Rider1960, Dorothy, back home finally!!!! (the long version!)

[Jen]

Dorothy, after my friend had her baby she also ended up with a bump at the epidural injection site. Her doctor told her that it was just a hematoma due to a blood vessel being cut when the needle went in. Hers did go away after a week or so if yours is the same issue, you should be fine.

Congrats on the saddle!

 

[rider1960]

Thanks Jen. I think I'm just going to have to be more patient ... not what I want to do now--I have a new hip and I want to do everything that I haven't been able to do in so long! Don't need my back muscles complaining ...

Dorothy

 

[Mad Rocker]

Fantastic news, Carol (@Mad Rocker!! I'm glad the chiropractor helped and hope that the things she suggested will be helpful as well. I see my chiropractor about once a week, sometimes skip a week here and there if I'm feeling really good.

I sometimes have to revert back to time on the heating pad for my SI pains too, maybe that would be helpful to both of you -- Dorothy & Carol. I also do a little massage with a tennis ball, lying down with the ball under my sore spot to try to press the muscle & joint itself, back into place. I started this when I was further out from my surgery than you both are -- took me a while to be able to get down on the floor... :rolleyespink:

Have a nice day,
Cardie

Thanks for the tips. That's what makes this forum so exciting---exchanging tips. Woo-hoo!! I heard that those foam roller things helped too. Have you heard anything ?

 

[Horsey girl]

Hi Dorothy
I am sorry abut the lump. Hope it goes away soon. That patience thing can really get old sometimes. One thing stops hurting and something else starts up. Guess, you are having Spring now? I hope that helps.
We have had a few awesome days here. A bit rain right now but it is supposed to be great this weekend again. Going to try out my new to me camper and pick up. Won't take my horse even though it is a ride with my mustang club. I think it's to soon to ride in a group yet.

Take care and hope things will be better soon.
Bea

 

[dianemarie]

Hi Dorothy,

Just catching up on posts. My chiropractor gave me a stretch to do for the SI joint. I lie flat on my bed and sort of pull/stretch the foot down while hiking the hip on the opposite side up just a little (like 2 inches) hold the stretch for 2 seconds and alternate side to side for a total of 20 times. My SI joint "locks up" and this works like a charm to free it up and takes the pain away in like 4 seconds. Maybe worth a try. And his adjustments help also. My OS says when I am walking more it shouldn't be so much of an issue.

 

[Mad Rocker]

Hi Dorothy,

Just catching up on posts. My chiropractor gave me a stretch to do for the SI joint. I lie flat on my bed and sort of pull/stretch the foot down while hiking the hip on the opposite side up just a little (like 2 inches) hold the stretch for 2 seconds and alternate side to side for a total of 20 times. My SI joint "locks up" and this works like a charm to free it up and takes the pain away in like 4 seconds. Maybe worth a try. And his adjustments help also. My OS says when I am walking more it shouldn't be so much of an issue.

This sounds great. Another idea for sore SI joints. I love this---tips for Owies from around the world, makes me feel wordly.

Thanks Dianemarie

 

[rider1960]

Thanks for the tips and support.

My back is still bugging me, but luckily it's not horrible (not like the old left hip was!). I'm wondering if the steroid is irritating the tissue, as it can sometimes do before it sstarts working to settle things down--the "it can get worse before it gets better" thing that I've been warned about with steroid injections. I think it also doesn't help that I was very tense when they did the injection. I think it's easier when the muscles are relaxed. It's been a week today, so I should be feeling some relief very soon ... it's worked well in the past.

The injection I had in the right hip on March 19 has worked quite well and has decreased the pain a lot. Unless things change a lot, I shouldn't have any problem dealing with that hip until the June 22 surgery date.

The new hip is great. What a difference a hip replacement can make!!!

Weather is supposed to be fairly nice this weekend. Trying to decide what to do. I need to do something fun with my dogs before they both die of boredom. These high maintenance dogs are not for wimps, lol. My most demanding one, Lucy, is going to lose her mind if we don't do some fun stuff together. I have a large fenced yard and we play ball, tug, and she runs along the fence chasing the horses and the neighbors dogs, but she wants to do something with MOM. She's quite a Mommy's Girl. We will probably try a walk somewhere nice to get some new sniffs--I'll see how my back is.

I'm also going to get out the few agility equipment obstacles I have and play with them a little. I have a tunnel, jumps, and weave poles. Before my hip got bad I took Lucy to a couple of agility classes. She is a natural at agility--she could be a star if only I could keep up with her. She is lightening fast--I don't think I could keep up with her even if I had two new hips and a new spine! She is SO fast.

Heidi hasn't done any work on obstacles because she was a puppy when I was doing this with Lucy. She's not as "crazed" in general as Lucy, so she's probably more my speed. I'd like to see how she does with the obstacles. She tends to be more timid about most things, though; Lucy is my daredevil who dives into new activities with all her heart. They are very demanding dogs, but they are really fun. Never a dull moment with those two around.

The horses need brushing too. They are shedding out their winter hair like crazy!!!! I bet Bea is brushing her boys a lot too. The hair just comes out ... and comes out ... and comes out! Never seems to stop this time of year.

Everyone have a nice weekend!

Dorothy

 

[rider1960]

I have a question--I'm 11 weeks post op and the hip is doing well. I am good about doing my exercises and I walk as much as I can, although I'm not able to go farther than a half mile at a time because of my other hip and my back.

My gait is good and I haven't limped for many weeks. But, I do notice that it seems to have leveled off in improvement of the overall strength of the leg. For example, I notice that getting in an SUV, it's difficult for me to step in with leading with my operated leg. I have to kind of hike up my whole side to raise the leg far enough. I can get in fine if I sit and then move the legs in. Same kind of thing if I need to climb up on a kitchen chair to reach something. The leg just doesn't want to reach up that high.

Will it ever be as strong and have the same "lift potential" (if that makes any sense) as a normal leg that never had a hip replacement (posterior, so muscles were cut). And, at what point in recovery is it typical for it to be as strong as it is ever going to be.

Thanks

Dorothy

 

[dianemarie]

Hi Dorothy,

Can't answer all your questions but I sat and then moved my legs in to get in the car for a long time. Eventually I got in the regular way. Now with my 2nd THR (L hip) I have to sit again, put R leg in and then swing L in while holding my pants and pulling up on them to get the leg in. Sounds funny but it works! Otherwise it is a lot to lift the L leg in on it's own. I don't/can't stand on chairs any more so don't lift my leg that high, but after a year+ with R hip I feel it is stronger than ever.

Good luck with everything.

 

[welshjane]

Hi Dorothy, as long as you can get in and out of your SUV by sitting and swinging your legs in, that's fine. I was doing that for a while, but I realised after a bit that I was just getting in the normal way. And I was certainly standing on chairs to get stuff off high shelves. In fact, naughty, naughty, I've even done that since the second THR. The strength in the operated leg will return in time, I'm sure. My first one, done nearly 5 months ago, is just as strong as I need it to be. One tip for getting your leg strong - have the other hip done! Then you just have to rely on #1 as your strong leg, and you know what? It's as strong as you need it to be. You'll have about the same length of time between hips as I did, or maybe a month longer. Of course, as we never tire of telling one another here, every person and every hip is different, but speaking for myself that was quite long enough to allow the first leg to get back to normal.

It was fun to read about your dogs. What breed are they? We've never done any sort of agility training with Susie - chasing squirrels and digging out rabbits is more her line, and anyway she's getting a little bit old now, but I'd guess she would have been good at agility if we'd ever bothered to train her. She also is/was very fast, though fortunately never fast enough to catch a brown hare (I'd hate that, they're so beautiful). She was called Lucy when we rescued her, but my stepdaughter is Lucy and we thought we couldn't have two Lucys in the family, so we tried all sorts of names on her and she appeared to answer to Susie, so that's what she became.

 

[haldox]

Hi Dorothy-Getting in and out of the car normally will just happen one day all on its own(happened for me and I have a SUV). I believe its just one of those things that you wont think about it until you just do it and say "Hey I did it!":yes 4:Also with the lifting strength, you will get there!

P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E!!!

 

[rider1960]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I was getting a little concerned because the gains with strength building seem to have leveled off the past few weeks. In the beginning, improvement is so quick and noticable.

I bought some light ankle weights yesterday and did some exercises wearing them. Definitely makes the exercises more challenging. I'm concentrating on side lying leg abduction/lifts and straight leg raises lying down. Today, the leg is a little fatigued feeling, so I'm going to just do the range of motion exercises today and leave the strengthening exercises for tomorrow. I've always heard that muscles need 48 hours to repair and build to strengthen, so I tend to do heavy duty strengthening exercises every other day.

I don't notice a lot of weakness with day to day activities, but I'm thinking that it will be difficult raising my foot to put it in the stirrup to get on the horse ... and also raising the other leg (after they are both replaced) to clear the horse's butt getting on and off. To do that I definitely need to have pretty much full normal strength.

So, you all got back full strength in your legs ... like before you had hip problems?

Jane, my dogs are Australian Shepherds. One is a mix of mostly Aussie and whatever else--that's Lucy, the most intense of the two; the other is a purebred Aussie--Heidi--she is bubbly but not as intense. They are very active and run everywhere they go--they don't believe in walking or just strolling along. They are great dogs, but they are a bit much for me right now, when I can't get out and do active things with them as much as we would all like to do. We'll get back to those things, though ...

Dorothy

 

[Horsey girl]

Hi Dorothy
I have also found that the healing process has really slowed down. Have not been back on my horse yet as am waiting for the vet visit tomorrow.
There is a guy who joins our riding group sometimes. He had both hips done and he has no trouble riding. He does use a step or something now to get onto his horse. But, I would say he is in his 70s, so that may have something to do with it. I keep sitting on my saddle on the stand and find it is getting a little bit easier to get on. I think it is that patience thing.
Two summers ago I had just found a way to get onto my 16 hand Cody, and last summer that was the end of it when my hip got real bad. I hope to be able to get on him eventually again without any help. It's a long way up into the stirrup.
Dorothy, I think we eventually will be able to get up into the saddle without much problems. That is what I am hoping for.
I find my thigh muscles are not what they should be yet. Patience is the word.
Take care
Bea

 

[rider1960]

Thanks Bea. I plan to get a 3 step mounting block to use so I won't have to raise my foot up very high to reach the stirrup. But that won't do me much good once I start trail riding and need to remount while out on the trail. I don't plan to ride alone, though, so someone will be there to help me if I need it. They can shove me on the horse if necessary, ha ha. I've usually had good luck finding a stump, downed tree, ditch or whatever to use ... so I guess it will be OK if it will get a little stronger. Patience ... patience ...

I'll also have to work on the other leg a lot after it's surgery in June so it will swing over the rump. I'm pretty fortunate that my mare is patient; as long as the other horses wait, she will stand still and let me practically crawl all over her if I have to in order to mount. She's a good girl.

The only problem that I can foresee with trail riding her is that every once in a while, maybe only a couple of times per riding season, she will spook big at something that surprises her--which is usually a big leap or an explosive skitter to the side, or a bolting type spin with a few hops afterwards--that could be enough to dump me (it's happened before and been near-dumps a couple of other times). It happens only rarely and I'm hoping it will be even less likely to happen now that she has more age on her. She is 17 this Spring.

I haven't ridden her in over 2 years, but she is pretty solid behaviorwise and I don't expect any problems when I resume riding. She will just be a little unsure of herself and everything the first couple of trail rides. She's gotten pretty used to just hanging out at home; I'll stick her behind a "Steady Eddie" type of a horse and that will help calm her. I plan to ride her close to home for the remainder of this riding season to get my riding muscles back and probably not trail ride until next year. It will be mid September, though, before I can even think about riding after the second hip. I hate to waste another trail riding year, but I have to get the hips fixed up and that's all there is to it.

The bummer right now is that I'm not sure if I'll be able to tolerate riding between now and when the second hip is replacement. It was doing better after the steroid joint injection March 19, but I find it is starting to ouch more already. Those injections are so unpredictable. Good thing it's getting replaced soon. I can't wait to have two fully functional hips!!

I hope Silver's vet appointment goes well. He sounds like he's doing VERY well at his age.

Dorothy

 

[Poppet]

Both of you horsey girls blow me away with admiration

I did a little hop, skip and a jump today at work and got a little clap... didn't even think about it...

Good for both of you, I love reading your posts

 

[haldox]

So, you all got back full strength in your legs ... like before you had hip problems?


Dorothy

Yes I believe its getting there to have strength back to normal but just like hips dont go bad overnight , returning to normal wont either.

I think what helped a lot is the squats, you can do just this against the wall or use a swiss ball.

Also step ups-I used a 6 inch height,going forward,backward and sideways.

Foam cushion was good too, using those stabilization muscles to balance.

 

[rider1960]

Sandy, we are an obsessed pair, aren't we! ha ha Horse people are like that. I'm waiting to hear more from Kris-Hanomare too ... she hasn't posted in a while. I hope she is doing well.

I just talked with the retired ortho here at work and he said it will usually take 6 months to build back the strength in the leg. But, he also said that it is unlikely that my leg will be have the full strength of a leg that never had a hip replacement and that is an unreasonable expectation. I'll ask my ortho surgeon about this next time I see him. I don't want to call and bother him about this now.

The ortho at work thinks I'm doing well at this point and, guess what--he recommended I be more patient with the process. Now where have I heard that before <grin> ...

Dorothy

 

[C Mac]

Hi Dorothy,

Well, maybe your retired ortho guy is correct in the 6 months to get your strength back, kind of depends on if you are working on that -- but I beg to differ that your leg will never regain the full strength that it had before surgery!!

When I was 3 months out from surgery and in my outpatient PT I could do various weight machines with one leg at full weights that I'd lifted prior to surgery. You will get your strength back and when your second hip is done you will become even more powerful & strong if that is what you decide you want to do!!! Boo, hiss on him for planting that seed of *unreasonable expectation* hope he's around so that you can show him he was wrong....

Can you practice with your saddle on a stand like Bea mentioned? Maybe not right now, but eventually when you are feeling like it's more workable and want to experiment.

Love hearing about your Aussie girls -- we have a male, he's a mix with something else like maybe border collie. Definitely light on their feet and would imagine agility would be good for both their bodies and busy brains!!! We are in a suburb on the corner of a heavily trafficked street and our dog has taken it upon himself to herd *everyone* away from his territory (and our other dog). I'm working on trying to eliminate this behavior as he's really quite a terrorist & looks very menacing... He does need a job!!!!

Take care,
Cardie

 

[haldox]

Hi Dorothy,

Well, maybe your retired ortho guy is correct in the 6 months to get your strength back, kind of depends on if you are working on that -- but I beg to differ that your leg will never regain the full strength that it had before surgery!!

When I was 3 months out from surgery and in my outpatient PT I could do various weight machines with one leg at full weights that I'd lifted prior to surgery. You will get your strength back and when your second hip is done you will become even more powerful & strong if that is what you decide you want to do!!! Boo, hiss on him for planting that seed of *unreasonable expectation* hope he's around so that you can show him he was wrong....



Take care,
Cardie

Wow I agree with Cardie here!! I know my L leg/hip feels as strong as ever and my R leg/hip is coming around

 

[rider1960]

Maybe I didn't say things right in my earlier post. Our retired ortho wasn't saying that the leg won't be stronger than it was before I had surgery (heck, that would be just plain pitiful if that were to happen ... it was like a slug, excess baggage kind of limb before surgery--it's much stronger right now). He just said that in his experience the surgical leg doesn't strengthen to the point that a normal, non-diseased, non-replaced hip would be.

But, I'm taking his opinion as just that--his opinion. It's also been a while since he did hip replacements, so perhaps people *weren't* as high functioning back then as they are now. Surgical technique advance over time.

I'm certainly not going to let it get me down. If anything it makes me cut myself some slack--like I'm not going to be a failure if I can't get it back to the way it was 10 years ago.

I am still going to run this by my surgeon next time I see him. He's more current with everything then the dr I work with and super experienced--he's seen it all.

Dorothy