surgery at 19 weeks.... So I still have to "be patient" and remember to not overdo it and take little rests. I still ice occasionally as I have been doing a lot of yard work... Planting flowerbeds and pots and today the garden gets planted.

I am so thankful to be where I am now. I have my mobility back and am mostly pain free.
Brenda

 

[NuMe2014]

Here is my view as I take a rest from my planting!

RTHR - Sept. 8 2014
LTHR - Jan. 19 2015

 

[Constanze]

Hi Brenda,
What a beautiful place to live you have got. I've been following your thread for a long time. It must be great to have your mobility back and go for walks in the fresh air. Enjoy your yard work. I have to do quite a lot of it because of the weeds in the flower beds. Jasmin is beginning to blossom here - lots of lovely white blossoms - also the pionies - These usually blossom at Whitsun. Keep up the good recovery and best wishes to you! Constanze

 

[forbesy]

Hi NuMe

That looks stunning and a great place to chill out, you appear to be slightly ahead of me but doing great. Mind and be careful don't go trying anything without assessing the situation first. I am in my second week back at work on shortened hours but so far everything is fine.

Billy