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Very scared Newbie, lots of concerns.

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@Kay9 Just want to say one thing: When you say things can only get better, you're right - they will get better and no post-op pain is like the bone-on-bone pain. Mine was worst in winter, and I was often crying for example when preparing meals standing in the kitchen because I couldn't stand up for more than a few seconds. Then immediately post-op: No pain. The pain will never be that bad again: Not even when the pain meds wear off and you've done strenuous exercise.

Good luck and all the best also for your daughter and her baby.

Constanze
 
@JulieJF yes my surgery is on the 15th, so only days away really. Every minutes feels like an hour once Im in bed for the night though, I wonder why its so much worse suddenly? Thankyou, my Daughters doing fine, which is a weight off my mind.

@zauberflöte Ive tried antihistamines before when I couldnt sleep but they dont work on me. Before I moved to this area I was under another GP for around 25 years, and because I always suffered with insomnia, he prescribed Zopiclone sleeping tablets, apparently they are only to be used " short term". He kept prescribing them, Id stop taking them and be unable to sleep and would go ask for something different, and he would tell me " oh have the Zopiclone, they are not addictive, you can take them, no need to stop" etc etc. i ended up on them for around ten years!
It was only when I moved here, got this new GP that I stopped them. So things like Nytol, Sleep-aid, Valaria etc dont have any effect on me because I was so used to such a heavy-duty sleeping pill.

I think I could sleep without taking anything, its just this pain!

@Constanze thanks for your kind words. Yes, soon I will be out of pain.

Im exhausted.

Gone 1.30am again and no sleep because I cant lay in a comfortable position, or if I can its only comfortable for a small while. The pain has now changed a bit, apart from the groin stabbing, the outside of my thigh is throbbing, from the thigh, through the calve, down into the foot. Its really strong too. So thats different again.

What the hell is it? I cant get to see my GP before Wednesday, so have 5 more nights of this...thats if he even gives me something to help!

Im meeting my Brother tomorrow for the first time ever ( long story) and Im going to be tired, dark circles under my eyes and hobbling. Great first impression lol.
 
Hi @Kay9 ,
I'm sorry you're in so much pain. You're wondering what this is. It's caused by the arthritis. Mine was the same: pain in alternating parts of the thigh. The knee hurt, too, at times. This is what I think they call referred pain. Got misdiagnosed as disk prolapse at first, then, when it was finally diagnosed correctly as coxarthritis, it took about another 6 months till I finally had the surgery, but that's another story.

Your thigh may also hurt because the muscle has atrophied and is weak for this reason, which was also the case with me. In addition, the ligaments are too short because the muscle hasn't been used correctly for a while. All this led to very bad pain in the end, but in spite of this, I'm pain-free only 6 weeks post-op. So be confident - it will happen.
 
Prayers and hugs for you.. Good luck.


FaithMitchmommy
PKR December.1,2014
TKREV MARCH.2,2015
 
Sorry about all this @Kay9 ! It sounds like you still have so much on your plate, and only some is hip-related. Just think how strong you'll be after the physical troubles are taken care of!

We're under 10 days now!
 
Thankyou Constanze, Angel1978 and agileHippie for your posts.

Yes agileHippie, we are only 6 days away now:scaredycat:, and I'm petrified! Yet I cant wait either, because I've been so unwell this last few days with the pain. I'm actually wondering if something has happened with my hip, apart from the normal arthritis? I was walking up my front steps when suddenly my leg " gave out" , ok I've had this happen before but this time was different...I actually heard, and felt, a kind of crunching:unsure: It was extremely painful and made me feel nauseated. When I tried to carry on up my steps I found I couldn't put any weight on my leg. Since then, this was Saturday, I can barely weight-bear at all, the pain is awful, and I can still feel the crunching? I also have tons less ROM than before.

And now I've got a cold, sore throat and cough, lol what a disaster! Going to doc's tomorrow to see if I need anything for the throat and am throwing vitamins and immune boosting herbal tablets down my neck like sweeties, trying to fend off any potential virus before Monday.

It's all very real now...booked my taxi to pick me up at 6am to take me to the hospital. Am a little scared because I'm going on my own and wish I had someone there to support me, but I'm sure I will be fine anyway.

If anyone's had this strange occurrence with this hip like I have, what was it please? If Id already had THR Surgery I would think the hip had dislocated because I cant weight-bear at all without extreme pain?
 
Kay9 said:
Im actually wondering if something has happened with my hip, apart from the normal arthritis?
Click to expand...

Wow! I would be concerned too! Perhaps a call to your OS would be in order?

I went to my GP last week when I started to have cold symptoms. He diagnosed allergies but said I did the right thing to see him so soon before surgery.
 
@Kay9

I'm wishing you well! I think @agileHippie is right... the crunching you're hearing in your hip sounds extreme, and if you can't really bear weight, you should give a call to your OS. You can check in on both the crunching and the sore throat! I dearly hope for you that everything proceeds next week on schedule.

I also felt petrified leading up to the surgery, but I assure you that it's not at all frightening once you get to the other side. I actually checked where in the world you are ... if you were closer, I would come to the hospital to visit. You deserve to have someone to lean on. You'll at least have this virtual community to lean on going into and coming out from the surgery.
 
Jaycey,sharonslp could you check out Kay9's crunching painful hip here in the last few posts?

Kay9, , I would lie low and rest if possible, get that hip checked out-- or, maybe you have already seen the GP? We want you to hang in there till Monday!!! :) :)


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!
 
Actually, @Josephine is going to be the best source for information about your hip issue. Jaycey will be able to tell you of her experience as well. It is possible for the joint to collapse, but usually the pain from that is very extreme. You really need to stay off that hip until surgery. I know you feel you need to do things, but there is always an alternative rather than you going and doing. Please try to do this so that you don't injure yourself more.
 
Hi @Kay9 I had that "collapsing" sensation, and the pain was excruciating... then just "extremely painful". After surgery my OS said the joint had "started to collapse" - I had thought it was an on/off thing, but from what he said to me it can be, for want of a better word, partial and incremental. When he first said I needed the THR he had said that sooner was better than later as the joint was (his words) compromised and could collapse at any time.

I delayed (for a number of reasons) and this crunching episode happened four of five days prior to my surgery, which was in itself good as I was doing the "it's not too bad, maybe I should delay again" thing... once that happened I really couldn't use the leg in anything like a normal way. It's also good that it hadn't happened BEFORE that as it was an untenable situation, I could bear a little weight (toe touch) but the ROM was incredibly compromised. Nature's way of telling you to NOT USE the joint is making it excruciating to do so... so DON'T use it. Calling your OS would be a good idea, if only to confirm that

When he talked to me post op he said the joint was worse than he expected, more debris etc; as my "episode" had occurred between my last Xray (the one they used during surgery) and my op it was "quite possible" that the crunching sensation WAS the joint collapsing. It made the surgery a little longer, but that was an issue for him not me... I was asleep, I wouldn't have known how long for either way! I had worn over a centimetre off the femur and the acetabulum, this may or may not have had anything to do with that episode; the MRI I had seven months before showing AVN also showed a lot of debris, cysts etc already

Hopefully you can last out to your surgery date, not long now. So much better when you have so many other things in place for that time frame. That said, if you need to go in sooner, bonus! less time for stressing. Hope your cold turns to naught,

Donna:friends:
 
Thankyou everyone, and @JulieJF thats such a very sweet thing to do, thankyou, if you were nearer I would more than welcome the visit:).

@craftdee , thankyou for such a detailed post, that sounds EXACTLY like whats happened to me. I'm mega worried now. I've had another terrible night, didn't manage to drop off to sleep until around 2am and now here I am awake with the pain again at 5.30 am. I'm going to email my Surgeon this morning, although I'm concerned about doing that, as I've said before the last time I emailed him his secretary answered and said he had told her that if I had any questions I should postpone surgery and make an appointment to see him to ask him .:sad:. I'm afraid that if I contact him he will send me to the A&E department of the NHS hospital, and I will have to have the surgery there? Where my surgery is booked is in a private hospital but through the NHS, it's a lovely hospital with a Hip Unit, but no emergency care unit. I've had bad experiences with my local NHS hospital, and really don't want my surgery there.
What a dilemma:boohoo:.
Im not weight-baring much at all because it hurts too much, just toe-touch like you said, and my ROM is practically nil now. Im wondering if I can hold on until Monday, if I can I will. I have to go to my GP today aboit the sore throat plus take my Daughter to the Maternity Hospital for scan and doppler etc, so I cant stay in the home today, but I will limit what I do, possibly just stay in the car at the hospital?

I truly dont know what to do now:unsure:. I dont want to risk my surgery being moved to another hospital, but will I be causing myself a lot of damage if I hold out until Monday? I guess if it HAS collapsed, or is collapsing, Ive gone since Saturday like this, so another few days wont make much difference?

Im going to try to sleep now, Im exhausted. I wish it was Monday already.
 
@Kay9, you poor thing.. the same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. Mine was more of a popping in and out feeling coming from the hip which only lasted a few days with rest. I am now having referred pain down my leg in the knee and down to my feet. I know it's tough but stay off your feet as much as you can. Elevate your legs and use ice. This is what has helped me more than anything. I was due to have my surgery yesterday, what a letdown to have to wait till 23 June now because the surgeon was ill. You can make it honey, only a few more days now and that pain will be all gone. I'll be right behind ya on the 23rd!! Please just try and relax. Take care.

Bluebell53


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@Kay9 , Wishing you all the best and that you will be able to stick it out until Monday, so you can go to the hospital you selected and that surgery & follow-up will be the best possible outcome. My thoughts are with you.
Constanze
 
@Kay9 sounds like your hip may have collapsed. I experienced this same extreme pain and the hip "giving out" before my LTHR. It is horrid pain and there is nothing that will take it away. Stay off that hip. Are you using a crutch or cane. It will help to use a walking aide to keep the weight off the hip. The damage is already done. The remedy is THR. Five more days!
 
Thankyou again, all of you.
@Jaycey I've popped in here quickly before I go out to see if you or Josephine had any answers, thank you for your post. I'm gutted now, thinking that the hips collapsed :boohoo: But I do think I have no choice but to hold on until Monday.
Yes I'm walking on the 2 sticks the hospital sent me for after my op. I can't use one stick because it's not seeming to be enough support on the bad hip as I can barely touch it to the floor. On the plus side, I'm getting in some practice of using 2 sticks before my op I guess.

I wonder if this was starting to happen last week, when I was starting to not be able to sleep because of bad pain? Either way, this hurts so much and yes, like you said, no matter how much Tramadol or Co-codamol I take, nothing's touching it, or even close to dulling it. I don't seem able to move the leg much at all now, I have to move it with my hand? Is that normal in this situation?

To anyone reading this who are maybe having second thoughts about surgery or thinking they can put it off a while...please dont! This is excruciating! I guess Im lucky this hasnt happened weeks ago because believe me, this isnt a pain I could have dealt with for weeks/months and I would have ended up having no choice but to go to the emergency room and end up having the op somewhere I didnt want it. At the moment Monday seems years away but I will try with all my might to wait until then. :beg:
 
The good news Kay is that you will soon have a new bionic hip -- no pain! :)

My hip totally collapsed and the femoral head had driven itself through the acetabulum. But I can honestly say that the first time I touched my feet to the floor following the surgery was magic. I kept saying to the PT as I walked... I don't have any pain!
 
Hang in there @Kay9 ! I'm so sorry you feel trapped by the medical red tape! That's the last thing one need worry about in a time like this!

Please do heed the wise advice here and try to cut down on the have-to-dos before Monday. I'm feeling the sensation of being overwhelmed creeping in more and more as my surgery looms and am starting to cut back on my list.

Sending hugs and prayers and warm healing thoughts across the pond!
 
Oh @Kay9 I just want to echo Poppet's assurances... I had the same experience; as SOON as I got up on two crutches a few hours after surgery that awful pain was GONE... and I could move my leg to at least the same ROM as before the collapse, (still compromised compared to what I have now though, it gets better and better :yes!:) I kept saying that it was "odd" how it didn't feel "odd"... it felt as it should.

I got the impression from my OS that while not common, this level of collapse was most certainly not rare. He didn't require me to present immediately to Emergency but said it showed (as you said) that the THR was an immediate necessity, it actually helped me feel more at ease with my decision to sign up for the op in the first place! Monday and your choice of hospital is still VERY LIKELY... I doubt that you'll have to go as an emergency patient unless you do something drastic (against the background of this latest incident) just use that leg as little as possible - should be easy as using it is, err, uncomfortable :boohoo:

Donna :console2:
 
@Kay9 I am glad some helpers came along!! ( @Poppet I forgot it was you with the collapsed hip, sorry :( )
Follow their advice, call for other transport for your dd if at all possible. I know EXACTLY that feeling of "if I don't do it there's nobody else", which I stepped right back into a couple of months post op-- I never will learn to give away responsibilities!! I'm going to make a terrible old lady :lol:


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!
 
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