Knees & Hips

Let's hear it for epidurals! Unfortunately they don't work for shoulders!

I had an epidural and sedative when I had a hip replacement in December.

I asked the anaesthetist if I would know what was going on. He said I might but I wouldn't care and he was right.

Mostly I was asleep but I drifted back to consciousness now and then and felt quite blaise about what was going on.

Deadened from the neck down would be very tricky anno!

I've had 3hips and an ankle fusion under epidural. The ankle I refused sedation and was able to watch the interior of my ankle being shaved and fused on the same screen the surgeon was using, fascinating!

I have not needed any replacements as yet but a friend had her much needed hip replacement last Thursday.
I have visited her in hospital and at the moment she seems to be doing fine. She says the constant pain from her crumbled hip as gone. She is walking on two crutches and has her kitchen assessment today. She is also trying the stairs because she will not be allowed home until she can manage them safely.
She had the op under epidural and sedative and slept through the whole thing. She remembers a drilling sound but did not feel a thing, and woke up when the surgeon was putting the dressing on her hip.
My sister had a knee replacement last year which went very well, but now her other knee is playing up!.

I couldn't see what was going on with my knee, but I could hear a lot of sawing and banging, did complain to the surgeon that the noise was keeping me awake. I would have loved to have seen the procedure.

I am still struggling after my hip surgery - and now it is nearly 6 months. I do feel very frustrated indeed by it, as I have had no gains from the surgery - quite the opposite in fact. I cannot touch the hip as it is so very painful, and there is pain inside that is sharp and makes me feel quite sick. I had a lot of pain before of course, but this pain is totally different in its nature. So I am no better off.

I am told that it is caused by inflammation; and also that a nerve has been irritated. But no-one is saying how long it might take before I get some improvement. I just have to take each day at a time.

NotTooOld Thinking of you yesterday - and today. Did you have fun?

Mishap So sorry to hear you are still have concerns. I cannot begin to imagine what it will be like 6 months down the line. Do you go swimming? Or cycling? Pilates? Yoga? Are you able to, even? This post is from someone still wearing compression socks and not liking them at all! I shall be very glad when discharged from physio, too, although I know that I will have to do certain exercises for the rest of my life. In the meantime; checking out excerise info on the internet.

Pompa You sound to have well informed and specialist doc in your area. Which county do you live in? I might move there.

Cycling? Pilates? Yoga? - you have to be joking!! I can get about the house and I walk down the lane (very steep) and back - but it hurts like hell when I do. I am doing everything I can, but there are huge limitations - which was definitely NOT what I had the surgery for! I just have to be patient. But the future feels like an unknown.

I am hoping to try out swimming again soon.

I feel very fed up about it, as I know so many other people who have had the surgery and it has all gone fine. I just cannot believe that I am in this ridiculous situation. And I am truly tired of pain - enough, enough.

Oh, Mishap I am so sorry - to still be in pain, as you are, just isn't die, somehow, especially with us lot saying how much better we feel!
What are you going to do? Is there a way forward?

At the moment it has been left that I will ring the physio in a month (now 2 weeks left) if things are still bad and she will organise for me to see the consultant again. Since I last saw her this new pain and tenderness over the hip have started in addition to the nerve pain down my leg.

mishap, I feel so sad about your problems because, when you were waiting for your op, I cheerfully informed you how successful the surgery had been for me. It was meant to be reassuring for you and I can only imagine how disappointed you must be as well as suffering so much pain. I can't help thinking that the consultant isn't taking you as seriously as you deserve. Maybe you should phone the physio sooner rather than later and tell her about the new symptoms.

I think so too Mishap, you must be so disappointed and being in constant pain is so draining. I'd push for a consultant review asap too.

Mishap Really, really sorry to hear of your pain. I was told today that I have to wait and see consultant in 3 weeks to see if I am ok. As mentioned somewhere by me, I was misdiagnosed for years and eventually could not do anything - even sitting down I was in great pain. When I was on holiday last October, I went to Turkish hospital and paid £45 for Xray (which I was never given here) and had consultation with surgeon who spoke excellent English. I was stunned when he showed me the Xray. Moral of the story. Ask for Xray. I will be when I go to the consultant in a few weeks, but that may be the case anyway. Whilst I am in pain, it is nowhere near what I had pre-op. Pain I now have is my fault as I keep thinking I can do when actually I cannot.

I have had an x-ray and the new joint is sound - it is in the right place.

I am being given mixed messages about activity and exercise. One the one hand I am being told to walk a lot and do as many of the exercises as I am able, but to stop when I am in pain. Since I am in pain all the time and when at rest (i.e. before I even start to exercise!) then what exactly am I meant to do? If exercise is what is needed, then I am happy to do it if it will solve the problem; but as I am being told to stop when it hurts I am left concerned that I might make it worse.

When the physio told me I had to walk as much as possible, I described to her what walking I was doing each day; and she then said it was too much! And when I asked what I should be doing then, she had no answer! I have no idea what to do for the best.

When I come back from a walk I am in lots of pain and worry I might have humbugged it up more; but when I rest I am concerned that this is not good either!

Boy is it frustrating! A friend is coming round tonight - he had his op 8 weeks after me and is absolutely fine - I will have to grit my teeth and be pleased for him - which of course I am, but it is hard to smile!

Mishap You and me both about conflicting physio info. Do it - don't do it! I cleaned those bedroom windows I could reach this afternoon. Made me feel better anyway but have had sharp hip pain since yesterday, so came to bed half hour ago to see if it willl go away with rest. I have been up since 8am and awake since 6.30am. Trip to hospital today for physio, wound check and dressing. Very awkward in small car. I spent a lot of time on crutches (nowhere suitable to sit in hospital). Came home and sat down for quite awhile. I, too, am just trying to find right balance. Where exactly is your pain? Physio has given me lower and upper back exercises as I seem to pull these muscles, which make me rest my op hip whilst I am trying to sort this part of the body out. Looking at other posts, they are encouraging. I am going to attempt a trip around the supermarket tomorrow - and then come back to bed.

One thing I learned, from bitter experience, when I was having some really gruelling chemo, was to try to do something, then if I couldn't do it, to stop, especially if my body didn't like it.

It is hard, with something that is progressively getting better, like our hips etc (sorry, Mishap!) not to over do it slightly. DON'T!!! Find a happy medium between the right amount of exercise, each day, for your body, and yours alone, and doing too much because you feel you must.

Adding myself to the painful knee and hip brigade . I was hit by a car today as i cycled sedately along in the bike lane , when a car violently hit my handlebar and i violently hit the road with my left hip and knee taking the brunt of the impact. Police ,ambulance and fire truck arrived ,sirens blaring, lights flashing ,while my growing audience gathered around. The driver has been charged with 'failing to share the road with a bicycle ' .Hope i can walk by the time the trial date arrives.

amarmai, what a horrible experience. That must have been - and still be - very painful. Did you have to have any treatment? I do hope they throw the book at that motorist.

thank you annodomini.I was checked out by the paramedics and they drove me and my bike home after i declined going to the hospital. I'm babying myself-hot bath with sea salt , ice packs, knee support, arnica rubs, aspirin, herbal teas etc. If i am feeling no better tomorrow ,i'll take myself to the hospital.I'm ambivalent about 'throwing the book' at the driver as she is 82 years old and her passengers looked likewise. But the policeman made the decision and mentionned i was his second cyclist that morning hit by a car. Glad my bike had all necessary bells and whistles as one of the passengers was photographing it and me?? Hope i can get up the nerve to ride my iron horse after this.

Mishap I do not want to worry you any more than necessary but you need to contact your physio to get an urgent appointment with the surgeon.

Until you have been seen, my advice is to do what you want/can to do and no more, you do not want to exacerbate the problem. Is there any redness around the wound area- does your hip feel warm? Apart from the pain, do you feel okay? Please do not wait 2 more weeks before you ring her.

amarmai that is horrendous. I only hope that you have not broken a bone. It does sound as though that lady's driving days are over, hitting you was bad enough but for you to be the second casualty is too much. I hope that a good night's sleep will work wonders.

Second your advice to Mishap,charleygirl. To keep the record straight i beleive it was a different driver who made the other hit. No broken bones- not that kind of pain. And yes,sleep is restorative.

Six months on from my knee replacement, I have at last turned the corner. Been walking quite a lot over the last 2 weeks, plenty of aches etc, but the knee is pain free and working well. I now have equal flexing in both knees.
Been digging in the garden for the last 2 days, no ill effects. I still get a disconcerting clunk, but it does not hurt.

Thanks for the advice - I understand that you are concerned about the possibility of infection. The last x-ray (about 2 months ago) showed no evidence of this and I had a blood test which also gave no hint of infection. But both these are some time ago and I have more pain now. It is a job to know what to do. They said that new bits are healing and causing new pain, but I have the evidence of others with new hips and they are not going through this. Whenever I say this, they say that everyone is different and I just have to be patient.

If I do get a further appointment I am not sure what he can do - if the hip is in the right place and there is no evidence of infection.....what is there to be done?

That there is some nerve involvement is clear, as I have pain down my leg and a numb foot some of the time. But I also have local stabbing sore pain.

I think I will wait till the end of the week and see how it goes. It is very tiresome.

I'm back home!

Hurray! It's all over. New hip in place and everything ok so far.

I opted for the spinal which was fine, didn't hurt at all. The anaesthetist and the surgeon got me into place (gently) and secured my position with clamps (didn't hurt). After that they wheeled me into the theatre where I think I was given the sedative as I knew nothing else until I woke up in recovery. It took two hours altogether, 30 mins in 'prep' - that's various tests plus the spinal injection and getting you into place - an hour in the theatre and then 30 mins in recovery.

I was a bit woozy as they wheeled me back to the ward but 'came to' pretty quickly. Shortly after that DH arrived to see me, and after that two friends turned up, so it was all go for a little while.

Someone on this thread advised to accept all the painkillers offered, so I did and was glad of it. The hip obviously aches but the pain killers dull it off quite well and by Night 2 I had a good sleep. Unfortunately yesterday I developed some sort of itchy rash on my bum and was given Piriton. I think this reacted with the other drugs and I spent a bad night last night, just unable to wake up properly. It took until 9am this morning to get the Piriton out of my system and now I feel ok again.

I'm off now to practice some more crutch walking.

Thanks to everyone who gave advice or told me of their own experiences. It has all been very helpful.