👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️ Hips and knees part 6 👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️

travelsafar, my THR was the left hip. Strangely enough, before my op, when doing just about anything was painful, using the clutch was no problem. When I got back to driving post op it wasn’t a problem either. I practiced emergency stops before I took the car on the road. I wouldn’t have felt confident if I hadn’t been able to do them.

No need for an apology Charleygirl I couldn’t string three words together at that time of night let alone remember what stage different people are at.

We have solar, water heating roof panels. I’m having to wait for my shower because the water’s not quite hot enough. Is that a good enough excuse?? 🤣

For once, chopsy though I am, I have nothing to add to the conversation. I am still tossing my washing into the dryer (together with my guilty conscience) and with a brand new left hip and automatic car, I was driving after six weeks. But you’re all right, I must get my washing back on the line. The old-fashioned housewife in me still loves to see the wind billowing through pillow cases, etc. & I do hang my duvet cover so that the wind billows through that as well (which takes a bit of effort & probably why I’m not doing it at the moment).

Nannytopsy I so miss mine. I had to have a new gas boiler fitted, and I now have a combi, which means I no longer have a water tank in the loft, or at least mine is empty.

There were very few days in the year that I did not have free hot water when I wanted it.

After my last TKR I was in the car for under five minutes when I had to do an emergency stop. I was fine, had slight but not much pain afterwards. I was pleased with myself.

Sooo lovely sunny day and decided to start my old car to see if battery still ok after sitting for 4wks on drive..yay - drove to car park 2 mins away to practice emergency stop - did it cautiously felt no pain think it’s because it’s a Right side THR .. anyway well chuffed so parked up and treated myself to a reduced orange Azala plant 2 of the 3stems bit wobbly - reminded me of me.. anyway added some compost to it and gently tied support stuck and looks wonderful.. celebratory day👌… paying for it now..woke up in pain but that’s what pain meds are for

Still awake…pain meds done nothing for pain below knee cap - is this normal? Have pain across the kneecap usually but this is below not stinging but dull ache which is keeping me from sleeping…

Your knee probably got a shock yesterday while doing something very different. I think it would be a different matter today if it were the other knee/hip. All I can say is see how it goes. You did well but in my opinion (which counts for little) it was two weeks too early. At least you know the engine was not taking a temporary rest.

I think somebody asked which hip or knee should be done first if both are painful. Usually it is the one which keeps you awake or the pain wakes you.

Thank you Charleygirl5 but have pain also on left side lumbar region ..know i have to get the left side THR done also but can't think of anything worse at the moment...have been up most of early morning and feel so fatigued that am not dressed at all today...very sloppy pj day...

Always feel the need to do something or am I an impossible patient??

My cheap celebration plant looks good...will try and post pic!

You’re not an impossible patient Bea, like a lot of people, mostly women and I’m one of them, you’ve got puritan guilt complex if you’re not doing some sort of labour, especially hard labour such as floor scrubbing. I’ve fought this most of my life and now in my 80s have almost succeeded but not quite. (One anomaly I’ve never cracked is why someone cracking away at a sewing machine looks so much busier than someone quietly knitting - I quietly knit and I’m very busy, I think.) But there you go, I’m rambling again ….

Bea, if you have back pain, that will not help your situation.

Please do not feel guilty about having a pj day. You have had major surgery and it is far better if you are resting, than washing and ironing for your entire street.

This is the time to pamper yourself and do things at your pace.

Do what I am about to do and pop something in the microwave. I am fed up with cooking for myself so tonight it will be Char Siu Pork with egg fried rice when I settle down to watch Corrie.

Saw my lovely GP who reassured me that all is well, 16 weeks is relatively early days and I haven’t done anything wrong. He couldn’t do anything to help the hip, just have to wait for surgery. I will phone the hospital tomorrow to try to find out what their waiting lists are like.

That’s good to hear Nannytopsy. It’s always worth ringing to check on cancellations. I did and I got an earlier date, only a month earlier but I was delighted.

Bea you may have overdone things earlier this week. Always after a busy day good idea to have a rest day.

D/nurse visited and literally swiped the whisker/stitch away with her blue medical glove…whatever she did, it didn’t hurt and queried why I’d been told last week I’d need day surgery to have it removed..she said looking at the red book- she was an inexperienced D/nurse…

Haven’t done anything today and was told it will take time for my body to catch up with my brain about wanting to do things and go out..she made me cry a little and then shared she had had a surgery recently and also had a stitch left in which also was supposed to be dissolvable- she said it was so painful that she too was up all hours with no relief from pain meds- she had to go into work tearfully but a colleague took a look and literally cut the stitch off and hey presto pain stopped..such an emphatic nurse…I’ve now been discharged by D/nurse service but not had any further visits from the physios ..maybe next week? Am doing some exercises but feel very fatigued..

Grammargran, do you have any tips on freeing yourself from that puritan mindset? In my late 70s I’m still battling with it. I had some good news today, the last X-ray shows that my right hip is a mess. It made me feel so much better because now I know I’m not being a wimp and exaggerating things.

That relief when they say Oh yes, no wonder you are in pain! Teabagwoman

Bea, you have been to hell and back regarding your present hip. Try to get yourself on the waiting list because, as you know, it will not be happening next week. You need at least three months between hip surgeries, and it's good to think you are creeping up the waiting list. When you feel ready, you start to say you will accept a cancellation.

Teabag the freedom eventually comes with advancing age and the harsh fact of knowing you just can’t do certain things any more. But goodness, doesn’t it come to something when having an x-ray showing a mangled hip is good news, but I know where you and Nannytopsy are coming from!

A friend, who is the same age as me, 81, was told by a physio, who was not long qualified, that she was too old for a knee replacement and then added it would be a waste.

My friend is obviously taking her money with her because she needs a new hip and knee, and could have had it done privately many years ago, but has chosen to suffer considerable pain. I have given up.

As far as I’m concerned, Charleygirl, having a THR in my mid-80s was the best thing I’ve done, health wise, although at only five and a half months in there’s still a bit of a way to go until I’m operating at a pre-arthritic level, but I'm really working on it. That physio needs a good talking to - I wonder if her colleagues know the misinformation she’s spreading, or perhaps they’re all doing it!

I try to stay out of it, and I am pleased I do not live in that part of the country.

You have done remarkably well, but please enjoy the summer if it comes. To me, it is not age, it is attitude.

Charleygirl5

Bea, you have been to hell and back regarding your present hip. Try to get yourself on the waiting list because, as you know, it will not be happening next week. You need at least three months between hip surgeries, and it's good to think you are creeping up the waiting list. When you feel ready, you start to say you will accept a cancellation.

Gosh no…in my present emotional and physical state, would not have the left hip done at all…I’m still not sleeping more than 3-4hrs a time and the support I receive from friends who encouraged me to go ahead, is now almost non-existent…

I’m normally very independent and not wanting tea and sympathy but ATM I’m just not myself and feeling bit off about people who promised support but obviously things change in the blink of an eye and feel very needy…