THR Setback at 8 weeks out- and the come back?

[Davefd]

Wow. I wonder what that is?

I think it's me serving as a lesson to others!

Sooty- you hit it on the head - I was thinking about that today- have highly developed quad, and currently week hamstring/glute that need to build up and flabby from limited use- and i would say that 'imbalance' pulls against the joint. and you are right about it feeling 'disgusting' - sadly i'm kind of used to it as my shoulder would dislocate about every month or 2, and I know 'that feeling' -something not good is about to, or could happen!

Yeah Hippy- that post still applies. when i was kvetching about this setback, had a friend here remind me 'how long were you degenerating before surgery?' - '4 years' - 'and you think you're going to be strong after 2 months??'

 

[Josephine]

Dave's description was a little too specific for it to be the usual pops and clicks that most people get.

 

[Sooty]

Josephine 'Usual' pops and clicks? Like for the rest of our lives? I hope it goes away because when it happens I cry out in such a way that I would be a public nuisance (if I were in public)!

 

[Davefd]

Josephine 'Usual' pops and clicks? Like for the rest of our lives? I hope it goes away because when it happens I cry out in such a way that I would be a public nuisance (if I were in public)!

Having gone thru the shoulder thing, the most important thing is to very stringent about building muscle/mass tone in the affected area- i think the sucky thing for us is the years of atrophy we need to come back from and it's easy to overdo it. I hate to say this, but i'm an orthopedic mess , so I got only 1 major joint that doesn't actually pop or click!

 

[Damn!]

From one orthopedic mess to another.......just look at this hip as reinforced.

Did you hurt your hip or was it degenerative, etc.? Just curious. I too went through a shoulder thing. Tripped over something and fell, landing on my elbow. This caused a buckle fracture in the back of the shoulder as well as tore the bicep and rotator cuff. The surgery to fix all that was way more painful than the THR!

Let us know what your OS says about the feeling you are having.

 

[Davefd]

Reinforced=Exactly how i look at it! Only injury on the hip I recall that laid me up even a bit was back in say 1989 (bike wipeout)- may have something to do with it. in the 90's I'd (semi) joke that I could tell when it was gonna rain by my hip. It only started to go 'south' around 2008 when I had lots of free time due to the recession and would take the dogs trail hiking- until then, no problems, oddly- could do a 80 mile bike ride, run a few miles, whatever- no sweat.

Right shoulder has a lack of cartilage for who knows what reason- was found out during arthroscopy to remove an arthritic shoulder bone (due to be tossed over a car on my bike- orginally type 2 AC sep). Left shoulder dislocated just over 2 yrs ago in a 'gardening' accident- tripped on some landscape rocks - no guts+glory there!

And no family history of arthritis, and I generally have (/had) the healthiest and most active lifestyle of any family members to boot! Just bad luck with the genes i guess Has all the docs scratching their heads, and me not looking forward to old age!

 

[Poppet]

Dave have you ever been checked for psoriatic arthritis ?

 

[Hippy12]

This sounds intriguing, Hippy - where did you hear that?

I've been trying to find that site. Now I can't. I came across it when I got curious about the anterior/posterior/lateral incision approaches. I hadn't realized there was a difference.
My Physical Therapist wanted me on the operated side as soon as I could stand it, but her reason was to help break up adhesions. I'll keep looking. (Now I'll add it to my list of questions I'll ask my OS on the 15th!)

 

[Davefd]

Dave have you ever been checked for psoriatic arthritis ?

Been checked for Rheumatoid -dr's were pretty sure it wasn't, but wanted to rule it out. From what i see on the symptoms for psoriatic- none apply.

 

[Davefd]

Hmmm- noticed something strange last night & today- went walking and this 'pinching' sensation in the joint (which I thought may be a pinched nerve and really knocked me for a loop for several days) seems to be gone after my 'popping out' thing recently, and my gait has pretty much gone back to normal. Guess it could have been a pinched nerve that got out of the way when my hip shifted, and thank god for that, as I can get back to a proper PT routine and some walking. I'm really eager to build up my leg muscles again to prevent that 'dropping', and i can really see the physical difference between L/R legs.

Still have this tightness/soreness in my inner thigh I can't shake that I've been icing, limited stretching & trying to 'work out' with a massager wand- which I think I may have gone a little too hard with, as when I was getting ready to take a shower I noticed 2 things- A) lots of bruising/redness in my inner thigh (i bruise kind of easy) and B) My god I've gotten FAT!

Does anybody know of 'safe' stretches we can do for the operated leg? All the PT really gets those 'formerly unused' muscles quite tight.

 

[Josephine]

I've been trying to find that site. Now I can't. I came across it when I got curious about the anterior/posterior/lateral incision approaches. I hadn't realized there was a difference.

Well I would expect it to only be mentioned on one site as it's rather an illogical premise! Apart from which, you didn't need to go searching elsewhere as we have an article explaining it all here THR approaches or incisions.

My Physical Therapist wanted me on the operated side as soon as I could stand it, but her reason was to help break up adhesions.

I see that as eminently illogical also! Hips don't get adhesions and even if they did, laying on your side isn't going to influence them one way or the other!

 

[biman]

David,

I became an avid cyclist since my left hip replacement about 4 years ago. I noticed this rplacementDecember 18th that I was agood deal stronger and stiffer than the previous replacement with some strange muscle issues, I would encourage u as Josephine said To have it checked out so you can relax and take it easy. I am planning on spin class for awhile ( because you don't. Have to ride home. That being said I can't wait to start riding.

 

[Davefd]

Captains log, stardate jan 14. More of a diary note this time. Noticing a few folks here are having a 'down day' today as well, so wanted to note my own before i pop over and say 'hi'.
Woke up in a funk today- can't seem to get motivated to even do my PT. Would rather curl up in bed or just stare off into space, but I feel i need to get motivated, and have to go grocery shopping today. Just feeling kind of tired, foggy-headed, depressed, worried- keep worrying about that 'dropping out' that's happened, but see ortho on Wed. Not sick, not sleepy, just not feeling it today. It's like I lose motivation every couple days and go into a funk - where the hell is my goddamn Sisu?

 

[Davefd]

and this damn tightness in my groin is still driving me nut and has been for weeks, just refusing to 'loosen up' - makes me walk janky sometimes with this 'pulling'. Anybody else get this later in recovery, and did you figure out a way to 'get rid' of it? stretches, heat pads and such only seem to work short term.

 

[oldyellr]

Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days are Stones.

Some days I don't get around to doing any exercises, usually when I have errands to run, but life is more important than routines.

 

[Brigitte]

You are so right about some days being like diamonds, others like stones. You are not alone, we all have our ups and downs. You will find as you go along the ups will definitely outnumber the downs, and that is when you realize that you have already come a long way.

 

[Davefd]

Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days are Stones.

Yeah, and it's the rough days seem to last forever!

in reality it's only been 2 weeks since my setback, but it feels like a month. since i'm in solid 'blah' mood today, only positive thing I can think of is that at least I'm getting to the point i was a week or 2 before my 'ride of doom', so there is progress. maddeningly slow, but progress.

For grins I figure i'd share the photo i took that day. it was at 1400-1450 ft elevation, my ride started at ~1000ft.

 

[Sooty]

You will get back there Dave, please be gentle with yourself? Try not to focus too much on the past, look forward and dare to take it slow...

I had a major meltdown last week after being promoted from 10% to 50% weightbearing and subsequently overdoing it to the extent that I couldn't walk AT ALL. So 8 weeks post-op and more invalid than ever, I was pretty ticked off at everything. Then I decided to stop fighting all the restrictions (= accepting reality) and start working with my body the way it was. Very very slowly. I need to wait another 4 weeks for my next appointment with my OS, 'til that time I'm on crutches trying to build up strength in the operated leg, bit by bit, just by walking around the house. No PT ROM exercises allowed yet. And it's going fine, just very slow.

Hang in there!

 

[Davefd]

damn sooty- you are having it rough, huh? Trying to take it gentle here- that hip 'drop' still has me scared enough to do as much muscle building PT as I can- but there'll certainly be no bike rides til about my 4 month point, just to be sure. Stationary bike, yes- on the road, oh no. That last setback scared me off that for a bit.

 

[bellaroma]

Dave, It will get better, I had a fracture with my surgery so just this weekend if I think about how I walk I can avoid the cane on my operated side, but still have to use it on the other side which will be operated in March. Love the photo, perhaps when you ride again you could start on more level ground and work up to the hills, alot more stress on the joints