Hello everyone

Andrea64

Hi,
My name is Andrea and I'm almost 53 years old. I was recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my left hip and there are also early changes in my right hip. I have struggled with the pain and the limp that I now have and I've struggled to come to terms with the diagnosis. I'm seeing an Orthopaedic surgeon in September and I hope to have a treatment and management plan after that. I'm currently on sick leave from work - I'm a nurse and I work 12 hour shifts. I feel guilty about being off work but I don't think I could manage at present.
Does anyone else feel bad about losing time from work? How do you cope?
I'm looking forward to chatting on here and sharing experiences of life with arthritis. 😃

[Deleted User]

Hi Andrea64,

Welcome to the forum. It's hard to have to take sick leave from work, I was a teacher and felt so guilty, however I also knew I wouldn't be doing a good job if I was there and that wouldn't be fair on my class.

Once you have treatment plan in place and work complete an assessment to sort out practical issues so you can work without causing yourself any harm that's the time to go back. Hopefully you will have physio too - that will show you how to keep your joint strong.

Here's a booklet on working with arthritis

https://arthritiscare.org.uk/assets/000/001/575/Working_with_Arthritis_for_web_original.pdf?1478874660

Remember too you can ring the Helplines and have a chat about your situation and any worries or concerns you may have. The number is 0808 800 4050

Keep posting, join in on any thread

Take care
Yvonne x

tupney

Hello Andrea64, I hope that everything works out great for you. This forum is very good, a lot of people can help you, giving you support and passing on what has happened to them.
Let us all know how you get on.
fsmile :sun:
Tupney.