THR my new life as a bionic person

Janlyn

@Zimmer You're so right, getting it done is better than letting life slip by, take care.

ItsjustLisa

@Zimmer in all honesty it was @Nurina honest, "neighbours leg" diary that I read first.

I've read and followed everyone pretty much since and although I'm absolutely terrified they've really helped me.

I hope you're doing ok @Nurina I haven't touched my feet for longer than I can remember so hearing you just about managed to cut your toenails was music to my ears 😂.

Nurina

@ItsjustLisa You will not believe what you can do in two-three months after the surgery. I'm doing things I haven't done in years. I don't need the aid to put my socks and with some shoes I don't need the shoehorn. The most important thing is I'm painless and the discomfort from surgery has almost dissappeared. I feel the stiffness I've accumulated during the long and painful process before and after the surgery. I'm now allowed to break the rule of the 90º and I have to work slowly with my totally lost of flexibility which will not be easy but I'm very stubborn. Thanks god, the other leg is behaving well at the moment. I haven't used crutches today and I've been climbing up and down the stairs of my workshop holding big frames. Can you believe it? I was painless climbing down stairs!

I hope you all feel well. Take care x

Zimmer

These diaries have helped me to: Decide upon surgery, over lifelong pain; Laugh, when my resolve was low; Plan instead of dream, an off-tarmac trek in the mountains; and best of all, Smile, as tomorrow doesn't seem as bleak.

😘🫂🤙

Ellen

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/720840#Comment_720840

that is just lovely to read @Zimmer it's what this online community is all about. Thank you.

Ellen.

Janlyn

@Zimmer - that is so lovely 😊

Nurina

@Zimmer Thanks for reading my "blog". If I'm helping others to feel less terrified I'm happy. I was terrified too and reading diaries here helped me a lot. X

Update: I've done 10780 steps today! OMG!

JPT

That's a good number of steps @nurina I hope you are not too sore tomorrow x

Zimmer

I meant every word, love you all, it's just heartwarming to read such positivity when I know the pain and discomfort you are experiencing with your recoveries xx.

Nurina what month are you in now, is is three? Wow, just wow, I got so emotional reading how many steps you'd done then.

Nurina

Thanks @Zimmer and @JPT I got up not sore at all! This is a dream turned into reality. So emotional. I remember @Janlyn posts about her 10000 steps and I thought I'd never be able to do that.

I only wanted the surgery to get rid of my pain. I've been disabled and not able to do a lot of things for so long. And here I am! Still a long way, to tell you the truth. If I want to walk a long distance, I have to bring my two crutches with me. I walked 1/3 of the way without them. My operated leg feels great and strong but I have to take care of my non operated one. When I started feeling sore, I used one crutch and I arrived home using both. I noticed that when I use the crutches, people is more respectful, they stop at the zebra crosses, they hold the door for you and everybody smiles at me. 🥰

KatLB

@Nurina I have just read the whole of your diary over the last few days and it is so very helpful, thank you! You are an amazing, strong woman and doing so well just weeks after the op. I am down to have a THR but don’t have a date yet, I only found out in Feb this year that the pain I’ve had for ages all around my hip and down my leg was severe OA and I will need them replaced…

In the meantime I’m reading up on what’s expected and doing as much exercises from the physio as possible, to prepare for the op. But best of all have been the blogs /diaries on here, with the good, bad and ugly. From you, @JPT, @Janlyn and everyone commenting too. Really positive, supportive and helpful, thank you.😊

JPT

@KatLB it was such a help to me to have honest accounts of the whole process. Yes sometimes it made it scarier but as there was no choice but to go through with it I at least knew what to expect.

The exercises before the op were really important and significantly helped me post op as I was already in the mindset to do them several times a day

Janlyn

@KatLB Hoping you get a date soon and so happy to hear the diaries are helping. I've definitely found them so helpful, both those ahead of me so I knew what to expect and those following me where I can realise how much I've progressed. It's been so good as so often the 'outside world' is all so positive and expects us to be 100% so quickly when really it's brilliant to be pain free but we do have to work at our exercises and reaching our potential - patience is most definitely useful!

Zimmer

Oh @Nurina that is so good to hear, I am so happy for you xx

Nurina

You are so kind @KatLB Thanks. Like you, I had pain for years but I never thought I'd have stage end of OA and I'd need both hips urgently replaced. I hope you tell us about your fixed hip very soon. Meanwhile, do your exercises and take care.

Thanks @Zimmer !

Zimmer

Hmm, there seems to be a trend here. Is it a coincidence that a few of us have suddenly been diagnosed with severe arthritis, eventhough there's been pain for years?

I know, I know, I seem sceptical but I've had a number of x-rays showing apparent "normal" hips but now they're so severe that the specialist walked into the room, sat down, looked at me and the first words that came out of her mouth were "they're bad, so bad that they're on the verge of collapse. How long have you been suffering with this".

I was completely gobsmacked, to see a specialist shocked by something they see every day really stunned and upset me you know

Has anyone else had the same experience?

Nurina

Hi @Zimmer I was diagnosed with RA at the age of 5. All my joints are bad shaped due to the inflammation around the bones when I was growing up. My doctors told me I might have bigger problems with charge of hormones like pregnancy and menopause and I should keep a very low weight. My mum had her hips replaced when she was my age and the surgeries in the 90's where more traumatic than now. I've been always very skinny and sporty so I've had a very normal life until I started with my peri menopause in my 40's. I started gaining weight I couldn't control. The pain and stiffness were slowly getting worse. I thought I could beat it doing more exercise, stretching, eating healthy food. Like most of the women when they reach menopause, I started gaining weight and that and the change of hormones contributed to the damage of my already bad hips.

Zimmer

I'm so sorry to hear that hon 😔 🫂 .

But I agree that things took a turn for the worst after onset of fibromyalgia and menopause; inflammation does a number on your body; affecting your bones and ability to lose weight and then double whammy by hitting menopause, life begins at 40 my ####. I'm eating really healthy to try and get my bmi down, it's worrying me that I'll get turned down you know.

Just started HRT to try and regulate things but that's early days yet.

And yeah, having your hip replacements replaced after 15 hrs or so, would be hard, let alone at that age; hope she's OK hon xx

Nurina

4th month

It's been a while since my last update because changes and improvements are much slower now. I can't believe how great I feel in my 4th month! As expected, my other leg is getting worse and it's hindering the operated leg recovery but the pain isn't comparable to the old pain. After the fantastic experience I've had with my first hip replacement, it's just a matter of time until my next one. I've changed sides and I have to use now the left crutch when I go out. If I want to walk a long distance, I prefer to use two crutches. That is not ideal but I can go anywhere and it's better than limping and being in pain.
Apart from "the other leg", the operated leg feels like nothing happened. It's strong and painless. In my first session with my physio, four months ago, he told me that probably I will never fully recover due to the movement limitations I have from RA since I was a child. In my last session with him, he said that, surprisingly, I have a great mobility and good muscle and ligaments condition so, from now, it's up to me how far I can go. After the physio discharge, I've been doing normal stretching exercises, spinning and low impact workouts. With a tremendous effort, I've already lost 10lbs doing a 18:6 intermittent fasting and low carb diet. I already feel less pressure on my joints which are all in danger too. I wouldn't want to start with TKRs after the THRs.
My next milestone is the visit to my consultant next month. I'll have a x-ray to see that everything is in its place. I hope he can tell me more about the estimated date for the next hip. I haven't book summer holidays yet because I'm in the waiting limbo.
Take care my lovely friends. I'm reading you. X

Bevdav123

Well done on your recovery, I really hope you don’t have to wait too long for the other hip to be replaced.

Janlyn

@Nurina this is great to read, amazing you're doing better than your physio expected - well done, you've worked hard to get to this space.

Well done with your intermittent fasting too - it's amazing isn't it? And great you're already feeling the benefits.

Take care, x

john62

@Nurina your recovery sounds great and it must be nice not to be continually thinking about the pain in your operated hip but l know how you feel about your other hip. I seem to be following a similar pathway, my operated hip at 6 weeks is feeling very good with little or no pain apart from the occasional ache in the joint, my right hip however is very painful with pain the entire length of my leg and into my ankle. I too worry about my knees, l have OA in both that was moderate on my last x-ray 2 years ago. The knee of my operated hip has felt much better since my op so l'm hoping that when both hips have been done there will be good improvement to both. Physio tomorrow and 6 week review on Thursday. Keep up the good work, you are doing great.

Nurina

Thanks @Bevdav123 @Janlyn and @john62 . Take care x