Thanks for the encouragement

Posted , 9 users are following.

Hello, this is my first post, and I will explain a bit about myself.  I am a 68 yr. old woman and 26 weeks post-op.  Last Sept. I had a LTHR following a serious accident which broke my femur and shattered my hip. The NHS rose to the occasion, the paramedics were fantastic, the surgeon the best in my area who happened to have a space on his theatre list for the following day, the hospital was good (but the food was awful).  I spent 7 days in there and then 4 days in a private hospital in order to have more physio and recover a bit more before going home.  Once home an OT and a physio visited a couple of times a week until I saw the surgeon again at 9 weeks.  During this time I had to use a walker because I was considered at high risk of dislocation (more about that in a minute), then when at 9 weeks the xrays showed that everything was in its proper place, I started physio at out local community hospital and was on crutches for 12 weeks, and now, still seeing the physio, and on to 2 sticks.  I can walk around the house without aids, at first holding on to walls or furniture, which really helped my balance, but now I can manage without holding on to anything.  The next goal is one stick outside, then no aid at all.  I have worked up to walking ¾ to 1 mile about 4 days a week, do all the exercises set by the physio (some I manage, others not), still walk up and down the stairs in my house like a toddler-can’t manage any other way, and also still follow the restrictions, the 90 degree thing, etc., although I now can pick things up off the floor by using the golfer’s reach. 

 

I still have discomfort, and sometimes real pain, around my left hip, thigh, and lower back, and my muscles seem to be taking a while to respond and gain strength.  The possible reason for this, and also why my surgeon and the physios were so bothered about dislocation, is that in ten days time I am seeing a geneticist at Guys to be tested for a rare form of muscular dystrophy that runs in my family, affecting both sexes, which affects the muscules around the shoulders, hips, thighs, and ankles.  I have been having some symptoms which might be MD for a few years, and was due to be tested, but after my accident, the appt. had to be rescheduled because there was no way I was well enough to travel to London.  Will not know the results for several weeks as DNA testing takes a while even when, as with our family, you know which gene to look for.  Also, just to add one more thing to the mix, I’m having cataract surgery on April 6, which also had to be postponed, and I feel more nervous about that than the hip replacement. 

 

The biggest thing for me was the shock of being reasonably fit with no pain from arthritis, just a bit of muscle weakness around shoulders and thighs, but that didn’t bother me much.  I walked 2 miles on most days, did everything at the trot, and have always been very flexible and able to bend my legs into positions that left my husband shaking his head in disbelief, but not now.  Even my good right hip hurts now, probably from taking the strain of the other one.  In the days and even weeks following the accident I felt like I’d been dumped into a parallel universe, but mostly that feeling is improving, and I am accepting what has happened and trying to move on towards as much fitness as possible. 

 

Apologies for such a long post.  I wanted to thank everyone on here for such informative and encouraging posts.  Since discovering this site about 3 weeks ago, I have felt so much better and encouraged to keep going.  Thanks you all.

 

Izzy x

9 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Izzy, wow, what a lot you've been through. Just writing down your own story is cathartic, isn't it? It is especially good that people on here also understand some of what you are going through.

    I do know that for one reason or another we all take slightly different paths in our recoveries, some are straightforward and some are long and complicated.

    A friend who fell off her horse and smashed femur and pelvis took quite a long time to find a new normal. When she showed me her x-rays they looked like she had raided the tool shed! 

  • Posted

    Hi Izzy you have been through it....I am 8 months into rehab from both hips replaced and 9 weeks between operations, a bit weaker than I was, but getting back to normal improving every week.  Thanks for the kind words and this operation has actualy changed my life in so many ways the better, so look forward to a better future than was possible without the operation...

    Keep in touch  Ian .

  • Posted

    Hi Izzymac,

    Snap! I am also 68 and six months post op.

    Had my new right hip on 17th September 2015 after two and a half years of agony after breaking my neck of femur. They set the femur with metal plate and screws but I kept moaning about the pain so a year later I had the metal removed. Still moaned so eventually they x-rayed me and said I needed a new hip. It is a lot better than before and I am nearly back to normal at last.

    The shock of the fall was awful. I had been fit and well up to then and was out walking in the hills when I tripped over my bootlaces.redface

    Certain ly a steep learning curve when you are suddenly in a hospital bed asking for help to go on a bedpan.

  • Posted

    Thanks for sharing your story Izzy! I'm glad you have found this forum encouraging. Like you, I discovered it well after my THR at 22 weeks post-op. How very difficult it must have been to have been thrown from an active lifestyle into THR in one day! We all spend years or months preparing mentally and phsyically and making changes in our environments. You didn't have that. Sorry to hear that you are still having the pain in your hip/thigh/back. Damage can be done to tissues in those areas just with a THR, and your accident could have caused all sorts of other damage. Best of luck with the results of tests for that form of MD. Must be worrisome!

    I will be needing cataract surgery, too, at some point, not bad enough to do now. Both of my parents had both eyes done years ago when they were in their 70's and had great results. I will try to use them as role models when my time comes! And to me it will seem like a piece of cake compared to this hip replacement business.

    I am almost 8 months out from THR now and still have a limp and stiffness and pain throughout my hip/thigh. Turns out I have gluteal tendon/muscle tears (probably from when cuts made during my surgery didn't properly heal) that need surgery to repair. I am in a holding pattern for now and hope to fully recover some day. 

    You sound so centered and accepting, and I wish you all the best as you continue to heal.

  • Posted

    Dear Izzy, 

    I totally echo all previous comments --- I like the way you describe that you did everything on the trot ... so did I, but oh boy, that has changed hasn't it - 

    That must have been a nasty fall and shock - Seems that you were/are blessed with having good medical care and continue to have so - 

    It is like living in a paralel universe or for me, surreal at times - 

    I am 25 weeks post-op from 2nd THR and almost 12 months from 1st - I still have muscle aches in groin and thighs, around knees - learning to walk properly takes a lot of energy and balancing and doesn't come naturally yet - I guess that's one reason of the discomfort afterwards - too rigid and stif - 

    Please come back and share anytime 

    big warm hug

    renee

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