THR Plumberbutt's A Hippie 3/26/14

[Dieter]

Brian...can you get a donkey or mule to tie that steer to? they will teach them humbleness, and respect of the halter rope in a hurry!
putting up hay is one of my very favorite jobs on the farm...and one of the most dangerous (I know I am preaching to the choir) be careful man!

 

[miaow27]

@Plumberbutt, just reading all your activity is making me feel tired! Glad to hear you have a cruise coming up and will hopefully manage to JUST LIE DOWN for a bit! ;-)
With very best wishes and admiration, Gill


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[Plumberbutt]

@miaow27 This is my busy time of the year or I should say one of several!! I think once I get on the cruise that maybe I then can relax a bit. Thanks Gill
@Dieter I have heard about the mule or donkey, but the skidsteer also works good, I just haven't had the time or felt up to the chore....son seems to not be into it so much this year either. Take care man...you are really smokin' this recovery thing!! Keep it up!!

 

[Poppet]

Brian, you are progressing very well, don't hurt yourself by rushing. You are still so early in your recovery and like your OS indicated - six months is a milestone. It was around that time that I felt that I had the 'forgotten hip'. But you know what.. even at two and half years post I still get the odd sensation and some swelling if I overdo things.

Enjoy your cruise, sounds like it is coming at just the right time for you to chill a little

 

[MajorHeidi]

Have a super time on your cruise!
I dare say you and your DH earned it!


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[Plumberbutt]

Well...what a cruise!!! It was AWESOME!!!! Once I got away, I forgot about home and could relax. It was well deserved and needed and now I think I need to do it more often. I did a lot of walking and had some sore days and had to take it easy, but that is what vacations are for!! I still have some soreness when I press on the incision like deep bruising. I figure it is just still healing and could be that way a while yet. For the most part, it is doing great!! Thanks for all the well wishes and you are all the best!!!

 

[MajorHeidi]

Hi Brian, your cruise sounds just perfect for what YOU and your DH needed to get away.
Glad you had a spectacular time!
That pic is pretty neat; you can see just how the ice flowed in that glacier. Neat....

 

[Dieter]

that is awesome! kind of jealous, I must say. glad you had a great trip. Good to hear from you as well.
on your incision, you likely have some scar tissue that you can break up with deep massage. You can take your index and middle finger and work either side of the incision to break up that scaring. it is not very comfortable, but you will be able to soften and smooth the area. I do it at least once a day and mine is just a thin purple line and all the bumps in in are gone. there are lots of youtube videos on scar massage

 

[teakea66]

@Plumberbutt What a fantastic picture!! So happy you had a great time - we love to cruise and that one is on our wish list.


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[Plumberbutt]

Question for all.....how is your "new" hips doing? Any swelling or soreness?? I still feel bruised when I push down around the incision.....and still get sore if I seem to overdo it. Just seeing if anyone else is in the same boat. I iced it the other night and am still using tylenol twice a day. Just curious.....sure seems to take a while with this thingy!!!

 

[sharonslp]

Brian, soft tissue healing will take at least a full year....quite possibly more. Remember too, at your stage of healing it's all too easy to push way beyond capacity, creating some tendonitis. Patience seems impossible at times....but it's probably the most important ingredient to an uneventful recovery.

Your cruise photo brings back great memories....my SO and I did a cruise and land tour last summer. Amazing scenery. We have friends who are there now, spending two months meandering through on their own. I am jealous.

Sharon

 

[Plumberbutt]

@sharonslp Thanks for your reply and help. Just wanted to be sure that it is normal to take this long. I wasn't excited to go to Alaska, especially with so much going on in the summer, but after I got going.....I absolutely LOVED it and have been looking at going back in the future to see more. It was so beautiful!!!

Brian

 

[teakea66]

Hi Brian @Plumberbutt - I saw my OS two weeks ago for a final check up (until next year) he tells me that if I think I feel good now wait until next year. Now I'm feeling pretty darn good and can't imagine feeling better but he assures me that after a year I will see a greater difference. That being said, I know when I've done too much because I feel it the next day - but I'm doing so much more than I have in a long time - and having a great time doing it Be well - Joyce


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[Dieter]

Hey Brian @Plumberbutt good to hear from you...I will say that I get a bit "achey" when I sit too long (like I did over the last few days of plane and car travel around New England and Canada), but it seems to go away with not a lot of movement. every once in a while I will move in just the right (or wrong) way and there is some brief pain, but it is nothing like pre-op and I am not taking any pain meds or icing...
As @sharonslp said, still lots of healing going on...and again, the "bruised" feeling under your incision may be scar tissue that you can break up
Hope your calf crop is doing well...they are worth a lot these days, cattle prices are insainely high here

 

[Me2]

Wow, Brian, how did I miss all this excitement in your life? I totally missed the boat/cruise, haha! I'm so happy to hear and see! Ah, my dream cruise --- I've told hubby a cruise to Alaska or some other icy place is the only one I'd even consider as being "stuck" on a boat is not really high on my list! An Alaskan cruise, that is absolutely wonderful!

Besides, Brian, you live on a real farm, I live on a little bitty place I call a home where I have not quite enough pasture for my horses, only help out a friend with hay so we will have a place to buy our hay, and I haven't found time to go away for a weekend! Wow, your DW is a lucky lady, to have you find time to go cruisin!

I have gone back to read all I missed, and your recovery is going so well! I so do miss all the March and April hippie recovery chats when we could come together every day, sometimes several times a day, to celebrate milestones and check to see if the little and big blips are "normal."

Actually, that's what I was doing today/yesterday -- kind of looking around to see how everyone else was doing. I kind of overdid on a long real bike ride/date with hubby on Wednesday. I had been cycling at the gym for 6-8 miles. I thought restaurant and back was about 5 miles and found out it was 5 miles each way so a 10 mile bike ride for the first "real" cycling in years. Real rides are different. I proudly did the ride just fine and "celebrated" when we got home. By Thursday afternoon everything hurt especially my precious new hip -- have to say first time I've felt "pain" there since surgery! Two Tylenol and ice and bed by 9 and woke up pretty good but being careful how I walk -- limping on both sides takes talent!

So happy to have re-found you and caught up. Love and miss you and all my hippie friends!

 

[JoeL]

Hello April Hippies. I also still get sore when I overdo it.

 

[MajorHeidi]

Yay April Hippies....!
I upped the recumbent bike from 7 to 10 miles and felt it bigtime in my op thigh.
Also feeling op groin pain a bit.
And, to top it off.... the other hip is barking upon walking.

 

[bottomshollow]

@MajorHeidi, be very careful about adding a lot of strenuous exercise and walking too soon and too quickly. You don't want to develop tendonitis which takes a very long time to resolve. You may feel great, but there is still a lot of soft tissue healing going on.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[Me2]

Brian, Claire, Joe, and other April hippies --- hard to believe we are "so far" from surgery but still have to remember patience -- maybe someday I'll get better at it.

@MajorHeidi @JoeL I've been doing my 6-8 miles on recumbent bike and didn't think I was overdoing it on my 8+ mile ride on real bike (only second time out) -- I still don't know --- I only felt it in back and hip(s) the next day and was fine Friday -- just what's become normal niggling right non-op side pain. Actually, back felt better than long time. My high school biology/anatomy teacher son explained that a real bike requires much more "core" body strength - and if the pain on Thursday gives me the good feeling today is it overdoing? Ha, I'm having trouble finding right mix of not overdoing bionic hip to let it heal but not babying the non-op hip -- I know the non-op hip does not like walking so much so I haven't gone there.
Maybe I should stick to or but def not though I'd love to

 

[Dmcfad2]

@Plumberbutt Hi, Brian. I just saw this post. I am still having a lot of pain, can't walk very far, still need pain meds every day. I am afraid something is very wrong. I am over 4 months post op and haven't had a pain free day yet. My doctor said my X-rays looked fine at my 3 month check-up and to give it more time. But, I am discouraged and about to seek a second opinion. Plus, I fell 2 weeks ago and I'm sure that didn't help matters any. I hope you are feeling better as time goes on. It's good to see you on here again. I just got back from a three week cruise! Loved it!