Time for a third replacement

[1jt@atime]

Many of you don’t know me so I thought I would re-introduce myself. I am 48 and have had both knees replaced, one at a time, and will have my first hip replaced around mid-December. I’ve seen my OS and I’m waiting to hear from his scheduling nurse for an exact date. While December isn’t the greatest time of year to schedule major surgery, this is what it will have to be. My husband will be leaving for Afghanistan toward the end of November for 6 months and I decided to wait until after he left to have this surgery rather then recoupe right before he left. I definitely didn’t want to wait for his return because I’m at the point that it just needs to be done now!

My 19 year old daughter will be on break from college and will be my main caregiver. She is fine with this. I also have two other daughters within 40 miles that will also step in to help. We are a close knit family and they know what it takes to recover from a joint replacement. Plus, my OS says this will be a piece of cake compared to the knees so I’m all for that.

My OS will be using a metal on metal (MoM) with the large ball. He feels this type of joint should last the rest of my life. That might be an optimistic statement but I’ll take it! My physical therapist reminded me today that I’d forgotten to ask if it would be glued. Whoops! I’m seeing the PT right now for a tendonitis of the perennial tendon (ankle). It’s definitely a sign that you’ve got problems when you start injuring yourself!

I’m also including a “Josephine edited” pic of my left hip. I’ve known for almost 22 years that this hip would need to be replaced so feel happy that it took this long to go bad. I'll need a larger incision for a better view and for the additional work to be done but no surprise there. I’ll take a larger incision to get this right the first time. He said he’d make it as small as he could. One of my knee scars is only 4-5 inches so I believe him.

If you look at Jo’s editing, the screws at the end of the red arrow will be removed and the metal in the blue box area may or may not be removed. He will have to make that decision once he gets inside to find out what’s in the way.

While I’ve never really been gone from the site, just lurking, I look forward to participating in the forum more often again.

 

[Texas]

Hey Karen wow I have never seen something like that before that is really something............do you feel any of that ,.............Is your husband in the service, I so y i remember your story. Im glad you will have that time with him............Hope you have a speedy recovery and be well in no time.....)

 

[loggon]

Welcome Karen

So glad you joined us. Sorry to hear your hubby is leaving for Afghanistan.
Will say a prayer for your hubby to be safe.

They say the knee is less recovery time and different from knees. But surgery is
surgery.

Glad you will have your girls around to help you out. Family is great. My family is very close also. My 4 kids and their spouses and my oldest grandson took turns helping me out. My hubby's cousin came down from Ohio for a couple of weeks.
My hubby took the first week and a half and then the others pitch in. For 6 weeks I had someone and it was great. Think it helped.

You will do great and I will be looking forward to your post.

 

[PRGal]

Wow, Karen--that's a lot of metal in that pic! I'm a hippy, but judging by what I've read on the knee side of this forum, I'd agree that a new hip is probably just a bit easier than a knee in terms of recovery!

Sorry to hear your hubby will be away, but glad your daughter will be with you . . . in my experience, I needed a hug and a friendly, encouraging face more than any physical assistance in those early days! I sincerely hope your experience is the same.

Anyway, though you're already a Bonesmartie, welcome to to this side of the forum! :D

 

[shugaplum]

Welcome! I hope that you'll have a very successful surgery! I was just talking to my PT yesterday about the difference between knee and hip replacements. He said that he fully believes that hips are much easier to recoup from than knees. You immediately have more mobility than a knee and your sole task is to let the bone heal and build up your strength. It sounds like you have a great network of family to help you and all of us here at bonesmart will praying for both you and your husband!

 

[1jt@atime]

.......do you feel any of that ,.............Is your husband in the service.)

Do I feel any of that? Only when I sneeze. It's a slight sting.

My husband is a retired Marine. He is a government contractor. The contract he was on ended last year and he got laid off. He spent a year applying for jobs and attendiing job fairs only to be told over and over again that all they had for him were jobs overseas. Finally, after a year of being unemployed, he took one of those jobs. He will be setting up and maintaining satellite communications equipment. Funny thing here. I am a government employee and if I were not in need of this joint replacement, I could go to the same base that he's going to for 4-6 months. Maybe next time, huh?

 

[Josephine]

Karen - hi! So that time has come around at last, eh? But now you know where to come for expert guidance and support! God bless, honey. Nice to see you again.