Almost six weeks and trying to get rid of my sticks

hernanu · September 09, 2011, 09:44:42 AM

Like June and Cassie mentioned, conservative strengthening is important. I was walking without crutches (never used a cane) after about five weeks. Everyone is different, the goal is to resume normal motion at your own pace. I think we all walked with a limp for a bit afterwards, the important thing, as Cassie points out is to consciously work on walking correctly while keeping in mind that your muscles are weak and will get tired.

mikebaker · September 09, 2011, 02:06:21 PM

Hi all, I guess I just should have responded to this post rather than starting a new one with respect to my appointment the other day. Anyway long story short - all good, fully weight bearing, becoming bilateral on December 6, 2011.

Lots of great points raised with respect to strengthening the hip and trying not to walk with a limp. One thing going for me is that I have no pain - but I have not really pushed myself yet. I think there has to be a fine line between doing too much and not enough that that I need to focus on steady progression on exercises and activity and remembering to listen to my body. I have to say that I am still quite scared (which is really weird for me being an ex-college linebacker) and do not want my hip to fracture. The feedback that I have received is to use your walking aid until you do not limp. Having said that, you may need PT help to ensure that you are walking properly and using the aid correctly. Now that I am full weight bearing, I should not be using my crutches to transfer weight but to keep me balanced as I am still favoring my left side. It is really hard to do and maybe I am not explaining this correctly.

Best of luck to all and keep going at one year with no complications we should all be fine and good to go. There may be some bumps along the way and if there is "keep in touch"!!

hernanu · September 09, 2011, 02:37:55 PM

Being scared is part of the experience. The cool part is that everyone here overcomes their fear. I was also scared spitless many times during the recuperation for many real and imagined reasons.

You'll find many tough people here (full contact tae kwon do guy here) who quail at things other people don't even think about. That's because they haven't our experience with OA and its draining pain, as well as the things that could go wrong now. Even with great chances of success, I always worried that all of the hopes for a great recovery could be washed away with a foolish action or accident. The only thing that helped is all the little successes along the way that gave me more and more confidence. Things like walking on ice (carefully), stumbling and knowing you can recover, falling and seeing that you're dusty but ok, and in my case, being rear ended at a good speed and having no impact on the hip.

I just started working out on a slide board, a slippery surface that I use to simulate ice, slip silly looking booties over my sneakers and then launch myself side to side a distance of about seven feet. Scared the bejeebers out of me when I first tried it (only made one foot slips X 7 the first time), but now I am sliding happily, doing something I thought I'd never try. I think I'm at the right stage to try this, since I feel like even if I slip and fall I should be fine. Does wonders for my side to side strength.

obxpelican · September 09, 2011, 06:42:31 PM

Mike,

That is good news, so glad to hear it.

What about what the doctor said about a "notch"??????

Chuck

mikebaker · September 10, 2011, 02:24:03 AM

Hey Chuck,

My doctor took me out to look at the x-rays. This time he had me do a frog leg shot which showed the bone under the femoral component and it looked very good. There was a small notch which he said could have been due to an osteophyte but he was not at all concerned about it. As I said earlier he did mention "notch" two days after surgery but he could not remember the details. I did a lot of research after seeing my xrays and surmised that it was due to the extreme valgus position of the femoral component. It looks like on the x ray from the front that the cap it right against the bone and therefore because you have to ream the femoral head and the cap takes up space naturally you would think that there could be a notch there but like I said it did not look significant to me and he was not at all worried. When I pressed him he said that he wished the stem was more to the center of the femur and that it was 5 degrees less tipped into valgus but he said it should work great for me. So I am going to cautiously move forward and do everything I can to make it to six months when the bone should be as strong as it was pre-surgery. I will keep in touch I promise and thanks for all the support.

Tin Soldier · September 10, 2011, 11:26:53 AM

That's good hear, Mike. My PT alwasy said you should be a little sore for a day, but not more than 2 days after a decent PT session. Also, I like like the idea of using an aid for protecting yourself from a fall or providing balance. Sure we all want to get rid of the limp, but I'll take the confidence of not falling over a speedy return to normal walking. They kind of go hand in hand, but sometimes it takes the brain a little longer to feel confident about not using an aid. That's ok.