Well, I have a cousin in Pittsburgh PA and she will be 80 next month....we never talk unless I call her so I just got off the phone with her, didn't know if she was even still alive....
Ok, she started her replacement journey about 10-12 yrs ago and both hips done and then did both knees..... I didn't ask her, but I'm pretty sure she would have the posterior procedures.
She claims she is doing very good, no revisions, so far and takes a cane in her car "just in case"....
She didn't know my drama so I filled her in, and then she does agree that some have good outcomes and she's heard about the not good ones...and I told her I never want to do this again...
So....that's it and now I know she's still alive...and no revisions...so that's good. j
Hi Joy, I was just saying to Eileen, these surgeries are like the lottery, you buy the ticket and sometimes you win and other times you don't, even one person has one successfull THR and then goes in for the other leg and has alll sorts of problems, you just never know...I guess it comes down to pain tolerance, quality of life and if you can live with the consequences of permanent side effects....I do feel for those who have had the problems after surgery as each person, though their medical issues may be different, all seen to suffer from indifferent medical personal, follow up and accountability...which is sad in this day and age and considering the countries that we all live in!
It is true that you just never know how it will be once it is done. I had a perfect right THR and of course, expected the left to be just as good, unfortunately it did not. My youngest brother in France had his done too and came out perfect. C'est la vie 🐠
I saw on the news I think it was Japan that had a factory sort of a set up for cataract surgery. One OR room had several chairs set up along side each other down the line like a dentist office. Lights over head. All the docs & assistants doing cataract surgery like it was an assembly line. They all started at the same time & ended at the same time. Then the next group all prepped entered and so on. It was really creepy in a wierd way.
Maybe some day THR surgeries will be set up like an assembly line. We all get the same hips , set up with Special tables, all the tools,parts and assistants. All lined up side by side. It's almost that way at hospitals now. They give drs days to utilize the OR rooms forTHR TKR etc. It's just not all on one hospital.
Just t's wonder how long that will take?
Well we all know the VIP treatment given for THR In France. When my other hip pain becomes intolerable I will take up temporary residency there; hell, we get all the poor Europeans come here for surgeries. It's the EU after all. One for all and all for one said d'Artagnan! I'd actually elect for the five weeks spa and 3x pwk physio long sessions with massage. And the FOOD! O oui, oui et oui. And first hand gossip on Hollande and Triewieller. I will get on to a friend with a house there way ahead of time to plan...... Watch cette espace!!
Hi Joy, I have 2 agree 100% with Patricia on this 1, any elective surgery is a case of pot luck & u just have 2 hope that everything u go thru will b worth the pain & hassle in the end? Since joining this site a few months ago I'm astounded @ how many people encounter similar problems after surgery, it's good 2 know there r people out there from different countries who r willing 2 share their experiences with everyone on a site like this, take care 😃
Hi Patricia, how u doing? Hope ur managing 2 get a bit more sleep now & ur pain in ur lower leg has eased up a bit? I've had a bit of a setback due 2 the fact I got a bit carried away with my excercises, seems I've pulled my hip flexer muscle, weght bearing still seems 2 b ok but as soon as I go 2 put my left leg 4wrd I get a horrendous pain in my groin, had fizio out yesterday & she's assured me it's nothing 2 serious so that's a bit of a relief 😀 just need 2 ease up on things 4 a few days, I've got my next appt 2 c my consultant on the 29th & all being well I shud b going back on his list 2 have my right hip done within the next few months? Looks my jobs pretty much on the line now as I've been off since last December & can't really give them a date for a return 2 work, they've arranged a meeting on the 15th 2 discuss where we go from here so that's all a bit worrying 😰 oh well, what will b will b not a lot I can do about it @ the minute, just want 2 concentrate on getting mobile again 4 now, take care Patricia & get well soon 😃
Knowing my cousin and her lifestyle, I KNOW she was not into exercising thru her life, and if she started with the replacements at about 70 or very late 60's, she did ONLY the PT she was given to do....
She and I are the opposite on this exercise issue, but both come from an osteoarthritis background in our family.
So my thinking and it has to be this way for me, I move as I can do not live in regret for what I can't do anymore.
She said before her replacements, she had to use 2 canes to get around for a while....I believe she would have used the Medicare system for these 4 replacements.... and also said she was in a wheelchair for a time too.
There is definitely osteoarthritis in our family, mainly shows up in the females.When I look at my mothers generation and those of mine I'm in contact with then just over 50% of the females have multiple joint involvement. I've had two (so far successful) replacements, my godmother has 3, various other ones had replacements or lots of problems with smaller joints like my mum. Ah well, just be thankful that we can get TJRs and a variety of painkillers unlike my poor great grandmother who spent most of her adult life in a wheelchair probably in a great deal of pain.
Yes, as you say Ros, there are a great variety of pain meds on the market nowadays. And how would many of us cope with the pain if we didn't have them?
Do you think our pain thresholds are lower now than in our predecessors so that we readily swallow pain meds or did our predecessors just grin and bear it?
I wonder and incidently I've just taken my morning dose!
Hi Tom, thanks for the update! I'm sleeping on my back still, physio said ths morning I can try my unoperated side with pillow but I found that does not give me any more relief than back, so I'm sticking with the back and l sleeping pill (down from 2).....really can't complain, not using anything in the house but still have to use the raised toilet seat as mine are old and "too low" for another month....she said at 8 weeks I can practice driving (I live on a court) to see how strong my leg feels before going out into the actual roads. Where do you liveTom, USA or UK? It is a luxury to work for some place that has insurance to pay when you are off and those types of companies usually give you more job security than when you don't have that coverage....I hope you are one of the lucky ones....We can b...ch all we want about health care in Canada, but I'm afriad if I was in the USA or another country without universal health care, I would be in big trouble not to mention out a several thousand dollars.....one thing I don't have to worry about is "over doing it" as I DO do my exercises but I'm one of those on the lazy side...I've never been active, not interested in sports etc., but I'm lucky because my heart rate is good, I'm in excellent health otherwise and at 5' l08 pounds, so sometimes it is just genetics that gets you through (and in this case allows me to be somewhat lazy)...though I do eat very healthy, hardly and processed food, don't smoke and don't drink (well would LOVE to drink but I have migraines so I had to give it up - though I can still tasts a dubonnet on rocks in my dreams!!!)...take care, Patricia
I think it is more that our coping mechanisms haven't developed. When I was a kid you had fillings without local and often stitches were put in without local. I had the former but not the latter. I think people also had an expectation of pain whereas we expect pain to be dealt with. But laudanum (an opioid) was readily available if you had the money and alcohol was another remedy. A friend who is in chronic pain despite painkillers has learned techniques to live with her pain. She feels it, but manages to get something out of life despite it rather than being overwhelmed by it. Don't know if I could and hope I'll never have to find out.