I got a new hip

[Kulindahr]

Have you been down by the sand bar since the operation - either as a passenger or whatever?

Um, that's sand spit -- whole different geographical and ecological deal.

We made a "parking lot run" one evening. There's an old rotten log by where we almost always park, and it split in two a few weeks back. So I gathered up all the rotting wood from the back yard and a bunch of old cement mix bags that were full of earthworms and mixed them with grass clippings and fallen leaves, and filled some containers with weeds mixed with grass clippings and lawn edging. This all got hauled to the rotten log; the "compost" with its earthworms got dumped in between the halves, and then we spread the weed/edgings mix on top. For kicks I threw in some flower bulbs -- English bluebells and a daffodil.

Of course by mid July it will all have rotted down to six inches deep instead of two feet, but we can always add more compost.


Mostly I supervised.

 

[LeicsDom]

Every time cold wind hits that hip it starts to ache, and if I stay out in it long the ache will reach clear down to my foot and into my lower back. Can I count on this going away with time????

Yep

What you will get is an ache for a couple of days when the weather changes, either for hot to cold (and vice versa) or dry to wet. Nothing major but an ache nevertheless

 

[Kulindahr]

Well, I discovered that shopping while on crutches is too totally frustrating. I figured I'd use a basket and just get a few things so it would be easy to carry them home, but my attempts at holding the shopping basket while gripping a crutch were less than stellar.

Next time I'll just put the crutches in a cart, and use it to steady me, then push the thing all the way home.

 

[gsdx]

Until I could walk with a cane, I could fold up the walker and put it in the shopping cart, but someone had to carry the groceries into the apartment. With the cane, I could shop on my own using my grocery cart to bring the groceries home, even if I had to carry the bags up the stairs one at a time.

Even with the cane, though, I had to wait weeks until the sidewalks were clear of snow and ice before I dared to venture outside. My roommate went with me the first few times, but I've been able to go on my own for quite some time.

The walker used to support my weight. The cane does little more than to help me keep my balance.

Any idea how much longer you'll be on crutches?

 

[LeicsDom]

Well, I discovered that shopping while on crutches is too totally frustrating. I figured I'd use a basket and just get a few things so it would be easy to carry them home, but my attempts at holding the shopping basket while gripping a crutch were less than stellar.

Next time I'll just put the crutches in a cart, and use it to steady me, then push the thing all the way home.

My local Asda (Walmart) has electric buggies for the infirm so shopping was great fun.
But I did have someone drive me to and from the mall

I agree that using a cart is much easier now

 

[LeicsDom]

Until I could walk with a cane, I could fold up the walker and put it in the shopping cart,

My Occupational therapist wouldn't clear me for hospital discharge until I came off the walker. I had to be on crutches before I could go home

 

[gsdx]

^ Crutches were never even mentioned for me. I was on the walker less than 24 hours after the surgery and stayed with it until the surgeon cleared me for the cane. I'd already been taught how to use the cane by a physiotherapist in the hospital and the home visitor. Still, after I started using the cane regularly, I didn't stray far from walls and furniture with my left hand ready to grab hold if necessary.

 

[Kulindahr]

Until I could walk with a cane, I could fold up the walker and put it in the shopping cart, but someone had to carry the groceries into the apartment. With the cane, I could shop on my own using my grocery cart to bring the groceries home, even if I had to carry the bags up the stairs one at a time.

Even with the cane, though, I had to wait weeks until the sidewalks were clear of snow and ice before I dared to venture outside. My roommate went with me the first few times, but I've been able to go on my own for quite some time.

The walker used to support my weight. The cane does little more than to help me keep my balance.

Any idea how much longer you'll be on crutches?

I'll probably be using the crutches at least two more weeks, but relying on them less and less, but it could be a month. I'm not counting on it until June, which is coincidentally when I'll be officially allowed to use a swimming pool.

 

[Kulindahr]

My local Asda (Walmart) has electric buggies for the infirm so shopping was great fun.
But I did have someone drive me to and from the mall

I agree that using a cart is much easier now

If I had to sit in one of those things for long enough to do shopping, I'd have to be bodily lifted out of it -- my hip does not get along well with bending tighter than about 100° for more than a few minutes... which is why I'm not looking forward to riding to my pain management appointment on Monday; it will be forty-five minutes sitting in the truck.

 

[Kulindahr]

Improvement: I forgot today, waking up after a nap, that I'm not supposed to put pressure on the hip, and rolled over that direction. Instead of pain, it was just serious discomfort!

Maybe that will help with sleeping? I'm getting tired of having to have my nips and knees slightly bent with a pillow between; being able to shift position would be great.

 

[gsdx]

Maybe that will help with sleeping? I'm getting tired of having to have my nips and knees slightly bent with a pillow between; being able to shift position would be great.

Tee hee hee

 

[DonQuixote]

The trials and tribulations of "Steve Austin" . . .
Maybe you need to have someone help you with that -

 

[LeicsDom]

^ Crutches were never even mentioned for me. I was on the walker less than 24 hours after the surgery and stayed with it until the surgeon cleared me for the cane. I'd already been taught how to use the cane by a physiotherapist in the hospital and the home visitor. Still, after I started using the cane regularly, I didn't stray far from walls and furniture with my left hand ready to grab hold if necessary.

I went home with two crutches at 4 days but was down to one crutch within a couple of days
By a week out of hospital I was on a cane. I ditched the cane at about 4 weeks if I remember rightly

 

[LeicsDom]

If I had to sit in one of those things for long enough to do shopping, I'd have to be bodily lifted out of it -- my hip does not get along well with bending tighter than about 100° for more than a few minutes... which is why I'm not looking forward to riding to my pain management appointment on Monday; it will be forty-five minutes sitting in the truck.

Our Asda buggies had lifting arms so you can just swing round and stand. No need to be pulled up LOL

 

[Kulindahr]

I went home with two crutches at 4 days but was down to one crutch within a couple of days
By a week out of hospital I was on a cane. I ditched the cane at about 4 weeks if I remember rightly

That's why I went ahead and am doing jury duty -- after the first week or so, I shouldn't need the crutches. But I did check out the jury box, and if I get called to actually sit on a jury while I'm still on the crutches, I'll be fine so long as they put me on the end.

 

[Kulindahr]

Our Asda buggies had lifting arms so you can just swing round and stand. No need to be pulled up LOL

Wow -- nice.


I'm going to be daring this week: we're supposed to have several days of July-like weather, so since I'm biking now on level surfaces, I'm going to try biking on the beach (Hm -- better check the tides first!) and walking across the low dune to see how my conservation area seedlings are doing. Not going alone (duh), so no worries.

 

[Kulindahr]

Tee hee hee

Must by the oxies -- I'd never miss a typo like that!












(sure I wouldn't....)





WRT "hips", as I meant to type... I straightened the non-operated hip farther last night and let the other drape over a pillow, still slightly bent. It worked.

 

[belamyi]

 

[Kulindahr]

I adjusted the lift on my right shoe and ventured to do some yard work.* Really, my movement now is better than it's been in several years, and there's not that much pain so long as I don't lift too much mass. The only issue is that it doesn't take long till it starts to ache.










*making "Bammer buckets", actually

 

[LeicsDom]

I adjusted the lift on my right shoe and ventured to do some yard work.* Really, my movement now is better than it's been in several years, and there's not that much pain so long as I don't lift too much mass. The only issue is that it doesn't take long till it starts to ache.

Your endurance will improve in leaps and bounds
I find now that I can walk for ages just so long as I don't try and get up any sort of speed