More Awareness Please

thankyou Ian   I found that very interesting  and honest

..yes a lot to take on board,   as I left the consulltant last week I asked him about exercise  and he said  swimming, walking and very surprisingly  slow jogging???    I cant imagine doing that one   with pain?  

Im sorry  it must be difficult  when been a keen jogger, I was a keen jiver for ten years and I used a certain style which put a lot of pressure on hip for sure,   I feel Im paying for this now,  it just felt comfortable but had I known I would have stopped that step!    I wish  doesnt help, because Ive learned to pace now after being sent to Pain Clinic  it will be great to flow once again!

regards and best wishes

Let me put it this way 18 months later.

sure it was a real Bitch when the nurse put the IV in wrong which meant I came back to my room after surgery and when the anesthesia on my leg wore off the next day I effectively had no pain medication. I remember being in so much pain the next day I begged my husband to bring me a gun so I could shoot myself. Think about it you, have a THR and afterwords NO PAIN MEDICATION. Then when they found the big pool of liquid ( the pain med) on the floor next to my bed and sorted it out and fixed the IV and gave me morphine, I about passed out from the morohine. 

Next up was Tramadol, a pain medication that gave my psychotic hulk inactions, in my hallucinations I was killing myself to save my son, then I got home and thankfully my GP gave me Codein which worked excellent. The hospital food was inedible and no patient Internet for 7 DAYS.

Then I got ilopsoas tendinitis a fe days after getting home but that healed up in about 3 1/2 weeks. After all of that between week 4 & 5 I started walking and in a matter of days threw away my crutches, never to use them again.

Even after all,of that it was still worth it.  After 18 months yes I still " feel" it, no pain really, but I feel it and I guess I always will. But my life is so very very very much better, I would do it all over again. Most people have some ups and downs, just get through them and eventually, some people sooner, and for some people later, but eventually at least 98% of us are way way way much better.  What choice did I have really? Stay like I was, in pain and basically home bound or suck it up, go in and take what may but reach for a normal life? Unlike in the UK, in France I didn't need to get any doctors approval or wait, I saw the surgeon, I tried the shot in the hip ( it only gave relief for a month) then I went back to the surgeon and scheduled the THR. His schedule was pretty full so I had to wait a month. My life is much much better now. If you think about it, what is the alternative? 

....poor you Jodi!!  think in GB you only in for 2 days,       pleased  at last has come!     enjoy!      xx

Wonderful encouraging post, Ian. I am with you on the fact we cannot go back and undo whtat we have done as young ones. We can make our lives healthier without killing ourselves in the process. there is so much back and forth on how to eat, waht to eat, how to exercise. No right answers except to use common sense and be so aware of our bodies that we know wha tis best for our particular body. I ran when I was young, worked in a job that put a lot of physical strain on my body, ate in a unhealthy way. Also stumbeled about with a bad hip for years and maybe was mistaken for drinking too much because of it although I donot drink I would not advise anyone to put the surgery off as all you would be doing is not getting the full use of your time on earth and missing so much that you may regret. This group has been so good for me and I believe for many others. Thank you all.

Junr

Dear Ian -

Thank you for sharing your thoughts ... Interesting how they treated you though ..

Ah, but Ian, awareness regarding the risks of THR or TKR or whatever??  of course, excess of anything is not good - but what excess is to me is probably (for sure) different than Mic's opinion ....  

I could not believe when I was diagonosed with "severe osteoarthiritis" ... who?

me?   ... funny how we immediately start looking for something we must have done to cause this ... it does not run in my family (that i know of, but then some of them passed away at 65 !) ; I went to the gym, walked, hiked and was pretty active without excess of anything - I did not jog as it made me uncomfortable (bouncing boobs) and left me with sore muscles ... was pretty flexible and limber too - 

Soooo, maybe I should have done more???? 

I don't know .... 

these are my thoughts ... it happens and it sucks when it does - but we have a choice and there is a solution - for that I am grateful ...

I love you big guy

renee

 

I was told that my arthritis came from my parents producing me - in other words inherited. Where do these things start?There was nobody in the family that I know of who had it! Nevertheless all four of us now have some indications so it must be true. I had my right hip done last Wednesday and was home on Saturday. That awful, debilitating pain has gone. Yes, there's some healing pain and sleeplessness but I'm so happy it's done! I have nothing but praise for the nursing staff and surgeon who looked after me so well. So stop wondering why you have it and concentrate on getting better and getting your life back!

A very insightful post there, Ian. Thank you.

I know that my problems stem from carrying too much weight and partly genetic (my mum suffered the same) but her many comorbidities didn't allow for surgery. Maybe now they would have done it for her with the advent of spinal and sedation but she wouldn't have survived a GA of that size.

Also, I was a bit of a party animal in my time and had many falls under the affluence of incahol which probably also added to my problem.

I think we just have to live life as we think best whilst not going completely mad. I managed to get through without any alcohol or drug addictions etc and ended up quite proud of who I turned out to be (I'm sure mum used to despair when I fell in yet again, inebriated) but you know what? If we didn't do everything the 'experts' say we shouldn't do we wouldn't eat anything, drink anything and would probably never leave the house!!  Life is for the living and I feel I have been given a second chance and will grab it with both hands. I don't drink a lot now, don't smoke, eat relatively sensibly, get lots of sleep and will give these new hips of mine the best of the years I have left, of which I hope I have a few.

I have been struggling on painkillers since 2008 and wish I had done this sooner. I will now always advise anyone in my predicament to go for it. Life is too precious and too short to live it in grinding, debilitating pain.

Good luck to all on this path, may they gain from it what they hope to.

Ali xx

Hi Ian

A great precis of pre and post op.

Your posts always informative and appreciated.

Hi

I have wondered it there is anything in it that personality type  has anythihng to do with OA        emotions  vs  the physical body,     read about it once   -    the type of person called  'A'  types seemed more predisposed?    quite  an interesting thought, that   the emotions need to go somewhere so if not gotten out,  thejy affect  inwardly, as in any dis-ease  of the body

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