lifting

[Rach41]

Hi all I was 6 weeks post op yesterday.  As those of you may know my youngest daughter is severely disabled and weighs 2 stone 4 or 15.2 kgs.  When I asked about lifting her I was told I couldnt lift her until I was 12 weeks post op.  I thought you could lift at 8 weeks.  When I mentioned this to my Consultant he said if I had to lift her I could lift her at 8 weeks in a controlled fashion (more of a one off thing) but he wouldnt recommend it until I was 12 weeks post op. 

I have had awful support in relation to continuing care (still not agreed by the Local Health Board and theyhave known about this since end of March!) and limited support from Social Services.  I need someone to get her out of bed and ready for school, bring her down and put her in her wheelchair.  I can give her medicines etc.  The children break up from school on the 18th July and are off for 6ish weeks!!! Whilst I am free from OA pain I do worry about lifting her.  I only lifted my ironing basket last week and I could feel it pulling on my hip (yes I know I had a lot of ironing lol).

I know some of you hippies do weight lifting and I assume that would be in a controlled fashion!!! how far post of op were you? just after some advice really.  My follow up is 6th July so I will check with him again.

Just awful when the system lets you down, I dont know why we have a National Health Service!!!

[Dannywayoflife]

The NHS is a joke at times! I was told not to lift anything over (I think 10kg) for first 12 weeks. I do lift weights but obviously abstained in that period and have been very cautious ever since. It sounds like your stuck between a rock and a hard place!
Danny

[hernanu]

I'd err on the side of caution, Rach. Your hip is making great strides, but needs some tender loving care right now. I went back to weight lifting moderate amount on the leg press, but not until about 12 weeks.

That was also on a controlled machine, not lifting a person, which puts not just controlled weight, but also sideways stress, etc. Your muscles are still healing, the bone is in the early stages of growing in - you want to be able to do for yourself and for your daughter long term, so I would think you want to be conservative.

Having said that, I understand how difficult this is. Is it possible to have someone in your family or friends who can help you get her going in the morning, until the six weeks are up?  My best wishes, Rach, a hard situation for a good person.

[Miguelito]

Rach,

I am not a doctor but I sense how difficult your situation is and wanted to give you my opinion. I think the real concern about lifting x lbs/kilos stems from the (albeit very low) risk of fracturing the head of the femur before it has returned to full strength. I don't think it is really about slowing your recovery or anything else. My own doctor has the rather arbitrary limit of 50 lbs (which is significantly more than your child). Typically it is stated flatly, "Don't lift greater than 50 pounds for six months." But I did see (once) a document from his office that said the slightly different, "Don't lift more than 50 pounds repeatedly" or something to that effect.

Also, though the lower body strength of males and females is a lot closer than for the upper body, it still strikes me as rather arbitrary that a fairly strong 41 year old male would have the same 50 pound limitation placed on them an older female might. So my point is just that I find the 50 pound figure somewhat arbitrary and not some magic threshold to avoid.

Also, doctors are always going to err on the conservative side when they are telling you what you can or cannot do.

The stress of your situation to my mind probably outweighs the small chance of you fracturing the head of your femur. If I found myself in your situation I would do whatever I could to go up and down the stairs as safely as possible, as falling carrying a toddler would obviously be a big-risk to the hip. But lifting your child once in a while clearly does not carry the same risks.

I am only writing this because you appear to be in a real bind. I lifted tons of weight back in the day and much smaller weights right up about two weeks before the surgery, but post-surgery I am only lifting really light weights, and generally seated unless super-light, until the six month mark and am lifting no weights with the lower body (except for some light-weight seated calf raises which I can't imagine involve the hip). I really think I could do a lot more without endangering the head of the femur, but in my case there is no reason to take any chance, however small. Were my situation different the calculus would be different.

Again, I am not a doctor or medical person of any kind. If anyone disagrees with me please feel free to say otherwise.

Mike

[Dannywayoflife]

The problem i see is that a child is not a normal weight they place different loads on the body than everyday items we pick up. Also (Im no dr either) but i would have thought that the weight restriction was not just because of the risk of neck fracture but also to avoid overloading of the cup.

[Miguelito]

You could be right about the cup, I don't really know. I disagree (sort of) about kids not being a normal weight. You're right, but I think they are much easier to carry because they morph to your body and so are easier to carry. I don't, however, know the extent of the issues Rach's little one has, so her daughter could be harder to carry than my kids are. Mine are 30 and 40 lbs and carrying them was one of my concerns post-surgery, and I did avoid picking them up (particularly the larger one) for most of that first month.

[Tin Soldier]

I agree Danny, I lifted a 70 lb crankshaft out of an engine block, awkard, at about 3 months and I had some pretty decent pain and discomfort in the newest hip.  I thought I ruined it, but the next day I was fine. 

I'd be cautious, the other thing that might complicate this is that I probabaly would have dropped the crankshaft if I felt something was going askew, in your case you will probabaly do all you can to keep your daughter from being dropped in a bad way, if something were to happen to your hip while moving her.  If you can find a way to move her without putting yourself in danger of an accident (for the both of you), I think that would be best.   Hope you find some answers. 

Good point about the morphing.  Just wait til they're 15 years old and you have to carry them to bed   I use my voice instead of back. 

[Rach41]

Thanks for yr replies. Catrin is severely disabled doesn't walk talk and is peg fed and registered blind. She had a brain haemorrhage the day of her birth. She has no tone in the middle and like lifting a dead weight. I am not going to risk it. My husband does a lot but has to leave early before Catrin gets ready for school. One friend can help but her little boy is autistic and my other friends all work. My mum does what she can but suffers with her health herself! Makes me mad all this and I don't mind to be rasist but make me an immigrant with no family who has to go into hospital and u get so much help. We just don't look after our own grrrr!!!