THR one year later ...

[TeeEm]

@Kim22 I didn't really eat anything until the next day. I didn't fancy anything . The drinks are 200mls clear lemon flavour. I think its great that you can have a drink at 6am. I really missed my morning cup of tea last time.
Yes, my knee is starting to go downhill now, so I think I was wise to get on the list when I did. I can last out if it stays like this, but will ask them to restart the WL clock if it gets any worse. Doing anything that puts prolonged weight on my knee, like standing doing the ironing is starting to cause me a good deal of discomfort now, I limp when I walk and I am starting to avoid doing things. Im having to plan my life around pain killers again. I'll be glad to see the back of it.

 

[Kim22]

What a shame @TeeEm as you were doing so well,going to Boot Camps etc.It sound like it may be more beneficial to rest your muscles before the surgery anyway. Well roll on September then.My other hip is getting worse day by day and I see the OS again on Tuesday.Last time I saw him he said that we had to sort out the operated hip first.Well that is certainly better and the Radiologist will have sent him the evidence.I will be sure to mention that it hurts when at rest including at night in bed.I also missed my morning cuppa on the day of the op.

 

[TeeEm]

@Kim22 Im sorry your other hip is going down rapidly and your OS takes note of your night pain. I found some hip and knee replacement indication guidelines from an NHS hospital on google a while ago, but cant find them now. I found it very useful ! This might help though
broken link removed: https://www.neurotechgroup.com/uk/cms/indications/hip-replacement-surgery
Let us know how you get on .

 

[Peaches]

Wow, @TeeEm, the knee ball really IS rolling. I'm glad you've got a date. What is this pre-op you're talking about? Is it pre-op physio? And you had to buy that lemon stuff this early? I'm sorry for the pain you are in. I have had sporadic knee pain on stairs and that is minimal to what you're going through, but it is always scary. I'm glad you found bonesmart before doing the knee.

Hi @octopus, good to see you. How are you?? Thanks for your good thoughts about the back. It is not so bad if I do not overdo the walking and standing. I am dragging my feet on going to yet another doc about it since i wasted so much money on PT that didn't work and have other stuff going on health wise (nothing serious) to deal with first. What is going on with you.

@westsea nice to see you again! Glad the new hip is good, hope the new knee gets better. Very interesting info you have shared about doing too much prior to the knee surgery having an impact. Yikes. Is it true the knee recovery is harder than the hip? Guess I know the answer to that. Also interesting you got benefits from walking squarely on the other hip rather than babying it. Will try that.

@Kim22, I saw on your thread your recent improvements and am so happy for you! You have had a rough year and deserve some resolution of those issues. Though I know your other hip is not good. I do hope you get an appointment for that one soon.

@zauberflöte, you have done a lot more physically than I have done with all that moving. My back would never allow that. The new hip would. So glad your new hip is doing well. As for the wedding coming up ... are you having fun yet? I would be frazzled having to plan that dinner as I am not a party gal. My favorite weddings I've gone to have been the ones that were at someone's home or apartment or yard. I love receptions at people's homes, too. LOVE them.

@Poppet, it is always a pleasure to see you. How are you feeling? Is your Countdown to Retirement Calendar filling up with X's in the boxes? I took a vacation day during the workweek yesterday and just did errands, doc appointment, etc., and was on Cloud Nine from not having to stress out and worry about racing back to the office. Made me dream of retirement someday.

 

[zauberflöte]

@TeeEm @Kim22 @Peaches we are all falling apart at the seams, aren't we? Tee, I'm glad you're on the list and hope the knee gets no worse over the summer. Kim, argghhh, I hope all that mentioning of the pain at rest and the night pain workd for you! I may try a night or two with no ibuprofen (only thing that lets me sleep, an it's nothing to do with anything I've ever been dx'd with!) and see if I can honestly say that the new bad hip is keeping me awake-- I do think that would be the case!
@Peaches I am not a party gal either, and if everyone who was invited to this soiree actually comes, there will be about 35 guests. YIKES!!! Food, drink, decor for the huge (rented till we sell old house 100 miles away) back yard, hubby now has to concoct the wedding cake stand so will be less help than he wanted to be.... How's this for lighting-- 7 years ago when we moved, I took the old house's (the one before the current "old house") crystal chandelier with me, as although it's fairly ugly, I love it to bits-- so many memories, you know, and SO sparkly! So I want to give it power, hang it under a tree out in the yard, and have the "table of honor" there, for bride and groom to hold court if they wish. Circumstances are perfect-- the shed has power and there are tons of trees! I just hope the actuality lives up to my dream fairyland effect...

 

[Kim22]

@Kim22 Im sorry your other hip is going down rapidly and your OS takes note of your night pain. I found some hip and knee replacement indication guidelines from an NHS hospital on google a while ago, but cant find them now. I found it very useful ! This might help though
broken link removed: https://www.neurotechgroup.com/uk/cms/indications/hip-replacement-surgery
Let us know how you get on .

Thank you for the link.Very interesting.I find that at times I get shooting pains in my knee at night or when sitting down I feel them on the outside of the knee and they sometimes involve the shin area.With the right side I had knee pain but the pain occurred after I walked any more than about a hundred yards.i have had a bad day today hip wise.

 

[Kim22]

@zauberflöte I am glad that the Ibuprofen helps you sleep.Regrettably, I can't take anti inflammatories so just rely on Paracetamol and I find that their effect is minimal.You have been busy recently with your house move and the wedding.My son moved into his first home 3 weeks ago and my mother is due to move to a bungalow in 2 weeks so I can appreciate how much work is involved and how much it takes it out of you.Maybe that's why the left hip is so bad today.Our old friend " overdoing it " raises its ugly head once more ! I will rest tomorrow.You take care and try not to do too much.Easier said than done when real life makes its demands.

 

[zauberflöte]

@Kim22 oh congratulations to your son!!! And is your mother's "bungalow" what we'd call "retirement housing" or "assisted living"? Yes, do take it easy, I'm sorry you had a bad day... You know, I can take all the NSAIDs I want, so I hear from my cardiologist, because one of the heart meds I take also protects my kidneys, eyes, and other organs-- so, there's a bright side to every down side LOL

 

[TeeEm]

@Peaches The pre-op drink is a drink called pre-op . Lol. Thankfully, I didn't have to buy them , they come free on the NHS . The other pre-op was an appointment with the pre-op nurse, who takes your blood pressure, weight, ECG, bloods, stuff like that - so you are all ready when you go in.


@zauberflöte Gosh. You are going to be really busy. I hope you are going to post some pictures of your garden when its all finished and fairy tale' ish . I sounds like it will be lovely . Is your weather as unpredicatable as ours? Its a foregone conclusion here that if you plan a summer garden event, then it is bound to rain . Have you got a gazebo to put up just in case?

 

[Kim22]

@Kim22 oh congratulations to your son!!! And is your mother's "bungalow" what we'd call "retirement housing" or "assisted living"? Yes, do take it easy, I'm sorry you had a bad day... You know, I can take all the NSAIDs I want, so I hear from my cardiologist, because one of the heart meds I take also protects my kidneys, eyes, and other organs-- so, there's a bright side to every down side LOL

Great news that you can take NSAIDS as your other meds are protecting the organs.I took Naproxen for years and after the hip replacement I tried to stop them but along came the tendinitis so I took Ibuprofen on a regular basis.When I read about Poppet and Lenora's experiences I went to the GPs to request a kidney function test.The kidneys were fine but low and behold they found a raised enzyme in the liver which they put down to the NSAIDS and was told to stop them.I was retested after about 5 weeks and the results were within normal limits again.So I have tried to avoid them.I did try a weeks course when the psoas tendinitis was at its worse but they didn't help.

My mother will be living independently in a single storey dwelling which we Brits call a bungalow.We borrowed the word from India I believe.She currently lives in the house where I was born and the bathroom and toilet facilities are upstairs.She uses a stair lift but at 90 she is finding it more and more difficult to manage.She has carers for thirty minutes every day and is connected to "Careline" which is provided by the Local Authority free to people over the age of 85.She wears a bracelet and if she gets into difficulty she can press the alarm and a warden will contact her, visit and let us know that there is a problem.
My son is loving his independence and is taking pride in keeping his home clean and tidy which was a revelation to us.He is even getting into gardening.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures of your garden (or is it yard ? ) decorated for the wedding.Can you remember when we had fun comparing US words with equivelant ones we use in the UK !

 

[zauberflöte]

@TeeEm as @Kim22 says, it's a yard, not a garden, and there are no fairies at the bottom of it, because the "bottom" of it is the street in front of the house! We can't wait for a prolonged downpour, which would make the entire hill into a waterfall passing through the house on its way downstream...:rolleyes:
I will try to take pictures and post them!

@Kim22 I had forgotten just how well your mother is doing! She has lived in the same house for so very long, I hope that her "things" that she takes with her will make the bungalow into home right away SHe sounds like a marvelous lady-- and reminds me that we should tag @Songlady and see how she and her mother are getting on! Yoohoo Meg!

 

[Peaches]

So @TeeEm your knee surgery is end of Sept. and you are already going to pre-op classes and buying up that liquid stuff? That's really early. You are really getting the ball rolling. Do you have a pre-op thread on the knee side yet? I want to make sure I keep in touch. What's this about "boot camp" someone mentioned?

 

[TeeEm]

@zauberflöte what is the difference between a yard and garden in the US? In the Uk, a garden tends to be any space behind a house that has anything growing in it, while a yard is a concreted or flagged area I hope it doesn't rain. I have visions of everyone being washed down the street en-masse.

@Peaches Yes, it is early. In the UK, there is a rule that 'consultant led treatment ' ie surgery has to be performed/started within 18 weeks of being referred by your GP. Cutting a long story short, I have had a long hard battle getting my GP to take my knee problems seriously and even when she said that she would refer me 'when I was ready', I didn't really trust her to do it, so I asked to get referred earlier than I knew I needed to expecting the usual delaying tactics and excuses, but she actually did it when I asked ! I also thought the OS might suggest I had another cortisone jab to see if that worked first rather than put me straight on the WL (even though Ive had 3) and I have read somewhere that they wont operate for three months after one, so I worked that into it as well. Ive been planning this with military precision !
Boot camp was an exercise class I went to that sounds worse than it is. you did a lot of stepping, squats, lunges, stuff with weights etc . There were people of all ages there and you did things to your own ability and fitness level. It was brilliant for my hip but unfortunately really really hard on my knee so I only did it for a few weeks.

 

[zauberflöte]

@TeeEm in the city and in suburbia, any space around your house is "the yard". It is where the kids play. You can have front, side, back yards. Depending on your taste, you may plant stuff such as grass, trees, bushes, hedges, ornamentals, flowerbeds, whatever, in your yard. You may grow a vegetable garden, herb (kitchen??) garden, or a flower garden. These gardens are clearly defined spaces within your yard, in my experience. If you have, say, a very small front yard on a city street, and you have it all planted lushly "in the English style", probably nobody would call it your front yard-- they would call it your flower garden out front. Our paved areas are patios or basketball courts or both at once! In suburbia and some urban locations, we often also have a gravel or paved driveway leading to the garage or a carport or neither. This can double as the basketball court too. Many cities have alleys behind the houses (is that mews???) but that is rare in my experience of suburbia. You have to drag your garbage down to the street for pickup....

In former days in the rural South, and even today in some very rural areas, your "yard" was packed dirt, swept clean every day. Today this connotes poverty just as much as overgrown weeds among the junker cars up on blocks does. (I'm profiling and being politically incorrect here...)
Thus endeth the lecture for the day. I'm going to arrange "vacant-home" homeowners' insurance for our vacant home LOL.

 

[TeeEm]

@zauberflöte Ahhh I see. What you call the yard, we call the garden (the whole outdoor space ) - back, side or front. What you call a garden, we call a bed or patch or border - flower bed or border, or vegetable patch, although a herb bed/patch is usually called a herb garden and a vegetable patch is sometimes called a kitchen garden Lol. Confusing.
we have patios too - usually at the back of the house. Somewhere to put table and chairs or a BBQ - weather permitting ! Drives are the same. Alleys are the same too, although most homes built nowadays don't have them.
HaHa. some people here have overgrown weed gardens filled with junk too.
Do you have allotments in the states? They are patches of land divided into small narrow spaces called an allotment, which you can rent very cheaply. People grow mainly vegetables on them, but also flowers and many have sheds and greenhouses. I think they started years ago for people to grow their own food if they only had a small yard or garden or no garden at all, but are still very popular, especially amongst retired men to give them something to do, and retired women, who want their husbands out the house.

 

[glynis]

Forgive me butting in on your thread, Peaches, but I am currently confined to barracks with a broken metatarsal in my foot, and somewhat at a loose end, during what will undoubtedly prove to be the UK's only week of glorious weather this year.

I am fascinated by these transatlantic "You say tomato" discussions, and thank you to ZF for her definition of a yard - something I have always wondered about.

To add to TeeEm's explanations, I would just mention that "mews", ZF, are not alleyways. They are rows of buildings which were built in the days when wealthy people kept horses for riding, and for pulling their carriages. Above where the horses and carriages were kept was housing for coachmen and stable hands.

Nowadays they are very popular for development. Because many local authorities have strict rules about keeping the general appearance of older buildings intact, the areas for the coaches are often left much as they were, and are now used for our motorised types of transport, with the living areas above being converted into smart modern apartments.

An address on a mews development in central London is "quite something", and they command suitably high purchase prices. Often, again to keep the historical feel, their access street will be left cobbled.

Nice to see some familiar names on here.

Glynis

 

[Kim22]

Hi @glynis Nice to see you back Sorry to hear that you have broke your foot and are confined to barracks.How did you do it ?

 

[zauberflöte]

@glynis you poor baby! Yes, did you step on something exactly the size of your foot, or some more romantic happening? Thanks for the mews news. Here, in old urban residential neighborhoods (expensive when first built), we sometimes have the same thing-- the alley is lines with garages.But we just call it "the alley is lined with garages" LOL. I imagine some have been converted during gentrification, and you certainly see a lot of above-garage spaces in suburbia, too! Mostly for the man cave, or a little apartment for the odd grown-kid-come-home.

@TeeEm Oh I watched every episode of The Good Neighbor!! Last year when somebody, probably Glynis, recommended it to me!! And, we do have allotments, only I think they are usually called community gardens. It is also the coming thing to set up these green growing spaces in terrible urban blight settings, where the kids can have something useful to do after school. I know my church started a garden in a trailer park nearby, and it (the concept, not the veggies) grew so fast it got in the newspaper!

@Peaches sorry for hijacking, but we don't really have alot of hip stuff happening every single day, do we?

 

[glynis]

The story of my foot was not really dramatic enough to make the national news, but was a bit scary for me, as it happened in South America, 2 days before we were due to embark on 3-flight, 24-hour journey home. I skidded on a piece of loose carpet on a boat trip, and sort of twisted my foot outwards (a classic type of injury, I believe).

It was pretty painful, and I couldn't walk without help, so went to local clinic. It was not UK standard, but very quick, and they took good hygiene precautions. Doctor who spoke some English put it in a cast. We asked repeatedly for some sort of note to say I could fly, but request airily dismissed - you won't need it.

Flash forward to airport. Where's your certificate? Had to see airport doctor. Cast whipped off. Doctor very dubious. Glynis very scared. Eventually he relented, and put on stretchy bandage instead of cast. 2 days later went to hospital in UK. Cast put back on. Have appt on Friday to assess.

Note: It was 2 days before end of holiday when I had my fall in South America, which started me on this whole replacement, infection, revision merry-go-round. What to make of that? I dunno.

Kim, my mother-in-law was 90+ when she finally agreed to leave the big detached house (with lovely garden) she had lived in since my husband was a toddler. We found her a sheltered retirement apartment (or "department", as she always called it), but I was sure she'd go stir-crazy. Not at all. She settled in immediately. I think perhaps she was just relieved to no longer have the responsibilities of the house. She eventually succumbed to various problems, compounded greatly by C diff, when she was 95.

Peaches, again apologies for wriggling in on your thread. I'm so glad you are sounding so upbeat recently. I stand in awe of you New York Gals (LeeApril is another, I think) who handle big city life with such a laid-back style. I've been to New York once. Enjoyed it, and glad I've been. But found it quite overwhelming. Our Texas friends, despite (or perhaps because of) living in the wide open spaces on a ranch, love New York. They are there this week, to see Of Mice and Men on Broadway.

Will be you be playing at the wedding, ZF? Or just... er... dancing?

 

[octopus]

@Peaches , I'm doing really well thanks, hip progress is as expected I think. I still am so pleased to not be in constant pain any more, just niggles, but I can cope with that.

I'm loving the discussion on yard & garden. Here in NZ we use both yard & garden. Garden can refer to any space outside the house, but also refers to planted beds of flowers or vegetables. Yard would be any space outside the house including any vegetable or flower gardens.