THR Sometimes peachy, sometimes the pits

[Songlady]

Hi zauberflöte - no, mom was in a paid choir at a big synagogue in the area. She and my aunt, both. There are women cantors now, at least in some denominations - and one of my closest friends in the world (female) is a rabbi. We have adopted each other as sisters, and chat for a bit each morning before we go about our days. You know she's a true friend - she delivered me the Loaner Loo Riser! With my first hp surgery, I had a goal for recovery: I stood up for her at her wedding, 4 weeks post-op! And Songman was a chuppah holder, and Songboy helped serve the meal! (It was a lovely, casual outdoor wedding with the reception in the building on the park grounds.)
All this talk of steps and Mayan ruins.... I'd love to travel someday, and maybe recovery will allow that! (Now if the wallet will allow it....! )

 

[LeeApril26]

zauberflöte Have you had your blood pressure checked lately? When mine gets low I get dizzy. Also got dizzy in PT yesterday, I think from the heat plus exercise. I guess we are recovering.

Sadly, my grandmother died long before I got to visit her little town in Sicily. It was important to her that her grandchildren see the town they came from one day, but so far only my brother and I have done so. She came to America in 1907.

 

[Peaches]

Thank you, TeeEm, for that six-week post-op document you shared. It's wonderful! I've printed it out and might follow it. I guess I worry that I will be "doing something wrong" if I omit the darn outpatient PT. I don't intend to be lazy about the whole thing. But my energy and stamina is spent by my silly desk job and also I worry to death the PT will have me doing something that will set me back. I cannot risk that. But am I risking something horrible by "just walking"? I don't know. Songlady, did you omit outpatient PT?
Everyone has had such interesting things to talk about here. I'm sorry I'm so unhelpful right now. Some nights I come home just so spent I can't believe it. Others aren't as bad. I've got some work issues gnawing at me and it's just been a bad week. I will try to be a better correspondent in the days to come. I think about all of you and the tough issues so many of you go through and I am so wishing I could help in some way. Thank you for your supp;ort of me even when I do not reciprocate very meaningfully.

 

[Peaches]

ByGosh, please don't feel you are hijacking my thread. You, all of you, feel free to let the conversation flow whether it's here or elsewhere! I hope you are doing okay, well as okay as you can be. You have had such a rough row. I am officially outraged for you, which does no good at all.

I will be getting over to everyone's thread soon. i am kind of woolly this week (work stuff more than hip stuff). Hip wise, the various aches and soreness that we read on bonesmart is normal don't bother me too much this week. It's not perfect, but not too bad. I have cut down to 2 Extra-Strength Tylenol per day to see how that works. I can't find anywhere on the internet specifics as to what "overuse" constitutes. I can't help but wonder if 4-6 per day for 2 months is bad. Today's New york Times science section had an article about how bad various OTC meds are for people who use them too frequently. Never defined "too frequently" well enough to satisfy my curiosity. It said naproxen is the safest ... but don't go by me. Read the article, is what i suggest to everyone here.

I will write more later. Please carry on! I love how your conversations veer here and there ... from churches to sandals.

 

[Songlady]

Peaches, you give so much, so much of the time, don't worry when you feel "blitzed!" Sometimes I feel that way, too, and I just want to write, "Hi, read that, thanks..." because I can't think of anything else!
Yes, I omitted outpatient PT. I did so because it's expensive on our insurance, and my OS told me not to do it! He said I was walking fine, and he had me sit in a chair and he wiggled my leg around (to test for ROM) and sad it was fine. He said that because I could move just fine anyway, he was afraid the PT folks would invent more imaginative exercises for me to do and I would just end up hurting myself. (Then he demonstrated a lunge and said: "For instance, if your home PT person asks you to do this, DO NOT DO IT! You will get hurt!"
Before my hip surgeries, when I was having PT in response to a bursitis I'd developed in healing from a fall on the ice, I began to hurt. I told the therapist, who said helpfully/hopefully, "But it's a good hurt, right...?" And, well, I'm not an athlete; how do I answer that except, "Oh, yes!" But in retrospect, in part because I let this PT push me into doing things, I did hurt myself: it was only 3 weeks until my other hip started to hurt so much I headed toward surgery.
Sorry for the impassioned speech; but ...that's my experience.
On the other hand, if there are movements one cannot do, I would guess PT could help them learn to do those. I am not sure how PT is better than a home exercise regimen if you know the correct moves to do.
Here endeth today's sermon.....
LeeApril26 - I'm sorry your grandmother didn't live to see you go to her hometown, but you know that you made the trip, and you can be so proud of that!

 

[LeeApril26]

Peaches and Songlady I am doing the PT with great trepidation. I have done it successfully off and on for years for my knees, so I do have faith that it can work, but I am feeling quite nervous about the amount and difficulty of the exercises which seem to grow every time I go. I just ignore some of the directions I receive, and do as many exercises I feel up to as often as feel able. They do work on my gait, which is helpful. (And the new Timberland shoes help a lot.)

 

[ByGosh]

Peaches Don't apologize for not feeling like writing a thesis statement for us. You deserve what you need, and if it's rest, then rest. Just read what's written, and rest. No need for a reply if you're tired. You're working full-time, dear. I believe the rest of us, except Songlady, are still pretty much in recovery mode and not really engaged in a lot of activity, like you are. So go easy on yourself, take care of yourself, and rest. Sometimes mental weariness is the worst weariness to tolerate. Plus you walk and commute everyday, so you have physical weariness, too.

Peaches It's never too late to start PT if you feel you need it in the future. There's no rush. Why don't you put it on the back burner for now? Give yourself some more time to just heal and get used to working full-time. Just do what you have to do - work and take care of yourself. My OS, and so many other OS's have said that "walking is the best excercise for the hips". Even Josephine said that. And that's exactly what you're doing, the best exercise that you can do, everyday, multiple times a day. Don't worry about it. The only thing you need to do is to be able to maintain your mobility well enough to get to where you need to go, and to be able to take care of yourself. What else do you have to do physically that you're unable to do? Probably nothing. Believe me, I wish I never had PT post-op. I think I would be better off now. I believe the PT exercises added to my inflammation and pain. It got to a point when I said to the PT that the only thing in the way of my rehabilitation was pain. I could walk fine, I had strength - if I didn't have pain, I could do everything that I needed to do to get better.
So be kind to yourself right now - you need it and you deserve it. You're working hard every day, going to PT would add an extra big element of stress to your life, and for what? Are you debilitated, or limping, or unable to move certain ways that are necessary to do things? Wait a month, or two, then see how you feel. Give your body time to heal, as you ARE still healing now. PT can wait, it'll still be there if and when you're ready, hon.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to push my opinion on you, but I want you to take good care of yourself and I think you've done so wonderfully in your recovery, I hate to have you put pressure on yourself. Take care now, and have a good night's rest. You're a doll and we all care about you.

 

[Elosarabrab]

Peaches I think what Songlady and ByGosh said make sense. You are doing so much already with work and daily activity you don't need to add the stress of PT to the mix. As they said you can go to PT some time later if you feel the need. Lots of us in the UK don't get any PT at all and manage fine.

 

[Poppet]

Same here in OZ.. We have to pay extra for PT.. Work is energy draining, living in general is energy draining... Peaches, your body is going to take its own time to recover. It really is a fine balance with too much exercise and not enough time resting to let the body recover..

Slow and steady babe

 

[Songlady]

Peaches and Elosarabrab, seeing Poppet's remark ("SLOW and steady" - ?) reminds me of only last week, in the rehab, my mother was telling one of the PTs that she felt she was walking too slowly, and the therapist looked at her and said, "Tortoise and hare.... now, who was it that won the race...?"
With my first hip I had an incredibly good home PT person for my alloted 10 sessions. She had me stand at the kitchen counter and do some exercises, standing on one foot and bending from the knee backwards with the raised foot, and again standing on one foot and carefully, slowly raising the leg a bit out to the outer side.... and I continued to do those for months whenever I found myself standing somewhere. And, I walked. Some days more than others. It worked out very well. I didn't end up being a ballet dancer, but I wasn't one before the surgery, either!
LeeApril26 - I think you have a great state of mind about the PT! And I know it's very good for some conditions. Because I'd been hurt in sessions regarding hips some years back, I am leery of doing what is asked. The PT I had this time was pretty good, but a few times she asked me to do things that just rang wrong with my instincts, so I only "half-tried". I figured, better to let her think I'm that inept than to hurt myself!
And I'm glad your new shoes help! Your discussion of the shoes has made me more conscious of what shoes are worn, which ones I need to toss, and which ones I can keep.

 

[zauberflöte]

Peaches Somewhere on this forum, if I could only find it, is Josephine saying that work is PT! So, you're already doing it, and you should rest whenever you can. You have many months of healing ahead of you, and after that will be time enough to try PT if you still feel like it.. Please, oh please don't feel you have to have an online presence-- we know you're wiped out at the end of the day! I think of you at the end of the day, and hope that you are creeping into bed with a good book, and getting the best sleep that's out there

Have you had your blood pressure checked lately?

Every day!! By me, which is ok to the cardio. So I know where it is, and I also know how fearsomely high it has to get before they put me back on the major BP med. I just find it curious that even though I'm hardly taking any percocet, it's still low.

ith my first hip I had an incredibly good home PT person for my alloted 10 sessions. She had me stand at the kitchen counter and do some exercises, standing on one foot and bending from the knee backwards with the raised foot, snipsnip

Sounds just like the exercises I was given!! They were very helpful at the very beginning, I think, and I've done them to death now, to the point where I'm strong enough to possibly damage myself if I get really zealous.
Speaking of zealous, LOL, I'm jealous that you have a 'sister" who you get to talk to every day.....

 

[Peaches]

Hello, everyone. Cranky Peaches here! With a BOR--Big Ol' Rant! So buckle up ... and please don't hate me for ranting away.

We had good weather today--not too hot or humid--and at quittin' time, I left work thinking I finally had the stamina to check out a PT place that is the closest one to home. So I walked to the bus; stood around waiting for the bus; sat on the bus 45 minutes; walked from the bus 6 blocks to the PT place; stood about 20 minutes talking to the owner and one of his rabid gung-ho staff and receptionist; then walked home 9 blocks. By the time I started walking home, I was SORE SORE SORE and really irritated. This was TOO MUCH walking and standing around to go to a stupid PT place. The thought of doing that twice a week after work TO ACTUALLY DO PT FOR AN HOUR would have been ridiculous at this stage. I cannot imagine doing this two weeks ago, when I first started work. Anyone in my actual life (not talking about bonesmart life) who persists in thinking I am "all well" just because they see me walking for 5 seconds looking well does not get it. And neither do these PTs. Now, the owner was a very nice, gentle guy and I trusted him. To the extent I would trust any PT. But his overzealous minion was literally gleeful at the thought of me signing up and even though I told her many times I CANNOT AT THIS POINT TACK ON PT DURING THE WEEK ON TOP OF MY FULL WORKDAY ... she actually said, grinning, "We open at five a.m., so you could come before work." Well, no bloody way. No way! And the receptionist asked me with a grin when would I be stepping up the sessions. (I signed up for ONE, this coming weekend.) I said something like, "This is a finite thing. My surgeon only gave me X number of sessions in his prescription." She then kept mentioning how I could step it up. Now ... the place itself looked like any nice, clean PT place. But it just had this "sports" vibe to it, and there were some lean, mean senior women, like on the cover of AARP, doing these extreme exercises. Clams, maybe. Or bridges. It was annoying to see them. They didn't look even remotely incapacitated. They looked like athletes who maybe had a tiny problem that no one else could see. Which is fine--FOR THEM. But that ain't me, kid, that ain't me. And this overzealous minion, after I told her MY GOAL IS NOT TO RUN A MARATHON actually mentioned that annoying senior citizen who climbed Mount (which mountain was it?) recently. To which I said, "that's NOT my goal." I must have told them six times--and ByGosh, I mentioned YOU, though of course not by name and not by bonesmart reference--I did NOT want to do ONE THING that would set me back, make me miss work, make matter worse. I don't want groin pain that won't let up; tendonitis; don't want to be running here and there to acupuncturists to fix what the PT messed up. i don't want to be The Best THR Patient in the World. Am not out to win prizes. Just want to get around the city, go to work, not limp, not mess up my gait. They claimed they got it. But then started talking about me joining a pool someday (will not happen; am not interested); how they'd be massaging my scar (no bloody way am I letting them get their hands on my scar; I read what Josephone said about that). I just don't trust any PT.

Now ... call me crazy. That's okay. This is all how I FEEL. I'm not saying this is true. But this IS how I FEEL.

Yet ... am scared that there is truth to what two PTs have told me: That there IS a window of time that closes and it is true you can start PT too late after the surgery.

This being on the fence is driving ME crazy, so I know it's driving all of youse crazy too. No need to comment if you can't abide reading this anymore. I just had to vent. I don't know yet what I will do. I made one appointment. Might keep it; might not. I am so scared ot them screwing me up.

And ... this is a place that I have been told has a very very good reputation.

Also: As I was leaving, I saw a woman my age or thereabouts on an exercise bike. And she was alarmed because The Overzealous Minion had "stepped it up" on her.

Well, I am now icing and resting my weary, sore legs. So what does that tell you? TOO MUCH TOO MUCH!

Thanks for letting me rant. I have been a beast about this all evening. Now the beast will feast and go to beddy-bye soon.

I will be nicer next time, I promise.

 

[LeeApril26]

Peaches. Rant away! Just note that at any point in the session you can say no. The first one may be useful as they will evaluate your gait, strength and Range of Motion. Then, they should give you a few exercises to do until the next session and teach them to you. That may be enough for you for a couple of weeks. Or, you may go back in a week. If they tell you to do more than you feel able to do, stop when you want to. That's what I do. And, they tell me to do the exercises every day, but I do it every other day. I walk on alternate days.

Also, you will see which trainers you want to work with, and if someone is too gungho don't work with that person.

Okay, that's my two cents.

 

[Peaches]

Thanks, LeeApril26 ... I guess I'm afraid of what I'm doing WHILE I'M THERE (sorry for the caps; I'm not shouting at you). That it won't be apparent what's "too much" till it's after the fact and too late.
I know I can ignore their instructions for "at home." But what about while I'm there? Like that poor woman on the exercise bike. And as blustery as I sound here--and believe me, I can be very blustery in person--I am not ALWAYS able to turn on the bluster. Sometimes I just get too embarrassed to raise a stink. Or maybe I feel I should defer to their expertise. I feel once I am in their clutches, in their den of weird things and machines and what-not, I won't have the guts to, say, stop cycling and say,"NO MAS! You are overdoing it!"

They've already talked about putting me in some thing-a-ma-bob that's an antigravity deal where you walk without pain. It looked like an outer space thing--for kids.

Songlady: I have the same exercise(s) you described. There are half a dozen given to me by the hospital upon being sprung. I did those, with a few minor modifications by my at-home PT until tapering off (due to exhaustion) a week or so ago. I still do them sporadically.

Thanks for indulging me and my temper tantrum. Letting me be me.

 

[LeeApril26]

Peaches. Don't know the anti-gravity thing. I am not particularly assertive, but I have done lots of PT, so I guess I am not uncomfortable saying "I don't want a soft tissue injury and I need to take it easy." They do not love it, but they listen. Sometimes I just laugh and ask them if they're kidding. I do want to be able to walk miles again, so am willing to try their stuff, but not to ache. I have told the PT about BS and the differing approaches to PT after hip surgery. So far it's working.

 

[ByGosh]

Oh Peaches You make a lot of sense in what you say. And LeeApril26 you're very reasonable in your response.
It sounds to me that you feel compelled to do PT because it's the thing to do after THR, but you have a lot of fear and reservations about it. And you're not sure that you trust them, or that you'll be able to tell if what they have you do is too much when you're doing it, and you don't want to overdo it and end up with a set back or an injury. Plus, it's a lot to tack onto your already full schedule and tiring work week. You also got a negative first impression of the people who work there, and their attitude toward rehabilitation - It felt more like a gym with athletic trainers than a medical rehab facility with educated and sensitive therapists who would treat you as an individual, taking into account what your needs and goals are. And not push you according to their own agenda.

What's you gut feeling?

Don't apologize for venting, Peaches. You're a very good venter - and you explain your impressions very clearly and very well, in a very interesting way. I'm impressed with how you can size things up and relay to us what you've experienced.
You have the rest of the week to consider it. You can go once, like Lenora said, and see how it goes, probably get evaluated, get some exercises, and take it from there. Or you can cancel the appointment and keep up with your own schedule of walking and exercising for now. Either way, you'll be fine. Don't fret too much, it'll just wear you down. You're smart, you'll know what's right. Don't let every other person's experience confuse you.
Good luck and get some restful sleep tonight. Thinking of you and sending my best.

 

[Peaches]

Thanks, LeeApril26, and I'm glad you have had positive experiences. I just have my fingers crossed they continue to listen. I find that no matter how soft or hard I speak up, I have a hard time with people in this THR Journey hearing me. Starting back at the hospital, when I kept telling them to stop putting me into a sinkhole in the mattress and expect me to get out of bed with the cement leg. They would not listen. They kept telling me to "just be positive" and kept assuring me I was "doing it" when in fact I was not budging. My elbows were raw from trying to get out. Then finally some aide listened to me and positioned me a little farther from the sinkhole and guess what. I got myself out of bed. Sigh.

Thanks, ByGosh: Yes, you are right: I am scared it wil be too late, the damage done, when I tell them they are doing too much. And I always kind of wonder about believing Those Who Know who say that in fact it is possible you can start PT too late in the game.

I have wondered about you and how you are feeling with the Prednisone, which I read about on another thread and wanted to ask you about. You said you are feeling somewhat better? YOu are so busy writing to other people that I don't see much on YOUR thread about you. I think your story is so stinking unfair. I am so eager to hear what the next OS says to you. And to know if the Pred and that tens machine (I think that's the name) you found might also be helpful???? Please keep us/me posted. You are always so upbeat through all of this, it's truly beautiful. But you should not have to keep putting up with this. Good night and have a nice restful evening.

 

[Songlady]

Peaches, @LeeApril, ByGosh - I think that, as in many (if not all) fields, the effectiveness and sensitivity of the p. therapy depends on the training, special interest (hips vs shoulders, say?) and personality of the person doing it. I absolutely LOVED the home PT person I have after my first hip surgery. (I believe she left that agency to work in a local hospital.) I am not familiar enough with outpatient PT, (having done it only after my ice-fall bursitis) and I am an "obedient student" enough that I would want to Do The Thing To Please The "Teacher" and ignore my own inner warning feelings. @LeeApril, it sounds as though you know you're way around the PT places enough that you feel comfortable asserting yourself, and that you do so quite politely, with humor! I so admire that. So - Peaches, you have good advice from Lenora!

 

[LeeApril26]

Songlady I have had PT for a rotator cuff tear, knees, ankles, hand, knees again, and then pre-surgery for hips for four months, and then home and now outpatient PT. I am a deteriorating klutz. I was originally told to have knee replacement surgery in '95, and have prevented it so far with PT and then following the exercises religiously. I am relatively compliant, but can politely or humorously refuse if I feel at risk. I get Peaches anxiety that you can not know you are at risk until you damage yourself. It's true. There are risks both ways. I hate being limited though, in walking, stairs and now escalators!!!

 

[nmscienceteacher]

Peaches my husband is a pt....I have had lots of body work, work with trainers, and pt in my life...I AM NOT AN EXPERT SO THIS IS MY LOUD BUT LOWLY OPINION don't go to that pt place...read your rant...you got a million negative hits off walking in. Maybe the time isn't right, maybe the place is all wrong...and it sounds as if they are trying to sell you more stuff which is flat out wrong. Bob, my hubbie, and I have talked about what I will do about pt. we really can't afford it right now so I am waiting through the summer and working here at home as tolerated and doing walking as tolerated. After I have been back at teaching for at least a month IF I think I need it I will do some pt to address any specific muscle weakness. Honor your gut instincts. End of my rant. Take care of yourself. Funny how much we all start to care about out bonesmartie friends who we have never formally met...