Walking & Hills??

[MsCat62]

Hey Ya'll,

Well, Jim's continued to make progress since I last posted about him mowing the yard. He's now exclusively using his cane, though he's keeping the crutches handy still just in case. And he's been walking more around our property, now that we've had a slight break in all the rain.

But yesterday at PT when he was doing the lunges (yeah those again, but he's getting better with them), on the last one he suddenly jerked and said he felt an intense "stinging" at the incision site. Now he's felt that before, but never this bad. It was bad enough that the therapist ended his session for the day and got him on a table to ice him (normally we just go home and ice him). By last night he was doing a bit better. And he wondered if the "stinging could have been caused (in part) by some of the Steri Strips that are still hanging on and don't seem to want to let go of him just yet?

Then today he decided to walk down our driveway to get the mail. Now our driveway is about 1/10 of a mile long and half of it is a hill. I can't say how much of a grade it is, but I would call it moderate. If you stand at our house and look down it, you can't see the end of it.
I never thought to ask if walking on a hill like that was ok or not, but tonight he's really complaining about his back. He says his hip isn't bad though thank goodness.

But I guess what I'm wondering is was it alright for him to walk down that drive, or should he have waited longer before trying that (he's at 4 1/2 weeks post-op). I also don't know if this issue with his back is part of the recovery, or more his Degenerative Disc Disease? Or both with the DDD making the recovery back issues possible worse?

I hope this all makes sense. I can't think straight tonight, thanks to really smacking my scalp on the corner of a cabinet door earlier and now having a busting headache......OUCH!

 

[westexas]

Hey Cat,
Sorry About The Ouch On The Head.
I Would Think It Would Be O.k. To Do The Walk Except Jim Has To Realize That The New Hip Will Let Him Know When It Says,Enough Now....even At 4 Months, My Hip Still Lets Me Know Yea Or Nay....

In All, It Sounds Like He Is Really Doing Well. Just Remember, Three Steps Forward, Five Steps Back, One Step Forward And Then All Steps Forward.......

Talk To You Soon....patty

 

[JudyS]

Sorry about the head!!
I don't know anything about hills and hips, it is a great question.
I remember last summer when I was allowed to walk after cervical fusion my doc had told me no hills. Of course my first day out I went straight up hill (to the base of my beloved mountain trail) I sat down to rest and remembered the no hill thing.
Next apt I was allowed to go uphill , but no mountain trail.

I don't know if it applies to hips. I just have a small uphill section on my driveway and it is a challenge going up with the crutches.

Ice for the head
Judy

 

[bnew]

I am about 5 weeks post and I remember a couple of weeks ago I thought I could just climb over the baby gate we have up for our puppy, and I also felt a very intense jerking feeling in my hip. The soreness went away, but I know the feeling of taking steps forward and then taking steps back! I try to overdo it and then I end up back on my crutch. Like tonight, I just got home from going out in our old town district (without my crutch) and I did a lot of walking. I know I'll be regretting it tomorrow! I'm just getting used to what Patty explained. It's like a roller coaster recovery. From what my OS told me: about the only thing that would cause a dislocation would be a fall. So I'm just trying hard not to fall.
Bridget

 

[Josephine]

Please tell me WHY at 4½ weeks he still has SteriStrips on him? They should only be on for 14 days max. They are known to cause skin problems if left on too long (this I know as they actually blister me if left longer than 3 days!). Having this personal experience, I would say it is very likely the sharp pain - assuming it is superficial - could be due to them. Get them off NOW!

Other than that, these odd sensations, sharp little pains and aches here and there, are all down to the fresh wound, the healing and getting things back into shape. As long as they stay little and are sorted by a bit of rest and a lot of ice, I doubt there's much to worry about.

 

[MsCat62]

Please tell me WHY at 4½ weeks he still has SteriStrips on him? They should only be on for 14 days max. They are known to cause skin problems if left on too long (this I know as they actually blister me if left longer than 3 days!). Having this personal experience, I would say it is very likely the sharp pain - assuming it is superficial - could be due to them. Get them off NOW!

Other than that, these odd sensations, sharp little pains and aches here and there, are all down to the fresh wound, the healing and getting things back into shape. As long as they stay little and are sorted by a bit of rest and a lot of ice, I doubt there's much to worry about.

Josephine, The only thing I can say is they've been stubborn little strips. <lol> Even the OS said he's never seen them stay this long. Though most of the ones left were just barely starting to peel the last day or so. He had about 5-6 left. But it was one of those that we wondered about being the reason for the "stinging" feeling.
The OS had said when they start peeling we could take them off. That's why we'd left those last hanger ons for so long. But after reading your post I went to check and all but 1-2 had just a slight bit of peeling, so we pulled them off.

Patty & Bridget, Ya know, I use to LOVE rollercoasters. Now........NOT! <lol>

Judy, I just asked Jim and he didn't have hill restriction with his fusion. But then all doctors are different. Maybe they don't want you bending your head to watch where you walk. I know I always walk with my head down cause I'm a klutz. As my head injury yesterday proves. <lol>

And yes, I did ice my head yesterday. I had a red streak where the door hit (no it didn't break the skin) and a nice little goose egg last night. This morning both those are gone, but it's real tender to the touch and I still have a headache. And the bone spurs in my neck are pretty ticked too. But no signs of concussion, so I guess I'll survive. ;-) <lol>

ETA: Jim is feeling better this morning. So I guess the Hill wasn't a problem after all. But last night I was wondering. Looks like just another "step back". Now maybe we can have a few more forward?

 

[JudyS]

MsCat,

Glad Jim is better. I am ignoring sharp pains here and there as I feel as Josephine wrote. Unless something weird lasts a few days or gets worse I think it is all part of recovery.
Maybe you should ice your head some more today.

I can totally relate to being a klutz. I star at that. The last time I fell down the stairs we had a wind storm. My husband was at the kitchen table and could not see the stairs. It took me a little while to get up as I was trying to figure out if I seriously hurt anything.
I walked into the kitchen and he said, Did you just hear that a tree must have crashed outside!!!!!

Our first little house we rented was tiny. I had a spot for the dog food dish which was under a shelf. I think it was every single day when I gave Maggie food and water I banged my head on that shelf!!!!!

I have so many stories as I am sure you do too!!!
Judy

 

[MsCat62]

MsCat,

Glad Jim is better. I am ignoring sharp pains here and there as I feel as Josephine wrote. Unless something weird lasts a few days or gets worse I think it is all part of recovery.
Maybe you should ice your head some more today.

I can totally relate to being a klutz. I star at that. The last time I fell down the stairs we had a wind storm. My husband was at the kitchen table and could not see the stairs. It took me a little while to get up as I was trying to figure out if I seriously hurt anything.
I walked into the kitchen and he said, Did you just hear that a tree must have crashed outside!!!!!

Our first little house we rented was tiny. I had a spot for the dog food dish which was under a shelf. I think it was every single day when I gave Maggie food and water I banged my head on that shelf!!!!!

I have so many stories as I am sure you do too!!!
Judy

OH YEAH! <lol> My mom said I was the only person she knew that could fall UP a flight of stairs. <lol> And our cats bowls are under the overhang of a breakfast bar.....nuff said? <lol>

 

[sunshine]

I had the little strips on my incision also forever. I think they put them on about the second week and they just never came off by themselves. My daughter was the one who noticed them and took them off and that was like week 7. You know if you wanted something to stick that long it never would!!!!

 

[MsCat62]

I had the little strips on my incision also forever. I think they put them on about the second week and they just never came off by themselves. My daughter was the one who noticed them and took them off and that was like week 7. You know if you wanted something to stick that long it never would!!!!

Yeah, no kidding! <rofl!>

 

[*gmac*]

I can relate to the steri-strips. I had half a dozen hangers till about 6 weeks. Nobody said to remove them after x amount of time. I know myself even in the shower I would clean the area but not really get the incision area wet (for fear of messing something up). Last week walking through the living room I actually tripped on my cane and had to skip with my operated leg to recover. My hip did bark back at me.

 

[MsCat62]

I can relate to the steri-strips. I had half a dozen hangers till about 6 weeks. Nobody said to remove them after x amount of time. I know myself even in the shower I would clean the area but not really get the incision area wet (for fear of messing something up). Last week walking through the living room I actually tripped on my cane and had to skip with my operated leg to recover. My hip did bark back at me.

gmac, Thank goodness your ok! Jim is only a few days away from that 6 week mark and I swear I'm getting so paranoid that something will happen. <lol>

 

[*gmac*]

Does Jim have a 6 week checkup? I was pretty nervous at mine. Doc showed Jackie and myself the x-rays and said "here's the new you". He said no restrictions but just don't over do it. It's like being re-born.

 

[MsCat62]

Does Jim have a 6 week checkup? I was pretty nervous at mine. Doc showed Jackie and myself the x-rays and said "here's the new you". He said no restrictions but just don't over do it. It's like being re-born.

Hey gmac, Sorry for this reply being a couple days late. I've been trying to catch up with some work stuff so I can hopefully get back to work soon.

But to answer your question, Jim had his first re-check exactly 3 weeks after his surgery. It was at that appointment that his OS said and did pretty much as your post about your 6 week appointment, except for the, "here's the new you" comment. <lol> We saw the x-rays and Jim was told do go ahead and do whatever he felt he could do short of going back to work. But if it hurt....stop!
Our next appointment will be July 8th. Exactly 7 weeks from the surgery. We'll see what the OS says then. But I still don't think he'll be released back to work. Cause he still needs me to get his sock on his surgery side foot.
He is walking more and more without his cane during the day. But by the evening, he's pretty sore. Though most days this last week, he's getting by with only 1 pain pill in the morning. I keep telling him if he needs it, take it. But he's trying not too. I think because he's been on pain meds for a while because he was on them before surgery. That and I think he wants to make sure that when he does go back to work, he'll have some left.....just in case.

ETA: Though right after posting this, he asked me for some ice cram so he could take another pain pill. But that still only made 2 all day.