THR Woodstockhip’s Recovery Thread

[DK63]

Well Cuz, have to report that I am back to watching Audie Murphy films as started doing 3 mile walks after seeing you can do whatever you wish now surgeon and fizzio guy. So now back on bed, yep Ice ice baby and whatever the song is for elevation. Also I went out for three hours the other day, a longish walk and then a few chats (allegedly I am gregarious) and boom..boom..boom.. (John Lee Hooker?), much pain. Our weather is about to become one of the many plagues, much torrential rain (not frogs and locust) so walking is out, rest is in. Other news, cuz, I made it to the summit....to the top of the apples and pears....cockney rhyming slang for stairs, and back down to terra firma.

Well done on the walking, and realising the distance that suits...you are indeed wise beyond your tender years. You will soon be back to foot tapping, jug blowing, clog dancing and making music...

 

[beachgal]

Woodstockhip, isn't that the dang truth? Every hour can produce an unexpected nig that makes you second guess your recovery and rehab plan. I was pretty happy when my PT released me but he gave me a good "talking to" about what and how to proceed. I haven't had many issues except with the achy muscles and I finally decided to change over my two dose meds of acetaminophen to ibuprofen and it has worked nicely. In fact, I'm hoping to scale back to only one does today. We'll see how the next hour is...

I haven't had my third booster nor my flu shot yet and I'm certain the pharmacist will want me to have them at the same time which I didn't want to do but I will....it's getting late in the season for the flu vaccine and I don't want to make two trips to the pharmacy. My sister warned me that she felt a little off the day or two after she got both together. Take care.

 

[lanstan]

I got my flu and covid vaccines at the same time too. I wasnt planning to but it seemed more difficult to make two separate appointments and when they said they had both i just went for it. Only had a sore arm for a day. I think it was my covid shot arm.

 

[DK63]

Had the Covid booster last Friday in a quintessentially British village called Dedham (please have a look on Google images). Am waiting on flu vaccination next week....living the dream.

 

[Rebelguy]

Hope you are doing well Woodstock. I about died laughing when I read 'Week 3 was kind of a bear'. My dad always says that when we are (used to) golfing. Number 13 is a bear! Haha.

Hope things continue going well. Always remember your post when I was a few days out and feeling down. Thanks for that.

Ryan

 

[Abbylayla]

Today is 3 weeks post op for me. Gotta say, first week was the worst in my case. Definitely had a period of "I never should have done this". Since then it's been pretty uneventful. The only time my hip hurts is if I overdo exercise. Then I get an ache in my groin area. Other than that, I barely give the hip a second thought. Zero pain or discomfort. I have to force myself to remember the restrictions because I feel like I have my pre-arthritic hip and forget all about it. My arms are a very very different story. The walker is tearing up my arms as I knew it would. I'm icing all day trying to calm them down so I was unable to do any meaningful walking the last two days. One step forward two steps backward same as my knee replacement. I have been able to take a couple of small (very small) baby steps unaided. Huge accomplishment for me. Previous attempts to walk without crutches was like my feet were nailed to the ground. Could not take a single step. So progress reall slow for me. But fully expected. Overall, I'm very happy. And I'll say the magic words. I wish I had done this sooner.

 

[Woodstockhip]

@beachgal, if I had it to do over again, I would not get both shots at the same time. I’m having a pretty bad reaction to them … everything hurts, even my teeth!! As @Rebelguy and his dad would say, it's a bear!! I might go to bed without dinner and sulk. @DK63, guess you found out the hard way what you can (and cannot) do. No matter how many times we tell ourselves we aren’t going to overdo it, somehow we end up overdoing it anyway. I did check out Dedham — beautiful part of England. I’m sure there are any number of stately piles within spittin' distance. I shall now picture you as Lord of the Manor. And you can picture me as the Turkey Whisperer. These six have adopted me.

 

[Woodstockhip]

@Abbylayla, I'm knee-deep in one of those emotional puddles right now and reading that you are not feeling pain or discomfort and will ultimately be able to walk without assistance brought me close to tears. I know what a rough road you traveled to get here. I have absolute confidence that you will nail this recovery and even if it takes a while, you'll do it. Excelsior!!

 

[Abbylayla]

It's been a horribly difficult road to say the least. I'm fine with a slow go recovery because absolutely any tiny progress is a huge accomplishment compared to where I was. Your still at the everyday is different stage? I think of what you say that each hip is different. This hip is really quite easy. So now I'm terrified to think of what my second hip will be. Maybe that will be the difficult one. But, one step at a time. Gotta just keep moving forward. I hope you start seeing more good days than bad. Your great attitude & sense of humor will certainly help pull you through. Just have to keep doing what you do because you do it so very well!

 

[DK63]

I am guessing you have not mentioned Thanksgiving or Christmas whilst whispering to your turkey friends. In the UK we are very proud of how we queue in an orderly fashion and even our swans queue nicely waiting for their ice cream

 

[Woodstockhip]

Today marks six weeks from my surgery and things are going well. I still wake up feeling very stiff and sore, and have been wondering if there are stretches I can do in bed that might make those first steps in the morning easier. Any thoughts on that?

I've adjusted to the cane and have been very gradually increasing my walking. I do walk every hour and when all is said and done, I've been doing about a mile and a half a day, in small doses. Because I live on the side of a mountain, there are very few places I can walk that don't involve a pretty sharp incline, and since I can't drive yet, I'm reduced to doing circuits in the house, on the deck, and in the driveway. Thankfully, we've had some lovely late fall weather.

My leg length differential seems to continue to sort itself out and I barely notice it. The one thing that is a bit concerning is that the knee on my operative side turns in when I walk and actually bumps into the other leg. The PT who came to the house thinks that will probably also correct itself once I regain more muscle strength so that's something to discuss with the surgeon.

In all, these past weeks have gone by remarkably quickly and though it's still early in the recovery process, I feel hopeful that I'm on the right track. Looking forward to pain-free walking and swimming again.

 

[Eman85]

I had a similar problem as there is no flat ground around where I live. I had to drive to the park to the small walking track or the Walmart to do any walking. I did very easy stretches in bed and also did simple chair Yoga to ease some of the stiffness. Of course don't push a stretch and be wary of placing too much strain on your hip joint.

 

[beachgal]

Woodstockhip, sorry, I read your post earlier today and got sidetracked with a conf call but I wanted to get back to you about the morning stretches/exercises. Yes! Please do them. I usually take about ten minutes or more before my feet hit the ground and do a variation of the beginning PT exercises that we all started with. Ankle pumps, thigh press-downs, butt squeezes, side slides, front slides, etc and I also stretch big from arms overhead and toes pointed. Once I sit up, I do some side reaches to help align my spine, neck quarter rolls, both clockwise and counter, and anything else I can dream up. It really helps. Make this part of your morning wake-up from now on. It really helps get the body moving correctly.

Great report! Stay off the inclines, only flat and safe surfaces. You know, I live at sea level, so when we drive just 20 miles north, my ears pop. Crazy, I know. That high altitude really gets me!

 

[DK63]

Hi @Woodstockhip I too have been looking for stretching exercises so have been looking at contortionist stretching exercises on any browser including Google.

 

[DK63]

@Woodstockhip ..forgot to say that all the contortionist stretching exercises also help if you are looking for something that you dropped on the floor or you just want to make sure you have on clean underwear. Please check with your surgeon and fizzio if these exercises are suitable for you as allegedly they are not good for everyone, especially if you have ever had hip problems or hip replacements in the past.

 

[Mojo333]

@DK63
The ironic hilarity of some the posts can take the stale crust off of a boring recovery....hopefully you understand that not all members may be understanding of this type of humor, and indeed consider some of the advice as serious...
Wouldn't want anyone hurting themselves out of ignorance, right?

 

[Woodstockhip]

@beachgal, thanks for the exercise encouragement. I will try those early exercises tomorrow morning and see how it goes. If I can conquer the early morning stiffness, I'll be very happy!

 

[Mojo333]

Tightness after resting certainly can benefit from some morning warmup.
I found those morning stutter steps and stiffness hung around for several months.

I did utilize most of the stretches beachgal mentioned.
Slow and easy is the trick.

Often, I had to warm up my muscles upon rising by doing a bit of marching in place and some gentle hamstring and piriformis stretches mostly standing and using a step with a handrail leaning in.
When a bit more time went by, I found another very gentle stretch helpful: lying with your behind at very edge of bed, I would let affected leg hang off the side (hold it so this can lower gently) and slowly lower towards the ground until a mild/moderate stretch is felt in the front part of the thigh/hip.

Some of this is likely a time thing, mine was.

I hope your weekend is Sweet @Woodstockhip

 

[Woodstockhip]

So…today was my six-week follow up with the OS. The x-rays showed that there is still a minimal pelvic imbalance causing a very small leg length differential, but it’s far better than it was before Righty was done. The bone is doing what it’s supposed to do, bonding to the prosthesis, and he seemed pleased with the way things looked. (I believe the word “masterpiece” was used).

I’m free of the hip precautions, though I’ll still be careful, and can start short drives. I can sleep on my right side, left side, inside or outside. I have a long way to go in strengthening the muscles that were manhandled, but that’s okay. He does want to see me doing some PT, mostly to work on gait and posture. He thinks that there are issues with my back that are causing a degree of pelvic imbalance, and actually recommended I work with a chiropractor in addition to the PT. I’ll have to think on that a bit. I have mild scoliosis as well.

In all, it was pretty much what I expected at this point in the process. Back to see the PA in a month.

We got our first snow last night and you can bet I’ll still be using the cane outdoors if I find myself out in the weather.

Hope everyone on this side of the pond has a fine Thanksgiving and those of you in England and Canada have American friends who’ll invite you over for dinner.

 

[DK63]

Well done @Woodstockhip on your visit or as we say here in the UK, Mazeltov (old British slang meaning congratulations). May your recovery be gentle and kind and may I take this opportunity of wishing the turkeys in your pictures a fond farewell...Thanksgiving just around the corner