From one joint to another when does it end
Posted , 12 users are following.
Hi all
Well l have been a member of this forum for nearly 2 years. I first joined when l found out l had. Ostioarthritis in both hips. I had no idea l was 42 at the time and it started with a pain in my left groin. I worked full time and was fairly active. I suffered the pain for almost a year visiting gp twice to be told its most likely a pulled muscle and given painkillers nope it never went away agai visit to gp as it was getting harder to move about and get dressed. Again another gp told me its a pulled tendon few months later l was in tears just trying to get my jeans on and l though no more. Went back and demanded they do xrays. A week later l was told l needed both hips replaced due to OA. Got first 1 done in dec 2015 and yes it was hard but l mamaged 4 to 6 weeks later l was great walking with no sticks driving again l was desperate to get other side done just so all the OA pain was gone. I had my 2nd in feb 2016 again an even easier recovery it seemed much easier tgan 1st and though brilliant that is me fixed. But not so long after it my left knee started getting really bad pain. At first l though it must be coming from my hip replacement but it got worse so l went back to see my surgeon who did more xrays and found out l had it in both knee's to. By this time OA took over my life l just seemed to be in constant pain. I had to go part time at work and my concentration levels were gone as all l could focus on was pain. I could not sleep in my bed a full night l was up and down and the couch became comfier for me to sleep. I had my lert knee replaced in august. This op was so much harder than my hips and much more painful. My surgeon did warn me that the knee replacement was not as good as hip and that l would always feel l had a metal knee. So true. I decided then l needed a break from surgery as l went through so much. Days of depression pain sleepless nights. I went back to work after being of a year and though l will suffer the other knee for as long as l can. I just needed some normalitly back and l finally started getting my confidence back when l got it in my left ankle and this time l could not suffer it. I can hardly walk the oain is awful l can't put much weight on it. I was at the doctors today and told l needed my ankle fused asap as l had it severe and the pain would get to much for me. Which it already has. I have an appointment to see the surgeon next week with hope to get the op done soon. Bearing in mind l still need my right knee done.
Where does it end? Thats nearly every joint in my lower half that has OA. I am so tired of being in pain and relying on painkillers to be able to move. I would say l am parcially disabled in my lower half now as l can't walk more than 20m. My life has been turned upsidedown. I can't do normal things l used to or go holidays. I spend a lot of time sleeping and when its my 3 working days it kills me now l can barely make it through a day and cone home and sleep. Somedays l am in so much pain at work l become withdrawen and hardky speak. I know l will be in surgery again in the next month for my ankle. Thankfully l am lucky enough to have private medical insurance as a benifit from work or god knows how long l would be waiting for.
But what l will say to everyone getting hip replacements go for it. They are the best things l have had done. I can't even feel that they have been done now and l would get a hip replacement in a minute instead of a knee or the ankle which l have not yet had done but have read about it.
I just wonder when it will end for me as it seems never just now. OA is my life now and its hard to live with and my husband must be so fed up at how much our life has changed. I know l am so he must be as he basicallly has to do everything for me.
Anyway thats my story so far.
When does this end......
Laura
4 likes, 56 replies
Rocketman_SG6UK lors23
Posted
Laura,
Oh my dear, how awful for you.
That was my worst fear, that the OA would spread - I seem to be luckier in that department (so far), and I can see from my X-Ray that the other hip still has plenty of 'padding' between the bone surfaces. Just hope my knees and back are OK.
Just remember to come back here for help.
Best wishes
Graham
lors23 Rocketman_SG6UK
Posted
Hey Graham aka Rocket
Thanks for your reply. Its nice to hear from some of the old faces. I am glad your doing great. Still comuting on the train to your work everyday 🚂🚂. I think l have just been unlucky graham but hopfully it cant go on forever. They are gonna run out of joints to get OA in at some point hopefully. I know l sound really down but l will be ok it just because l see my surgeon on wednesday and its all happening just now. The pain and the fear. But l am an old pro now so l keep on fighting.
Laura 👍
Rocketman_SG6UK lors23
Posted
That's the way Laura, keep on fighting. 💪
lors23
Posted
Hey all
I am replying to each and everone of you as l missed replying to some of you and l don't want to be ignornant. Beth you sound like an amazing and posative person with everything you have been through you still don't let it hold you back and you are right there is people worse off than us at least we are alive. There is a few people that have said get a mobility scooter and l think if my life was diffrent and l was on my own l would but there is something inside me saying l will get back to who l was and l think l have this in my head. Me and my husband do everything together and l am extremley lucky to have him. When l hear that people are going through the same or worse and are on there own l really need to give myself a shake.
Renee as per usual you are so kind and always supportive and everyone else thank you for your kind replies. Hopefully l will get through this......no l will get through this. After last year 3 major ops a sick mum and my husband getting ill l managed as l switched to auto pilot and new others needed me even though l was recovering.
I am lucky thats what l need to keep in my head l am alive and have a great husband and this forum helps so much and the friends l have made from it.
Laura x
beth2509 lors23
Posted
Rocketman_SG6UK lors23
Posted
Oh I love Beth's idea that this is just a detour around a road-block. It is great to have a good partner, and like you I don't know how singles cope.
Best wishes
Graham
brenda92532 lors23
Posted
Hi Lors
I can sympathise with your situation. I had my left hip replaced January 20th 2016. Like you I have no pain in the hip but after the op I started with my ankle and right knee. This prevents me walking any distance because of the pain and because I am a member of the ramblers society I can't take part in any of their walks because I walk a short distance and have to stop.
I also suffer with osteoarthritis and I prefer alternative therapy but nothing seems to get rid of the pain. I've had a nerve conduction test on the foot and they told Me I have damaged nerves and there is nothing they can do. The doctors told me it could take 12 months but I am already past that. Another physiotherapist has told me 2 years. I've been to various professionalists and they all think it's a different problem causing it.
ive also been offered a complete new wrist, I've been wondering whether to have any more surgery. I haven't had as much as you and I'm not as young as you, I'm 70 year old, and the reason I'm trying various alternative methods is because when I have surgery it results in the opposite side going.
Please keep in touch and let me know how you go on. It must be very frustrating for someone with your life ahead of you.
Thinking of you
Brenda C
renee01952 brenda92532
Posted
hi brenda,
I am so sorry to hear about your stuation - I remember how fond you are on being a rambler - I can imagine that you are disappointed -
Please try to delete the doctor's comment about the damaged nerves and there is nothing they can do about it ...
Have you tried hypno-therapy? I am a certified clinical hypnotherapist and know from experience that a lot can be accomplished -
angel blessings
renee
brenda92532 renee01952
Posted
Hi Renee
Its nice to hear from you again. I'm trying my best to find ways of mending the damaged nerves. I know it will take time and my next deadline is 2 years, that is another 9 months.
when I worked I had problems writing. Working in accounts and entering figures into columns became so difficult. I felt tension in my arm going into my hand. At this stage I decided to go for some hypnotherapy. I had 6 sessions which I paid for and it taught me I should relax more. Unfortunately it didn't cure my writing problem so I taught myself to write with my left non dominate hand.
This was about 30 years ago. I have managed to take exams writing with my left hand and have changed my profession to nursery nurse. I am retired now and they have offered me a complete new wrist. Because of the problems I'm having after the hip replacement I'm reluctant to have any more surgery.
After the serious motorbike accident 55 years ago I have suffered with a lot of problems but managed to overcome them. I feel a lot of tension but tell myself it's mind over matter.
How do you think hypnotherapy can help the damaged nerves in the foot. I have paid for physiotherapists, acupuncture, chiropractor and chiropodist as well as the podiatrist, tablets and creams. I'm willing to try anything.
Blessings to you
Brenda C
RichardKen brenda92532
Posted
My very best wishes to you.
Richard
brenda92532 RichardKen
Posted
Hi Richard
Thank you for your good wishes. I know there is only me who can try to sort this problem but as I've said I have coped with things since the accident and hopefully will get there.
After the accident, I was only 15years old. I was in the main year at school and because of missing 8 months schooling I had to stay on an extra year.
i caught up enough to be able to get my first job in an office.
since then I have married my then boyfriend and had 2 children. Something they didn't think possible because of losing my splen and a kidney. They also thought I would be crippled because of fracturing both my legs and my skull. I have proved them wrong and lead a perfectly normal life with a few restrictions.
After retiring I joined the ramblers association, line dance group and energised dance for the over 50's. I'm unable to do these activities now so you can see why I get frustrated but I'm determined to try and do something about it.
I hope you are feeling well and I send best wishes to you.
Brenda C
renee01952 brenda92532
Posted
We had a client who suffered from phantom pain after his left leg was amputated from the knee down - It took a lot of sessions and therapy but he recovered fully - no problems with his prothesis, dancing again ...
I was not the hypnotherapist but my mentor was -
your body knows how to heal herself - she also hears everything you think and say - that is why it makes me so sad when remarks like: there is nothing we can do or can be done - this will register in your subconscious mind, transmitted via your cells to your brain -
same with giving a dead line ....
the problem is often to find a good hypnotherapist - If you live in Los Angeles I know one - my mentor, now 88 year of age, is still going strong and she also have daughters who are just as fabulous as she is -
Darling Brenda, 2years deadline is given to you and you have , as you said, 9 months to go ... You will get there !!!! and join the ramblers club again ...
Be kind to yourself, talk to the parts that are in pain, or feel tensed -
warm embrace
renee
brenda92532 renee01952
Posted
Hi Renee
Thank you for your kind thoughts and advice. I live in the U.K., and I research things to do with nerves and how they affect your brain cells. I have a lot of time for the older generation and their knowledge and experience, only being 70 myself, ha ha.
I have just been to line dance I managed a few dances but couldn't lift my foot up the way I want to but at least I tried. I just enjoy the music.
How is your cat? we are looking after one that belongs to my daughter. When my daughter moved houses she left her with us because she knows this area. Because of her age, 20 years, in our time. I think that makes her about 100. We didn't want her getting lost to try and find her way back home.
All the best Dear Renee
Brenda C
RichardKen brenda92532
Posted
Reading what you have written makes me realize how incredibly fortunate I have been with my life.
I can well understand your reticence in taking the offer of a new wrist especially given where you are
RichardKen
Posted
Every good wish to you Brenda.
Richard
brenda92532 RichardKen
Posted
Hi RicharKen I've been reading your previous postings. How have things gone with your TAR. I can understand your concern with anybody thinking about going down this line. It seems as if it has affected your life completely. I have a friend who has been in and out of hospital for the last few years, with an infection in her leg and may have to have it amputated.
How are things going with your situation. I wish you all the best
Brenda
RichardKen brenda92532
Posted
Dear Brenda
How very kind of you to enquire what progress I've made with the revision surgery of my four old total ankle replacement.
I've taken a lot of care considering all the options after lots of investigations into the cause of the osteolysis which has caused the segregation of the bones around the prosthesis.
I wanted the work carried out by a surgeon with a lot of experience of ankle revision surgery and even made an appointment to see a well known surgeon in Switzerland whi does lots of work on problem revisions
RichardKen
Posted
To continue Brenda although I expected to be able to get funding for part of the surgery on the NHS I would have had to pick up the tab for flights and hotel accommodation etc. It would still have left so many uncertainties and the possibilities of multiple return trips. At the same time I was evaluating surgeons here in the UK with appropriate experience and had selected one.
I explained to my GP why I should be referred to him and he supported my choice. I'm now seeing this surgeon again this Friday but this time as an NHS patient to sort out the details of the surgery. I have no idea when to expect the actual surgery to go ahead, but as you know I’m also having to have my twenty year old total hip replacement revised because it failed a month ago.
Life has thrown me a bit of a curved ball recently what with prostrate cancer in 2015 with what seems to have been a successful treatment completed at the beginning of 2016.
Having read on this forum about others with bigger issues than mine I'm managing to remain positive and thankful, but sometimes a feeling of apprehension rears its ugly head for a brief moment<BG>
I’m more than happy to answer any questions that you or others may have.
Cheers Richard
brenda92532 RichardKen
Posted
Hi RichardKen
It seems as I'd you have been through a lot, it makes me feel more positive thinking about those who are worse of than myself.
I think about you and your 20 year old hip when I'm trying to do a bit of gardening. It's when the sun decides to pop its head out, like this morning, that gives me the urge.
I need something to give me the urge lately. When you asked the last time about my husband and family. My husband is good with me if I lead the life he leads, which is going for his paper, doing his breakfast, reading his paper, doing the crossword and watching the television. He doesn't have any interests only going to the pub at the weekends and playing poker (boring). He isn't interested in the house or going on holiday.
I have a big group of friends in different areas and enjoy socialising. I have my own car and rely on being able to drive and go places. That is one reason I'm hesitant about more operations. It will make me more reliant on staying in and being looked after.
We have been married 50 years and when my family was younger it was accepted you stay home to look after your family. When they grew up, I started work, managed to pass my driving test and became more independent. I love driving and finding new places. My sister lives near me and she lost her husband 9 years ago. She is 5 years older than me and we are close, she has been driving a lot longer than me but now she doesn't like to drive a long way and for a long time. We plan places to go and I drive, we have been to Scotland. I'm not driving as much now because of my wrist and foot. I'm thinking about getting an automatic car, I've only had this one a couple of years, I gave my fiat 500 to my granddaughter for her 21st birthday. When I saw this pale blue Citroen I fell in love with it and forgot about an automatic now I don't know what to do.
You seem a positive person and being able to cope with your setbacks seems to make a stronger person of you. I hope you keep on the up, I know we all have times when we are feeling low but keep your head up.
All the best
Brenda C