Bodie’sMom
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THR Schaargi Hip #2 Nov. 2
- Thread starter Schaargi
- Start date
is pretty incredible, at the best of times! That was a busy Christmas! You are a brave woman!
Thanks, Layla, for acknowledging that yoga is super important. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do some things with my implant (although my surgeon and PA did not give me any idea that I would have ANY limitations.)
I'm going to talk about my journey in the next post, but I don't want you all to think it's directed at any of you. The messages and suggestions I've gotten have come from all over the place, including my surgeon's office.
Part 2 of my slooooowwwwww attempt at regaining my life after THR. Sorry if this isn't super positive. Let me know if I need to delete it because it isn't appropriate.
I want new people to know that this journey is unusually long and that my nerve damage is a very rare complication.
My hip was failing when I was 55 and I limped along for a year before I had surgery. I knew I wouldn't likely run again, do high-impact activities with any regularity or with as much gusto. There's a traditional folk dance that includes stomping with both feet, and I was prepared for that limitation. I knew the advanced yoga poses were out of reach.
I thought I would be able to swim, practice yoga, practice dog agility (although maybe not competitively), take part in Zumba, Pilates, folk dancing, hiking, and traveling to sometime remote areas, including my grandparents' little European villages, where ADA accessibility is non-existent.
After my first surgery, NONE of that was possible. NONE. At first because of the nerve damage, and later due to muscle atrophy and what I consider severe limitations due to my implant. My surgeon sort of blamed me, saying that the healing was up to me. Then my other hip started failing due to the extra strain. After my second surgery, I'm still not there; I'm at about 30%. I have more hope this time for sure.
Everyone told me to stay slow and steady and that it takes a year for the nerve to heal and for muscles to start coming back. I was stuck doing my PT home exercises (yawn), chair yoga (as a stepping stone to more satisfying yoga), walking around the neighborhood, and biking on the stationary bike, which might be more boring than home exercises. Hope that it would improve was (and still is) what kept me going.
So, at a year, I had been slowly working up to some of those activities in hopes that I could get to even 50%, and eventually 90%. At that point, my other hip was failing, so even those activities were shrinking. And then, I asked my surgeon why my new hip was having trouble with some basic yoga poses and he told me that I would dislocate my hip if I did that. That was the last straw. I had been going slowly and doing chair yoga as an interim step, not as a final destination. I thought I had a pretty large arsenal of pleasurable activities that are not overly taxing for an implant. Yes, as we get older we slow down and find new activities. But, dang, I need some hope.
So I'm going slowly. I need hope, though, not never-ending (albeit well-meaning) suggestions to ride that awful hamster bike. Seriously, that is the go-to solution all surgeons and doctors say.
My second surgeon assured me that the basic yoga positions were definitely possible with both hip implants. His wife is a yoga practitioner, so he knows what Warrior and Tree pose are! So if he backs off of this, I'm headed for another meltdown.
Sorry for the long, grumpy post. The road just keeps getting longer. I have good days and bad days. COVID is not helping, either. Clearly, this will take a long time for me to work this out.
I will still continue to slowly work to improve and to celebrate little milestones. I definitely feel better after physical activity, so at 8 weeks off my second THR, that part continues to improve.
I want new people to know that this journey is unusually long and that my nerve damage is a very rare complication.
My hip was failing when I was 55 and I limped along for a year before I had surgery. I knew I wouldn't likely run again, do high-impact activities with any regularity or with as much gusto. There's a traditional folk dance that includes stomping with both feet, and I was prepared for that limitation. I knew the advanced yoga poses were out of reach.
I thought I would be able to swim, practice yoga, practice dog agility (although maybe not competitively), take part in Zumba, Pilates, folk dancing, hiking, and traveling to sometime remote areas, including my grandparents' little European villages, where ADA accessibility is non-existent.
After my first surgery, NONE of that was possible. NONE. At first because of the nerve damage, and later due to muscle atrophy and what I consider severe limitations due to my implant. My surgeon sort of blamed me, saying that the healing was up to me. Then my other hip started failing due to the extra strain. After my second surgery, I'm still not there; I'm at about 30%. I have more hope this time for sure.
Everyone told me to stay slow and steady and that it takes a year for the nerve to heal and for muscles to start coming back. I was stuck doing my PT home exercises (yawn), chair yoga (as a stepping stone to more satisfying yoga), walking around the neighborhood, and biking on the stationary bike, which might be more boring than home exercises. Hope that it would improve was (and still is) what kept me going.
So, at a year, I had been slowly working up to some of those activities in hopes that I could get to even 50%, and eventually 90%. At that point, my other hip was failing, so even those activities were shrinking. And then, I asked my surgeon why my new hip was having trouble with some basic yoga poses and he told me that I would dislocate my hip if I did that. That was the last straw. I had been going slowly and doing chair yoga as an interim step, not as a final destination. I thought I had a pretty large arsenal of pleasurable activities that are not overly taxing for an implant. Yes, as we get older we slow down and find new activities. But, dang, I need some hope.
So I'm going slowly. I need hope, though, not never-ending (albeit well-meaning) suggestions to ride that awful hamster bike. Seriously, that is the go-to solution all surgeons and doctors say.
My second surgeon assured me that the basic yoga positions were definitely possible with both hip implants. His wife is a yoga practitioner, so he knows what Warrior and Tree pose are! So if he backs off of this, I'm headed for another meltdown.
Sorry for the long, grumpy post. The road just keeps getting longer. I have good days and bad days. COVID is not helping, either. Clearly, this will take a long time for me to work this out.
I will still continue to slowly work to improve and to celebrate little milestones. I definitely feel better after physical activity, so at 8 weeks off my second THR, that part continues to improve.
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Hi @Schaargi Sorry to hear you are having a rough time of it. It does sound like your second hip has gone better than your first. 8 weeks was the point mine felt broadly ok and the point at which I was able to step up activity. Whether you are able to do that now, or maybe a few weeks in the future, isn’t significant. What is significant is that you will reach that point, and once you do, that second hip will be strong and you will be able to help recover the muscle atrophy on both sides.
One of the yoga instructors in my gym has had both hips and one knee replaced. She had the second hip done at the beginning of August, and was back teaching before the end of October. There are some moves she won’t do, but it’s not stopping her.
One of the yoga instructors in my gym has had both hips and one knee replaced. She had the second hip done at the beginning of August, and was back teaching before the end of October. There are some moves she won’t do, but it’s not stopping her.
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Please let me be clear, that is not what I said at all. I don’t agree that Yoga is super important. What I said is quoted below and it was in reference to you sitting cross legged on the floor to engage in your Yoga practices of breathing and mindfulness.
I do understand Yoga is important to you and others. My advice is to receive a nod from your surgeon before engaging in Yoga post op. There may be certain precautions based on the surgical approach used, the type of implant and individual medical history. Each approach may carry cautions against certain poses and movements. You need to re-engage under your surgeon’s guidance in an effort to eliminate the risk of damage, or dislocation.
So sorry!
Yes, that's what I meant to say, that I appreciated you acknowledging my feelings about yoga, not that it's important for everyone. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
Hippielife
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In so many responses on this forum there seems to be a common sense of wondering what activities can I do after hip surgery. Especially while recovery can be restrictive and many worry about how long can these various stages of recovery take before I can get back to a normal life.
Throughout my 24 years of Hippielife there are lessons that I have learned on how important it is to accept some limitations after hip surgery. Also as we age how we can maintain the life of the components and our mobility. I am sure many here can share theirs too. There are many adjustments and limitations after joint replacement surgery. No matter what the age it’s important to maintain our mobility that joint replacement has provided. Many factors can effect some limitations along the way as we develop acceptance and understanding as to how movement with our new joints apply to many daily activities.
I had the first THR surgery in my early 50’s, second in 60’s and third 70’s. Each one has had different lasting side-effects on joints and movements. Especially in my knees and my back. In my case the one thing that keeps me going is age appropriate joint awareness. Mild exercises, walking and ‘Pilates‘. Keep moving, and most importantly keep core strength strong and everything else will follow. Essential for maintaining mobility as we age.
If your not familiar with ‘Mindfulness’ please get to know how important it is to our physical and mental health. It is my best friend. Mindfulness is thinking ahead and planning ahead before any activities . By paying attention to what comes next and our surroundings before just jumping into a project. A example…I have had horses all my life and I still ride my horses and thru mindfulness I changed the breed of horse I ride so I could still ride within my limitations while applying my new athletic limitations to connect with new body movements . Why? Well it’s part of ’Mindfulness‘. (very important technique to manage hippielife long term ). Before hip surgery I rode Arabian breeds of horses and they have a hippity hoppity gate and a short wheel span from front to back.
I switched the breed to ride Tennessee Walkers. They are a rocking gaited horse, which leads to a easier ride on hips and joints. They have a wider wheel span from front to back. Therefore no popping up and down sharply on hip joints. The Tennessee Walker in a running walk gait can go up to 20 mph and it‘s like sitting in a easy chair. No jolting, twisting, popping whatsoever and a completely smooth glide to a stop. That is an example of using mindfulness…adjusting and planning ahead by staying engaged with age-joint appropriate activities. A good way to maintain long lasting shiny hips.
One of my hip joints is 24 years old and still going. Over the years … from hiking, riding, snow skiing, boating, ATV, gardening, all the activities with family, while accepting the difference in limitations thru ‘Mindfulness’. Another good example of ‘Mindfulness’ is the vacuum, by switching to Roomba, no pushing or pulling. Easy on back hip and knees. Thank goodness for progress.
I have done a lot of different activities thru the years taking care and accepting as time goes by new limitations sneak in too. To maintain a good level of expectations as aging continues to be a challenge, by also remembering the components used for my mobility I need to take care of along the way by remaining mindful of my limitations.
Throughout my 24 years of Hippielife there are lessons that I have learned on how important it is to accept some limitations after hip surgery. Also as we age how we can maintain the life of the components and our mobility. I am sure many here can share theirs too. There are many adjustments and limitations after joint replacement surgery. No matter what the age it’s important to maintain our mobility that joint replacement has provided. Many factors can effect some limitations along the way as we develop acceptance and understanding as to how movement with our new joints apply to many daily activities.
I had the first THR surgery in my early 50’s, second in 60’s and third 70’s. Each one has had different lasting side-effects on joints and movements. Especially in my knees and my back. In my case the one thing that keeps me going is age appropriate joint awareness. Mild exercises, walking and ‘Pilates‘. Keep moving, and most importantly keep core strength strong and everything else will follow. Essential for maintaining mobility as we age.
If your not familiar with ‘Mindfulness’ please get to know how important it is to our physical and mental health. It is my best friend. Mindfulness is thinking ahead and planning ahead before any activities . By paying attention to what comes next and our surroundings before just jumping into a project. A example…I have had horses all my life and I still ride my horses and thru mindfulness I changed the breed of horse I ride so I could still ride within my limitations while applying my new athletic limitations to connect with new body movements . Why? Well it’s part of ’Mindfulness‘. (very important technique to manage hippielife long term ). Before hip surgery I rode Arabian breeds of horses and they have a hippity hoppity gate and a short wheel span from front to back.
I switched the breed to ride Tennessee Walkers. They are a rocking gaited horse, which leads to a easier ride on hips and joints. They have a wider wheel span from front to back. Therefore no popping up and down sharply on hip joints. The Tennessee Walker in a running walk gait can go up to 20 mph and it‘s like sitting in a easy chair. No jolting, twisting, popping whatsoever and a completely smooth glide to a stop. That is an example of using mindfulness…adjusting and planning ahead by staying engaged with age-joint appropriate activities. A good way to maintain long lasting shiny hips.
One of my hip joints is 24 years old and still going. Over the years … from hiking, riding, snow skiing, boating, ATV, gardening, all the activities with family, while accepting the difference in limitations thru ‘Mindfulness’. Another good example of ‘Mindfulness’ is the vacuum, by switching to Roomba, no pushing or pulling. Easy on back hip and knees. Thank goodness for progress.
I have done a lot of different activities thru the years taking care and accepting as time goes by new limitations sneak in too. To maintain a good level of expectations as aging continues to be a challenge, by also remembering the components used for my mobility I need to take care of along the way by remaining mindful of my limitations.
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Eman85
big-cheese
The Hamster Bike! If I go to hell it will be nothing but exercise bicycles. My daughter is a spin instructor and she gave me a high end exercise bicycle to say I didn't like it would be a gross understatement. It has since been re-gifted. On the other hand she is also a Yoga instructor and we have both learned a lot since my hip replacements,
Hiya Schaargi… so sorry you are at meltdown from frustration!
yes this aging thing isnt fun. As the saying goes…its not for the faint hearted. Its for the warrior type mentally strong and mentally able because so much of our focus starts to switch from physical mobility to mental mobility.
we are now where we are and raging against fates and furies for whatever reason or cause to our current state, cannot turn back clock. It makes us frustrated and traps us in limbo of emotional repetition until we start getting bitter.
i do understand and grant that each of us is different and while the window dressing we see in these posts is interpreted from our own vantage and see read how each is progressing magnificently …and then do that awful comparison to our own measly progress….amd we just feel wretched and useless.
And importantly, we also have to go through the five stages of grief at the loss of our old selves and lives…if that is the challenge that we accepted as our bodies broke down
we need to access where we are and the challenge we have before us towards a new beginning, with the toolbox at our disposal. And lets not forget how privileged we are that we had resources to enable and allow us this new beginning. I know of one 75 year old with both hips and knees failing and now in wheelchair waiting for state aid. He was losing his sight but managed to get one eye operated before corona hit…so he at least has that. But all of us could have been at that level of pain and immobility and far worse! My grandmother was one who at roughly 80 was dropped by ambulance personnel, broke her hip and state refused to operate and I dont know why, so was bed ridden for 20 years.
**** happens as they say.
but looking back on our old selves is now futile. We have new lives, new paths. We actually have a complete new birth. We have exchanged one set of circumstances for another. And if we can just accept that it will and must include new attitudes, new possibilities, new interests …a larger focus on mental agility and ability as opposed to physical, we will be one step ahead of our peers! And before our mental processes decline and make it more difficult to change…unlike them lot who will discover sooner or later that their bodies are giving up and so have their brains! and they will be consigned to rocking chair If they are lucky!
It is a guarantee that all will eventually walk our path…with or without hip and or knee replacements. We are doing it early. And we have enormous resources thrown at us to help us adjust early,..ahead of the ageing curve…while we still can. Those 70s and 80s are alone hunching and shrivelled and shrivelling on their own road with pretty much zip and nobody interested to help them. And no way to adjust or learn new anything, because brain has also shriveled not being faced with any challenges to force to learn anything, in the years before.
so lets just consider our positions and our good fortune that we walk ahead of the aging curve where loss of physical ability is a daily fixture and where we are lucky we are young and mentaly agile enough to reconsider our fortunes and embark on new exciting aging appropriate activities and interests.
like swimming! Like walking and light hiking! Like photography, painting, pottery, golf…etc etc etc
i dont want to say that you are wrong or that you wont ever be able to do yoga. i have never done yoga. I tried but the interest just wasnt there. i am an outdoorsy type and hiking up mountains and down rivers…climbing and hanging of rocks…cartying 60 litres on my back for days to get to remote unspoilt areas….was my type.
so now i am considering getting a van or even a jeep to outfit to take me out there instead. So i can sleep in some relative comfort for my aging bones…and potter about far from humans…listening to the wind. I am loving photography and video…because all of a sudden i have fully understood that in 10 -15 years everything and everywhere may become inaccessible to me and i may be stuck rummaging about my memories! So i am now going out and collect videos and photos to splash on my largest tv that my future will have….to remind myself of the days in my past I enjoyed. I will retread some steps to collect my love of the wilds of snow even. i will collect sunsets, rainbows, sunrises…storms, singing cicadas….everything!
i have no interest to continue the person I was. I am furiously accessing and realising i need to prep for the person I will become and plan to enjoy it all.
and I am grateful this short experience of immobility gave me an early heads up to realise what old age will be like and accept this gift of early warning i have been given.
your body will adjust and you will recover your muscle tone. But it will be at your bodies slow recovering ability. but it will happen. You are young enough to rebuild your muscles. That is a guarantee…but at the bodies slow pace of recovery. Like a baby…one to two years slow build up. Dont endanger with rushing.
when i was a working girl and living in hotels for years…i used the treatmills..bikes, walkers, rowers. I would put on my music and sing for an hour top of my lungs!
Yoga? Research your prosthesis. That is the only thing that will prevent that. Each type has its limits depending on size. That is fixed. That will set its limit. Hit the research button on your cup and ball…If you really feel that strongly and refuse to consider that it wont be possible and at all costs you absolutely must…., think then about replacing what you have with the double ones. If that is your line in the sand….. consider and take steps and action.
otherwise, like me…do the five stages of ‘good grief’! How does it go?…denial, anger, bartering, mourning, acceptance?
And then go on out there ready for the new you.
yes this aging thing isnt fun. As the saying goes…its not for the faint hearted. Its for the warrior type mentally strong and mentally able because so much of our focus starts to switch from physical mobility to mental mobility.
we are now where we are and raging against fates and furies for whatever reason or cause to our current state, cannot turn back clock. It makes us frustrated and traps us in limbo of emotional repetition until we start getting bitter.
i do understand and grant that each of us is different and while the window dressing we see in these posts is interpreted from our own vantage and see read how each is progressing magnificently …and then do that awful comparison to our own measly progress….amd we just feel wretched and useless.
And importantly, we also have to go through the five stages of grief at the loss of our old selves and lives…if that is the challenge that we accepted as our bodies broke down
we need to access where we are and the challenge we have before us towards a new beginning, with the toolbox at our disposal. And lets not forget how privileged we are that we had resources to enable and allow us this new beginning. I know of one 75 year old with both hips and knees failing and now in wheelchair waiting for state aid. He was losing his sight but managed to get one eye operated before corona hit…so he at least has that. But all of us could have been at that level of pain and immobility and far worse! My grandmother was one who at roughly 80 was dropped by ambulance personnel, broke her hip and state refused to operate and I dont know why, so was bed ridden for 20 years.
**** happens as they say.
but looking back on our old selves is now futile. We have new lives, new paths. We actually have a complete new birth. We have exchanged one set of circumstances for another. And if we can just accept that it will and must include new attitudes, new possibilities, new interests …a larger focus on mental agility and ability as opposed to physical, we will be one step ahead of our peers! And before our mental processes decline and make it more difficult to change…unlike them lot who will discover sooner or later that their bodies are giving up and so have their brains! and they will be consigned to rocking chair If they are lucky!
It is a guarantee that all will eventually walk our path…with or without hip and or knee replacements. We are doing it early. And we have enormous resources thrown at us to help us adjust early,..ahead of the ageing curve…while we still can. Those 70s and 80s are alone hunching and shrivelled and shrivelling on their own road with pretty much zip and nobody interested to help them. And no way to adjust or learn new anything, because brain has also shriveled not being faced with any challenges to force to learn anything, in the years before.
so lets just consider our positions and our good fortune that we walk ahead of the aging curve where loss of physical ability is a daily fixture and where we are lucky we are young and mentaly agile enough to reconsider our fortunes and embark on new exciting aging appropriate activities and interests.
like swimming! Like walking and light hiking! Like photography, painting, pottery, golf…etc etc etc
i dont want to say that you are wrong or that you wont ever be able to do yoga. i have never done yoga. I tried but the interest just wasnt there. i am an outdoorsy type and hiking up mountains and down rivers…climbing and hanging of rocks…cartying 60 litres on my back for days to get to remote unspoilt areas….was my type.
so now i am considering getting a van or even a jeep to outfit to take me out there instead. So i can sleep in some relative comfort for my aging bones…and potter about far from humans…listening to the wind. I am loving photography and video…because all of a sudden i have fully understood that in 10 -15 years everything and everywhere may become inaccessible to me and i may be stuck rummaging about my memories! So i am now going out and collect videos and photos to splash on my largest tv that my future will have….to remind myself of the days in my past I enjoyed. I will retread some steps to collect my love of the wilds of snow even. i will collect sunsets, rainbows, sunrises…storms, singing cicadas….everything!
i have no interest to continue the person I was. I am furiously accessing and realising i need to prep for the person I will become and plan to enjoy it all.
and I am grateful this short experience of immobility gave me an early heads up to realise what old age will be like and accept this gift of early warning i have been given.
your body will adjust and you will recover your muscle tone. But it will be at your bodies slow recovering ability. but it will happen. You are young enough to rebuild your muscles. That is a guarantee…but at the bodies slow pace of recovery. Like a baby…one to two years slow build up. Dont endanger with rushing.
when i was a working girl and living in hotels for years…i used the treatmills..bikes, walkers, rowers. I would put on my music and sing for an hour top of my lungs!
Yoga? Research your prosthesis. That is the only thing that will prevent that. Each type has its limits depending on size. That is fixed. That will set its limit. Hit the research button on your cup and ball…If you really feel that strongly and refuse to consider that it wont be possible and at all costs you absolutely must…., think then about replacing what you have with the double ones. If that is your line in the sand….. consider and take steps and action.
otherwise, like me…do the five stages of ‘good grief’! How does it go?…denial, anger, bartering, mourning, acceptance?
And then go on out there ready for the new you.
Last edited:
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