THR Steelmanpa's Recovery Thread

[MEPil]

@Steelmanpa as sore as my leg and thigh area are its hard to see a lot of progress right now for me. I hope you have a wonderful time getting out and enjoying yourself.

 

[Steelmanpa]

@MEPil We all take a long while to get normal sensations in the surgical/operative area..My achilles reconstruction in 2012 left me with some things that sensations are permanently different, especially since the reconstruction was over the same incisions as a failed first surgery.. .......For this hip, I am not there by a long shot and do have some pain and numbness, plus pain in muscles getting exercised. What I can share is that I was disappointed in my progress for a while, but then things started back in small bits , piece by piece. The watchful eye of a good PT and some exercises that were carefully added in made a great difference, between 4-5 weeks. Forcing me to get off the cane indoors when judged able to was huge. I was scared to do things and realistically could not get all this from the surgeons nurse or P/A in detail on the phone. You are fortunate to have PT fairly early on...We all have different paths in recovery and I was very impatient, so like the moderators here I will suggest that managing pain, exercising, icing and patience.

Before all my reconstructive surgeries, I was playing ice hockey 3 times a week for about 35 years until later in 2011 when my achilles popped from issues related to lifting scuba tanks and getting injections for that pain. After that was fixed ( I lost 17 months between being able to dive again and was unable to walk or bear weight for 2 times in the stretch for about 6-8 weeks each time post achilles ops) I was again active and on the treadmill daily from 2013 till this year in late April. The rest of the muscles except for a few on the operative leg around the the thigh/glute- the ones that help you lift your leg onto the bed or when seated, held up fairly well it seems.

One slightly uncomfortable thing which happened infrequently before surgery, but now is bothersome over the last several weeks....I am getting night sweats regularly but no fever, still have trouble sleeping after a certain point and trying to get comfortable until I am exhausted again. Will discuss that with my PCP in a week

 

[CricketHip]

Oh gosh, I can so relate to the night sweats! I had those and I think they persisted for many weeks.
I had this with the first hip, too. If I recall correctly, they tapered off around 6 weeks.

 

[MEPil]

@Steelmanpa @CricketHip you both make me feel ashamed of complaining of where I am on this recovery road after reading what you have had to deal with and especially the things you have been able to enjoy before these problems. I truly admire you and realize I need to toughen up. Bless you both and thank you for your advice and understanding.

 

[Steelmanpa]

@MEPil Please dont worry about getting things off your chest or voicing being concerned about your recovery. Speak your mind, people here will guide you as they have guided me. I think we all need this place to confide in with others walking or limping the same path or who have limped down the same path and bring their knowledge to the table. This process wears on all of us, from initial discovery through pre op prep, to surgery and recovery. Unless your spouse has gone through the surgeries, its hard to really communicate some things since they are/were already bearing so much of the supportive load over this journey. I am happy to assume some of my household chores again and ADL without assistance (laundry, dishes, cat box and showering without help, being able to drive)and then come here for knowledge and support for this path we are on. Lets see how things go with your heart to heart...

 

[MEPil]

@Steelmanpa thank you for understanding and kindness. My husband is great and doing his best. He's got a lot on his plate, so to speak, right now. He's building support under our front porch and it's a challenge for him to get the work done and help me as well. I am doing a few light household duties but so limited, and that is frustrating to say the least. I know he and I could use a break from all that's going on but I'm just not ready for that yet. A nice dinner out would be wonderful about now. Thank you again.

 

[VSlowLife]

What a great idea @MEPil, or maybe it’s possible to order a dinner to enjoy at home, as a break? A few candlelights to make it festive?

 

[Steelmanpa]

6 week update... Monday I made some long drives ( 45 minutes each way) which is so uplifting since I could not drive 10 minutes the last few weeks before surgery. My PT says after next week, we cut back to once a week as progress is good. My normal daily exercise is a 30 minute walk inside the house ( all steep grades around where we live and driveway, not yet, thank you) and then the exercises the PT gave me, adding in a few we added at the site, about an hour total exercise each day.
Range of motion with donning/removing shoes and socks on the operative leg is improving a little. Back doing dishes and laundry. The cane has been gone indoors over a week, and all the assistive devices finally found a place in closets or behind the click/clack (LOL) Plans to go out Friday and again next Thursday, so refreshing to do things other than health care appointments. Basically rejoining the living and real life. Though I am not looking forward to the winter weather as I continue recovery.

Gait is not perfect and it will be a topic for long term monitoring when I see the OS in early December. I dont want to wear the new hip out with my issue of being out of alignment from my 2012 left achilles reconstruction ( think of a car wearing out tires unevenly). That will also be a time to discuss snow shovelling, ROM expectations, weight bearing for scuba tanks etc. Yeah there is still discomfort and numbness and the occasional zinger or tweak, but I am SO THANKFUL all my referred pain is gone. I remember my leg buckling in airport and coming home wheelchair assist back in June.

I found that some slight tears in my knee on the operative leg that were found in an MRI the day before seeing the surgeon in early August are causing pain in some of the PT exercises, so we modified the program. The PT doesnt think they would go in by scope and clean it up due to my age/potential for arthritis post op and that a cortisone shot may be the only course aside from OTC painkillers. These were not there before the initial set of PT from the first doc in May and I blame him and the PT facility for this, they were too aggressive in the initial evaluation ( I could not believe how hard they were squeezing and pressing)and exercises with too much weight on the machine. Not wanting to get into a generational war here, but this facility location had mostly all younger PTs/manager under 30. I am sorry but hiring a group of people fresh out of a local university and not mixing in enough older PT's is a recipe for disaster as I have found out. You need to find locations where they are experienced with joint issues and reconstruction and they understand old arthritic joints. We are not athletes or weekend athletes at this point....My PT's now are part of the large ortho group in the region that performed my surgery and at one of their multi purpose sites ( docs/PT but not operative) and as mentioned very experienced. We are all to an extent naieve and trust health care professionals, but as I have found out more three times in the last 30 years, I have suffered greatly due to inadequate diagnosis/treatment/surgery. Dont get the oldest professional and dont get the youngest, read the reviews and boy do I wish I went to this site immediately after my initial diagnosis and also my rheumatologist specialist friend .... DUHHHHH, would have cuts months and thousands of dollars wasted by me and the insurers..

 

[boots]

I’ve been reading your posts And they are very helpful as you are two weeks ahead of me. Thank you

 

[Elf1]

Awesome update! Love how you're taking things slow and easy, checking with your surgeon about activities you want to resume and our working on getting back to life. Still a lot of healing to come but you're doing great.

Your whole section on lessons learned from/about PT really resonates with me as I had some issues as well. This site is definitely a life saver for a lot of us and have told my OS, his staff and the head of physical/occupational therapy at the hospital I was in about Bone Smart. Not sure any have peeked in but it's worth a shot.

Have a great evening and weekend!

 

[Steelmanpa]

@boots glad you can glean something useful from my ramblings. We each have different yet similar paths on the journey. Mine had a serious decline pre-op after May PT which rendered me less able and less independent as the months till surgery wore on. Yet with surgery and PT at the point where I knew having trained eyes and instruction would remedy issues, recovery is now on track, amazing.

@Elf1 yes we have all learned lessons. If I could only reach people who were just starting their journey and save some of those folks the pain and needless extended time till THR ...I am considering drafting a letter to the head of the dept handling THR with this large group outlining the need for second sets of eyes on arthritic hip xrays initiated & evaluated by non operative docs...before PT or injections..do no harm.....

 

[Mojo333]

Happy Dance for you.
So nice to read your update and perspectives regarding PT and recovery.
Lots of improvement to come and 2020 will be your year!
Continued best wishes for healing.

 

[MEPil]

So good to hear you are doing so good. Take care and continued best wishes on this recovery road.

 

[Steelmanpa]

Greetings to all. Going to do my 7 week update tonight a little early. Tomorrow will be the last of 2x a week PT unless something strange happens, will go down to once a week. Still 2 weeks from OS followup at 9 weeks. My PT has me trying to walk better, looking at myself in mirror, and all good posture etc. They have also increased the number of reps and added some tension bands for certain exercises. There is progress.
Like many of you I feel that my LLD is going to take more time to resolve and a question for the OS about my gait from my FHL tendon transfer surgery in the other foot-for long term difference and wear. I probably mentioned my wife wants to know when I will be able to shovel snow (LOL) and other activity/weight bearing and ROM questions will be waiting.

We did go out the other night ( Friday) and I did a few numbers sitting in with a friends band. It was ironic as the owner of the place who we are friendly with had a double knee replacement done the day before my hip with a different surgeon in the same group and one of our friends also had a hip done with the same group, different doc 3 years ago. I was joking we were probably close to 100K in surgeries, hospital, anesthesia, PT and other real billed costs between all of us at the two tables sitting side by side...Slight exaggeration but it was ironic..

Tomorrow night some Mexican food...and looking at a long trip in mid January to see a Div 1 Hockey Game in the western part of the state.. 3 hours each way..but that will be close to 16 weeks post op.

 

[Mojo333]

Thanks for the update and overall you sound to be doing great Hip-wise!
I'm sure due to your foot issue, this is been more difficult.
Glad you are getting back to some real life activity...and able to sit in and hopefully soothe your musical soul some.
Continued healing mojo coming at you.

 

[Steelmanpa]

@Mojo333 @CricketHip @Elf1 and all others who want to chime in.. one thing I forgot to ask....
There are times in the late afternoon, I am weary to the bone, heavy fatigue....is this something others have experienced trying to get back to normal schedules after all that we go through deconditioning pre-op and then recovery...Of course my sleep cycle is still lousy after 4 am and I am old LOL....

 

[Elf1]

I know I had that feeling for quite some time, especially when I did quite a lot. And if your sleep cycle is still out of whack that could have a lot to do with it too.

I'm at a little over 4 months and I still have days, like today, that I'm just kind of blah. My sleep has been off for years, have arthritis in other areas so getting comfortable at night can be hard, then our silly temperature fluctuations here and sometimes overdoing during the week = blah once in a while. I just chalk it up to I'm still recovering.

Others may have different suggestions as well.

 

[CricketHip]

@Steelmanpa , good to catch up with you. The energy drain is real, isn't it? Like Elf, I still have days when I just need to snag myself a nap. And we are further along in our recoveries, too.
There's still tons of healing going on and I think we all went into our surgeries in a state of exhaustion, don't you agree?
Hopefully you can get your sleeping habits corrected before too much longer, that will help a lot, too.

I love the illustration of Energy Drain and will leave the link here to enjoy..
I think you sound like you are doing so well. Especially since you have some other injuries to factor in, too. Here's the link to the illustration I referred to..

Energy drain for THRs

Someone recently said something that gave me this idea to demonstrate what post-op hippies are always experiencing: we called it an energy drain also known as fatigue or acute tiredness. All perfect descriptions! And I thought of these illustrations demonstrating how much of your body's energy...

bonesmart.org

 

[Mojo333]

Good all night Sleep and Stamina were the last pieces of my puzzle to slide into place.
Won't depress you with the length of time before I hit 6 hours straight, but it was double where you are now.

Make sure you have enough Vitamin D... and aren't deficient in iron.

We ARE all different so here's hoping your dreams are realized sooner than mine.

 

[Layla]

Hello and Happy Saturday. I hope this message finds you chipper and well rested!

Good old energy drain....you're certainly not alone in experiencing that.
Our body's energy supply isn't limitless. So when we're in healing mode after major surgery our energy will be used for healing first, not leaving a great reserve for all the other activity of daily life. It is completely normal to feel tired for quite some time. How long....most likely relates to your body's rate of healing. Making our best effort to get adequate sleep and rest is beneficial. Our body does it's best healing while we're sleeping.

Tired is okay and expected as your body is miraculously repairing the "controlled" trauma it endured. Help it along and take a comfy nap when you're able. It does a body good!

Until next time
@Steelmanpa