12 months in and more problems
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi all.
I had a LTHR in October last year, all seemed to be going well until I started having back pain. My doctor sent me for an MRI and then I was seen by my hip consultant for my 6 month check up. She said I had facet joint arthritis in the lumper region, disc prolapse and possible sciatica. All these things where possibly made worse when my left leg was lengthened with the hip replacement. I was sent to see a spine surgeon who said I don’t need an operation, and it doesn’t look like any nerves are trapped. But I recieved a letter from the hospital today saying I am tender in the facet joint area and exquisite left sacroiliac joint tenderness.
Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing. It is really debilitating a lot of the time.
Cheers.
0 likes, 8 replies
joe63159 julie90197
Posted
julie90197 joe63159
Posted
My doc has gave me lyrics as a muscle relaxer, they help a bit but the side affects from them are horrible. My doc has gave me morphine tablets when it really hurts as well.
I just want this pain to go away now as I am so tired of it.
Thanks.
joe63159 julie90197
Posted
jomary julie90197
Posted
lyn1951 julie90197
Posted
You could be writing my story there with leg length discrepancy.
After surgery about 12 weeks I was hit with extreme sciatica, I could not walk, not that I felt I had been able to walk properly since my surgery, I identified alot of extra leg as soon as I stood up 12 hours after my surgery, pointed it out to the Dr's at the time, they assured me it was OK, and I would get used to the difference, nobody did a leg length check either prior to surgery, and or after surgery to see if what I was telling them was correct.
After begging my local GP for a long leg x-ray, private physio had measured my leg and agreed I had alot of extra leg on left side, my GP agreed to X-ray, from floor to above pelvis.
Even x-ray tech said wow, you have a serious problem. 10mm naturally below my knee which is outside normal paramenters of what most of the population has, and then 12mm added by the surgeon, thanks to the senior consultant who did my surgery.
Nobody helped me figure out what ws the best for me, reading papers available on the interenet, sorry not forums, but Dr to Dr papers, and between lots of contradicting advice I figured out what was best for me, physio suggested shoe lift, under shorter leg might help.
Junior Dr's at the hospital refused to help with leg length, or they just didn't know what to do, senior consultant who did my surgery, although booked twice, was never available to see me when I arrived for appointments.
By 12 weeks post surgery never having had a back issue, I had rupetered S1-L5, bulging L5-L4, and bulging L4-L3, told there was no link between issues, RUBBISH RUBBISH,GRRRRRRRR, I could find the links on Dr to Dr papers on the internet, in fact took a paper into the hospital for one visit when they continued to deny there was a link, and shoved it in their face and told them to get themselves a medical degree, and was not very polite about it.
Help - shoe lift, getting in our local heated pool, with a noodle under my arms to stretch me out, 3 times a week for an hour at a time, and treading water, carefully as back was soooo painful, and within about a month started to feel the difference, less pain, less numbness in lower legs, although it has never completly gone away.
I am now 2 years on alot better than I was, shoe lifts a part of life now, still go to the pool, but mainly if I feel twinges from my back, doing more general walking than I was, very very slowly adjusting to the leg length differences, just as the junior surgeons said I would, but what a painful adjustment.
I DO NOT sit in a lounge room couch, only seems to cause me more pain and discomfort, spend most of my sitting time in a straight backed kitchen chair, imagining I am my great grandmother wearing her horror corset, and keeping my back straight at all costs, seems to help as well.
Best wishes to you as well, Love Lyn
lyn1951
Posted
I would not claim that my complaint to the health care commissioner about my issues has made any difference, but I did note in my complaint that the most important issue for me was that nobody else suffer the same issues I had and have at the hands of this most senior consultant and teaching professor.
Interesting that his junior surgeon who did my first hip replacement 15 months earlier, result perfect.
joe63159 lyn1951
Posted
should be a no pay until a positive result is established give it 18 months not like they go on welfare waiting to see if their diagnosis and result is a positive one I'm with all of you....amazing how we are avoided when things just don't go right hang in there
lyn1951 joe63159
Posted
Joe - thanks for your kind thoughts, I am in australia and private was beyond my families means, have been living on a limited income as my arthirits had crippled me for many years previous, and husband has heart failure, so both falling apart so to speak.
I am very glad in some ways that the public system here does not leave you to die, but sometimes feels like they do want to just to fall off the perch, and or go away, as non-life threatening conditions have VERY LONG waiting lists.
Husband treated instantly for his heart failure, and every admittance even the last one when he had some kind of virus attack him, no questions asked, put him in a bed and watched him, blood taken every 4 hours, hundred of tests run to try and find out what was wrong, they never did find out, all urine collected.
Follow up with consultants, heart and well as infectious disease, and very happy to report he seems to have recovered pretty well, all at no charge to us.
Well not charge, we have paid taxes for 40 years of working life, and husband never been in hospital or had any surgery until 6 years ago, when his heart failure, since then 5 admittances to heart hospital in care of senior cardiologist, as apparently he is interesting case, twice yearly visit to specialist's junior to see how he is doing, basic questions, how are you feeling, blood pressure and heartbeat, all is well, go home, echocardiogram six monthly, pacemaker download six monthly, and even GP or local Dr's visits all for free, I consider myself very lucky to have all this care in the public system I hate to think if I was living in US.