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THR Sherrymorss recovery thread

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Hi everyone! Sorry I have been missing but boy things went from doing ok to being fantastic. I finally got past the pain of the gout. I have some Tophi deposits that still have to be addressed. Tophi deposits can almost be like a cyst. They are deposits of uric acid under the skin in various places. They can rupture like a cyst and need to be drained. I have one on my toe and a couple on my fingers that were so swollen during the gout attack. My doctor wants me to wait 3 months to be totally sure this acute gout attack has passed. Then he will do a blood test to see what level my uric acid has risen to in my blood. At that point he will start me on a medication called allopurinol. I can't start that too soon because oddly enough if you do it can trigger another gout attack. Any way, once the medication cleans the uric acid from my blood, then the Tophi deposits will disappear. Right now they are not painful like a cyst, but I must be careful not to let them get infected when they rupture.

So once the pain subsided from the gout I began to walk a little more. Then a little more, and discovered I could walk a bit with out the walker. Then look out! I donated my mobility scooter and walker to a charity that helps people with mobility problems. Boy if felt great to see those go off in a truck never to be seen again. I have used my rollator some, but don't hardly use it at all now. I'm using mainly my quad cane when I go out walking and don't need anything around the house. I went from not being able to get pact 800 steps a day to completing 5050 steps yesterday. I could hardly believe it. I treated myself to a new Fitbit Alta that I just love. And most wonderful of all, I'm back to losing weight. I've lost another 12 pounds so I'm very close to the 120 pound weight loss mark. I can't discribe how fantastic I feel.

I'm sorry I neglected this website. It really has been such a comfort to me during all I have been through with my hip replacement surgery and the set backs I had. Things are so much better now and it's wonderful to be walking pain free. I hope all of you are doing well and please forgive my absents.
 
sherrymorss60 said:
I went from not being able to get pact 800 steps a day to completing 5050 steps yesterday. I could hardly believe it. I treated myself to a new Fitbit Alta that I just love. And most wonderful of all, I'm back to losing weight. I've lost another 12 pounds so I'm very close to the 120 pound weight loss mark. I can't discribe how fantastic I feel.
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That's amazing! It feels like you've had a hard fight and I'm so glad you're doing so well! The weight will just fall off now you can get mobile.
:yes!:
 
@sherrymorss60 What a fantastic update! Well done you! Sounds like your THR was indeed a new beginning for you. Enjoy that new hip and thanks for stopping by!
 
Such good news all round. You must be thrilled with ditching the scooter, losing weight and being painfree. It's like all your Christmases came together!
 
@sherrymorss60 - I've been catching up with several of your latest posts and am smiling and cheering you on with how you are triumphing over challenges. Thank you for sharing. We are so proud of you and happy for you!
 
Sherry, what a relief all of your good news is! Looks like you are going onward and upward!
 
@Cynthia777 yes I can't believe how nicely things are moving along now that I finally recovered from the gout. I'm walking pretty well around the house using nothing. I use my quad cane when I go out mainly for balance and it's kind of become my security blanket. I'm finally back to losing weight thank God. I still have about another 100 pounds to take off. The main thing is I'm back on track and enjoying the little bit of summer that's left. My other daughter, Jenny, and I are planning a weekend trip to Deadwood, South Dakota. Been a long time since I could spend a little time at the **** tables over there. I love to gamble and nothing more fun than the **** table. I hope you are doing well. I see you are a Forum Advisor now. Congratulations! You'll just be great at it. If you ever see anyone that is in my condition with a high BMI and scared to death of the surgery, I won't mind at all if you tag me so I might offer some comfort like I received.
 
I have begun to have some pain in my left hip and my left knee. The left knee seems swollen too. I had my hip replacement on the right hip. When I had my X-rays before surgery in May, the surgeon said my left hip looked ok. Has anyone had this happen this far out from surgery? My surgery was May 31st. Geez I've been doing so well and now my left leg hurts. And for some reason I feel embarrassed to go back to my surgeon and say thanks for fixing my right hip, now can you fix the left one. I guess because I'm still a long way from my weight loss goal and I'd hate to ask him to bend the BMI restrictions again for me. Maybe it's not even in the joint. I can't tell for sure. Shouldn't I be past this by now. My surgery was almost 3 months ago. Well, once again folks, thanks for listening to me whine.
 
@sherrymorss60, pain is pain, and it is always worth looking into, whether you've had other pain or not. Often we have to work our "good" legs harder during recovery from a THR, and so naturally problems can occur in them. Since I've had that torn glute muscle in my right THR hip ever since surgery over a year ago, I've had to work my left leg much harder, and have had pain in my knee, my ankle is always a bit sore and swollen, and now I am getting twinges of OA in the left hip. When I was looking into the pain I was having in my right hip last year, pre-THR, with a pelvic x-ray, the doctor said there was mild OA in my left. A number of people on this forum, and another one I participate in, have had accelerated damage in their "good" legs.

So I hope you don't hesitate to at least request an exam and x-ray of that other hip, so that you know what is going on. It may not be "bad" enough to warrant replacement at this point, who knows. You don't know until the doctor checks you out.
 
@Krista you're right, of course. I have to go in for my next X-rays with my surgeon in September. He will probably do a pelvic X-ray like he has every time. I can just ask how it looks on the left side I guess. When you are obese and have been for many years, sometimes it's just hard to speak up for what you need. Heck I didn't go to any doctors for years because I had so many come right out and tell me if I weren't fat I wouldn't be having what ever problem I was having. Then I met my current doctor. He is worth his weight in gold. He told me yes I can see you have a weight problem, you know you have a weight problem, we'll work on that when we can but for now let's figure out what the immediate problem is. I just love him.
 
Hi Sherrymorss,

There could be lots of reasons for pain to flare up where it didn't exist before. So only your surgeon can tell you if your left hip or knee has deteriorated to a point needing attention. But also keep in mind that you are now walking with a different gait....a normal gait....instead of the abnormal one you maladapted to in the years before surgery. You may simply have muscles saying...whoa....wait a minute....this is different....we haven't worked this way in a long long time.

Along those lines, have you gotten new shoes since surgery? Because your old shoes will have those maladapted wear patterns, it can sometimes be as simple as a new pair of shoes to fix a new pain. After my first THR, I had shin splints around the 8-12 week point of my recovery. Someone here suggested new shoes....any old excuse for shoe shopping will work with me....and I went out and bought a new pair of my favorite Keens. That was the end of the shin splints.

But regardless, ask your surgeon to check out the left joints. Arthritis sometimes creeps along slowly....but it sometimes takes huge leaps as well. If nothing else, you will have a baseline x-ray for future reference.

Sharon
 
Oh, Sherry, I am so glad you found this doctor! It is terrible how we are treated sometimes when we are obese. And I feel badly that you felt so uncomfortable that you avoided seeking medical help until you were in dire straits. It is wonderful to be accepted and treated for who you are at that moment, not who the doctor wants you to be in some dream world of his. Yay for your doctor, and yay for you!
 
Sherry,
I'm so very sorry you are having problems with your knee! Guess what? I'm experiencing the same issue! I've had occaisional mild pain in my one knee (OS took xrays and said, "Very mild arthritis"), but since my surgeries the pain has increased. Just what we need, right? Fortunately you have an OS appointment coming up and he can get an X-ray of your knee to see what's going on. Hopefully it's just because of having to use it so much more during your THR recovery as Sharon mentioned.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share your thread with members who are facing the weight issue! It will be of great help and encouragement for them.

Please forgive me for being AWOL, but I was on vacation and I'm still trying to catch up on everyone's thread. :-)
 
@sharonslp I think you are correct that I'm using muscles differently now that my right hip has been fixed. I noticed the past couple of days how much I am depending more on that left side. I need to try and correct that so I'm using both legs equally. I did buy a couple of new pairs of shoes right after surgery as I had read that was important. This recovery process is something isn't it? Still I'm doing so much better than I was early this spring. Thank you for your imput.
 
@Krista oh I'm so glad I found Dr. Shoeber too. He's so calm and down to earth. He knows he can prescribe the most wonderful medicine in the world but if the patient can't afford to buy it they won't take it. He's not judge mental in any way and yet he is always ready to celebrate my victories with me. I just love him. I wish there were more doctors like him. I hope you are feeling better today.
 
@Cynthia777 oh please do pass on my thread and experience if you ever encounter someone that's in the same position I was in. The site helped me so much with my fear and anxiety and I'd love to be able to help others. I had some set backs, but nothing any smaller patient might not have gone through too. My weight really hasn't been that much of an issue. It could have been, I'm not denying that, but the risks were well worth taking. Josephine's opinion, based on all her years of experience, was one of the things that gave me the greatest comfort.

Oh my dear Cynthia, you have a life other than this website. Don't worry about taking time away from it to live your life.

I hope both our knees get better, at least for awhile. I'm sure not ready for another surgery and I bet you're not either. Take care of yourself. You're a pretty special lady.
 
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