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Keeping fit whilst waiting for a hip revision

Posted , 10 users are following.

RichardKen
RichardKen

Good morning everyone!

Due to an impending ankle revision I gave up my daily two mile walks and took up swimming doing over half a mile every other day.

I had to give the swimming up a month ago due to the failure of the replaced hip on the other side.

I have no date for either revision and although I'm getting around on crutches this is not sufficient exercise so friends have you any suggestions please?

Many thanks

Richard

1 like, 32 replies

32 Replies

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  • hope4cure
    hope4cure RichardKen

    Posted

    I just had revision last Jan had PT two days after surgery for 12 days 3-4 times a day and Imwalked the half blockmarea and rested as Imwent until,I,had enough endurance to walk the building from one end to the other. with your ankle that might be difficult. I share my hip revision and It went well. 

    your swimming is very impressive. I think you will have the stamina and endurance as well and a positive attitude to have hip joint revision.

    many healing prayers sent your Way!

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      Well done! I'm looking for exercises that I can do that does not put pressure on my hip on the one side or my ankle on the other side as both need to be revised...just need the dates. I want to stay fit whilst I sit around waiting for the surgery.

      I've started taking an interest in the night sky using my new binoculars and got the book Turn left for Orion to guide me on my exploring. Hardly much physical exercise but good for the mind as it's a new challenge.

      Cheers Richard

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure RichardKen

      Posted

      Exploring Orion sounds like something from the movie MEN IN BLACK. 

      Its good to keep the mind occupied too! 

      If if you get a chance search utube for exercises you can do to stay in shape for revision. There really are tons of PT for every possible thing .

      your swimming is excellent way to stay in shape. Swimming uses every muscles in the body. That's a great choice.

      how long do you have to wait for surgery. I assume your in the UK ?

      im in the US and we wait for a few weeks in some cases. The doctor and the team has to take time to make a plan for surgery for each case. I was in revision surgery for 5 hours. It a lot of work removing the ex plants from the femur and ball joint. Do start PT right away after revision. Use it or loose it. In this case it happens really quickly.

      You have a great outlook I'm sure you'll come out of revision fit and strong.😊😊

       

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      Many thanks for your support and confidence in my ability to overcome the trials and tribulations of the two impending revisions.

      Yes I'm in the UK. I felt with the swimming that I really was keeping fit but I had to stop in order to try to pressure my hip joint until surgery. The same goes for the ankle on the other side. This is why I m looking for an alternative way of keeping fit. I will see what I can find on YouTube as you have suggested.

      Cheers Richard

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      Apologies for missing out replies to you post. Yes I think during this waiting period I need to keep mentally active and learning something about Astronomy. The book is full of monochrome drawings a showing the position of the closer stars.

      At the moment I have no idea how long I will have to wait fir the two revisions so I m facing a frustrating wait!

      Cheers Richard

    • Pilotswife
      Pilotswife RichardKen

      Posted

      Hi Richard

      Wow..you have multiple tasking requests! Good thing women are on this forum! Lol.

      I have several chair exercise DVD videos..they use multiple formats, work different muscles at increasing levels...have music and even people in the class! It's fun..and good cardiovascular too!

    • GoneFishing
      GoneFishing RichardKen

      Posted

      Oh RichardKen, nothing better than a good night sky ENJOY your heavenly travels.

      Have you heard of 'chair exercise' or 'chair yoga'?  I found quite a few chair programs on YouTube by searching for:

      Chair exercise upper body only

      Chair workout limited mobility

      Get those weights out - no weights use canned goods around the kitchen.  

      Speaking of which, anyone else use frozen peas as their ice packs?  I just picked up a few bags today. 

  • beth2509
    beth2509 RichardKen

    Posted

     Like you I am down hips and an ankle and not very mobile. Rubbish, isn't it?

    So how have I said active? Put my dining room into storage for starters. There's only me and I usually eat in front of the TV or at the computer (or reading on the sofa). And my guests can cope for a couple of days, especially since we often go out for almost every meal. Cheap city I live in - it's cheaper to buy at restaurants than shop and cook. Into the space I put a treadmill, aerobic steps, cross trainer and a raised platform a friend built for me that I have covered with yoga mats (getting off the floor hard but getting off that is easy!); and finally a chair and a little peddle machine. and a barre rail to help with support. And I do little and often. Nip in, take a slow walk on the treadmill and if all I can manage is a few minutes before having to collapse on the sofa, that's fine. It's a few more minutes than nothing! And that what I do - I do whatever I can manage when I can manage it.

    And just after Christmas I took up water running. I am still improving on that one - the water makes the exercise easier but its still hard work.

    ?I also took up yoga when I had to finish Judo, and have an instructor who is also a qualified physiotherapist, and so she advises on positions I shouldn't do and adaptations to ones that I can do but with changes.

    ?For fresh air I zoom around the park on my mobility scooter with my young border collie for 45 - 60 minutes twice a day.

    ?My technique has been to do what I can, rather than focus on what I can't. If all I manage is my dog "walks", a couple of 3-5 minute slow walks, and 20 minutes of slow yoga, so what? It's better than nothing. And I should mention I also have my own physiotherapist, who is super.

    But I'll be honest - there are days when I do nothing other than the dog walk (he has a way of making sure that happens!). Not often, but sometimes it is just too much, and if it is, well that is life. My ankle is done for. My left replaced hip is great. But the other hip is now deteriorating and I knew where that is headed.

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure beth2509

      Posted

      Very encouraging post and so true! 

      I love love your determination and ability to take the good and move foreword. 😊

       

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure

      Posted

      Hi Beth,

      This is a little off subject. 

      Luv border collies. I have a new little girl she is so smart. We found her at a border collie rescue. She is my excerise loves to run and herd. 

      I know how much you must enjoy your pup. They add such joy in our lives! 🐶

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      Ah dogs, I miss mine and at times I've had several working sheep dogs to keep me company but for a couple of reasons have been without any.

      I dare not do any exercises that use either my left hip or my opposite ankle because I do not know how long I have to wait for revision surgery and there is a very real danger of complete failure which would not be good.

      I can only think that Im left with upper body and arm exercises unless anyone can suggest alternatives.

      Cheers Richard

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen beth2509

      Posted

      Dear Beth

      Many thanks for sharing how you are coping. Yes it is rubbish...totally agree but so thankful when due to a failed MOT a couple of years ago i grasped the nettle and moved to an automatic car. Mind you it has a Steptronic gearbox so it is better than having both systems in the one car.

      I'm thankful that I can still get to the supermarket and then use the trolley in place of my crutches. We all value independence don't we!

      Cheers Richard

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure RichardKen

      Posted

      I walked on a failed hip for a year using a cane. Walking is a great way to stay in shape. I never took pain meds just Tylenol. Knee bends and upper body mechanics were a non issue for me have shoulder issues.

      mabe that could be something for you.

      If if you need exercises to contine to strengthen your body it a great idea to ask you doc for PT. They can show you what can be done making your individual needs a priority, without injury to the hip or ankle. 

      I don't know your strengths and weakness as a profession will be able to access what is useful and doable in your case.

      What kind of herding dogs dis you have? They are so amazing. Tough when we have lost some mobility yet mine will help me up by stretching her feet into the floor and let me lean on her back to get up. She just stared do it on her own and walks very slowly by my side. Always there herding.

       

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      Thanks for sharing how you gave dealt with keeping fit. I will give it a try but I have to take care because the poly socket that the metal ball sits in is shot and I get a bad clonking and loud squeaking as I move the hip joint!

      My dog breed was the Welsh Sheep dog. About the same size as a Border Collie but red and white and rather self willed and always on their feet when working rather than crawling along and getting up all the time. Also prone to loud barking to move stock.

      Cheers Richard

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure RichardKen

      Posted

      Walking may not be a good choice for everyone. There wasn't much choice when the stem fails and other complications were involved in my case. I had revision and now getting back to walking with no severe pain .

      sometime waiting there's not a lot of choices to stay fit. I used reachers and did what I could. 

      Sounds like a beautiful breed and a lot of training. I bet you miss watching all that goes into a herding dog it's quite spectacular. They are hard wired to herd just keeping all that energy going in the right direction. 

      Pic of border below. Love her and she is so amazing, makes me smile & laugh a lot . Good therapy! 

      Hang in there you will get there soon too! 

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      What a lovely looking dog. Its a rather special feeling to take one or two dogs out one has trained to move sheep to anothe field or pen the to attend to their needs. I'm sure they used to enjoy it as much as I did, perhaps more so when the weather was bad!

      I thought I would spend the afternoon at the local bird watching marshes area and enjoy the spring sunshine.

      Got parked up and after a couple of hundred yards of walking towards the reserve decided to return to the car as my hip was making such a squeaking noise that I was worried it might let me down!

      Perhaps another day.

      Cheers Richard

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure RichardKen

      Posted

      Sounds wonderful. Our dogs are always in our hearts. Each have their own distinct personalities and so intelligent.

      bird watching great idea.lots to see at the preserve we have so many here. I also,enjoy watching the antics of birds. Good exercise too! Good for you!

      next time take a squeeze can of oil for that squeaky hip. I assume its ceramic.? Due to metal toxicity from last hip I have a ceramic ball joint. Very quiet. So far so good.

      Have a greatbfay!👍 

       

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen hope4cure

      Posted

      Yes dogs are such good friends and company and always pleased to see one. 

      My hip was before the days of them being ceramic so mine is metal into a poly cup that is held in a metal fitting.  It is the poly that has given way so now its mostly metal on metal so I'm concerned about metal poisonning on top of everything else.

      Cheers Richard

    • hope4cure
      hope4cure RichardKen

      Posted

      Ok got it that's the issue with my other hip. Metal with poly liner. The liner is wearing out. As soon as I recover from the hope revision on the other hip that was recall less than a few months after implant. 

      Im looking foreword to a new polymfup. The new ones are better made and designed to last long . The hip is 19 years old and the polyurethane cups wear out from the friction of movement over time.

       

    • beth2509
      beth2509 hope4cure

      Posted

      My boy is a blue merle. It was my promise to myself, that since I just had time (optimistically!) to outlive one last puppy, I'd have a blue merle descended from my first border collie (literally my first- but my parents had them before I was born, and always had one growing  up). I thought that when my last boy left me at 16 years it would take time to find one - in fact it must have been fate, because my lad was born two days before his death! He was only two weeks old, with no sight or hearing, and unable to walk, when he picked me. He came from working parents.

      He's not a working dog. I'd never fit sheep in the garden! But he had alternative work. He's exceptionally trained - he is known throughout the whole area, and actually has more friends than I do. He loves puzzles and games. He is up to being able to identify 47 items by name. And in another few months he will take up the mantle of my last boy, helping homeless dogs with behavioural problems. I retrained as a dog behaviorist for my retirement, and one of the wonderful things about dogs is that they don't recognise disability - they recognise the "boss ". So working with them isn't hard. My last boy was great working with them, as he was just so calm and collected, but with a real strength of character that made other dogs sit up and pay attention. Youngster is turning out just as good. He's already helped two people to train their dogs and is about to start on a third - all badly behaved pets, so not quite as challenging. 

      Couldn't be prouder of him!

    • Pilotswife
      Pilotswife RichardKen

      Posted

      I know in the United. K. There is a new system of eating that is coming in soon..not sure when! Great way to build healthy muscle and protecting heart health. We have it here in Canada and it's made a bug difference to how I feel generally. It can get very easy to put on weight and lose muscle when writing are so discouraged and clamouring for mobility.

      Good Luck..I am ever hopefully

    • beth2509
      beth2509 Pilotswife

      Posted

      I am always sceptical about new ways of eating. They are generally simply more expensive ways of eating. A healthy diet the old fashioned way works perfectly well.
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