New Hip Day

Lilymary

Hi @tonytiger2432 , and welcome to this lovely forum. Sorry to hear you had such a false start, that must be deeply frustrating, but having lost an uncle who passed away on the operating table during routine knee surgery I know this is important (not wanting to scare you though!). You might get more responses if you start a new thread under the "Living with Arthritis" forum, maybe title it something like "Angina and hip replacement". I think I remember seeing threads where people have been juggling heart conditions with arthritis, so hopefully someone will come forward soon.

frogmorton

Oh dear me @tonytiger2432

This sort of thing has happened to others they do seem to need to cover themselves by getting a cardiac opinion.

BIL had this with gallstones and daughter's FIL for prostate op. Both have very very minor heart murmurs that can apparently come with age anyway.

Maybe they could consider doing your op using epidural rather than full General anaesthetic?

Toni x

Lilymary

Some of the more longstanding members of this forum might remember the drama of my hip replacement in April 2021, some newer members may have got through this thread, so I wanted to give an update, a glimmer of hope, for those whose joint replacement hasn't been plain sailing.

Somehow my psoas tendon (groin area) got damaged during the surgery, this being crucial to lifting the knee and sitting up from lying prone. This resulted in severe pain lifting my leg or if I stood down on it suddenly or stubbed my toe, although the pain had diminished slightly over time. But it was very limiting, as I could barefly get my foot 6" off the floor, albeit that I found work-arounds for daily life and some interesting adaptiations in pilates! However, my right leg has been doing most of the work for the last 4 years, bless it.

The surgeons were baffled as to why it all kicked off immediately after surgery, as they "hadn't done anything to that one". Give them their due, they scanned and xrayed me every which way but loose, passed the results around meetings, even built a 3D model of the hip based on CT scans, and sent me radioactive, but still no idea. They'd tried steroid injections into the tendon, and my glutes, but no effect.

Eventually, on the verge of drawing a blank, they offered me one last chance steroid injection into the psoas (which they said was now thickened due to irritation). And this time they said I could choose where they did it. So I drew a cross with biro where it hurt, and this time, success! Ok, I'm not doing the cancan, it's still only a 5/10 on the recovery score, but I can lift my knee up to hip height for the first time in 4 years, get dressed more normally, and walk more confidently on uneven ground. I go to gentle yoga and pilates classes to sort out the muscle weakness from not using my leg properly for 4 years, and the balance issues, which is helping.

As we never found out the original cause of the damage I still worry that it will come back if the steroids wears off, but the tendon has continued to improve slightly. I doubt it will ever go back to "normal", but I have to remember that I could barely get round a supermarket pre surgery, so I welcome each and every improvement, and try not to compare myself with people who say they're not even aware of they've had a new joint. I unwittingly found myself doing an 11 mile walk (the tour guide lied!) a few months ago, granted I had to use the lift in the hotel just to get up one flight of stairs, but I couldn't have done it at all before the latest treatment. My physio has told me off, I will behave myself, for a while at least….

I also had quite a bit of nerve damage down the outside of the leg so I couldn't lie on my left side, but that also seems to have got better in the last 9 months, which makes the gentle yoga more comfortable. My left foot gets colder too, as the blood supply has been affected, so I doubt I will ever give it 10/10, but I'm ok with that after 4 years of drama.

So I guess what I'm saying is, don't give up hope if your surgery didn't have you running the 5 minute mile, dancing the Argentine tango or swinging from the chandeliers as fast as you thought. We all think post op complications are what happens to other people, but joint replacement is Big Surgery, small mistakes can have long term consquences, it's not a race to recover, your body will take as long as it needs, and after 3.5 years I'm still seeing improvements.

Twig

just wanted to say thank you for posting all of your diary. I am new to the community and like you was and hopefully will continue to be a hill walker. The need for replacement came as a complete shock having had an X-ray update in August to be told severe and no space. Today I had full replacement surgery and have found reading all the posts has helped me to prepare. I am now about 10 hours post op have been up in the crutches and at the moment feeling positive for the next part of the rehab journey

thanks once again. I hope Lilymary you continue to improve your patience and ability tomm by peserve is inspiring

Twig

Ellen

Hi @Twig Just a quick welcome to the online Community.

There are several wonderful threads here @Lilymary started the trend I believe with this thread during the pandemic but there have been several since do take a look at @Janlyn , @Nurina , @alwayssewing to name but a few the latest person is @ItsjustLisa who had her surgery just a week ago.

These threads are incredibly helpful and so supportive I hope you will get as much from reading them and chatting to our members as they all have.

Ellen.

@Lilymary I remember what you went through so very well. Wonderful news long may this improvement last for you. You worked so hard you deserve to be feeling so much better.

Best wishes to you too

Ellen.

ItsjustLisa

@Twig hi and welcome 😊.

Really pleased to hear you're up and on the other side. Be kind to yourself, as everyone will tell you here, recovery is very personal and try not to compare your journey.

A great mantra here is "it's a marathon not a sprint" and that's so true. Keep positive and it won't be too long before you're out doing what you love again 😊

[Deleted User]

@Lilymary I joined this group and started reading your blog because I was very annoyed with the supermen and superwomen I found in the internet. Your blog was fun and honest and I appreciated very much to read a real story with its ups and downs. I'm so happy to see you are still fighting and we want to see you doing the can-can very soon. Take care X

Joma

Had Thr on left leg 8 days ago. Persevering with the exercises , very stiff, painfull & swollen. Pain the the groin area which isn't helping. However, main concern is I can't lift my leg up or my knee.

pollyana

Hi Joma, we're on the same timeline, same leg THR last Friday. . I thought I'd share that I've also had pain in the groin area….not sure what it is and it comes and goes. I wasn't sure if it was just because I'd been overdoing it or using one crutch from time to time…..I hope it settles down for you. And not being able to lift your leg or knee…I wondered if you could call and speak to the physio and see what they say about that. Incase they have any advice?

It's a definite marathon and this early stage is hard I think….😂 Keep having to tell myself this will pass and that I can do this….lol. Take care, hope this week goes well for you

[Deleted User]

@Joma I was very stiff at your stage. I couldn't bend my knee or lift my leg up. It'll be better soon when the wound is more healed. Take care

Joma

Thank you everyone, for your encouraging comments. Will ask physio when I go on the 13th.

Lilymary

Thanks for your comments, I'm so pleased people have found my account helpful. It's hard to believe that anyone finds joint replacement plain sailing. It's fine (and helpful) to share the grotty bits. @pollyanna and @Joma , I hope your journeys are going well. The worst is over now at least.

Back on the ranch, it's "Ah rats!" the steroid injection has worn off after about 3.5 months. I've waited a while to see if it was just a strain, but it's not, it's back to 0/10 again. I'll go back to the surgeons to see if there's a plan F (or G? I've lost count). 🙄

On the plus side, and despite this, I'm doing some gentle hill walking at last after the holiday drama, I've finally plucked up the courage to canter in my riding lessons (my left leg is so weak I'm amazed the horses don't end up just going round in circles!) - interestlingly another new hip rider has just joined our class and is doing well. I've also decided to look into bringing out The Big Guns by joining a gym to see if they can even up my leg strength a bit. My heroic right leg has decided it wants some credit for all the work it's been doing for 4 years by throwing a paddy in the achilles tendon. Honestly, if I did all the physio required for my various wonky bits, I'd be worn out. Sometimes I think Life is good enough exercise.

Keep it up everyone, nil desperandum. Keep looking for small pleasures and try doing what I do after exercise, give your wonky legs a pat for at least trying so hard.

Janlyn

@Lilymary a belated thank you from me. I read every single post in your diary before I had my THR almost a year ago and I found it useful although I am so sorry you've had, and are still having, a tough time.

Sorry to hear your steroid injection has worn off, that's so disappointing for you. Thank you for your encouragement and wishing you best of luck plan whatever. Take care.

pollyana

@Lilymary I'm so sorry your injection has worn off and hope you can get some help from the medics. I admire your determination, walking… horse riding too… I was nervous about horse riding without new hips! Thanks for inspiring us and for your support. I feel so lucky that my replacement has gone well and although initially it’s felt tough I’m able to move well. I need to take on your attitude to my recovery.. never give up and keep doing the things we love.

Hoping you get some strength back… 🙂

hipityhop

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/727752#Comment_727752

I have really enjoyed reading about your hip journey ,the good and the bad!

I am a newbie to the site and I am having my left hip replaced in less than two weeks! 😱
I am particularly concerned about the feelings of having numb legs after the surgery due to my claustrophobia! I know everyone is different but how long would you say it takes to get some feeling back in your legs?

Thank you

claudsl

Hello @hipityhop

I'm glad you've been able to read through this thread and hopefully you got some good tips from other comments. Here's an article about hip replacements that might have some more useful info for you.

Hip replacement surgery | Treatment options | Versus Arthritis

All the best for your surgery and make sure to keep us updated. We're here if you have any other questions or concerns.

Claudia x

Lilymary

Hi @hipityhop, I've replied to your DM, but for anyone else wondering, I seem to remember it was a very short time (probably an hour or so?) before I got full feeling back in my leg. But you'll be bed bound for a while anyway while you get over the sedation and to let your leg settle down a bit, so it wasn't really a significant issue. By the time you're feeling human again, your leg should be feeling pretty normal. You'll be stuffed full of painkillers anyway, as let's face it, what's just happened to your leg is fairly extreme, but it's all to the good and the grinding arthritic pain in the joint will be gone forever! Hurrah!!

hipityhop

Many thanks for your kind reply and I will be taking it all on board!
It certainly makes good sense that I will be safer laid up in bed until the anaesthesia wears off and I am certainly looking forward to not feeling that grinding bone on bone pain!!

Thank you again !!!

I will come back with an update!!!

hipityhop

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/731914#Comment_731914

Thank you very much, really appreciated!!!