Guest viewing is limited

THR Sometimes peachy, sometimes the pits

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi Peaches nice to hear from you. I'm sorry you are part of the random, unexpected and very frustrating pain club. My new hip is doing quite well. My non-op hip, both knees and both thumbs, not so much. Still, compared to pre-op when I spent almost three months barely able to make it to the kitchen, I am doing much better. Trying not to take NSAIDs, but taking turmeric and rose hips daily. Just ordered cherry extract, too. Seems to help some, as do the braces I wear at night to help my wrists and thumbs.
It sounds to me like you are doing a lot. Have you worn a pedometer at all? I have been doing so since Friday, and have been surprised at how many steps are involved in walking to the subway, taking it, doing all the steps and walking to my destinations. Some days I can do much more than others, and as you say it is not predictable.
There seem to be a lot of us in the same shape. It's frustrating because at 16 or 17 weeks I feel I should be in less pain, but when I reread the articles on THR in the library, I have a bit of hope that at six months or a year we will be doing better. I really do think that using the cane for so long threw off a lot of muscles and tendons, and that it will take time to rebuild them all.
So, post when you can. Not all of us are feeling peachy all the time.
 
Thanks for writing, TeeEm. Oh, knee pain. I'm so sorry. Knee pain is the biggest worry, I think. But you are taking zumba, I believe, and that is no small thing. I am sorry that so many of you are keeping me company in the "it ain't all it's cracked up to be" club. It sounds to me like you and many of you have a much better handle on what to do or not do. Thanks for the tip about the office chair. I think you may be right. Though it has always felt the right height and pretty comfy, when I get up from it and from the office chair at home, it's the same horrible stiffness. When I sit on pillows on my sofa at home, it's not as bad. I can just hear my supervisor now, if I were to ask for a new chair: "We offered to do that for you already, when you first came back, and you said no." Honestly, I don't know what kind of chair would work, anyway. I have retrieved my pillow, heating bad, and ice bags from my first few weeks after returning to work and am using that. I have really regressed, but I think those three things are better than nothing. I am working right now at acceptance and not letting this disappointment in the surgery not leading me back to any kind of activity make me unable to enjoy life.

I still shamelessly steal your wonderful "tap dancing off the operating table" line. It's the best.

I will eagerly watch for your posts to see how your knees are doing, with my fingers crossed.

Howdy-do, zauberflöte! I'm sorry for your pain and feeling blue and surprised as you seem to always be doing so well. I think your mile walk sounds great. I have rarely done that far after work, just a time or two. Now what is this "turning on a dime"? It sounds practical and helpful if it's what I think it is. And something we used to do without thinking, so that IS something to celebrate.

As for the subway stairs, I checked my "Log o' Hip Stuff" where I jot down stuff and I did start the subway a month ago, but prior to that did it ONLY a day or two a week. You know ... my "test run" theory. The a.m. bus has been slower and slower and it's either the subway, a costly cab, or late to work, so it's the train. However, the stairs have never been painless, and now, they are more painful than ever thanks to my increasingly painful "good' hip. In fact, even curbs are now hard for me when I use the non-op hip.

I must go to your and everyone's threads to get the real blow by blow. Thank you for your kind words. It means so much.

LeeApril26, I think you sound terrific, though of course the erratic pain is disappointing. But you are swimming, last I recall, is that right? Which I know is great for you in every sense as you love it so. I'm glad to hear as well that you are able to get by on herbal painkillers. They would not touch the pain I'm now in, I'm afraid, but maybe someday. BoneSmart really wised me up about Tylenol and Advil, though I am now back to taking them again as of this increase in nonstop pain. I take maybe two Tylenol a day on average; some days 4, and other days none. I am not being heroic by refraining. Just scared of the side effects.

So sorry about your thumbs! Is this carpal tunnel, do you think? Or arthritis? I have huge bulbous things under the skin of my thumbs and they are sore; my doc surmised it's arthritis, but has done nothing. She is a rather passive type. "Laid back" doesn't begin to describe her. Does arthritis run in your family?

I've missed everyone, but thought of you so often and wished and hoped you're doing more and more in your lives and getting better. It doesn't sound like everyone has thought so, but I hope you are wrong. For my two cents, I think you guys are doing great. Thank you for bucking me up. I will be back when I can to check in on everyone and make sure you are behaving.

I already feel better just "talking" to all of you! I thought of changing my avatar ... to a bowl o' Bruised Peaches ... but, nah. That'd be too depressing.
 
Peaches. Yes, I have been swimming, but mostly exercising and walking in the water. It doesn't stress my knees and seems to help my gait. My family does have OA-my brother has replaced both hips, and my mom's hands were awful. I have OA in both thumbs, butI think current pain is caused by compressed nerves-gamer's thumb, from too much typing on the iPad. Now wearing a hand brace and using a stylus. I have heard that cortisone shots help hand OA but haven't dealt with it.
The turmeric and rose hips are no where near as effective as the NSAIDs or Tylenol, but I have been taking Mobic for almost three years for knees, and then hips, so am afraid to keep taking it daily.
I haven't worked for 18 months, so whatever exercising and swimming I do is much less stressful than a daily commute, a job and then doing all the household stuff at night. I would like to resume working but don't feel able to, as my work required organizing and attending events where I ran around for several hours and then socialized. Don't think I could do it.
Thanks again for the info on knees and Tai Chi. Yikes.
 
Peaches , looking at your daily routine from my view, you are doing way more than I would be capable of sustaining for even one work week. It seems to me your whole body is adjusting to the nice new hip, and given that we are of a certain age, there are often pre-existing conditions in the rest of the body that are just plain painful once we get the bad hip fixed. I know that's absolutely no practical help to you, but it's what I tell myself when my "good" hip hurts.

You are wise to bring back the pillow, heat, ice! I believe Poppet is one of those who keeps ice at work all the time.

We'll look forward to your report that you've read all of everybody's posts.....just kidding! :)
 
Hi Peaches It's great to read your post! I second (or third or fourth) what has already been said: you are doing a lot more than I am each day! Like LeeApril26 I am wearing a pedometer, just so I can track how many steps I do each day. Using this makes walking into a bit of a game; I am having fun with the little gizmo!

I am finding that when I do a full day's activities as I used to, I am exhausted and achy. (I think I tagged you in my full report on my Second Time thread.) But, I keep reminding myself, "it's still early" in the recovery. And... I am not putting in a full day very often! I am impressed that you are - and I know how exhausting it is to get from place to place in that city!

Great to hear from you!
 
Hi, Songlady! Thank you for your kind words. I think YOU put in a hard day. Your mom; your SongLady'ing/organ playing. Yes, exhausted and achy are exactly right. I remember reading on BS all about the infamous energy drain, but frankly didn't remember it can reoccur or linger. Just yesterday walking home from work I thought to myself, "I feel exactly the same way I did in the days before surgery." But ... today, I took excellent advice and took Tylenol: 2 extra-strength in the morning. The lower back pain lessened, and the hip pain did too. By lunch time I was not totally pain free, but I really felt up to walking and walking. I didn't. I only went a few blocks. But I felt so much more "able." Afternoon, took 2 regular Tylenol. And 2 more of those this evening. And it's a huge difference from yesterday. Having a break from the pain has relaxed me a little. I am up late because of too much coffee, not stress.

I think getting from place to place anywhere, whether it's in the city and to/from work, or going to exercise classes or just being up and about and doing your house and life things at home is all "activity" that we all must consider.
It's hard, though.

My pedometer malfunctions, so I need recommendations. It keeps telling me I have walked 80 steps by the end of the day. :)
 
Hi Peaches Glad you got some relief! None of us wants to be on meds forever, or at least a lot of meds, but personally I do think some relief is helpful! :) I feel that if I'm feeling pain I move with tension which causes more pain!

I have an Omron pedometer from Amazon. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/s/?tag=ate362da-20

I have the one at the top of the page, $21 something. I'd had some cheap ones, and this has been great. I've had it since my first hip was done three years ago (it uses a hearing aid battery, and I have replaced that.) It's fun; the instruction book tells how to set it for your height and weight and length of stride, so it not only counts steps, but also calories and mileage (which is obviously iffy because not all my steps are full-length "outdoor") and "aerobic steps" per day.

Enough of the commercial, but this gadget does make walking more fun.

I'm definitely Song-ladying tomorrow! I have to be out the door at 7:30 am to start playing. :yawn: I've had some Sundays off this summer, but I'm back to the ol'rgan bench! When I went in to practice the other day, I thought, "Oh, yeah.... hard bench......hmmmm..." So I'll report on how that feels after the morning!
 
Peaches Songlady I have the Omron Pedometer from Amazon which is great for keeping track of the amount of walking I am doing I mainly count the mileage. There seems to be a lot of us on here who are experiencing unexpected pain after a period of doing ok.Maybe this is normal when we become more active again and if it is its a shame nobody warned us.Do you think some of the discomfort is down to scar tissue and the pain in the other hip and knee is due to it taking too much strain over the past few months ? Lets hope this is a temporary problem which will be eventually resolved.I still take 1000 mg Paracetamol 4 times a day and 400 mg Ibuprofen 3 times a day and have not been able to reduce this up to now.I worry about taking anti inflammatories for so long as I took Naproxen for 21 months Preop

I am not working at the moment and really admire you Peaches for managing a job as well as the recovery.Songlady I hope you managed your organ playing today and enjoyed it
 
Peaches Kim22 Sorry about your pain Kim! Yes, you put it well - I think that for me, I'm getting back to increased activity in trying for a more "normal" life and all kinds of things are protesting. But I am thinking this will clear up eventually. With my first hip, I really felt upset that I had not had a clue about how much the darned surgery would hurt and how very long it would really take to get back to normal. Last time, each time I had a day or a few days or week of relatively no pain I thought "OK! I'm all better now!" :egypdance: and then was upset when pain recurred :boohoo: ..... this time, I am trying very hard to take the long view and not get emotionally derailed by the bumps. :bicycle2: Although.... I think human nature (or at least my nature!) is to want to come to Conclusions immediately.
Sorry for the philosophizing.
The organ playing went fine, by the way. Thanks for asking.:)
 
Peaches I'm very glad the tylenol gave you some relief! I'm in your corner, but I've never stopped taking my tylenol/ibuprofen. I almost had stopped one day several weeks ago, and then along came some more groin pain, so "rattle rattle go the pill bottles".

Getting a break from the pain is so relaxing -- I hope you're not shy about taking more tylenol to relieve the stress. Could be you heal faster when the pain is not bothering you? I've read that here! :)
 
Well, folks, it's kind of lame, but I had to change my avatar to an unbaked peach pie, 'cause that's just how I feel. I've been all cut up, and the pieces are all in place ... but I'm not done yet. I'm still an unbaked pie. I may be the fat lady (see "weight gain" thread), but I haven't sung. :)
 
Oh, Peaches. I can't bear to think about it. Lost 13 pounds pre surgery and have gained back eight. Keep trying to convince myself the new hip weighs more. Even I don't believe it. Sigh . ..
 
Pretty funny, LeeApril26 -- I never thought about the "added weight" of our new prosthesis! LOL. Tried to Google it, but couldn't find an answer to "how much does a hip replacement prosthesis weigh." All kidding aside, my post-op weight gain (and all pre-op weight gain) is entirely my fault, despite "mitigating factors" such as menopause (that was a long time ago, though, so the expiration date on that excuse has long been spent). I do think I ate healthfully after the surgery for quite some time in terms of what I ate. But I ate too many calories for such a sedentary lifestyle, and I also frequently included sweets, which of course is not healthful. I love fruit, but I know when I'm eating it that it ain't cake. Anyway, I have no one to blame but myself. I do think it's weird my appetite increased to such an extent the last couple of weeks. In the coming weeks I have no recourse but to cut back on calories, but no fad or weird or extreme diets.

Hi, zauberflöte. I thought of you last night as I was preparing dinner in this stifling heat and with lower back pain rearing its ugliness. I stuck a smaller ice bag from my collection (some collect shoes; me--ice bags) and stuffed it in my back pocket. Felt great! And, yes, I'm back on the Tylenol and have been taking 2 extra-strength Tylenol either twice a day or sometimes 3 times a day. I think it has helped. I read on BoneSmart somewhere that taking it occasionally doesn't help as much as taking it routinely, so it can build up in your system. Yikes. That also sounds scary when I think about the side effects, but for now, I'm going with the big T. I still do not have pain-free days, but I have lower-pain days. I would still like to find somewhere a definition of "long-term use" as I have seen nothing while scouring the Internet. How are you doing, especially after all of that driving you did recently?

Songlady, all you said really was helpful. I like philosophizing, analyzing, etc., when it comes to trying to live in these post-op days when the world seems to think we should be "all well!" and we are simply NOT. Everything you said about how you felt about your first hip's recovery is how I feel. I think it's normal for us to want conclusions so we can simply do the right thing and heal better. We're not striving for bungee jumping. We're just wanting to be productive people and live our lives. How has it worked out playing the organ on the hard bench? I'm sure you have made the most of it, but I wonder about the repercussions sitting on a hard bench for so long. I find when I sit in an office chair, at home or work, for even 10 minutes, I am sore and stiff beyond belief. But not so much at all when i sit in other chairs. Can't figure it out. Can you take a very thing pillow to sit on, one that won't elevate you too much? (Not that you haven't thought of all of this.) It's like Goldilocks, running around in pre-op life, trying to find the right pillow and chair for various occasions. Who knew?

Thank you for all the info on that particular pedometer. Thank you, too, Kim22. It turns out my pedometer was always resetting itself, because it was not a good one. I read up on "about.com" all about pedometers and apparently there are some really bad ones. Who knew?

Kim, how are you doing??? I understand completely needing to hang on to the over-the-counter stuff for now.
I saw your report also about walking on the beach and I'll bet that was hard on your muscles, too. Though walking on the beach always sounds lovely. I walked on gravel and dirt a few weeks ago and paid dearly for it in pain. Who knew? Who knew? The trial-and-error aspect gets to be exhausting, but seems necessary. I think it'll be a very long time before I get to the "I never think of my hip" stage ... if ever. I am always trying to lessen the pain here, there, or anywhere, so it's hard to not think about "it."

My job is mainly sedentary, but presents opportunities (getting coffee; going to the ladies' room; going to the Xerox machine; that kind of thing) to do "walking PT." So in a weird way, it's the right combination of walking and sitting and while I'm at work I feel I am at my most mobile and mostly pain free. Weekends are harder because there is a tendency to just sit around and do things sitting down, like reading or paperwork, or office work I brought home, and I don't get up nearly as often. So I am in a lot of pain and have stiffness. I have now reinstituted my hallway walking at home, which helps, I think. I look like the apartment building's resident looney tune, but so be it. {I live in a tiny, one-room apartment with no floor space at all and I usually have got side step around all the furniture, so walking in the outside hallways has been my one salvation and helped a lot right after the surgery.) I hope you can find the right combo of walking, resting, too. I honestly am befuddled at how this recovery is going. If it were not for the honest accounts of the BoneSmartFolk, I would be really depressed. Since in the real world you only hear the end game, without the details: "My aunt is out and about and shopping and swimming!" And I think, "And what medication is she taking; how does she feel AFTER the shopping and out and abouting and swimming ... and what are you not telling us?"
 
Hi, was looking at your avatar trying to work out what it was! Now I know - forget the pastry, just eat the fruit!
Have come back from holiday in Northern Europe 10lbs heavier - how did that happen? Mmmm, French bread, Belgian chips (fries) and chocolate, Dutch apple cake and pancakes, wine, beer - that could explain it! Back to eating sensibly is the only option.
:cheers:Virtual drinking is better for the waistline but not much fun. Anne
 
Hi, Nannyannie ... I know, I know: the avatar is not that easy to figure out. Also not visually very appealing! Trying to tell everyone I'm like an unbaked pie. This recovery isn't over.

Your trip sounds great. My feeling is that if I'm going to eat too much and eat too well, it's okay while traveling and with friends and enjoying life. Then, once I'm home, scale back. Easier said than done! Where all did you travel to in Northern Europe??
 
So Peaches , you don't think my new ceramic hip weighs 8-9 pounds??? Sadly, neither do I. It is strange that when I was lying on the chaise doing nothing I lost 13 pounds, and found them again when I began doing stuff and exercising. I think having access to restaurants is part of the problem for me. I don't keep bread or many carbs around at home, but if I am out it's right on the table.
Nannyannie Your food descriptions of Northern Europe sound delish! Yes, please tell us more about your trip. I've never been to Northern Europe, and would love to go.
 
Peaches LeeApril26 We were given a hip to play with and pass around at our pre-op hip class and they aren't very heavy, so we cant blame that unfortunately .
I started the 5-2 diet today (again) for two reasons 1) to shift this weight 2) Hoping the health benefits speeds up soft tissue healing. I did it for a while last year and lost 6lb, but it didn't do much for my hip - think it was too far gone for anything to help by that stage.
 
Peaches said:
It's like Goldilocks, running around in pre-op life, trying to find the right pillow and chair for various occasions. Who knew?
Click to expand...
LOL ohhhh so true!

I'm afraid to get on a scale now that I find out the hip doesn't weigh anything...I should have guessed that the new hip could not have possibly added inches to my shoulders...maybe that is muscle from hauling my featherweight carcass in and out of bed...I know that is where the intense shoulder/upper arm pain is coming from.

Peaches I do love reading your post...you tell it like it is, so thank you. After reading your posts I realize that I am not alone, I don't have mystery pain that no on else has and this journey has not been all peaches and cream! I would hug you if I could!
 
TeeEm. Details, please-what is the 5-2 diet?
flowergirl I think the shoulder pain I got was from the use of the cane. Have you been using one?
 
LeeApril26 the pain started before the cane when I was on the walker...it has been getting worse as time goes one. I had tendonitis in that shoulder years ago, treated with a cortisone shot but I think it might be back...

I dug out some old weight watchers info this week...I going to start slowly with breakfast for a week, then lunch, then dinner, then rein in the out of control snacking!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Staff online

Members online

Total: 847 (members: 2, guests: 845)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom