Become an Insider

THR Sometimes peachy, sometimes the pits

Status
Not open for further replies.
Peaches as I'm reading your latest update I thought "she could be writing this for me!". People think that I am all fixed up, should be walking and doing stuff like normal people do. I can't....and it's frustrating to no end. And when I read some people's updates at how great they are doing at 3 weeks, I think "what is wrong with me!?" I feel like crud. It hurts when I walk. Just as much as before the surgery, but different. I know about the post-surgery depression and I probably have a touch of that too. Hmmmph.

It's nice to know I'm not alone in my thoughts. :friends: Maybe I'm not such a wimp after all.
 
haha Peaches Love the new avatar with its metaphor!Maybe we've started a new fashion of wearing your ice in your pockets-- I'm glad it worked for you! Now you will have to get more pants with pockets placed just so, won"t you?

To answer your question, I actually did way better than I expected with all that driving, and discovered later that week that most of my "new" pain was from wearing flat hard classic flip-flops, which I had taken up to help the poor athlete's toes stay airy and dry. SO, back in the Keen's and the pain is gone. More shoe-buying time, woohoo!

I have gained at least 8 lbs, which means that when I go to put on my jeans in a couple weeks they won't zip up. ARRGH! I'm trying to stop with the sweets already, but the addiction is strong...

Jojool I think I remember talking about this on your thread-- and you actually are taking plenty of pain meds? I'm sorry you're still hurting, wish I could wave a magic wand. Perhaps it's taking longer because your hip was in pretty bad shape, and your body is still re-learning how to walk with a solid hip?
 
Jojool you're not alone with hurting! I'm almost 7 weeks down and still quite uncomfortable when walking most of the time. I go through spells of walking w/o the cane and then I'm right back where I was. Am I doing too little, too much?? Probably too little, knowing me and my love for sitting. I'm thinking of setting my little timer to go off every hour and see if that helps. Then again I may not. I'm not sitting more than I did last hip and don't think I was this uncomfortable last time. Then again maybe I was. The only thing I'm certain about is the blasted butt, back of the thigh, sometimes groin and knee discomfort! Then of course just when I'm finally learning that Tylenol does help quite a bit, they're putting out new warnings about it. I do agree that it's most helpful to read of others in the same boat so we don't feel like we're alone.
 
Hi all, Peaches, @zauber I've gained a few pounds, too. Actually, I'm starting to take them off (she says hopefully.)
Peaches, I had real pain today, and I took my usual after supper walk with Songman (1910 steps, all aerobic, according to my pedometer!) and actually ... maybe it worked some kinks out?
But again I was thinking about to my Hip #1, and my seemingly fast recovery......and how at 6 1/2 months out I picked up a sweater to look at it while shopping, and almost fell to the ground with pain and had to lean heavily on a cane for a week! (I was away from home and had to go to the nearest store I could find to buy one, because I hadn't used a cane since about Week 4!)
I bought a fold-up cane on our long weekend in Maine, and I am carrying it with me for a year, whether I think I need it or not.
And I just wrote some about my yoga on ByGosh es thread ....once in a while in yoga I lie on my op side on the mat (which is a lot less cushy than the ridiculously soft Sears-o-pedic mattress I have) and I am newly re-aware of my incision and I think "wow! This thing still is not completely healed in the deep tissues.....!"
So....I am trying to be patient.
The organ bench is indeed hard, Peaches but I can't use a pillow because part of being able to reach all the pedal notes is the ability to swivel one's rear to reach the high and low notes. But I am getting off the bench whenever I have some minutes of non-music so I can walk out of the room and back, or sit in a chair for a bit, and I do nearly invisible leg pumps when I'm stuck on the bench. That helps a bit.
 
Hi, everyone who just might see this ... can I get your opinion? X-rays of my "good hip" apparently didn't look bad three months ago. But isn't it possible in three months they could have gone downhill ... enough so to be ready for a THR? I thought I'd read about that right here on BS. (I know the only way to know for sure is to have the hip X-rayed again, but for tonight all I'm asking is if anyone on BS remembers reading about other people whose hips went downhill in as short a time as three months.) Thanks very much! I will catch up on my reading and posting this weekend. I'm so sorry I can't do that now........ Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on my questions.
 
Peaches I too have read other stories on here where people's xrays and pain have deteriorated very rapidly.
I think Kim22 was one of them?
 
Hi Peaches Sorry I didn't see your Monday post asking how I was doing until today.TeeEm was correct about my right hip deteriorating over a period of months from "early arthritic changes" to "areas of bare bone" in a few months but of course I had an arthroscopy in this time to repair a torn labrum.I have read that having the arthroscopy can cause the arthritis to deteriorate quickly.I am in the same boat as yourself in that when I saw the OS at 3 months my left hip was fine and the X-ray was ok but very soon after that appointment I started to feel discomfort in the hip on that side along with knee pain which feels a lot like the Preop pain I had in my right side.I am waiting to be reassessed in 3 weeks which I am hoping will include investigation as if I do have deterioration in the left side I want aTHR ASAP and would not be prepared to wait for months like last time.I believe the that the longer one has to wait the longer the recovery time.The right hip is getting better but its a slow recovery.I have read on here of others whose hips deteriorated quickly but I am not sure whether or not it is unusual.Your work schedule is very heavy and you must get tired I know I do and I am not at work.It sounds like another X-ray would be very informative to you.
 
Hi Peaches,
I had my left hip replaced in January this year and at that point my surgeon felt that my right hip had some way to go before needing replacement. I had a great recovery but within 8 weeks I could feel that my right hip was deteriorating very quickly. Interestingly when I saw my OS at this point he told me that the X-rays did not support a THR on my right side but as I was insistent that it was becoming very painful he ordered an MRI scan which revealed a lot of damage and fluid which did not show up on X-ray.
I had my RTHR in May. I have now fully recovered from both and never feel the slightest twinge of pain in either hip. I think having the op.before I became physically limited was very important to a good recovery. I wish you well in your current recovery.
 
Hi inca1 I am so glad to hear of your wonderful recovery after having both your hips replaced this year.I will bear in mind what you said about the X-ray not supporting a THR but the MRI telling a different story when I attend the Muscular Skeletal Clinic later this month.I agree with you when you say that it was so important to have the op before you became physically limited to ensure a good recovery.I had hip pain for over 2 years before I had the THR mainly due to waiting for NHS appointments and a failed arthroscopy but if I need the other side doing and the the waiting list on the NHS is too long I will have to go private as I have wasted too much of my life already and I am not getting any younger.Thank goodness for the support and information that we get from this site.Have a good weekend and lets hope the rain stops soon.
 
Peaches My "good" hip went downhill so fast that it's the one I am having replaced first. It was just kind of twingey once in a while and then almost overnight it deteriorated to the point that it is the one that is crippling me so bad.

Kim22 I sure wish I hadn't waited so long to get the first one done, because I have indeed become seriously physically limited from all the waiting time (including my own time of indecision and fooling around with being scared of the idea of hip replacement). If I could go back and do it over . . . .

Peace and love to you both.
 
Thank you so much, TeeEm, for tagging Kim. (still love your avatar; reminds me of a mash-up of Busby Berkeley/Rockette/Carmen Miranda). How are you doing? Last I recall you were doing Zumba??? That sounds pretty hard core. How does it work out for you?

Hi, Songlady ... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU (and Kim) for that wonderful pedometer recommendation. I got mine already--the very one you recommended, I think--thanks to my good ol' Amazon Prime membership--the best expenditure I made for 2013, The Year Of The Hip. This Omron thing works a thousand times better than the one I had. The Omron (commercial coming) doesn't make the annoying click sound whenever I walk; doesn't always reset everytime I slightly bend over; doesn't seem to have to be placed on my waistband "just SO" to work. I'm loving it. Yesterday I walked 11,000 steps. I have no clue what that means. I am walking more and more inside my apt. building to alleviate stiffness and to walk unimpeded. The carpeting is easier on my joints than the chaotic, uppity-bumpity, congested, cracked streets of New York. Congratulations to you on taking off some pounds. For me, I know it IS doable and I need to set my mind to do it and engage good old willpower. I'm sorry you have had some painful days. I think I know what you mean about a walk possibly working out the kinks. I had a painful morning this week on my way to work, but decided to put more weight on the new hip (it was the other hip that was painful) and walked a few blocks and by gum, it worked. Not sure this is always going to work , but I hope so. I find I am freshest and more able to bounce back , though, if I do this walking earlier in the day. Evening walks are harder for me after work. I am still only doing a one-half mile after work. I'm too physically spent.

I hope you are still enjoying and benefiting from your restorative yoga class. That's interesting what you said about lying on a harder surface as opposed to a soft bed. I have so far not lain on my op side on anything hard, so I don't know what that'd be like.

I'm very sorry you can't use any kind of cushion on the hard organ bench. Golly, I don't know how you do that. And you've been playing the organ from very early on in your recovery, as I recall. You need some type of cushion-y thing Velcroed to your behind, that gets up when you get up. Some padded thing. Let's invent one.
We need a BoneSmart Shop on the site, with all kinds of helpful categories.
 
Hi, Kim22 ... no apologies ever are required! It's hard to keep up with alerts and all. I appreciate your response about everything. You know, I had a torn labrum too--or so claimed one surgeon of the four or five I consulted. I never did anything about it. Just waited for THR day. So I commend your bravery in having that surgery. I was scared of arthroscopy. And having hip dysplasia I considered but was too scared to go that route of all the stuff those people do to prevent a THR. I didn't really quailfy for it, anyway, being too old and having arthritis already. I'm so sorry to hear how quickly your other side went. We all need to take comfort in "the other hip"'s X-rays being good; it is so alarming to learn it might not be. My fingers are crossed your new X-rays for the other hip are okay. I hope this week was better for you pain wise. When the pain moves all over the place, it's hard to know what's referred pain and what is an indication of a hip or knee or back gone bad on its own.

My non-op hip will hurt for a long time; then, go away. The lower back will scream and scream in its place while the hip is quiet. The knees will be quiet for a long time. Then rear up in pain. It's like they are all playing cat-and-mouse with me.

My OS's office keeps advising things like injections or seeing a back doctor. I said why can't I just start out with simple X-rays of the hip. For some reason they don't seem to mention that a not so bad hip can go bad in three months. I have an appointment lined up for next month, when I have a day off work and won't have to be docked. Like you, if the hip is bad, I want to do the THR asap ... but I have used up almost all vacation and sick days, having spent them all on my first THR. So I don't know what in the world I'm going to do. Can't worry about that now.

Please let me know how you're doing, when you have time. Thanks for your support!
 
I've had to take breaks from my reading & posting today, so bear with me, everyone. I"m working from home today, and doing my short walks to prevent stiffness, etc.
Many thanks, inca1, for writing. Wow, you've done so great to have two surgeries and you are fully recovered from both. That's outstanding. I am not nearly fully recovered and I've only had one surgery, and it was 5 months ago. That's so interesting to hear about getting an MRI to reveal what the X-ray was not revealing. My surgeon's office keeps suggesting things, but none of them are a new X-ray. I want to start with that. If that does not reveal anything I will suggest the MRI. It's just weird to me how the other hip can go bad so quickly for so many of us. Why is that? The first surgeon I ever consulted, five years ago, told me that even though I had no joint deterioration back then, my hip pain was due to hip dysplasia and that I was definitely going to need both hips replaced someday. He said the dysplasia (shallow hip sockets, in my case) created too much uneven wear and tear, there was nothing I could do about it, I probably inherited it (my mother had both hips replaced years ago), that I didn't do anything to cause it.

I wish you continued success with your post-THR life. Let us know from time to time how you are doing, if you are able to. And thank you again for your helpful reply. I would never have thought about insisting on an MRI. Thanks!

Hi, Butterfly! Thanks for responding. I'm going over to your thread to "talk" to you there. But wanted to respond to what you said here about how you felt you had fooled around and wasted time being scared,etc. Listen, you can't blame yourself for not deciding quickly to have this operation. It's a big deal, and in your case (I have now read your entire thread) and mine, WORK was a big impediment. I don't care what anyone says about what the federal laws say, it is not easy to waltz in to one's employer and announce that you are planning to take off a month or so. Even if and when laws are on your side, and employers can't in theory fire you, they can make your life unhappy or unpleasant or insecure. And who isn't scared? We all are. And many if not most of us put it off for a variety of reasons. So don't beat yourself up, okay?
 
Hi, flowergirl ... thank you for your supportive words about my "tell it like it is" posts, and I hope it's helped. I'm sorry you are having pain, but hope you take consolation in knowing that some of us do have pain and the recovery is slower and much more unpredictable than we dreamed. I will get over to your thread to see what's going on with you. Virtual hugs back to you, too! (And I love your avatar. What a gorgeous flower.)
 
Peaches 11,000 steps?! My goodness!!!! I will be interested to know how your "normal" days go... let us know next weekend?
I have NEVER (not since the hip saga began) walked 11,000 steps in one day! Most of my days I do 6,500 steps. 7,000 is a "big" day for me, and one day I really felt I went over the top and did about 9,000.
I've heard that 10,000 is something I should be aiming for and might help more with the weight.

So... my hunch is that sure enuff, you, my friend, are walking wayyyyyyy more than a lot of us April folks! No wonder you are tired and achy! Such is life in The City. For instance, I usually drive to the church where I play organ. (OK, I'll confess: I have not walked it since the surgery.) But when I lived in NYC, I would have had to walk about that far to even get to a subway stop to take the subway to work (which we only did if it was raining or snowing.) One simply walks more in the city.

So - wow!!! I am impressed!

(Isn't the pedometer fun?! :heehee: )

I totally agree with your post in terms of what hurts. My lower back will give me issues, then the opposite knee, sometimes the op hip.
I went the route of injections before my first hip surgery, and they really helped. I did them 3 times before the surgery; the injections bought me a year. Not only did I have that year of non-pain, but the docs told me that because the injections worked so well, that was a good indication that the THR surgery would fix my pain (and that my pain was not referred pain from my back or something else.) So... might not be a bad way to buy time till you had more vacation/sick time accrued....?
 
Hi Peaches Songlady I love my Omron pedometer too as it is by far the best one I have ever owned.Most of the others were rubbish in comparison and its so nice to have something so reliable in life especially as we navigate our roads to recovery.Peaches I am very impressed that you racked up 11,000 steps I managed to do 5997 today which equals 4.3 miles which I did in 3 separate walks and is the most I have done for a while.I am ok but a long way from where I want to be as the muscular moving pains are nearly always present.I try to do a few exercises and stretches 3 times a week but still ache badly the day after.I also use a stationary bike 3 times a week and I am now up to 13 minutes and don't plan to do more than 15. I no longer swim as when I built this up to 10 minutes it aggregated my groin tendinitis.On the positive side I can walk without a limp and without stopping every 2 minutes and if I am not tired I can step up the pace.I have great ROM and actually tied my shoelaces, standing on one leg yesterday which amazed me ( I was in they fitting rooms at M & S and there were no seats.I have made progress but the pain goes on on both sides with the left knee the worse.

I don't think I was too brave to have the arthroscopy but realise now what a waste of time it was as it didn't work and it meant I had 2 surgeries very close together and the arthroscopy was very painful much worse than the THR.I just hoped that it would buy me so e time before I needed a new hip.

I hope you get your other hip X-rayed at your next visit or an MRI would be even better then you will know one way or another and I wish the same for myself.Take care of yourself and I tend to agree with Songlady that you are probably doing too much walking at the moment
Thinking about you.
 
Peaches. Songlady. Depending on the length of your step 11,000 steps is roughly 5 miles, maybe 5.25 miles. Go Peaches!
 
LeeApril26 Songlady Kim22
LOL
There is No Way I could walk FIVE miles! No Way. Not Now. No Way!
Certainly not nonstop. And if I did rack up what amounted to five miles,
it would have to have included a lot of rest stops.
I did test my new, shiny fabulous pedometer in the hallway, where I took 150 steps and then checked the pedometer and it did say 150. Steps meaning each time a foot hits the ground. So it's not resetting itself like my old one did. I no longer have yesterday's info, but when I looked at the mileage, it said 3 something, and that was with the 11,000 steps. I thought to myself that 3 seemed a bit much, too. Then I counted up all the north-south blocks I did throughout the day when outside and it seemed to me it was around 1.5 miles. But that doesn't count all the walking up and down subway steps, walking around the subway platform, walking around in several stores and a cafe. All morning, before leaving home, I did a LOT of hallway walks. Like it was my personal track. I felt so great in the a.m. and that hallway carpeting is so nice on the joints, I felt I could have gone on and on and on. I wish I could bottle that feeling of wellness and ability. Anyway, I it's possible I did 1 or 1.5 miles in the hallway. So it's conceivable that it was 3 miles. But no way 5. I can't see it.

Today, I stayed home all day and did nothing but sit or walk around the apartment, plus did a fair number of hallway walks--and at 8:20 p.m. I have done 3400 steps, which it says is 1.08 miles.

My question for you guys is this: Does it matter what the mileage is? I thought it'd be good enough to just be taking a lot of steps, so you aren't on your duff too much.

Oh, and by the way. You know how I said i felt so great in the a.m. yesterday, walking like crazy? Well, by the time I got on the streets and got off the subway and had walked a few blocks, I was feeling tired and sore and the lower back screamed at me for most of the day. I soldidered on through the pain, taking Tylenol and sitting and resting. Then by late afternoon the screaming stopped and I felt okay. My peak time is clearly the a.m. and early afternoon. I have a definite shelf life for this stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Members online

Total: 942 (members: 1, guests: 941)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom