BACK FROM MY 6 WEEK CHECK UP AFTER MY TKR

hileena111
hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
edited 24. Jan 2017, 13:09 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi,
Thanks for your replies, Sorry I was so late putting it on line.
Firstly for the first time in I don't know how many years I didn't see Mr Asaad {the consultant} I got his registrar.

I was with the physiotherapist first and she said ask him to X Ray the other leg that I'm having problems with. See what he thinks about the pain in the other leg???
Up until now when I've had a joint replacement at the 6 week visit I've had an X Ray on the operated leg.
The registrar said no. No X Ray on the one that had been operated {never mind the one that was is sore now}
He said the operated one seems to be coming on well and the bend is very good. The other one.......well he'll have another look at it in 6 weeks time. That was basically it. Not really a very satisfactory appointment

Love
Hileena

Comments

  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm going off line now and to bed. My leg is very sore. Don't know what the cause is but it is bad. Feels much the same as the other one felt when I first had the pain in it and they had me in in a couple of months to have the TKR. I do hope this one isn't going the same way

    Nite everyone

    Have as painfree a night as possible

    Love
    Hileena
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm sorry you felt disappointed with it, Hileena. I honestly can't remember whether or not I've always had x-rays after 6 weeks but I've certainly experienced the disappointment of a consultation in which I'd invested a lot of expectations only to find them unfulfilled.

    I'd guess that your 'good' leg is protesting at having to do extra work especially as the enforced inactivity before the op will have allowed its muscles to weaken too. Now it's being pressed into action again. My solution has always been to do the exercises with both legs though only half the number with the unoperated one. Both are in recovery so both need a bit extra.

    I hope you find things continue to improve for both legs.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Sticky
    Thanks for your reply. I do hope you are right.
    I was doing exercise with the un operated one as well but not nearly as ,much as you seem to have been. It took me all my time to get through the exercises on the operated leg :(

    I had just got to the stage where I was thinking about getting more housework done again.......still pacing myself :lol:
    I don't think I can drive now. I haven't driven very far but it was good to be a bit independent and just driving to friend's houses {10 or 15 mins} I seem to be back on to 2 crutches again even in the house.

    That wasn't a 6 week check up by the way.....it should have been but it was nine weeks :cry:

    Sorry I'll get off now and stop moaning.

    Hileena
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,336
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Oh Hileena!

    That sounded very disappointing :( I am so sorry about that negative response. Poor you.

    Shame you did see Dr Asaad it would have had a different outcome I'm sure.

    Lucy is the same with her unoperated hip hurting now too she feels much the same.

    I think all you can do is exercise, but if you need those crutches use them. So sorry about driving I know how you value your independence.

    Or will your GP sort you an X-ray?

    No harm asking it will be quicker.

    Love and ((()))

    Toni xxx
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Toni
    Thanks for that.
    I had thought about ringing and making an appointment with the GP and see what she or whoever I get says.
    I will try to exercise but I'm so sore.......I know when I'm volunteering that I tell people to exercise even if they are sore. Make sure to take their meds before they do their exercise........but you know me well enough :lol: Do as I say not as I do :lol: A bit like pacing :wink:
    Send my love to Lucy

    Love
    Hileena
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm not sure that, in this case, an x-ray on the operated leg, requested by the GP, would fulfill any purpose. Who would read it? A GP has some skills in telling whether or not OA is present as they see so many but would he / she know whether or not a prosthesis was inserted and working correctly? It would also put the GP in a difficult situation with the consultant for overriding him. As you're back again in six weeks I'd be inclined to just leave it until then. Mind you, whenever I've had an doubts or queries after an appointment with a consultant, I've found my GPs brilliant at explaining and suggesting things so a quick chat might help.

    As for the exercises, I think it's a help not a hindrance to do the other leg too. I can be quite daunting, especially in the painful early days, to be doing 10 repetitions of each exercise in one go. Breaking it up into 5, then 5 with the 'good' leg then another 5 is much easier on the operated leg and keeps the other one in better nick for all the extra work it's doing.

    I've never been able to use crutches (wrong kind of hands and shoulders :roll: ) and I've sometimes wondered if it's actually been a bonus. I always come back from the hospital with a zimmer which I ditch the first time I make myself a cuppa. (How to lift a zimmer while carrying a cuppa which, in my case, requires two hands anyway?) I just use the furniture. It works for me though outside is always scary as it's not even. I have to hang on to someone outside at first.

    I hope you'll get back to driving because I know how much it means to you. However, you'll still have your scooter and, if you can't drive, you'll probably find yourself thinking creatively about how to get more fun out of it. I'd given up on the idea of a scooter when we actually moved here and I realised I could probably only get to the butchers and P.O. on it (though there is the delightful prospect in summer of the cricket club which is outside the pub :D ) But the local buses do have disabled access and go all over the Borders so I might get an electric wheelchair instead. (Actually, I'm not supposed to have a scooter anyway :oops: )
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Sticky
    I'm still confused about what exercises to do. One medical person tells me to do certain ones on a certain leg and others a different thing.
    So I'll wait the 6 weeks and find out about that.
    I will do some exercises meantime. But not a lot. :lol:

    You mention about always coming home with a zimmer. I did with my first THR but a lot of people don't realise the crutches I use aren't for my TKR. It a while back but the do you remember that after the 2nd THR ....four weeks post op to be exact. I was doing some NHS exercises. Abducting my leg was one of them and there was a sudden crack. My leg gave way. I was taken to hospital and told that I had fractured my "Greater Trochanter Bone" and would be on crutches permanently. So a zimmer would be no good. It has to be crutches. Almost four years now.!!!!! :roll:
    When they checked they discovered I had Osteoporosis and that was why it cracked so easily.
    I did have Osteopinia and that was on my notes. I didn't know I had osteoporosis YET the next DEXA was due at the end of the year and this was the beginning of the year so it hadn't been discovered yet.

    As for my scooter. I'm a bit like that as well. I cant go very far. Just to a small village. Mostly its used to live in Peters car, and I use it if necessary when we are out. If we go away for a day and towards the end of the day I'm getting tired on crutches{this was before the TKR} Out comes the scooter to help :lol:

    Sorry I'm jumping about a bit. GP's My GP is pretty awful. A consultant asked in a letter if she would refer me to a pain clinic.
    I had a copy of the letter and when it wasn't mentioned after a couple of weeks
    I brought the subject up and she said NO, there was nothing a pain clinic could do that she couldn't do!!!!!

    Shortened.......I got an appointment when I sat in the chair, didn't move and she suddenly realised she wasn't going to see her next patient if she didn't give me an appointment {I wasn't moving :wink:} So I got an appointment {with very bad grace}

    If you think of anything creative with the scooter let me know :lol: especially when the decent weather comes
    Why are you not supposed to have a scooter ?????
    Are buses {most of them I think} have disabled access but I have never had the nerve yet to try them with a scooter.

    Thanks for your post

    Love
    Hileena
  • bubbadog
    bubbadog Member Posts: 5,544
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Hileena, Hope your recovery is moving along, I know when you get pain you feel like you have taken a step back on recovery and that makes you feel very low.
    I know our operations are poles apart but the road to recovery is similar in a way. Baby steps is all you can do. I would stay a way from public buses if I was you! The ones near me are like death traps!! They brake hard and once it literally through me forward and I landed face down with grazes on my arms and legs! I had to be helped up by 2 lovely ladies. So I never use buses anymore. Yours might be different, but it only takes one. Do you have a dial a ride mobility transport service where you live? They take you door to door in mini buses? If so I would try them. Take care . bubbadog
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Your physio should have given you exercises before you left the hospital. (S)he is the person to listen to.

    I think, re creativity with the scooter, it's just a matter of finding new places to go. I've just got a booklet of accessible walks in our area. Some are longer than others but most are worth checking out. When we do a longer one we usually find a nice pub to lunch in at the end of it.

    I'm not supposed to have a scooter because my ancient TKR (36 year old) no longer bends enough to properly fit on it and has to be draped over a mudguard. Also the RA in shoulders, elbows and fingers has foreshortened all the joints so, I'm a bit dodgy steering round turns as I don't really have enough reach.

    I don't know if disabled access buses allow scooters. Maybe a wheelchair for them? My bogstandard wheelchair fold up to a very small package for home storage.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi BubbaI know what you mean about a step backwards. Especially when its pain in the other leg now and the registrar that saw me said {when he looked at the X Ray taken pre op} that it didn't look as if this one was far behind the operated one :(

    I'll be perfectly honest I'm not sure about Dial a Ride.....I would have to phone and check....not sure who but I could find out.
    I'm driving at the moment {not far but as far as I need to} but the way this other leg is I wonder will I have to stop driving for a while. I'm OK at the moment.....can do an emergency stop etc. so I'll see. Got an appointment with the consultant in 6 weeks time again.

    Sticky

    I know the book you mean. I've got an out of date one at the moment. :lol:
    I haven't seen it for ages. Does it tell you where you can take a scooter or is it just walks? I cant remember. I cant walk more than about 5 minutes now. That will eventually clear. So a wheelchair isn't any good. I tend to go out for a drive somewhere when Peter goes for a walk {about 3 hours} So no one to push the wheelchair :lol:
    The physiotherapist gave me exercises to do, in fact I'm seeing her on Friday.

    Sorry about being nosey as to why you weren't supposed to drive a scooter.
    I understand now. If you had a chance would you still drive one :lol: Rebel!!!!!!

    Thanks for your replies both of you

    Love
    Hileena
  • bubbadog
    bubbadog Member Posts: 5,544
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Your more than welcome, we can cheer each other along on our recoveries!! :bee:



    hileena111 wrote:
    Hi BubbaI know what you mean about a step backwards. Especially when its pain in the other leg now and the registrar that saw me said {when he looked at the X Ray taken pre op} that it didn't look as if this one was far behind the operated one :(

    I'll be perfectly honest I'm not sure about Dial a Ride.....I would have to phone and check....not sure who but I could find out.
    I'm driving at the moment {not far but as far as I need to} but the way this other leg is I wonder will I have to stop driving for a while. I'm OK at the moment.....can do an emergency stop etc. so I'll see. Got an appointment with the consultant in 6 weeks time again.

    Sticky

    I know the book you mean. I've got an out of date one at the moment. :lol:
    I haven't seen it for ages. Does it tell you where you can take a scooter or is it just walks? I cant remember. I cant walk more than about 5 minutes now. That will eventually clear. So a wheelchair isn't any good. I tend to go out for a drive somewhere when Peter goes for a walk {about 3 hours} So no one to push the wheelchair :lol:
    The physiotherapist gave me exercises to do, in fact I'm seeing her on Friday.

    Sorry about being nosey as to why you weren't supposed to drive a scooter.
    I understand now. If you had a chance would you still drive one :lol: Rebel!!!!!!

    Thanks for your replies both of you

    Love
    Hileena
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I doubt you're thinking of the booklet I have, Hileena as mine is very local and would be not much use to you. But there is lots of stuff online. Just google 'accessible walks' in Northumberland or Tyne and Wear.

    Why not do as Mr SW and I do? We do walks which are accessible for chairs / scooters, preferably around 3-4 miles. I walk a bit then he pushes me a bit and so on. I walk uphill stretches which are hard for pushing but give my lungs a bit of a workout. Pushing me does the same for his :lol:

    No problems re 'being nosey'. I might consider a scooter as there must be different and better designs about now but, no, if I was dangerous to anyone but myself, I wouldn't do it. I might not do it anyway as I'd need an electrically operated garage door and that would put the price up by £1,000.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Starburst
    Starburst Member Posts: 2,546
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Gosh time has flown by, hasn't it?! I'm sorry you were left disappointed. I don't have anything else to add that hasn't been said and knees are my area of knowledge but I wanted to say that I am here offering support and sending healing vibes. Take care.
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Sticky
    Probably not the same book. You say booklet, I call a booklet the type of Arthritis Care booklets we have. This is a soft back book although not very big. From memory I think it covers a lot of the North East not just Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

    I might do a bit of googling once I can walk a bit. At the moment I cant walk any more than mins with the other leg so sore.

    Thanks for being there Starburst. Today in particular this other leg is so sore. I can barely move. Trying to rest but you know what happens when you rest.....you stiffen up. So its ice and exercise.

    Thanks again for being there Bubba

    Love
    Hileena
  • daffy2
    daffy2 Member Posts: 1,636
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I don't know if disabled access buses allow scooters.
    In principle I think they should do, but it would be worth contacting the company(ies) in your area to get the details of whether they have suitable vehicles and if there are any restrictions. Some electric wheelchairs are bigger than scooters so there shouldn't really be a problem.
  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,280
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello Hileena sorry this is late but we talk anyway... :lol:
    I think come spring you will be out and about alot more ..maybe it would be helpful to have someone with you the first time on the bus..and I hope you can get the exercises sorted if anyone can its you...xx
    Love
    Barbara
  • Slosh
    Slosh Member Posts: 3,194
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry to hear you had an unsatisfactory appointment, hope your next one is better
    He did not say you will not be storm tossed, you will not be sore distressed, you will not be work weary. He said you will not be overcome.
    Julian of Norwich