THR One year post-op

[alexthecat]

Karen, we went biking over the weekend in southern Utah. It was amazing. I'll post some pictures when I get home. It's too much work when we're still on the road.

Yesterday we hiked about ten miles in the hills above Boulder, Colorado. By the end of the day, my feet were so sore... they still are, actually... but I didn't get a single complaint out of my hip. I didn't even give it a thought the whole day.

We were going to try to find some late-season cross-country skiing today, but my feet need a day off. Since this is really supposed to be a working vacation, I'm going to spend today on the "work" part.

 

[Barbs]

Hey Alex,

Good to see you in my neck of the woods. Isn't Boulder beautiful? You have been covering some serious ground, doing some amazing things. Enjoy your (work) holiday!!

Barb

 

[Josephine]

Notice: this thread has been cleaned of off-topic posts.

 

[alexthecat]

Later this month, my hip and I will celebrate our second anniversary together. In honor of that occasion, I have decided to bump my anniversary thread from last year.

I fractured my hip in June 2009. It was nine months before my original OS gave up trying to put that busted-down hip back together and gave me a referral for THR. I was housebound during those nine months… in a wheelchair for about half that time and had limited ambulation with crutches or, briefly, a cane for the other half.

I’d always been an active, outdoorsy sort of person, so being stuck inside for so long was almost as hard for me to deal with as the pain and disability of the injury. I really wanted more than anything to get back outside and return to doing the sorts of things I enjoy.

So, in that vein, here are some photos of the places my hip has taken me in the last year. I actually have quite a few of these to share, so I’ll be posting them a few at a time over the coming weeks.

Hiking in the National Raptor Refuge, near Boise, Idaho.

Cross-country skiing in the Medicine Bow National Forest in southern Wyoming.

Mountain biking in eastern Utah.

Hiking at Fossil Butte in Wyoming.

 

[Z15]

Awesome, Alex.

You clearly treat that hip VERRRRY well. I'm jealous!

It seems like if you treat it this well, it will tkae good care of you too!

Z

 

[alexthecat]

Z, the night after my THR, I had a heart-to-hip chat. I explained to it that, if it was good, I would take it to interesting places.
I always keep my promises. :wink1:

 

[Dee205]

Congratulations on your 2nd anniversary! From the look of those photos, you certainly are treating that hip well!! What gorgeous shots!! Glad everything is going great and can't wait to see more pictures
Dee

 

[dianemarie]

Beautiful places...you and your new hip have seen. Good for you Alex and very encouraging for the rest of us. Keep at it!

 

[haldox]

Looks like you both are treating each other well-breathtaking photos!! Thank you for posting them and keep them coming!!

 

[Jamie]

Heartwarming, Alex.....REALLY!!! It's always so wonderful to see folks have surgery and go on to enjoy their lives just the way they want to. Those ae certainly some gorgeous spots to take a hip adventure.

 

[Jaycey]

Great photos Alex! I can't believe it's been two years. Well done for getting back to living!

 

[beesquare]

Inspiring Alex, really brilliant

 

[Lindawalms]

LOVELY!!!
xoxoxo,
Linda.

 

[C Mac]

:flowerysmile:Hi Alex,

What a lovely thread with stories of bicycles and beautiful scenic hiking pictures!! Happy anniversary and thank you for all the support and information that you have shared over these past two years to those of us here on the BS forum. You have encouraged me to return to a level of flexibility that I didn't think would be possible since my surgery and for that I am truly grateful. :ThankYou:

Take care and may you enjoy many more fantastic hikes & bike rides,
Cardie

 

[Poppet]

Hi Alex, what. Fantastic photos... and a big congratulations on your almost two year anniversary..

I love the story about your heart to hip chat I remember thinking prior to my surgery, all I want to do is walk again like a normal person... and now I am.

Maybe time for me to have a kidney to kidney chat... 'come on kidneys, too much living to do for the pair of you to just quit like this! Stop being silent little brats sulking inside of me there, get on with the fantastic job you do of filtering all those waste products'

There, feel better already

 

[alexthecat]

I'm having computer problems lately, so I'm stuck using my phone. It's fun! I love it! Well, maybe not. Anyway things seem to be working for the moment.

Cardie, I’m glad the stretches and things that I’ve posted are useful. I’ve always been a very limber person and I wasn’t sure how much I was going to get back after THR. My OS wasn’t really helpful with that, so I just want to put some information out there to try to help other people who are in the position that I was. All the exercises and stretches I share on Bonesmart are things that I’ve done. I may do it every day or I may have tried it for the first time 2 minutes before posting it or something in between, but I’ve at least done it, so I can say that it is doable for an artificial hip.

I’ll tell you a funny story though… When I was about 9 months post-op, I switched Pilates classes. The new instructor was one of those people who thinks she is an expert on THR because she knows about hip precautions. So, before every class, she would announce that if you have “hip issues”, not to cross your legs or bend past 90 degrees, and then she would give me this look. I was a little annoyed, but didn’t know how to address that. She was otherwise supportive and helpful, but I was well done with hip precautions and I don’t have “hip issues”, okay?!

Well, she was late to class one day, so I decided to do some stretches while I waited. When she walked in, I was doing this only with a little more hip flexion:

She gave me the most horrified look, but she never tried to tell me about hip precautions again. :th_heehee:

Sandy, I hear you about walking! I was on crutches for five months before my THR and in a wheelchair for four months before that. I remember the PT/physio in the hospital asked what I was looking forward to doing after I recovered and I said that I just wanted to be able to walk again. She asked where I wanted to go and I said that I didn’t care… I just wanted to walk again. If you read my recovery thread, it’s basically “Alex’s Obsession with Walking”. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but I was completely fixated on that. If you can’t walk (or if it’s insanely painful) there is nothing else in the world that matters.

Good luck with your heart-to-kidney chat! Positive visualization is a good thing, as you know.

 

[nanamac]

I'm with you there about the walking Alex. I haven't been able to without pain for two years. Today my PT and I walked up and down the street without a hitch and it was just fantastic!

The things we take for granted until they are gone...

 

[alexthecat]

I'm glad you had a good walk, Janet! May you walk many more miles on those hips! :cheers_wine:

 

[nanamac]

That's the plan Alex! No stopping me now!:cat-kittyandsmiley:

 

[alexthecat]

Someone (@C Mac asked me about doing the "pigeon pose" after THR and I said that I would write up some pointers for that. This is sort of the king of hip openers, so it's a big topic. I'm going to break it up into several installments over the next couple of weeks.

Before I start, I just want to be clear that this is only appropriate if you are well along in recovery and have been cleared by your OS to return to all physical activity.

By way of an introduction, this is one-legged king pigeon pose:



Obviously, there is a lot going on with the back leg fully extended and the front leg in external rotation. There is also a lot of flexion in the lower back, which may not be doable for everyone. That can be "cheated" a little, by lowering the torso, like this:

I'm going to start with some stretches to prepare the back leg. Both legs will ultimately be the back leg, so try this on both sides, okay?

Quadriceps stretch:

It doesn't matter which of these you do, but contract your abdominal muscles to keep your spine from arching, keep your knees close together, and keep your calf in line with your thigh, so you aren't twisting your knee. If it doesn't feel like a stretch, try to elongate your knee away from your body.


Supine hip flexor stretch:

Kneeling hip flexor stretch:

Keep your abdominals tight and chest lifted here. No slouching allowed!


Okay. I think that is enough for today. I'll look for some feedback on this and then we can move on to the front leg.