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THR Plum Perfect's new hip!

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@Plum Perfect I have just googled Antalgic gait and I can't believe that I haven't heard this expression before.It is something I will have to work on to improve once I am rid of surgical pain.Very interesting.
 
just peeking in to say hello and see how things are going on the West Coast. :loveshwr:
 
Good morning Smarties it is Saturday morning on Day 10. I have been retired for 1 1/2 years and I still think of weekends as my days 'off' and time to relax, unless, of course I am off to a dog show which often requires getting up by 5 and sometimes earlier. Today is my third day of getting up and having coffee and breakfast at the dining table rather than in bed. My pain meds have been reduced to 3/day about 5 -6 hours apart starting when I wake up each morning. I do notice a soreness all along my OP thigh and a tightness along my shin down to my foot. It feels like muscle soreness but I don't know if it is from trauma during surgery, exercise post OP, or a combination of the two. I did just start spending substantial time sitting up with my feet on the floor rather than on the bed so it is a 'new' position for me. I have done the same amount of timed walking for 5 days, I probably could have walked farther however my gait did deteriorate as I became tired. At this point I am most interested in my gate. Showing dogs requires a smooth even gait, that is my goal. I ascribe to the adage that perfect practice makes perfect and am trying to avoid poor movement on my walks. I do enough of that during the rest of the day when suddenly I have to pee and get to the bathroom quickly or am focusing on something else and limp because it is easier not necessarily less painful. In my case I think a lot of the poor movement is due to years of pain and avoiding any sudden movements or uneven ground for fear of pain. I have to say I do not have any pain in my hip, that doesn't mean no pain, just none of the old arthritic pain. I continue to spend lots of time with my best friend :ice: and regularly get :sleep::sleep::sleep: .

I think I've had a bit of a slump the last few days, healing is progressing well, daily improvement but suddenly the enormity of what I have done to my body has reared it's ugly head and I've had a somewhat unreal feeling. I wake up and for a moment forget that I can't jump out of bed. This is weird because I haven't jumped out of bed for years since my hip has been painful. With the hip pain gone I feel like a very different person, suddenly realizing how much more incapacitated I had become.

Today I am going to shower before noon, that hasn't happened since my OP. Yesterday my neighbor stopped over at 3 in the afternoon, I was still in my PJ's. She was not surprised by I didn't like opening my door in that attire so today that changes. Off to the shower, it is 10:20 AM here, not early but before noon.

Sending good thought, and happy, healing vibes to all the bonesmarties out there. Today we are all thankful for sharing our journey and supporting each other.
 
Hello @CricketHip good day to you too. It is overcast today, rather gray, normally not a happy day but anything that offers respite to my garden is appreciated. It is not supposed to be over 77 today. I hope you have good weather today in PA. You are nearly three weeks post OR, how are YOU doing? I'll check back after my shower.
 
Oh, Plum, I hope you get some rain!! I laughed (sorry) about getting caught in your jammies. I bet you looked just fine. I bought a pair of very nice jammies for that very reason.. and yes, I will be 3 weeks this Monday!! Can you believe it?? We were both so nervous and speed reading everything we could pre op. and now we are doing it! We've got this!
Yep, you are right on schedule, the post op blues.. hopefully yours will be like mine and @Nana757 's were.. very quick and transient. I still just feel the gratitude. I hope you enjoyed your shower!!
 
@Plum Perfect, I so hear you about concentrating on your gait. Truly, my long range goal is just to walk normally. It will take a while to unlearn nearly a lifetime of bad, compensatory habits.
I LOL'd at your pee comment. It doesn't have to be pretty when you're trying to get to the potty!

I also understand about being hit with the enormity of our surgery situation. A couple of times I've opened my mind's door on the entire picture and have felt overwhelmed by it. I quickly closed that door and put my blinders on. I went back to my old mantra of 'How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.'
I hope you enjoy your weekend. :)
 
@Plum Perfect
Yeah...those daggone post op blues can sneak up on you. As @CricketHip said...mine came on sometime around the 7th or 8th day. Fortunately, I only had 2 episodes and with the 2nd, I just sucked it up and remembered how much better I was compared to pre op. That was the last weepy moment I had. And, from then on it was fairly smooth sailing. You haven't mentioned whether or not you have support/assistance at home...or I just missed it. That made a huge impact on my recovery...being spoiled is always a good thing. Happy recovery day to you!
 
@Plum Perfect
Haven't heard from you in a couple days - just wanted to check in and say "hi" and see how you are doing. Thinking of you!
 
Hi @Plum Perfect !!! waving at you! I bet you are driving now... come on, admit it! you are in the car doing errands and etc. If you are, please go easy. I know it's hard not to when you are on your own..
How are you r pups doing? I am worried about my Pup, Rooney, he is getting very attached to me and to the fact that I am home with him for most of the day. I think he will be upset when I return to work.
Luckily I have some apps to go to this week and next week and we can slowly acclimate him back to being home alone.
I attempted to make a simple meal for us last night. It went really well, but I noticed as I grew more weary and preoccupied that i dropped back into the old limping patter... the pre op pattern.. I was a bit shocked and need to stay diligent!
Have a good day! :loveshwr:
 
Hey @Plum Perfect .... Checking in to see how you are doing. Hope all is well with you and you are over the weepy moments.
:flwrysmile:
 
Hello all my Bonesmartie friends, especially @CricketHip, @Nana757 and @Hipster Girl, I'm not sure where the time has gone! Saturday I decided to take my walk around my little downtown rather than my neighborhood block, it was glorious, window shopping and just a leisurely walk. There are some nice chairs on one of the city corners so I plopped (literally) down and read the local paper enjoying the lovely weather, I felt (almost) like I had not even hand surgery except no hip pain. It was a wonderful afternoon. Although I didn't stress any muscles or have any negative responses to the activity I was really exhausted on Sunday, I hadn't expected that at all. Sunday I just stayed home all day, took naps :sleep:, and iced :ice:. I tried to read and was finally able to concentrate enough that I could remember the current page, the problem was I was asleep by the end of the page :loll:. Yesterday is a blur, more naps :sleep: and ice :ice: but today I got up, had breakfast and coffee at the table and took my shower right away! Of course I did all my morning chores first, fed the girls, watered the plants, etc.

My first follow-up appointment with my OS is Thursday, I'm trying to retrain myself to go to bed earlier so I'll be able to get up, shower and leave the house by 7:30 on Thursday. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive to the OS, parking, walking to office, etc. I think the outing will be around 4 to 4 1/2 hours and I'm trying to prepare myself.

Yesterday I drove to the grocery store, it is less than two miles, I did just fine. I had been getting in/out of the car for several days. I also practiced moving my foot from the accelerator to the brake like it was a PT exercise, 10 reps then rest, then 10 more. I was up to 2X/day. I practiced backing out of the drive and pulling back in, all before I attempted driving yesterday. The best thing about the grocery store was pushing a cart, I did have my cane but found I got the best walking practice just pushing the cart, I was able to walk really well but also had the security of the cart if I had needed it. I think this was great exercise, I am considering a trip to a big box store and spend my 30 minutes just pushing a cart around :egypdance:.

Today I am way behind checking in on everyone, I hope you are all doing well, I'll get caught up today. It is another sunny day her in CA should end up in the high 80's but not as warm as yesterday and Sunday. Have a great day, evening, or night to everyone. :flwrysmile::flwrysmile::flwrysmile::flwrysmile::flwrysmile:
 
Hi @Plum Perfect, That's great. You're making wonderful progress. That's why I liked the walker so much. It was so comfortable, and it also made it easy for me to carry things. A grocery cart is even better, because it's like a disguise. I used to notice that I would breathe a sigh of relief in the grocery store before my surgery. Pushing the cart gave me the perfect assistance.

Glad to hear you are driving again. I'm excited to hear what you surgeon says. You sound like you're healing beautifully. Keep us posted...
 
All I can say is WOW! No wonder you were MIA for a few days. You've been one busy lady. Getting out and about does wonders for your mental health, doesn't it? I am so happy to hear you were able to do all that you did, without any negative side effects. Congratulations and keep up the great recovery. But, please be careful and don't overdo anything.
:yay::dancy:
 
It's great to hear that you are out and about so early after your surgery. Please take care with your driving and although it is tempting don't get carried away in the supermarket. Remember you have to take everything you buy to the car, load and unload it and carry it into your house unaided. I went into the local Coles supermarket once to buy just two things and came out with more items and I only took a basket into the store so I had to struggle to the car with four bags and once crutch.
 
@Plum Perfect, your update is AWESOME! I'm so happy that you've had such wonderful experiences and that your forward movement is so positive!
Yaaay on the drive and the good shopping experience. Like Hip Hip Hooray! I loved the assistance and 'disguise' of the shopping carts.
I'll be winging good thoughts your way for Thursday that the news is all good and that the whole process is very manageable.

Take care, Plum! :flwrysmile:
 
I just figured out how to find the beginning of a post thread and was delighted to read of your recovery. That drive to the doc, did you do it on your own or have someone drive you?
I am impressed with your "story". Thanks for sharing.

I am on day 9 and like you I am retired, having gone early in 2011 at age 62. I am so glad I did.

THR posterior Dr Duwelius
left hip 10/6/2015
right hip same doc 5/24/2006
 
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Go Plummy, go!! I hope you have had a lovely day. Isn't it amazing just how quickly they pass by?
 
Ok everyone, I am in SF, just had my 2 week post op wound check. Everything is great, asked all my questions. I did drive, about 1 hour twenty, traffic not too bad. I am at a nearby cafe having brunch, couldn't face breakfast so early this morning. I talked to my pt about BS and she will check it out for other patients. I'm reading about the Tesla (made here) self driving car ( I met Elon Must at a local coffee shop) and thinking I'm just as avant guard with my bionic hip! What a new outlook on life.

Wishing everyone a great healing day!
 
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