THR Two Years Post THR and Life is Great!

[Josephine]

PAIN is in RF1 A,B,C,D and RF2 A,B,C,D, in the bottom grid picture of knees.

So around this area?

Pain is at R1F, R2F, R3F, L4F, L5F, L6F in the hip grid frontal view.

I was unable to do anything with this reply as these are only the column references and I also need the row references like you did with the first one

Pain level is a 3.

okay

I have been taking extra strength tylenol 500 mg 4 times a day - less or more depending on my activity levels.

Well, that's not an effective dose. For that you need 1,000mg.

I have been walking up to 6kms on sandy flat roads and trails but usually about 2 to 4kms. I find uneven surfaces bother me more than flat surfaces. I walk up and down the hill at our cottage quite often during the day going from the lake to the cottage. I have biked a few times up to 16kms (takes about an hour on my mtn bike)

Well there you have it! That's far too much for only 5 months out. And hills and rough ground will certainly punish that hip more than somewhat. The pattern of pain from the one I was able to see is all the major muscles in your thigh, principally quads and IT band. I suggest you make your walks much shorter, like 15 minutes each way maximum and on level ground, no rough stuff or inclines.

I do normal household work but let my husband do the vacuuming. I still find squatting difficult and a little painful on my knee.

okay

My physiotherapist let me go early in recovery because I could walk without aids, and had no limp. I was given a few exercises but decided to just focus on walking, biking, and normal activities as I found doing the exercises was tiring

Well, you do now that hips actually don't need much exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

In conclusion I suggest you get your angry muscles treated by a chiropractor. In my experience they are super at dealing with such conditions.

 

[Granny Di]

Thanks @Josephine - I figured I was doing too much but needed confirmation. I appreciate your honesty and forthrightness.
Diane

 

[Josephine]

I appreciate your honesty and forthrightness.

Oh honey - everyone gets that from me in spades !

 

[Suzette]

Hi @Granny Di I hope you are resting up x

 

[Granny Di]

Week 26: It is such a beautiful day I just had to get out for a bike ride. I rode my mountain bike on the highway for 20 kms in 1:12. My arms and hands are weak, tired and sore. I have never felt that before when biking so it just shows how much basic conditioning I have lost. My legs felt good until the last 2 kms cycling into the wind and then they were tired but not sore at all. There is still that tight feeling around my knee though. I guess that is not taking it easy @Suzette. But it is easier than walking.

 

[Granny Di]

I am in my 6th month of recovery and had my longest walk yet at 7.4 kms but I hurt at 5 kms even with tylenol but I find if I challenge the muscles they respond well. What hurts most is my knee but I think it is getting better. Resting and recovering today.

 

[sunbunny]

@Granny Di glad you are doing well and understand the muscle pain well. Love your adventures but take it easy kiddo. I know it is hard not to do what we want to do especially when we feel so much better. I read somewhere that at this point we are still healing and we are probably about 60%. I try to remember that when my groin, hip, or buttocks start hurting. I agree with you that exercise does make it feel better. I am pretty much back to do doing most activities. Still building endurance and strength. Hugs..good to hear how you are doing.

 

[Granny Di]

Hugs back at you @sunbunny - we will get through this! I do need to remind myself that it takes a good year to heal and maybe longer. I am focusing on good posture still in an effort to improve my back and eliminate referred pain. I wish someone had told me I had poor posture. My mom always told me to sit up straight. haha And moms know best.
Di

 

[sunbunny]

@Granny Di yes..I think of my gait and posture a lot..it is hard to retrain your body when you have been compensating for so long. Hugs

 

[Granny Di]

I finally called the doctor's office and asked about checkups and I AM supposed to go in at 6 months so I will. I guess my brain fog from meds made me miss that part of the post surgery protocol. We are heading home from the cottage next week and I will see what the dr has to say about my recovery. I had a good 6 km walk today, hunting grouse with the puppy and my knee hurt a bit and felt wonky but still I felt pretty good and had only one tylenol. Walking on the sand roads is much easier on the body.
It is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada so have an enjoyable weekend counting your many blessings!

 

[Granny Di]

 

[Granny Di]

Hey All! It is almost 7 months and I am finally starting to get some energy back. I missed the 6 month checkup but will see the OS next week. My hip is good but my knee still feels wonky - if I was a puppet the strings attaching the thigh to the lower leg would be tangled up or something. But yesterday I managed to hike 8.2 kms (about 5 miles) in 1:42 on our ski trails that are fairly challenging so I was happy about that. I have started taking one advil with one tylenol twice a day instead of just tylenol.
I have started to do stretching on a regular basis and now that we are home from the cottage I am serious about losing the weight I have gained. I am so looking forward to cross country skiing this winter -won't be long now as we have already had a bit of snow.
I will let you know what the surgeon says after I see him next week.
Diane

 

[Granny Di]

Just got back from my 6th month checkup although I was a month late. He said my X-ray looked good- I told him what I had been doing and they were impressed. I asked about my knee issues and he said it is the sciatic nerve and should get better. I asked him if there was any danger from falling when I ski and he said no but not to be doing any jumps. No fear of that! At least not on purpose.
I remember when I went for my first X-ray it hurt so much to lie on the hard table and angle my food in that I was crying. Not this time! My plan now is to stretch and ski or snowshoe as much as possible and hope that my other hip doesn't complain too much.

 

[Hip Hip Hooray!]

Glad to hear you are doing so much better. Little by little...

 

[Granny Di]

Do I have to take antibiotics before dental work? I didn't think that doctors mandated that anymore but my dental hygienist says yes.
I was overdoing it again walking on a new difficult trail and I hurt for two days - took two days off walking. Hope it is just muscle pain. I did have a fall tripping over a root and I instinctively did a roll. I was so proud of myself! This old gal still has it in her. We have snow but it is a very warm fall so skiing will be late this year. I am still nordic walking on the ski trails -up to 8 kms - but I sure can't do that every day. Oh I have also been cleaning and decluttering my house. It feels great to have my old energy back. I still need tylenol and or advil for pain that doesn't go away. Some day! Nelly is keeping me very busy. She is a handful bit can't help loving that cutie.

 

[webbie73]

Just looking at that cute face will make anyone feel better! She is your incentive to get up and walk. Glad to catch up with your recovery and see that you are doing well.

 

[Constanze]

Hi @Granny Di

Enjoy the skiing when the snow falls! Skiing must be fun in Canada. Do you practice cross-country skiing or down-hill skiing. I used to do down-hill skiing in the Bavarian Alpes as a teenager because I grew up in Munich. But you said you're having a mild fall. Maybe the snow won't start until February - that's the coldest month over here in Germany. And we've also had an extremely warm November. My dahlia and asters have been blossoming up until now. It's a peculiar world climate - summery whether in November in Germany and temperatures in single digit (Celsius) in the tropical north of Australia.

And wow - you're uncluttering your house. But stop when it hurts. It's extremely hard work on the hips, especially when you have to squat so much to get at the bottom drawers/shelves. In fact, I must have had a somewhat bad hip long before I knew. And I was considered as a "naturally sloppy person". I didn't tidy up because it hurt my hip. Never new that uncluttering houses and garages could be fun .

 

[Granny Di]

Cross country skiing is our sport here as we have winter from mid November until May and if you don't have a winter activity it can be a long cold winter. We had three cold cold winters in a row but it looks like this one coming may be milder. We are getting 10 cms this weekend so it won't be long until I get on the skinny skis.
So you had flowers blooming recently! How great is that!
I found out yesterday that I have a bad tooth that will have to come out and I will need an implant. I feel like I am falling apart.
Like you I put up with a bad hip for a long time and I think I have a really high pain threshold. Maybe that is the case with you? I could run - well jog - 10 km when I was 62 but tripped over a root on a trail and that made my hip worse so I quit running and stuck to Nordic walking. I wish there was a cure for arthritis.
I am trying to take it easy. Thanks for stopping by!
Diane

 

[Constanze]

Hi @Granny Di , Sorry you have a bad tooth and need an implant - poor you! But it's so nice you can go cross-country ski-ing. Unfortunately, we have usually very little snow in the Rhein-Main area. In fact, the say Frankfurt is the furtherst northern town with a subtropical climate. But you can walk, run and cycle in the forests and along the rivers here, even in winter. Now that cycling to work isn't so much fun, however, because it's dark mornings and evenings, I've taken to running in the lunch hour again. You must be top fit if you ran until the age of 62. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to run until I'm 62. But for now, I feel fine. It also helps me keep slim. I would probably gain too much weight if I didn't run considering the amout of chocolate/biscuits/cake I eat, and my work is pretty sedentary - translating at the computer.
Warm regards
Constanze

 

[Hipster Girl]

@Granny Di glad you got such a good report from the doctor at your follow-up appointment. Cross-country skiing must keep you in fabulous shape - I have only tried it on one of those old cross-country machines at the gym, not the slopes, and it is not easy but it is a fantastic cardio workout!